Havre Daily News - News you can use

It is strange, after serving 14 years, to be a “freshman” representative in the House. However, as a “senior” freshman, I chair Joint Education Finance and vice-chair Full Appropriations. These familiar committees are where I held leadership...

We finished the first week of the 66th Legislature. The Opening Ceremony was great. Judy was in attendance this session having missed the first day of the 2017 session because of a storm. Our friends and campaign treasurer, Junior Scheuerman and his...

I would like to publicly express my thanks to the Montana Department of Transportation crew that has been working to clean up the trees on Fifth Avenue. They removed two old, half-dead unsightly trees on the boulevard near my house. These trees were...

Fatberg, it’s like an iceberg, but made of fat. It’s a thing. You can look it up. In fact, you can look up the word definition in a 28-volume Oxford English Dictionary — which is arguably the premier authority on words in the English language...

Communities across the country are implementing regulations and/or bans on items such as styrofoam, straws and plastic bags. Why are they doing that? Pretty much because it is toxic and a “principle litter” — meaning it’s everywhere. Plastic-...

Growing up, my father wasn’t much of a fisherman — never had that knack — and like father like son, I never was a big fan myself. But my little brother, he was a fisherman. I mean, by the age of 6, that boy could outfish most full grown men. I...

January 2019, yes, it is! I want to wish each and every one of you the best of the New Year. By the time you read this, Judy and I will already be in Helena and the 2019 Legislature will already be in session. I am excitedly anticipating session...

A couple in Wyoming has received confirmation from Guinness World Records that they are the fastest two-man tent assemblers on record in the entire world. Yes, that’s a thing, and Elizabeth and Daniel Minton did it in just over a minute. No,...

Beaver populations have been managed on Beaver Creek Park for decades using legal harvest methods, mainly trapping. I accompanied my dad when he trapped the park in the 1950s, harvesting as many as 88 beaver in one season. Beaver have continued to...

One of us is a Democrat; the other is a Republican. We each served more than a quarter of a century in the Montana Legislature, mostly at the same time. We also held positions of top leadership in both the Senate and House of Representatives. We have...

If there’s one thing Montanans can unite behind, it’s that we’re sick and tired of self-serving politicians who are all talk, no walk. As the House minority leader for the 2019 Legislative session, I couldn’t agree more. Montana families...

It depends on who you ask. Are beavers a nuisance or an invaluable Mother Nature-provided stream ecosystem engineer? Like many things in our biological world, both attitudes are partly right and partly not right. Beavers cut down trees, flood areas,...

I know, the Christmas presents have been opened, half of them are already broken or the batteries drained. The tree and all the decorations have come down. The Christmas songs have been cut off, cold turkey, at midnight Dec. 25. It’s over....

Thank God a group of Republican legislators have taken the initiative to rid Montana House of Representatives of a 30-year supermajority experiment that has contributed to hyper-partisanship disdained by most of Montana’s citizens. The Montana...

Last fall during the political season, everyone running for the Montana Legislature touted their credentials as being for public access. But what does that really mean? For Montana’s hunters, anglers, hikers, and other outdoors enthusiasts, it...

Editor, Tree topping, or removing a major part of a large tree’s crown by cutting branches to stubs or to the trunk — see photo on the front page of the Havre Daily News 12-20 paper — is never an acceptable part of proper tree maintenance. If...

Arthur Eugene Beckes sent a letter to Sen. Steve Daines Dec. 21 and allowed the Havre Daily News to reprint it here Sen. Daines, The Trump administration has lost Jim Mattis, a reasonable man in a post that absolutely requires reason. If this...

As this happens every year, by now I should be expecting it — or just keep my mood happy in anticipation. Once again, I let the spirit of the season escape me. I was at work Friday, using another person’s workspace because my computer’s hard dr...

The law of diminishing returns says that if all the factors in a process remain the same, except one, and that one is steadily increased, eventually a tipping point will be reached and everything will start failing, lose its luster, fall to wreck and...

Editor, Wooden signs, hand-crafted ornaments, homemade dog treats and welded metal work awaited lucky buyers Dec. 13 at the Sunnyside Intermediate School trade fair. Thanks to the community’s stunning generosity, those items and much more — all...

The people of the Nakoda and Aaniiih Nations in north-central Montana have a saying about our home. We often say this land is as close to heaven as you are going to get. For many years we have invited visitors to experience Fort Belknap. We have...