Opinion
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1820
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Please reconsider your Holiday plans
Many of you know that I’m a veterinarian. My husband Alistair is a family physician working on the front lines at a walk-in/urgent care clinic in downtown Bismarck, North Dakota. He has been one of five doctors doing the majority of COVID testing t...
Separation, meaning, racism and balance
In a recent discussion, some insights became clear about the human psyche (human psychology) and the separation experience due to the pandemic. COVID-19 has forced many of us to experience separation...
Fellowship at the Bull Pen
Down Arizona way, near a place called Camp Verde, for several winters I hauled a load of log furniture to sell at Old Grumpy Dave's Auction. He rented the entire fairgrounds to sell western...
Letters from a Swan Valley homesteader
This is the second USVHS article about Henry Thomason, an early-day Upper Swan Valley settler who wrote a series of letters to his family in the Midwest documenting life as a homesteader in the early...
Letters from a Swan Valley homesteader
Beginning with a trip out west to Polson in 1913 to later homesteading in the Upper Swan Valley, early-day settler Henry Thomason wrote a series of hand-written letters to his family in the Midwest...
There is but one lawgiver and Judge
I'm guessing that often we can fall into the category of having just enough knowledge to be misleading, or even dangerous. As Christians, it is possible, though we may have memorized some verses, to...
Keeping it local for the holidays
As the Holiday Season approaches, many of the annual events that our communities know and love are being cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic including Old West Christmas in Ovando, the Rich Ranch Community Appreciation Day, Christmas Comes Home in...
Thank you for your vote!
Dear friends, thank you for electing me to represent you as the next Montana State Senator for District 46. I am grateful beyond words for your support. My opponent Niki Sardot, ran a fair and civilized race. Niki graciously reached out to me in...
The message from Republican sweep
The Seeley-Swan, and Montana generally, stayed red this past election cycle. What are the messages in this continued move to the right? Voters are apparently demanding less government, less in-your-face regulation and permitting, lower taxes and,...
Hang'n 'er up
Along the back trails of my memories this time of the year was all the hunts and the desire to gather winter's meat. Didn't seem to matter the weather in them there days, hunched up near some cover...
Making progress in spite of COVID
When COVID-19 first popped up in the news, we weren't too worried it would affect us here in Seeley Lake. Then it became a pandemic and things changed. We urged our employees to follow all...
God is not on our side
Our country has gone through a very troubling year to say the least. The anticipation of the recent election defined as much of 2020 as has the coronavirus. Everything that has taken place this year...
Bringing the joy of Halloween back to Riverview Drive
Isn’t it great that Halloween 2020 was last week and not one week ago? Imagine all of those little fairies, goblins and pirates dragging their soggy costumes through 14 inches (I know there are reports of upwards of 20 inches but let’s just...
Medicare's Open Enrollment in full swing
We are now in Medicare's Annual Open Enrollment Period, Oct. 15 – Dec. 7. It is time to think about your Medicare coverage for 2021. Open enrollment is when Medicare beneficiaries should review...
Self-preservation: Taking better care of ourselves
While sitting on the back porch, soaking up the warm fall sunshine, contemplating the benefits of a good growing season, little did we know that we would be lead, a few short days later, to grapple with a cruel twist of frigid cold and falling snow....
A call to live by faith
We are having quite a week. Tuesday the election, last Saturday Halloween. In both cases COVID has again proven quite disruptive. But then disruption is becoming the norm. But Halloween wasn't the...
Monica Tranel for Public Service Commission
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is not widely understood, but it is very important, because it sets the rates that we pay for utilities, like electricity, etc. The current Commission takes its marching orders from the utilities which they are...
Fielder's Response: The experience and skills I bring to PSC District 4
Have you noticed the political foes who spread rhetoric accusing me of supposedly horrible things never provide any evidence? If I had actually advocated the outlandish things they claim, where is the quote? Afterall, I’ve made hundreds of social m...
Montana - The welfare state
For those voters who worry about Montana becoming a socialist state, you’re too late. Montana already IS a welfare state. We get more back in federal payments than we pay out to the federal government in taxes. The Medicaid, Medicare, Social...
Seven things survivors of relationship violence taught me
In my early twenties, I worked for a non-profit for survivors of relationship violence and their families. Each survivor I worked with taught me something new about relationship violence and the journey to freedom from violence. In honor of all...
Effectively treating fuels at the neighborhood level
Wow! A record 16 inches of snow and -19 degrees in October. We must be in Montana! Wildfires are now far from our thoughts as we bundle up after still being in tee shirts only a couple of weeks ago. With our climate extremes, we know that another...
Listening to the voice of God in Scripture and in our lives - Do we hear Him?
President Russell M. Nelson issued the challenge to “think deeply and often about this key question: How do you hear Him?” He then promised, “When we seek to hear—truly hear—His Son, we will be guided to know what to do in any circumstance....
Tranel - Helping Montana for the future
In this time of political division, pandemic and economic stress, we need something upon which we can all agree. Montanans all agree that we love our last best place. We all want to keep it that way. To that end, supporting our economy and keeping ou...
Know your PSC candidates and choose wisely
As I wrap up my eight years on the Public Service Commission, I ask myself, “What are the qualifications of a good commissioner?” As a life-long Republican, my answer may surprise you, because the stuff that makes for a great PSC commissioner is...
Public land for public use
We hear again about the availability of the public lands for use by the owners of that land ––the PUBLIC. Both candidates for Montana Senate seat indicate they feel public lands need to be open to the public. Who exactly are they talking about?...
