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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...
Concerning the Letter to the Editor from Leslie Lee admonishing me for trivializing trichotillomania (hair pulling compulsion). I am terribly sorry for referring to this disorder so flippantly in my Funky Phrase article. It was extremely insensitive of me to ignore the fact that trichotillomania is debilitating for sufferers. Please accept my apology. I will work harder to be more sensitive to issues like this in the future. Betty Vanderwielen Reporter, Seeley Swan Pathfinder...
In the Letter to the Editor entitled “More empathy required in reporting” by Leslie Lee Aug. 27 she states, “The article “Pulling Your Hair Out” published Aug. 13, 2020 about trichotillomania contains inaccuracies that should be clarified. This is a debilitating disorder, and to refer to it as something people do because their plans fell apart [furthers stigma and shame] that prevent people from seeking help.” Accurately (and without the above prejudicial terms), it misinformed. “Stigma and shame” (in the above response) add to the misinformat...
Dear friends, neighbors and members of the Missoula County Medical Community, When our lives changed dramatically on Nov. 16, 2019 due to Diann’s stroke, dozens upon dozens of individuals rushed to aid our family. First responders arrived and in quick succession so did the ambulance crew, doctors, nurses and hospital staff. Friends allowed me to stay in their homes in Missoula. Others in Condon cared for our dogs, safeguarded our home and many traveled in from the Swan Valley to offer hopeful messages and give us the benefit of our c...
Nowadays, politics in Washington creates a lot more problems than it solves—we’ve been led to believe that every issue, big or small, is an all-out battle for the soul of our country. But, quite frankly, when you take a step back from the dysfunction coming from the Capitol and spend some time in the great outdoors, these knock-down, drag-out fights start to fall apart at the seams. You find out that the neighbors you disagree with usually want the same things you do. And that’s why the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act is so special: it br...
For Montana’s Public Service Commission, the past year has been one of harmful infighting, disruption and absenteeism among its five commissioners. The dysfunction has been damaging to us all because major PSC responsibilities were consequently neglected instead of fulfilled. Commissioners are responsible for regulating monopoly utilities and for overseeing their new projects—in such vital areas as electric power, telecommunications, water, sewer and natural-gas pipelines. Now the Commission needs strong leadership that has been severely lac...
I had the unique opportunity this summer to accompany District 4 Public Service Commission candidate Monica Tranel as she biked 550 miles through the seven counties she hopes to represent. I drove the “sag wagon,” from the Canadian/Montana border town of Roosville, through Lincoln, Sanders, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Granite and ended at the Idaho border in Ravalli County. A group of folks gathered in Noxon at Avista Park socially distanced, masks on, to listen as Monica spoke about how important it is to have experienced leadership on the PSC...
The article “Pulling Your Hair Out” published Aug. 13, 2020 about trichotillomania contains inaccuracies that should be clarified. This is a debilitating disorder, and to refer to it as something people do because their plans fell apart furthers stigma and shame that prevent people from seeking help. Trichotillomania is a mental health disorder affecting at least 2% of the population. It often begins in puberty, but toddlers and babies may compulsively pull their hair as well. Contrary to the information in the article, it is an obs...
Well, I see the city council has approved the purchase of 19 acres on Scott Street using $10.7 million dollars of TIF money, including bond issues. Let me put that into plain English. Of that $10.7 million dollar property tax money you paid into, around $3 million would have gone to the County. In other words, the city of Missoula should thank the taxpayers of Condon, Seeley Lake, Bonner, Frenchtown, and the other 10 or so forgotten towns in Missoula County for the money. And my opponent said nothing. Anytime you read Missoula uses TIF money...
Yes, of course! Tom lives in Montana House District 92. He is the secretary of the Seeley Lake Community Council, president of the Double Arrow Land Owners Association, and a board member and volunteer for the Seeley Lake Historical Society. Tom lives in Seeley Lake, the center of the district, and through his volunteer associations, visits with and listens to so many people. He hears our concerns, visions and needs. He sees how decisions at the state level affect us as rural people. He will speak to our needs and benefits as opposed to the...
We are a group of educators that collectively worked for more than 160 years at the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) for five state superintendents of both political parties. We are proud of the role that OPI has had in supporting local public schools and in providing leadership to ensure our Montana schools offer the best public education available anywhere. Melissa Romano is the candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction that we believe has the energy, expertise and vision needed to lead public education in Montana. Romano is an...
