Columns

We have successfully kicked off our annual Summer Reading Program with over 100 attendees at our first program and 289 registrations on the first day. It’s not too late to register – you actually have until Aug. 10. Visit our website or stop in the library for details. We have wonderful incentives from local businesses, great prizes, and fantastic programs. A library card is not required to participate, and the program is open to everyone from newborns to super seniors. Each Thursday at 10 a.m. we host a special program for preschool and elementary aged kids. We are so grateful to our community partners for their participation and support in hosting these programs. Upcoming p...

Having proudly served as former Secretaries of State in Montana, we understand how important democracy is to the people of our state. It’s not a matter of what side of the aisle you stand on – it’s a matter of what you value. Recently our state’s Supreme Court reaffirmed that Monta...

I write to encourage a call to action. We must immediately address the illegal immigration happening in Montana. I, as well as many Montanans have seen the numbers – fentanyl confiscation in Montana up by 20,000%, sex trafficking up by 116%, illegal immigration at our northern border up 597% with over ...

If there is one thing every business owner, rancher, and manager agrees on, it’s that if you don’t have good people, you don’t have much. And if there’s one thing Montanans (and, increasingly, outsiders) know, it’s how good our hunting and fishing opportunities generally are....

No one plans to date after 50, but you never know the details life will hand you: divorce, death of a spouse, boredom, aloneness - it all leads to one thing. You find yourself being half of a couple in a couple’s world. Such a conundrum. You were once half the age of 50 and probably a couple, now...

Montanans appreciate locally grown food, from vegetables to fresh-picked huckleberries, raw honey, and grass-fed beef. Can we say the same about our wood products? Your community would rally to keep a local rancher in business… won’t you do the same to keep a local sawmill in business?  ...

Last month the President of the Montana Senate established a select committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform. We were appointed to that committee along with Democrat and Republican legislators and members of the public. Before our first meeting, partisan attacks were leveled at the President and the commit...

I read something today that changed my perception of the concept of confidence. It said something along the lines of:  “Confidence can’t be seen or heard. It can’t be created by anyone but you.” I found this profound.  I’ve always believed I lacked confidence....

One headline in the Salt Lake Tribune has stirred up the agricultural community across the West. It proclaims that hamburgers and cows are the culprits behind the droughts, and by eating fewer burgers, Americans could save the environment. Sound familiar? Last spring Ireland made international headlines with...

It was a serious day in the garden. Various vegetables gathered to witness the much-anticipated criminal fraud case against corn. Corn had filed a countersuit claiming defamation of character and vegetative discrimination. These historic proceedings would hopefully answer the question plaguing the human and ...