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Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to optimize your Medicare coverage. Whether you’re considering a Medicare Advantage plan or adjusting your Prescription Drug Plan, MAS is here to help you make the most of Medicare. Open Enrollment consultations are tailored to your situation, helping you review your options and secure the most suitable and cost-effective plan for the coming year. Missoula Aging Services doesn’t offer a singular approach to Medicare and Medicaid assistance — we deliver a spectrum of options to cater to your uniqu...
Famously, or not, the professor in my statistical mechanics course said infinity seems to be about 100. What he meant was it’s usually safe to treat any set with more than 100 members statistically. What he didn’t add was that it becomes necessary for any set with more than 1,000 members. The US has 330,000,000 people in it. The world is at 8 billion, give or take. Even Missoula County has more than 100,000. We became “statistical” many years ago. Understanding statistics has been critical to solving societal problems for several millenn...
Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the Seeley Swan Pathfinder’s candidate debate. I appreciate events like these because they allow the community to hear directly from candidates, which helps promote democracy along with an understanding of the issues Montanans’ elected representatives will deal with once elected to office. Debating in open forums like these promotes the healthy dialogue and sensible solutions we are all hungry for right now. A hot topic at that debate was an issue that has been top of mind for a lot of fol...
You see them all summer long - those little sand-and-gravel cases on the downstream side of rocks in the shallows of the stream. They might have a little black head and legs sticking out and crawl slowly across the bottom. Spook them, cast a shadow over them, and they pull their heads in, lie still and seem to disappear. They crawl out of their cases and build new ones several times through the summer. Each case is glued together from the sand in the river bottom using a special UV-reflective...
Erin Farris-Olsen is a doer. Erin respects the law, and her approach as a candidate to be the next Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court will be to use her legal expertise to support all Montanans. As your elected official, Erin won’t play politics. That’s why I’m not goin’ with Bowen (Greenwood), who uses the office to promote his personal political agenda. We can do better! Not only does Erin know how to get things done, she also believes in a better Montana. On election day, remember to cast your vote for integrity and honor, and check the box...
When someone tells you who they are, believe them. Tim Sheehy joked about one of his experiences as, “a great way to bond with all the Indians while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.” or throwing beer cans at cultural events. He then repeated his racist remarks to other audiences for their entertainment. He tells us who he is. There is no doubt his racist statements reflect his values. Mr. Sheehy’s racist belief, declared and repeated, inflicts devastation on Indigenous people. His hurtful words are felt by us all. They are particularly damaging as they...
My first meeting with Dave Inks was inconsequential. It was somewhere in the mid-seventies and my young family was attending a sportsman's show in California's Bay Area. A number of fly fishing greats would be there and I was eager to meet some of them. My young son Jay and I visited Randall Kauffman's booth, where Randall graciously signed a copy of his new book for Jay. A few minutes later we were in the Creative Sports booth, the first mega-fly shop, manufacturing and wholesale conglomerate i...
Rush skeletonweed is rapidly advancing from the Idaho border where it has long been established along the I-90 corridor towards the Blackfoot watershed and points beyond. Rush skeletonweed is native to Asia, the Mediterranean and North Africa, and was first reported in the United States near Spokane, Washington in 1938. A small infestation was found in Sanders County, Montana in 1991 and has subsequently been reported in Lincoln, Flathead, Ravalli, Lewis and Clark, Beaverhead, Missoula and...
Thank you for the very insightful and illuminating article in the Sept. 5, 2024 Pathfinder regarding the challenges our local pharmacist, Karen Dove, and the Seeley Swan Pharmacy face from both outside sources and local considerations. For starters we should all recognize how lucky our small community is to have its own full service pharmacy. As the article points out, Dove’s facility is the only pharmacy serving all the areas between Big Fork, Lincoln and Missoula. It should also be noted that small independent pharmacies such as ours are unfo...
Two years ago, a Utah ski corporation and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) announced a plan to highly develop the rustic Holland Lake Lodge on public land in Condon in the rural Swan Valley. The ski corporation, POWDR, and USFS touched off a blistering public debate about the future not only of the small town and relatively wild valley, but a discussion about the future of Montana and the high-dollar outside influences changing the Big Sky State’s property, social and natural values. Skip ahead two years, and the situation has only become more c...
Have you ever had one of those relationships where, when it is good, it is great — a synchronized dance, a symphony, fireworks and flowers. But when it is bad, it is very bad — angry noises, smoke, disillusionment. For years, I’ve been locked in such a love/hate quagmire. Not with my wife, Pam, we’re pretty boring in that regard, but with a Vermeer BC625. Some might say that such strong feelings for a wood chipper are abnormal. (Before throwing stones, have you ever used the term “my baby” referring to a car, truck, boat, or snowmobile?) But wh...
I’m Rep. Connie Keogh, and I am currently serving in House District 91. It’s my honor and privilege to run for election in the newly drawn HD 92, which includes rural parts of Missoula County and up to Condon on Highway 83. Thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself and to discuss what we need to do this next legislative session. It has been my pleasure to get to know my opponent, Ted Morgan. He has impressed me with his enthusiasm and energy, as well as his willingness to get involved in his community upon his arrival here. I’ve been...
“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” sings Joni Mitchell in Big Yellow Taxi. Busily living our lives, we often forget to stop and look back to see if we are indeed missing something, something as important as our health. Thanks to RFK Jr. the conversation on population health has entered the public sphere. This gives us all an opportunity to reflect on our own health and our futures. The numbers are not in our favor. In July of 2022, Tufts University research team published startling statistics in...
In recent weeks we’ve noticed that political yard signs for some candidates have come up missing. We have seen Democrats’ signs removed, yet most of the Republican signs are still standing. Upon further investigation, some were mangled and thrown into the brush, others were stolen off of private property by trespassers. Some people don’t like seeing political signs put up but they do play a role in helping voters know who is running for office. The signs lend a sense of seriousness to the campaign. If a candidate is willing to spend money for s...
I would like to echo C. Burt Caldwell’s endorsement of Sen. Jon Tester in his July 25 letter to the editor in the Pathfinder. Sen. Tester has consistently demonstrated he is working for all Montanans. That contrasts sharply with Sen. Steve Daines who is highly partisan and is in fact a leader of the Republican National Committee. His first loyalty seems to be with his party. Our congressional representatives, Rep. Ryan Zinke and Rep. Matt Rosendale are junior senators who don’t seem to be accomplishing much at all, despite the fact they are...
We are issuing this joint statement because it has come to our attention that political signs educating House District 92 voters of our candidacies have been removed or defaced. These unfortunate acts affect both our efforts and, though small in number, they extend across the whole district from the Rattlesnake neighborhood to Condon. Though we differ on specific legislative priorities and policies and describe different visions for the role of state government, we want to speak loudly and clearly on one issue that we agree upon wholeheartedly....
There is a confusion these days about a thing called truth. It is that cliché of, “How can you tell if a politician is lying? Their lips are moving.” But it shouldn’t be that way. Jesus said for us to let your yea be yea and your nay, nay. And anything more is what comes from evil. (Matthew 5:37) Truth has become a relative thing instead of the immutable thing it should be. The day of the scientific method is quickly falling behind us. I have been told many times that whilst I believe something, that it is just “my truth” and it is not for th...
Early this evening the air was pleasant. The air quality index varied between moderate to good - stable enough for Jan to plan ahead, marinate some fresh veggies and chicken chunks for kebabs, throw them on the grill and plan a pleasant outdoor meal. Left in my hands, we'd have eaten cold tuna sandwiches indoors. It's a good thing she's more energetic and playful than I am these days. Smoke gets to me and I become a house-bound creature of dour habits when enough wildfire smoke hangs in the air...
I've been back in the Swan Valley for a little over a week now, having parked the boat in Pasadena, Maryland and prepared it for sale. Naturally, the boat market has completely tanked, with everyone trying to get rid of that impulse-buy boat from the pandemic. We have the preternatural ability to find the bottom of any market when we have something to sell. Our quick response unit in Condon had six medical calls the first four days I was back. The members suggested that I take my black cloud...
Don Larson’s Aug. 15 Pathfinder OpEd concerning Condon jumping ship from Missoula to Lake County being a no-go rings true. A 30-year stint in Seeley Lake left vivid memories of being treated like a red-headed step child by Missoula. Condonites, you have my sympathy. What did not ring true were Larson’s misleading comments concerning CSKT government and tribal membership not paying their fair share into the Lake County tax coffers while enjoying many county services. While up on his soap box, two-county homeowner Larson also took a pot shot at...
Before we were born on earth, we all lived with the Heavenly Father as His spirit children. He presented a plan to help His children learn and grow. Through His plan, we can become more like Him and be worthy to enjoy eternal life. This plan is possible because God’s Son, Jesus Christ, came to earth to suffer for our sins, a sacrifice called the Atonement. God sent us to earth, where we could have a physical body (see Genesis 1:26–27). We needed bodies to help us experience life on earth. God...
These days we're having now, this little tweener season that I call late summer, is one of my favorite times. The heat of summer - and hopefully the fires and their shrouds of smoke - are winding down. Days are getting noticeably shorter and the nights are noticeably cooler. The kids are getting their last lick of vacation in before the start of school. It's 4H animal projects and county fair time, sweet corn fresh from somebody's garden or maybe a roadside stand time, and time to think about...
As the new school year begins, the lack of affordable housing casts a long shadow over Montana’s communities, especially for our teachers and students. The housing crisis is not just an economic issue — it’s a threat to the future of our state and the well-being of our children. The housing crisis hits all of us, but in this back-to-school month, the impact on our teachers and families is in full light. On the trail in western Montana, I met with Seeley Lake’s principal, who told me they had teacher openings with interested candidates, but ther...
Charles Dickens wrote “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” in his novel A Tale of Two Cities. Though the novel is an all-time best seller, I wanted to write to you about redistricting as the common sense conservative candidate for House District 92. HD92 for decades has been one of the last conservative leaning represented areas in Missoula County. It covered exclusively areas outside the city, from Clinton to the Seeley-Swan Valley. Unfortunately, in 2023 the Districting & Apportionment Commission changed that. Areas like See...
I’d like to provide constituents with an update on my legislative activities this summer. Most recently, I chaired the next-to-last legislative Revenue Interim Committee (RIC) meeting to review our state’s financial updates, the Governor’s Property Tax Advisory Committee’s recommendations, the Department of Revenue’s recommended bill drafts generated by that agency’s Land Classification Study Working Group (LCSWG), and finalizing our 2023-2024 Property Tax Modernization Study. The Property Tax Advisory Committee provided a comprehensi...
