Sorted by date Results 377 - 401 of 1183
As an elected official, you just have to get used to the fact that people will lie about you. Like it or not, its just a part of the way campaign seasons work currently. But I feel like lying about people’s families for political gain is a line in campaigning that we should not be crossing. It has got to be one of the lowest forms of campaigning ever. It’s also not going to work. Folks in House District 92 know me. They know that we have one of the most successful and independent records of any legislator in Helena. That we have secured bet...
I’ve lived in the Swan Valley for 40 years. I’ve worked locally, for Rustics, the Forest Service, DNRC and Swan Ecosystem Center. Currently I work with Living With Wildlife Foundation, helping to educate visitors to our public lands about camping and recreating and living responsibly in bear country. I’m also a small business owner and member of the Swan Valley Community Council. Sustaining a vibrant and healthy community is a top priority for me. This is why I will be voting for Tom Browder to represent HD 92. Tom and I share important value...
Our mission should always be to preserve the nobility of Americas character, One Nation Under God. A place where anybody’s dream can come true. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights was the fulfillment of 1,000+ years of western civilization. Our Constitution is the product of centuries of tradition, wisdom and experience. No political document has done more to advance the human condition or propel the engine of progress. However today, a radical movement is demolishing this treasured and precious i...
Have you ever met a person that seems to shine - because they listen, smile, reflect and then actually respond directly to you? Have you been believing respect, being heard and part of the process in driving together toward a better way to reach and provide opportunities is not readily valued today? Do you believe that best decisions are made by those that live and invest their hearts and energy into this place we call home, not the dictates of party power strategies? Find stability and hope in Juanita Vero’s run for County Commissioner. A...
Since ballots will soon be in the mail, I have some concerns about our local elected representative, Mike Hopkins. If you’re not familiar, Mike moved here from California where his mommy was busy suing Danville, California for two years over his traffic tickets. She later also sued the moving company who brought her here to the house she bought for little Mikey in the South Hills. She even sued the local Republican Women’s group when they weren’t running the way she thought they should. Is Mike really a Republican? He talks a big game, but w...
In the late 1800’s my great, great grandfather came west from Missouri and settled with his family in a wooded area near Alberton. He was drawn to Western Montana, he said, by the power and beauty of the Rocky Mountain front. My grandpa owned and operated a small sawmill, which paved the way for my father’s introduction to the wood products industry. When I was a child, my dad’s work took my family to various Montana locations including the community of Seeley Lake, which is just down the road from where I now live. As a native Montanan with...
When does PUBLIC LAND cease to belong to the public? Many years ago various entities decided that the general public was not entitled to use public land. What to do? They convinced the US government to turn some 70,000 acres of public land into a wilderness study area thusly removing it from public use until a study was made to determine wither it fulfilled the parameters to become part of a very special designation of WILDERNESS. Studies were done and it was determined qualifications were lacking. So here they are some 15 or 20 years later,...
As a County Commissioner, Juanita Vero continues to provide us with the dynamic and successful leadership necessary to lead Missoula County through these particularly challenging times. Her long-successful ranching business in the Greenough area has taught Commissioner Vero how to be a business owner, an employer and a taxpayer sensitive to the needs of rural communities and people across western Montana. In virtually every public meeting that I have attended where Ms. Vero has been present, she has been professional, colorful, respectful,...
Raph Graybill is one of the most talented lawyers I have met. A fifth generation Montanan he currently serves as Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Bullock. He has work experience as both an attorney and a police officer. He has practiced before the US Supreme Court and also won a landmark decision before the Montana Supreme Court to protect public lands. He sued the IRS successfully preventing dark out-of-state money to invade Montana elections. His opponent intends to join a lawsuit that would terminate the Affordable Care Act. It would rip...
As a native Montanan, brought up by union workers and raising my son in a state that has consistently ranked one of the proudest nationwide, I ask you to look closer at a race you may not have considered important: Montana's Secretary of State. In this divisive time, I'm hopeful we can agree on the need for transparency in this position that, among other roles, oversees our elections. Bryce Bennett has a proven track record as a bipartisan advocate for Montanans' right to vote. One of his biggest passions in life is making sure that every...
Bryce Bennett is the person we need to elect for Secretary Of State. Bryce has done a lot of admirable, bipartisan work to protect our privacy, keep dark money out of our elections, protect access to public lands and extend and maintain health care protections. As a native of eastern Montana and a state senator, he has a clear view of what the office of Secretary Of State needs to do to improve and protect Montanans' lives, regardless of political affiliation. His focus on and dedication to keeping elections clean and accessible, as well as...
I am proud to endorse Bryce Bennett for the Office of Secretary of State (SOS). Bryce has worked diligently and effectively as the Representative for Montana House District 91 for the past four years. I look forward to seeing his energy and enthusiasm in the Secretary of State’s Office. I have first-hand experience with the SOS and have seen the results of four years of mismanagement by the incumbent whose chief deputy seeks to replace him. Slashes to staffing make it increasingly difficult and time-consuming to access essential business s...
I have learned a lot over the past few months. If you watch Fox news; Democrat run cities are experiencing riots by supposed protesters for racial justice. ABC, NBC and CNN portray this as “largely peaceful” patriots protesting racism while racist police and white supremist provoke them into burning down buildings, stealing flat screen TVs and designer tennis shoes. Based on Democrat politician’s claims that this country is overwhelmingly and systemically racist; I fully expected hundreds of thousands of racists to descend on the prote...
Over fifteen years ago, folks from Seeley Lake and Ovando sat at the conference table at Pyramid Mountain Lumber with three goals: support local timber jobs and healthy forests, increase recreational use in the Lolo National Forest, and permanently conserve some of the wildest places in Montana. What resulted from that meeting and countless gatherings after it is the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project, which Senator Tester introduced as legislation in June 2019. We’ve held many public meetings and have honed the Blackfoot Clearwater S...
Horse packers and mountain bikers spend less time together than we should - it sometimes seems like we’re in the woods in search of different things. But the truth is that we’re all drawn to the backcountry for the same reasons: to enjoy Montana’s wild places, to connect with the natural world and to restore our spiritual health. We all value this landscape and deserve a place on it. It’s that understanding that has allowed us to come together as part of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project. Discussions weren’t always easy but we re...
I would like to recommend you vote Tom Browder for House District 92. Residents of Seeley-Swan need an active, engaged and local community member to represent them in Montana’s State Legislature. We all know Seeley-Swan has many needs, including low cost housing, improved infrastructure, health insurance options and a strong advocate for those needs. Tom will be your guy and voice in Helena. I am more of an Independent voter and look at the person, rather than party. I selected Tom as I see him as a better fit for the citizens of S...
Ninety-nine percent of law enforcement men and women are good, honorable, brave and even heroes that put their lives on the line every day when they go out to protect and rescue the citizens of America. And yet we have liberal, left-wing Democrats that want to defund our law enforcement. These left-wing liberal Democrats are dumber than a box of rocks. Just because there is one rotten apple in the barrel, you don’t dump the whole barrel. The left-wing liberal Democrats, governors, mayors and councilmen are allowing terrorists to murder, b...
The work of the 2019 legislative session has come full circle on two bills vetted in the Senate State Administration Veterans’ Affairs Committee which I chaired. One was SB275 (Senator Olzewski-R) and HB524 (Representative Weatherwax-D) that brought attention to needs for recognition of two different subjects. SB275 gave five years to raise $165,000 to commemorate our first woman governor Judy Martz. HB524 requested a tribal monument with a flag circle on capitol grounds and had language included that would set up a committee and private d...
I am writing in support of Greg Gianforte for Governor. I believe Greg understands the dire economic position our state is in and has a game plan for recovery. Before the plandemic (not a typo), Montana ranked 49th in the nation in household income, as reported by Prospera. We barely had an economy going into 2020. Our current governor had no business shutting down our businesses. I believe Greg would never hobble our ability to prosper. Greg believes in school choice. Greg also appreciates religious and medical freedom, issues critical to me...
As an active member of a local elections advisory committee, I have seen how much work goes into keeping our elections accessible, secure and accurate. I have seen how important it is to have strong leadership in the Secretary of State’s office and how lacking that leadership has been for the last four years. We desperately need a new Secretary of State and I am proud to support Bryce Bennett’s candidacy. He is, quite frankly, the best person for the job. Bennett is one of the hardest working and most driven leaders I know. Whether he is reg...
As we debate how to improve our country’s healthcare system, we must consider how any proposal would affect small businesses and the millions of Americans they employ. As a small business owner, I know that a new government-controlled health insurance system like Medicare for All or the Public Option is absolutely the wrong way to go. Instead, we must build on what works within our current healthcare system while making care more affordable. Experts warn that Medicare for All would increase federal spending by $32 trillion in its first d...
A recent Billings Gazette editorial, “Stapleton Shows Why He Is Unfit for Any Office” is right on target. What it doesn’t say is: his second in command is just as incompetent. Christi Jacobsen has been Corey Stapleton’s Deputy Secretary of State for almost four years. And she is now running to replace him. This is not the person you want in that office for several reasons. They are joined at the hip and their record is atrocious. They have wasted taxpayer money in extraordinary, historic style. There was Stapleton's nonexistent charge of vote...
The crime and rioting in the Democratic controlled cities is wide spread. In many cases the publicly elected officials are supporting this destruction. Many business owners are seeing their life’s work destroyed in one night. The mayors in these cities are trying to defund the police protection. If the police are removed, who will protect the law-abiding citizens from the criminals? Self defense is a fundamental human right. Montanans have a heritage of being strong supporters of the Second Amendment. A large majority of the households, in o...
It is time to fully examine the idea of combining Missoula with the county to streamline our governments. Communities such as Butte - Silverbow have done this successfully and dramatically reduced government costs by increasing efficiency. There is only one incorporated town in Missoula County, the City of Missoula. How hard would it be to re-constitute our local governments? Conduct a poll and ask the residents and I’ll bet they will agree - combined fire, water, sewer, road, police and school systems would eliminate a ton of expensive duplica...
Having kept a close eye on the homeless issue in Missoula County, especially the illegal encampment West of the Reserve Street bridge, I am astounded at the recent halt to the removal of the individuals destroying this area. Most astonishing is the threat by the County Health Department to fine those in control of the property and the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) for the trash being spread by the transients illegally squatting on the land. The reason I find the threat of suing the MDT so absolutely absurd, is that the County is...
