Opinion / Column
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View from the North 40: Science isn't done answering "What am I, really?"
“4 New Body Parts Discovered in the Last 10 Years,” it’s the kind of headline you’d expect to read connected to an ongoing serial killer case or maybe it’s an episode... — Updated 5/27/2022
On Second Thought: What's he building in there?
It is several weeks since the Department of Homeland Security’s admonishment, “If You See Something, Say Something” reached me on Facebook. I don’t remember the... — Updated 5/27/2022
Don't put CI-121 on the ballot
For the last 100 years the Montana Taxpayers Association has served as Montana’s most trusted resource for nonpartisan tax and government spending information. One of the promises of our mission is to encourage equitable... — Updated 5/27/2022
Looking out my Backdoor: My ditzy-doodle retreat day
I’ve been called ditzy more than once over the years. I’m going to share something I ordinarily would keep to myself because it rather proves the point. Maybe I really am... — Updated 5/26/2022
The Postscript: Verne knows
Verne knows me too well. For the first time in our lives, my husband, Peter, and I live in a building with a front desk. It’s nice to have someone there when packages are delivere... — Updated 5/25/2022
Education and Agricultural Showcase held in Havre
This past week, I was honored to help bring together educators, the Montana Board of Regents, legislators and agricultural industry leaders for the first Montana Education and Agriculture Showcase. The event couldn’t have... — Updated 5/24/2022
View from the North 40: The tick tic revisited: I hope it's not an annual thing
A tic is a frequent unconscious quirk of behavior, and a tick is a hard-to-kill, blood-sucking, parasitic arachnid that causes you to unconsciously and repeatedly scratch your head... — Updated 5/20/2022
On Second Thought: The Good Guys Caucus
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently quipped that it is amazing the Congressional approval rating ever rises to the height of 19 percent. It is not good when only 19 percent of... — Updated 5/20/2022
Looking out my Backdoor: My world and welcome to it
My world is all I have to share. My world is ordinary. It is not much of a gift. Since it is all I have to give, I gladly welcome you through my doorway. Take today. I got up on... — Updated 5/19/2022
Court ruling shines a bright light on Republican primaries
It’s standard strategy in Republican primaries. Every GOP candidate suddenly sounds like a cross between Ronald Reagan and Milton Friedman. They all embrace classic Republican philosophies, which in the economic realm, include a... — Updated 5/19/2022
The Postscript: Bunion season
It’s that time of year again. No, I am not talking about bikini season. I’m talking about bunion season. I did not even know I had a bunion until fairly recently and now, every... — Updated 5/18/2022
View from the North 40: A pig by any other name could have less irony
Here’s the thing about Vladamir Putin, he’s a fun-suck, a joy-killer, a joke-hole, the place warmhearted laughter has labeled on its maps as “Here there be dragons,” and lik... — Updated 5/13/2022
Governing from the middle
Given today’s political environment, it is sometimes difficult to recall a time, not so long ago, when working across party lines and seeking compromise on public policy issues was commonplace, expected, and the appropriate way... — Updated 5/13/2022
On Second Thought: Where is the beef?
Lately, everybody is mad at the Big Four beef packers. Last December, the Biden administration reported that, since the outset of the pandemic, a period when it could be hard to... — Updated 5/13/2022
Don't ask for smiles, offer solutions
Editor’s note: This version corrects the comparative income of women versus men. As a woman and a graduate of Montana State University-Northern, then Northern Montana College, I am taking this opportunity to address a few off... — Updated 5/12/2022
Our Constitution is clear: let people vote
My grandfather Melvin Running Wolf was only 36 years old when all Native Americans finally gained the right to vote in the United States. Imagine that. Only three generations ago, not all Native Americans could vote in elections... — Updated 5/12/2022
Looking out my Backdoor: Well, change my mind!
Two weeks ago, a shepherd dog running full speed body slammed into my knee. Maiming me was not Chebella’s intent. She was fleeing from my Lolita, half her size, but in full... — Updated 5/12/2022
The Postscript: Poking and clicking
“You gotta keep poking and clicking,” a friend tells me. “That’s what my daughter does.” By this, she means that learning new technology is not a straight path. I have to play with it. I have to find the process of... — Updated 5/11/2022
View from the North 40: Paradoxically, it makes sense
Some things in life just make sense - maybe not at first, but eventually you know enough or you stumble into some information or you just get lucky, like the half-finished puzzle,... — Updated 5/6/2022
Daines undeserving of conservation recognition
Recently, I canceled a trip to fish for steelhead in Washington because that state closed the Hoh River over historically low returns. This is nothing new to any angler who has followed the trajectory of sea-run fish throughout... — Updated 5/6/2022
Montanans rule
All of us who love Montana are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the state’s Constitution that keeps the power of Americans’ right to vote in the hands of Montana’s citizens. Montana’s Constitution is championed throughou... — Updated 5/6/2022
On Second Thought: There ought to be a law
Thanks to the Supreme Court and the Department of Homeland Security, the partisan bonfire should burn hotter than ever for this year's congressional contests. Not long after the... — Updated 5/6/2022
Looking out my Backdoor: I got pruned
Any person raised on the Montana plains knows how precious is every sprout, blade or leaf of green. Precious. We baby each new evidence of life, coddle it, rejoice when it survives... — Updated 5/5/2022
The Postscript: A great time to get old
"It's a great time to get old!" That's what my husband, Peter, says. He's right. And getting old is — as the saying goes — better than the alternative. I was thinking this while... — Updated 5/4/2022
It's time to stop warehousing people with dementia at the State Hospital
One of us is a Republican legislator representing rural Gallatin County. The other is a Democratic legislator representing the city of Missoula. Despite our political differences, we are committed to taking action to end the... — Updated 5/4/2022
