Opinion

Montana is again being recognized as a leader on protecting our citizens’ privacy in the age of technology. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently ran an article with the headline “Montana’s New Genetic Privacy Law Caps Off Ten Years of Innovative State Privacy Protections.”  EFF highlights a bill passed in the 2023 legislative session, Senate Bill 351. SB 351 gives Montanans ownership and control over our most intimate data: the data about our DNA and genetics. Our DNA holds an endless amount of information ranging from physical characteristics to predisposed traits. Science fiction films such as Gattaca and Minority Report illustrate a world where w...

October 1st is the deadline to claim your $675 property tax rebate for this year. Tens of thousands of Montana property owners have already claimed theirs. If you’re a Montana resident who pays property taxes on your primary residence, head to: getmyrebate.mt.gov as soon as possible to claim yours.&nbs...

I write as a concerned tax payer in Lake County. I’ve learned the Ronan City Planning Board is reviewing a proposed major subdivision (as defined by Montana law). The proposal is to create a 221 lot subdivision, with allowance to have duplexes for a total of 442 units (w/additional lots in a future rev...

Wow, what a busy summer. We have had so much happening at the library both in our temporary space and with our building renovation. We wrapped up our annual Summer Reading Program Aug. 17 with ice cream, prize giveaways and children’s book author Valerie Bolling. What a treat! Valerie read to over 100 ...

Editor, One year ago, I submitted a letter to the editor in which the first paragraph was this: “Our nation is presently going through a very present political crisis. This crisis is a clear example of the outworking of our human frailties. These frailties involve anger, attack, and blaming others f...

We are currently facing three inter-related existential crises: —Climate change causing droughts, storms, floods, killer heatwaves, wildfires and rapidly approaching global tipping points. In addition to the death and destruction resulting from these natural disasters, some experts predict more than...

The 2023 legislative session wrapped up less than five months ago. Many bills don’t go into effect until Oct. 1 of this year, Jan. 1 of next year, or later. But several of the bills that became law this spring and summer are already having a noticeable impact in Montana.  Perhaps the most stark...

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Oppenheimer saw immediately that any nation with adequate resources would be eventually able to build a weapon, and that something as gargantuan as an H-bomb had no possible military function. It could only be a mechanism for genocide. As he tried to use his immense s...

I just finished a visit with my littles, aka grands. They are five dollars, nearly three dollars and 25 cents, if we are counting in years. It was a giggly, playful, cuddly, I’m not hungry, I’m so hungry, I’m not tired, I just fell asleep sitting up, I don’t have to go, I have to g...

Editor, I was thrilled to read the article on the 2023 Parliament of World Religions in your Sept. 6 issue. I was fortunate to attend this gathering in Chicago this year, as well as the 2018 Parliament in Toronto. The work being done year round, across the globe, by communities and by the leaders of world...