Letters to the Editor
Editor, The Montana Secretary of State says, “Montana sets the standard for elections across the country.” And evidence continues to show that our election system is secure. Claims of voter fraud have been proven false time and time again; yet, the Governor has signed into law four bills that will make voting in Montana more difficult. These bills include eliminating same-day voter registration, which has been in place since 2005. For college students, a second form of identification is required in addition to a photo identification, but a Montana concealed-weapon permit qualifies without additional information. Polling-place hours may be adjuste...
Editor, After 20 seasons of guiding wilderness treks and river journeys in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, I have witnessed significant changes in wilderness visitors. As a teenager, I hiked from Ovando to Essex, scrambled in the Mission Mountains and skied from Benchmark to Holland Lake. Years late...
Editor, Last November, voters passed I-190, recreational marijuana, which is estimated to provide $25 million annually to help fund hunting and fishing, trails, outdoor opportunities and other conservation projects. Montanans love the outdoors so do the thousands of visitors to the state. In 2019...
Editor, Montanans deserve to have a say in our energy future. HB 273 would overturn I-80 and eliminate the public’s right to vote on a new nuclear facility in the state. Currently, we enjoy the right to have a say because of a voter-passed initiative that has stood since 1978 and was passed...
Editor, Who really runs the Republican party? It seems that it is our Republican elected members of both the House and the Senate who have great fear of Donald Trump’s large voting-block called his base are the ones running the party. Trump cares little about his base as i...
Editor, With all the downer-type news this winter, I would like to change course and thank Harvest Foods and Ace Hardware personnel, in Ronan, for always wearing their masks. I have had my shots, still wear my mask in public, and I feel much safer these days, but it is nice to know that they seem...
Editor, Politics, these days, has such a grip on our citizens, and especially our elected leaders, that listening thoughtfully to each other and accepting compromise seems a thing of the past. But, this attitude is not true with many. Thankfully in our democracy individual opinions count t...
Editor, The Montana legislature is considering a good idea. House Bill 629, if passed, will provide a tax incentive to businesses that create five new jobs per year in which salary plus benefits equals at least $50K per year. If a business meets the criteria of number of new employees per year their...
Editor, Does a professional, independent bureaucracy lead to better governance? The answer is “yes,” compared to the alternative political patronage as a source of corruption, waste and the dominance of special interests. Montana has a Civil Service System based upon competitive, meri...
Editor, Why do we have government? Why do some of us go to the polls every few years and fill out our ballots? You might think it was to elect people who would represent not only us but what’s best for us. Yet, it seems that the special interests have sabotaged that process and, in on...
