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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...
In deciding whether my daughter would walk to kindergarten, like any parent, I assessed the risk involved. Now that she’s in high school, we have different risks to consider. Risk management is something we all do every day. Monopoly utilities like NorthWestern Energy, Montana Dakota Utilities, and rural cooperatives also manage risk. As regulated utilities, NorthWestern and MDU are required to file a plan with the Public Service Commission evaluating the most cost-effective way to serve Montanans, considering all resource alternatives. N...
I've heard that phrase several times since moving back to the area and starting my position as the Seeley Lake Game Warden. I'd like to thank everyone I've met, from the bottom of my heart, for being so welcoming! This monthly column will be a place I can inform the community about important Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks information, dates and opportunities, as well as an expression of my creative side. I hope you enjoy! As the sun dips beneath the lodgepole horizon, I smile. It's the end of ye...
It's week three here at the Legislative Session and things are off and running. For the last 16 years, the bureaucracy in Helena has been told from on high that the best way for them to affect positive change in the lives of Montanan's was to be intimately involved in most of the decisions we make as individuals, towns and communities. You see it every time you interact with government, these days it almost feels like you need to get a permit to sneeze. We are looking to reverse that trend in He...
There was a time many moons ago I had a young stud quarter horse. He's lineage went to King P-234 and Peter Mc Cue. That's to those who knew the history. Anyway, this here horse, like many studs, liked to nip. I had him in a box stall and once as I walked by he quick reached out and grabbed my shoulder. Well sir there went part of my wool jacket. Think'n he got away with it, he retreated to the other side of the stalls as if to say, "Gotcha!!" So I was tell'n my great nabor, a good devout...
This week we gave the Oath of Office, promising to uphold the constitutions of the United States and Montana. This 67th Legislative Session proves to be a unique one, and as we begin, I want to thank the legislative staff who have done a tremendous job of making sure we may safely do our work. Many people have asked me what I hope to do for you all. This is my first time ever serving in the legislature, so the learning curve will be steep! That having been said, the primary answer to the...
Greetings, If you were wondering about current vaccination protocol, the Missoula City-County Health Department has a new web address, https://www.missoulainfo.com/ that will keep us up to date about the Phases of Vaccine distribution as set by Governor Bullock. You can also call 406-258-4636 to get current information. On the website, there is a tab at the top titled Vaccination; within it is a list of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers. At the top of the list is the question-Who will get t...
Since it's the holiday season, I believe it's fitting to describe some psychological traits associated with the season. During this season, people are more open, kinder and giving to others. Even to people they don't know! Why is that? There are many possible answers but let's explore a few from a psychological perspective. First of all, people let their egos (sense of identity and control) relax a bit. This means they are less territorial, less argumentative and less adamant about being right....
