Opinion
Mid-morning sunshine poured through the windshield feeling much like a warm hug during a recent weekend trip to the office. I was headed to work on this week’s newspaper pages. And this week’s issue is special. It is our 1000th. The 1000th consecutively published Valley Journal. As I drove in silence, I reflected on my time in the newspaper business and some of the life lessons a career in journalism has taught me. For what it’s worth, I’ll share them with you now. Everything changes – it’s simply a matter of time. Sometimes for the good, sometimes the bad but always an opportunity for growth. And while change may seem hard when we’re in the midd...
The United States government has failed catastrophically in its obligation to protect our borders and our citizens. Representative Ryan Zinke is seeking to protect us from the latest move towards national suicide emanating from the Democrats, the Uniparty, and other elitist masterminds seemingly hell-bent on...
Editor, Der Fuhrer is here. As I read James C Nelson’s letter to the editor I was impressed with his candor and his inability to judge what is actually happening, especially since he is a former judge. As a former judge I thought he might be measured in his inflammatory rhetoric, but I was sadly ...
As we close out National Native American Heritage Month, I would like to introduce myself and my new role as the Montana Department of Labor & Industry’s (DLI) first Tribal Liaison. My name is Donnie Wetzel, Jr. I come from the Blackfeet Nation on my father’s side and Missoula/Bitterroot as a...
Have you ever thanked God that you never lived Nazi Germany? Well don’t get off your knees just yet; you might still find out what that was like. Donald J. Trump is straight out of fascism’s, central casting: think Hitler (who Trump seeks to emulate and whose speeches he quotes), Bolsonaro (wh...
This holiday season, more Montanans will be navigating the annual open enrollment period for health insurance, seeking quality and affordable health insurance plans for their families. Cover Montana has a team of health insurance navigators who can help Montanans make sense of their options during this cruci...
Editor, I appreciated my time spent on this 95-mill property tax issue with you, the Department of Revenue and the lobbyist for the school organizations. I am disappointed with the Supreme Court ruling but will abide with it. The educational value of researching and understanding how the school, local gov...
Editor, Here’s a novel idea on the subject of abortion. Don’t get pregnant. I’m 80 years old and grew up in an era void of legal abortion or birth control. If we got pregnant, we had the little darlings. Then a miracle. The birth control pill was developed. It was control fin...
In the quiet corners of rural Montana, credit unions and community banks offer a unique ability to focus on bringing value to Main Street rather than Wall Street. These institutions have a vested interest in the success of their communities and often serve as economic anchors, supporting local businesses, fa...
Montana is a northern border state with a southern border crisis. After visiting the southern border this fall, my third trip in five years, I can say with certainty that the catastrophe at our southern border is now a serious threat to our national security and the result of the failed policies of President...
