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It is a true honor to represent you in Helena. Although we have covered a wide variety of topics in the legislative session thus far, I would like to share a few issues we are currently working on: • Building and protecting good jobs, especially in tourism and natural resources. • Guarding the backbone of our democracy: voting rights and integrity. • Making certain high quality public education is accessible for everyone. • Increasing access to broadband and computers for rural communi...
In recent weeks the Montana Legislature has advanced bills to support critical infrastructure and conservation projects across the state. Starting with House Bill 632, Republicans committed to investing the latest round of federal COVID relief dollars in infrastructure, telecommunications and economic stabilization which will support our economy for future generations. While it was fiscally irresponsible for Congress to pile up more national debt, we invested the funds wisely. Several other...
Warming temperatures and clear skies have started to thaw the valley floor. Even though snow will remain at high altitudes for a while longer, grizzly and black bears have emerged from their winter dens. These bears have spent the last few months in torpor, not hibernation- a common misconception! Torpor, defined as a state of physical or mental inactivity, differs from hibernation in one surprising way- bears can- and do- wake up! For example, female bears will awaken from torpor to give birth...
Each year there is confusion regarding the budget for the Sewer District and the Annual Assessment Methodology that is sent to property owners with the cost of the assessment per parcel. I hope to explain the relationship between the two items and point out ways to be involved and give the Board input on the budget and plan of work before the budget is adopted. As you know, the qualified electors did not approve the bonds required to repay the loan portion of the project the District has been working toward for years. Therefore, at the March 18...
This month I would like to share with you an excellent state program to assist with completing your estate planning documents – Phone Legal Document Clinic. The Montana Legal Services Developer Program in DPHHS-Senior and Long-Term Care Division, P.O. Box 4210 Helena, MT 59604 Phone: 1-800-332-2272, provides preparation of estate planning documents for adults 60 and older at no cost. Clinics are conducted one-on-one via the phone. A member of the legal team works with each client to complete t...
Last year I started my tomato plants in walls of water. The walls did protect my plants from cold temperatures, so that I had earlier tomatoes than usual. But one of the walls fell over. By the time I noticed, part of the tomato plant had been smashed under the wall. The plant recovered but never grew as big as the others. Have you ever heard of this happening? Yes, occasionally. It happened to me once, when I first was using walls of water but never again. Let me pass on a few tricks for...
Things have been pretty crazy in the Legislature. We finished up the budget in House Appropriations and it will have moved across the House floor by the end of the week. The budget is in really good working order. We have been coordinating with Senate Finance and Claims to put the finishing touches on it. We said we would hold the line on State spending, delivering to the people of Montana a conservative budget that covered our essential services without any tax increases and that's exactly...
Looking out the window I see melting snow, new grass emerging from a long winters nap, fragile buds starting to come to life. Springtime in the Swan Valley represents memories. My teenager years. Saddling my horse after a quick brushing, too excited to do the job proper, my saddle bag containing a package of hamburger, one potato, one carrot, some tinfoil, salt & pepper. Matches, maybe some pitch to help start the fire to cook a meal at some point. The good ole' days. Riding from the family home...
Each of our lives have been touched, reconstructed, impacted, emotionally imploded, all to varying degrees. That is what this support group is about. I would like to offer a support group at no charge, so that our community can recover and strengthen due to the emotional impact of what we are each going through or have been through. Brain science teaches us that processing experiences, normalizing experiences, can help the brain embrace a sense of control, calm and decreased cortisol. In a safe...
Happy Spring! I hope everyone has been enjoying this beautiful weather and had a lovely St. Patrick's Day. My family always celebrates this time of year with corned beef and cabbage and I take this opportunity to teach my son Carter, who is now 12 years old, stories about our family who came from Ireland, ranchers in the southwest Montana Territory, and steel mill workers in Ohio and later in Seattle. Those stories I hope will teach him about hard work and caring for neighbors. The economy has...
All of us are looking forward to spending more time outside in the sunshine with our animal companions. Fluffy and Spot aren't the only creatures who thrive in warmer temperatures, as this time of year is Paradise for Parasites! A parasite is described as something "that lives upon or within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage." Internal and external parasites can cause great discomfort to their hosts and they can also transmit diseases to animals and humans....
Gett'n back to that other bear story ... check'n my records it was not Admiralty this wild scare took place but near Sitka, Chichagof Island. To set this here thing up right, we'll look at timber cutters' handles up and down the coast. In California they're "choppers." On the Oregon-Washington coast they're "timber fallers." And in Alaska they're "bushlers" cause we worked mostly by the thousand board feet - tak'n the name from farm workers that worked by the bushel. Anyway, with that out of...
The legislative process is a fast and furious one in our state. Senators and representatives only come together for 90 days every two years and we are just over halfway through our time this session. In the upcoming weeks, I strongly encourage you to visit leg.mt.gov to look up bills by any topic: education, taxes, transportation, you name it! From that website, you can email legislators who are on the committees that you might be interested in and you can also sign up to speak to any bill...
When I was the Business Manager and a Senator with the Associated Students of the University of Montana, we treated all student groups equally even if we had disagreements about their missions. However, during my tenure as a University of Montana (UM) student, I saw a troubling trend of calls for restricting free speech and associations begin to pop up on campuses both nationally and in Montana. In recent years we have seen free speech restricted to certain zones, harassment of student groups...
Thank you to all in the Seeley Lake community who have supported our local Meals on Wheels (MOW) program over the years. This March we are once again launching March for Meals, a month-long campaign to raise vital funds to support Meals on Wheels in Seeley Lake. This year's Seeley Lake March for Meals is more important than ever because the need in our community has increased significantly. MOW clients In Seeley Lake have more than doubled from approximately eight to 18 and are homebound for a v...
Recently, I was asked to describe the overall structure of a person's psychology. Often, I describe one element at a time. Seldom do I attempt describe the entire structure. So, I thought it might be fun and interesting, using an analogy, to present the complete structure in this column. Consider the solar system as a representation each person's unique psychology; further, that there are as many solar systems as there are people. The sun, the center of the solar system, has planets orbiting...
It's important to me that your voice is present at the legislature. All rural voters in Senate District 46 are invited to meet with me every other Wednesday at 7 p.m. via Zoom, and I encourage you to join us. Send me an email at ShannonforMontana@gmail.com and I'll be sure to get you the meeting link. Next week we will be half way through the legislative session. This point in the session is known as Transmittal, which means all new bills must be through the Senate in time to be discussed and...
We are just over one third into the 67th Montana State Legislative Session. Daily, I find myself thinking, "Jobs and the economy, jobs and the economy, jobs and the economy." I find it helpful to imagine people (you and yours, dear reader) in comfortable homes, sitting down after a hard day's work with plenty of food on the table, sharing stories about their day with family members. This image keeps me motivated to work hard myself and do my part to get good bills passed-bills that will be...
We have just crossed the 30-day threshold here in the legislature and are approaching our "General Transmittal" deadline. This will be the deadline by which all general policy bills that do not include an appropriation or deal with raising revenue will have to have been passed by their committee and across the floor to the other chamber, otherwise they will effectively be dead. Now it's the legislature, so technically nothing is really "dead" until we leave Helena but for the most part, all...
Finally, it seems winter has graced the valleys with its presence, drawing recreationalists from Montana and throughout surrounding states. Locals who have patiently waited for snow to fall have begun trapping, ice fishing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Here are few things to remember when engaging in these outdoor activities, especially with these bone chilling temperatures and windy days. If you're headed out for a walk through the snow-blanketed woods, especially if bringing along a...
Thought I better catch up on my summer at Gramps logg'n camp. Pack'n that Ol' gear drive McCulloch saw, gas, oil and pack. Husky dog chase'n chipmunks. A great day to be alive. Finally at camp I threw open the door and drank in that fragrance – a cabin full of memories. "Trout fer supper, Husky," I assured him. Grab'n my line and hooks, I ran out and cut me a pole. Dug some worms out near the old horse barn and took off on a trot for the river. A trout jumped!! I baited up and tossed it in. A...
Things are finally in full swing in the Legislature. The appropriations subcommittees are starting to wrap up their work. After they finish, the full Appropriations committee will come back together and start putting the budget together. Revenue is hard to estimate here with the pandemic and the policies coming out of government and leaving a lot of unknowns out there. But on the budget side we have a pretty good idea of where we are heading. We think that we will be able to reach our target of...
We are fortunate in the Seeley Swan Valley to have both the Mission Mountains Mercantile (MMM) in Condon and the Seeley Lake Senior Center (SLSC) in Seeley Lake providing meals for seniors. The Mission Mountains Mercantile offers senior meals Monday, Thursday and Saturday for pick-up, and Meals on Wheels (MOW) delivered to homebound individuals. Grace Siloti updates her Facebook page with pictures and commentary on the current meals. For details, please visit the Mission Mountains Mercantile...
This old line from a radio show is most appropriate for all of us today. In previous articles, I described the shadow as the opposite of the ego (a person's identity); that is, the opposite of one's personal beliefs about oneself. Although possible, the shadow seldom includes positive values. So, if you believe you are good a person, your shadow is probably just the opposite. Given the events at the Capitol building on Jan. 6th, we can easily see how harmful the shadow can be. For those of us...
Seeley Lake Sewer Board members have been hearing discussion in the community about the capacity of the wastewater treatment system designed to serve the Seeley Lake Sewer District. There seems to be a lack of information about the capacity. Great West Engineering wrote a Technical Memorandum as a design report to submit to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The preferred alternative chosen by the District Board was a sequential batch reactor (SBR) with groundwater infiltration galleries. In the Design Flow section of Technical Memo...
