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It is with great concern that I write regarding the recent actions of the Montana state Senate led by Republican Jason Ellsworth and supported by Steve Fitzpatrick. Their decision to form a committee aimed at attacking our state's judicial system is not only a misguided endeavor but also a direct assault on our cherished state constitution. At a time when Montanans are grappling with pressing issues such as skyrocketing property taxes, a dire shortage of affordable housing and the alarming loss of healthcare access for many of our citizens, it...
For 75 years, our family-run lumber mill, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, has been a cornerstone of Seeley Lake. They've weathered economic storms, provided jobs for generations and supplied lumber that built countless homes across Montana. Now, facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge — the lack of affordable housing — they are on the verge of shutting down. The irony is gut-wrenching. They offer good wages, a stable work environment and the satisfaction of contributing to Montana's infrastructure. Yet, they can't find enough qualified wor...
In response to your recent letter to The Seeley Swan Pathfinder, I am writing to express my profound disappointment and deep concern regarding your recent track record in the Montana state legislature. Your penchant for crafting bills that ultimately wind up in court, clogging the system and ultimately crumbling under the weight of the Montana Constitution, is not only irresponsible, but it is also a blatant disregard for the taxpayers’ money and the well-being of our state. Every time you push through a poorly conceived, unconstitutional b...
This is a huge shell game by Gianforte and the Republicans in Montana 1. Greg implies it is the fault of local governments that taxes are increasing. Yet Montana Republicans refuse to give local governments meaningful ways to increase revenue in the face of increasing costs other than through increasing our property tax. Of course taxes will continue to rise. 2. Greg states in this odoriferous letter that his rebate will ‘almost completely offset what residential taxpayers will pay over the next two years.’ There’s no way that the pitta...
Our Montana State Governor and state legislature this year pretended to alleviate soaring property taxes. They executed a political stunt rebating us a small amount of property tax nowhere near the amount the taxes are increasing annually. At the same time, they accuse local governments in Montana of overspending, even though it’s common knowledge that local government expenses have increased as much everyone else’s. Montana could reduce property taxes for a number of reasons, including: • To stimulate the economy. Property taxes can be a bur...
I read with surprise and disappointment the letter of complaint in the June 8 issue of the Pathfinder wherein a reader complained that the Pathfinder dared to publish an editorial opinion (Letter From The Editor) written by Asa Metcalfe and written quite well. Perhaps this complaint was written by someone unfamiliar with the American free press tradition of disseminating editorial opinions. Perhaps the reader is new to America where we celebrate a free press that is free to share news and opinions. Here are some of the benefits of newspaper...
This is a parody of “A Drinking Song” by William Butler Yeats Wine comes in at the mouth And love comes in at the eye; That’s all we shall know for truth Before we grow old and die. I lift the glass to my mouth, I look at you, and I sigh.” Good jokes come in at the ear Enjoyed over a beer I toast you in the morn You look at me with scorn I love you from afar Perhaps the corner bar MD Marshall, May 2016...
In the last several years, so many folks (and some of them are well intentioned) have floated so many unfounded ideas. We have been subjected to flat-earth theories, Israeli space lasers causing wild fires in our western state forests, windmills causing cancer, Microchips planted in vaccines to track you and the new COVID-19 vaccines causing thousands of deaths covered up by government agencies. Sadly, these theorists too often know how to push our emotional buttons and they know how to allude to something by use of innuendo and...
So many (perhaps well-intentioned folks) have been spreading fear about the Covid-19 vaccinations via social media and news sources. Many of these are politicians and talking news heads. Alas, a very few have even been medical personnel or retired medical staffers. By and large, our medical care professionals across the country and certainly here in Missoula County have been buried in dealing with the effects of so much fear and misinformation. As an antidote, here’s some truth: The CDC does in fact maintain a database known as the Vaccine Adve...
This letter is in response to Dr. John Farrar’s column of Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 in the Seeley Swan Pathfinder about COVID-19 vaccinations. Dr. Farrar, in highly science-y terms, shared some very credible information on how our immune systems works. Not the whole story, but some useful info. Sadly, he closed his column with an implication that vaccines for COVID-19 are not necessarily that important and perhaps should not be trusted. Dr. Farrar effectively covers the weakness in the vaccine as far as stimulating the Mucosal Immune System we all p...
Sadly, during the misguided war in Vietnam, we subjected thousands of our young men and women to a senseless war, putting them at risk of bodily harm and death for a failed international policy of containing communism. The policy was bankrupt from the start. But that wasn’t the worst part of it. Compounding the misguided waging of war was the waking up of America to the idiocy of said war and the tragedy of the sacrifice of so many lives and limbs to it. The reaction in too many instances was for Americans to punish the soldiers instead of t...
The Missoulian on Feb. 4, 2021 reported, “There is also no evidence of voter fraud or lack of integrity in Montana’s elections. Republicans who brought a lawsuit over the security of Montana’s election held by mail last November were forced to admit that point in court last fall.” And yet, if you can’t win elections based on your unpopular policy positions, you might as well cheat and restrict people’s access to voting to try and win, right? After losing the White House and the Senate, Republicans are looking for a path back to power in 20...
I see Ranked Choice Voting as part of a suite of reforms that might lead to more reasonable politics. Are you looking for practical solutions to the many problems we face in common, instead of the rhetoric of political extremism? Then Ranked Choice Voting may be for you. In this system, voters first rank candidates by preference. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, that candidate wins the election. If no one wins a majority, second-preference votes come into play. A new count determines whether any candidate has won a...
I was looking forward to reading an actual objective legislative update in the February 4 issue of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, but deeply disappointed in the partisan campaign piece submitted by Representative Mike Hopkins. We were left with the impression the piece should have been a paid political ad rather than a simple update on what the Montana State Legislature is working on and has accomplished so far this session. I keep thinking that our elected representatives and senators represent all of us rather than one political party....
Well, the Montana Legislature is in session, and some of the bills put forward are pretty strange. It is easy to go to leg.mt.gov and let your opinion be known. Go to HOME and choose Send a Web Message to Legislator/Committee...then just follow instructions. Here is one of mine. I am going to post them in case anyone wants to use them as a skeleton for another letter. You can also leave comments at https://legiscan.com I am opposed to HB121, which would require elected officials to approve local health board and officer actions. This bill...
Around the United States for the last several years, Republicans have pushed legislation and regulations to make voter registration and voting more difficult. As we all know, and Republicans like Trump and a few others have publicly admitted, they do not do well at the polls when more people vote. Back in March of 2020, Trump stated on Fox News that opening up voting to more American citizens would mean “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” We’ve even had a few Republican state legislators in Montana acknowledge the pro...
Several years ago I was involved in a severe single-car auto accident when a left front tire blew out on a country road. I was intentionally placed in a coma for a few months as my body worked to recover from multiple spinal fractures and other broken bones. My doctors treated me with opioids. Upon release from the hospital, I continued to control serious pain with Oxycodone daily for a few years. I never developed a high from the drug and no addiction. When I no longer needed it, I simply stopped taking it. Fast forward to today. Because a...
SEELEY LAKE - First, I want to express appreciation to the staff of the Seeley Lake Post Office. They have undergone a complete transformation in the last several months with a new postmaster and 100 percent new staff. Now they are learning our area and our box holders and addressees, all while operating with a shrinking budget and declining staffing, over which they have no control. And yet they try. The challenges are many and the frustrations are climbing. Most of us deeply appreciate what you do. Many of us do not have street delivery of...
Anger and fear have come to dominate American politics since 2016. Sadly, American politicians are capitalizing on anger and fear in order to manipulate voters and garner support. I touched on this in my admonishment to House District 92 Republican Representative Mike Hopkins a few weeks ago in this newspaper. I had a great deal of respect for Mike until he wrote a letter wherein he took advantage of a bad situation in Missoula to try and churn it into avoidance of votes for Democrats and promote actual votes for Republicans, as though...
I was very disappointed to read the comments of Mike Hopkins in our local newspaper. My previous impression of Mike was that he held himself to higher standards. His comments were disingenuous at best. This is misdirection at its worst and highly divisive. It’s highly appropriate to condemn extremism that causes damage to people or property, such as the damage and injury done by conservative marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia in August of 2017. But Mike is implying that first, all the harm is being done solely by Democrats. Secondly, he i...
We are fortunate here in Seeley Lake to have an award-winning newspaper published by two excellent journalists, Nathan and Andi Bourne, with the help of an impressive staff. As good journalists, they don’t invent the news, they just report it, even when it’s distasteful news. That is their duty and what we pay them to do. Shoot, they even publish criticisms of themselves. That’s integrity. There is too much negativity toward the news media around the country and even globally. This sad state is being encouraged by politicians pandering to th...
Patriotism, flag burning, anthem kneeling – emotional topics throughout history. Ironically, our country was founded by patriots who burned flags. And they endeavored to establish a new kind of country that protected cherished values like freedom of speech in an age when that was not protected so well by any other nation-state. As George Washington stated, “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” Flag burning, like kneeling during the anthem, is a symbolic act of political resis...
I am always disappointed to see someone who thinks expressing our freedom of speech is un-American. I’ll have to disagree. You may not like what someone has to express or the way they express it, but just like you, they have every right to express it. In fact, telling someone to go find another country if you don’t like what’s going on is the most selfish and unpatriotic thing you can say to someone. We need more people to stand up and be counted, even if we don’t like the way they express themselves. If our country is doing something we see...
Senator Steve Daines of Montana, I am sad to say, just announced that he introduced a constitutional amendment in the U.S. Senate to outlaw burning the flag. Here is my message to Senator Daines regarding this misguided effort: “You don’t truly understand our bill of rights, do you Senator? You are too willing to compromise our rights (and your rights), so you truly do not deserve them and certainly do not deserve our respect for your flagrant inability to appreciate our rights. I stand for the pledge of allegiance and for our national ant...
SEELEY LAKE - Last week Seeley Lake hosted two candidate forums at our Community Hall. The Seeley Lake Community Council offered a great service for the community and they did it very professionally. One of Klaus von Stutterheim’s super powers is acting as MC for these events. It’s a lot of work to orchestrate such an event, with much contact back and forth between here and the candidates to coordinate. Then there is the setup and breakdown of the hall for the events. I understand that all but four of the candidates accepted the invitation to...
