Opinion
As I watched Russian troops march across the Ukrainian border in an unprovoked war that immediately made the world less safe for our kids and grandkids, I thought about the words of a World War I veteran from Great Falls named Mike Mansfield, spoken in the days after Hitler invaded Poland in 1939: “Democracy—as we know it, understand it, and love it—is today facing a challenge to its continuance. This challenge must be met, met by all who believe fundamentally in the process and [who] love the freedom and the responsibilities of democracy.” What Mansfield meant is that democracy is fragile. In human history, democracies are the exception, not the rule. If we do...
Editor, An update from “The Magic 30” cat colony, once of four in-town Polson groups. This message is from the meow of “BB” (Big Black) one of the two Mr. Toms who keep the population numbers up. (Ya think we need a neutering program.) “BB” says “Most of us in Mag...
Editor, According to John Adams, “facts are stubborn things.” Putin’s approach to controlling the Russian populace during the war in Ukraine is to prevent them from knowing the facts. He threatens his citizens and the media with fines and jail for telling the truth regarding Russia&rsquo...
Editor, Ryan Zinke is at it again. He’s trying to erase his debacle as Interior Secretary, in which he erased national monuments, reduced hunter access to public lands and handed the keys to our best hunting and fishing to the oil industry. Zinke blames President Biden for gas prices, but that&rs...
A three-member arbitration panel recently rendered decisions in favor of Lake County on two of the three issues contested in a lawsuit brought against the Montana Department of Revenue (MDOR), by the County related to the Temporary Tribal Tax Exemption (TTTE), a statute enacted in 2012. The statute provides ...
Spring has sprung and we are gearing up for a busy March at the North Lake County Public Library. The book drop is always available as is our online catalog and Montana Library2Go with eBooks, audiobooks and magazines. The big news is the much anticipated Friends of the Library Book Sale happening ...
A year ago, we launched the Snowbird Fund to help families and friends of missing and murdered indigenous persons by offering immediate cash assistance (no questions asked) to search for their loved ones. Since then, the fund has not only survived but it has doubled its cash amount and increased its fundi...
Editor, I would like to address Senator Daines. I was horrified as I watch the news showing a Ukrainian man kneeling in front of a Russian tank trying to stop it and a Ukrainian woman sweeping the broken window glass in her apartment from Russian bombing while singing the Ukrainian anthem. It is heartb...
Editor, Deviating from my usual style of letters, here’s one that offers some inspiring thoughts. Hope you find them meaningful and even perhaps helpful in these present very trying times for us all. Offered by Dr. Debasish Mridha of Saginaw, Michigan, a physician, philosopher, poet, and au...
Editor, As the largest electric power user on the Reservation, I am interested in hearing the position of the Tribes regarding the new tier rate approach and the substantial rate increase proposed by Mission Valley Power. I believe it is very important that other users of MVP hear as to the way the Tribes...
