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Candidates who run for Sheriff should be independent candidates, with no allegiance to any political party. Their allegiance should be to the law and their constituents. Only an independent Sheriff can be free from that allegiance. Travis Wafstet is running for Missoula County Sheriff, as an independent. He believes that the Sheriff should not be concerned with partisan support from either party because he does not believe that the Sheriff should be beholden to anyone. Travis Wafstet is an honest, hard working and intelligent deputy sheriff who...
I was surprised and shocked to read Mike Hopkins’ letter to the editor in the last issue. I know Mike as friendly with a sense of humor, not shrill and hysterical. I can only assume that somebody else wrote the letter and Mike signed it without reading it carefully. It is curious that the letter quotes extreme behavior by left-wing radicals in D.C., when the Republican Party and its adherents have plenty of extreme crazies of their own, even a Republican “mainstream” vice-presidential candidate encouraging the assassination of Congr...
For us it’s simple. Lee embodies the American spirit and what hard work and determination can accomplish over a life well lived. A woman of the trades, Lee is a proud retiree of SMART Local 103 and has had a long and proud career as a sheet metal worker. It doesn’t stop there though. Lee is also a businesswoman and runs her own business. This means that Lee understands what it means to be fiscally responsible and how to meet production deadlines without sacrificing quality. The MACLC is proud to endorse a Woman of the Trades, and we stand wit...
If you want to support our Montana students, here is an important decision and vote which only comes around every 10 years! When voting in November, you will have a choice to support the renewal of the 6-mill levy for Montana’s higher education system (LR 128). Access and affordability for all Montana students is central to the intent and purpose of the 6- mill levy and a positive vote strongly reaffirms your support of Montana’s public colleges and universities. There are two interesting facts that make this more important now than ever: Fac...
As a retired veteran with 42 years of service, I can appreciate the commitment of those legislators who genuinely recognize the sacrifice and dedication of the men and women that faithfully served our country during times of war...and peace. Service is service, regardless of what you did or where you served. Lee Bridges is one of those people that honors the fidelity of all veterans here in Montana. And, in particular, veterans that are struggling with healthcare issues, many of which are unique to the veteran’s experience. Exposure to chemical...
Montana is the greatest state in the greatest nation in the world. It’s why three generations of my family have called Montana their home and it’s why I still farm the same dirt that my grandparents homesteaded more than 100 years ago. Farming instills a strong work ethic and I bring that work ethic with me to Washington. That’s why together, with the input of the folks on the ground in Montana, I’ve worked across the aisle to send 20 bills to President Trump’s desk and he has signed each of them into law. I’m proud to say that many of the...
I-185 is being touted as a health measure. Raising the price of a pack of cigarettes by $2 will encourage more people to quit smoking and pay for Medicaid expansion they say. Hospitals are promoting I-185 for more than a health reason. It is guaranteed income for them and bypasses the discussion in the legislature to put some sideboards on Medicaid expansion. It was projected that 40,000 people would be eligible for expansion four years ago. There are now over two times that number on the program. Did you know that millionaires on paper i.e. la...
US Bank sells “Simple Loans” with 70-88 percent interest in Montana. People take these loans to buy snow tires, cover a mortgage payment or pay medical bills. Montana law caps predatory payday loans at 36 percent interest. But federally-insured banks are exempt from state laws and can charge whatever they want. These are the kind of bad loans that people never get out of, being offered by one of the biggest national banks. High interest rates leave customers reeling for another loan, trapping them into a cycle of debt. I’m sorry, but if it look...
I served with Mike Hopkins in the Montana Legislature in 2017 on the Appropriations Committee and on the Legislative Finance Committee through the present date. Mike’s budget experience, his excellent work ethic and his service to his constituents make him the BEST choice for House District 92. Mike is a steadfast and consistent, hard-working colleague. He has a deep understanding of the way large budgets work but more importantly, Mike understands the way policy decisions impact the budget and vice versa. During the 2017 legislative s...
SEELEY LAKE - I investigated our Sewer situation. Here’s a simple summary: The county is not issuing septic permits where nitrate levels are elevated, so businesses and residents have turned on each other instead of building consensus. The Sewer Board is an extension of this division and is also now expected to serve as a community planning body of civic vision, a task outside its purview. County assumptions justifying a treatment plant are neither convincing nor dismissible. The county seems to be acting conscientiously but it has also f...
I am writing to urge my friends and neighbors to vote for Lee Bridges for House District 92. Lee actually lives in our District and has for 35 years. She actively supports her communities, serving on both the East Missoula Community Council and Sewer Board, and was a first responder with the Volunteer Fire Department. I’m sure you have all noticed her van or truck as she travels our district non-stop, meeting with all of us, listening to our concerns and issues. Lee has a wide breadth of interests and expertise -- she is smart, articulate a...
“Zone 5” is the designation the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office uses to describe the Seeley-Swan-Blackfoot area of the county. Since 2015, this zone has benefited greatly due to the emphasis placed on rural law enforcement by the current Missoula County Sheriff, T. J. McDermott. Since taking office, he has doggedly sought to provide a third, resident deputy to enhance coverage in both time and space in the area. The first attempt to provide the third deputy had to be aborted after a year and a half, but Sheriff McDermott persisted and now we h...
In the last couple of weeks, we have all seen the videos of Liberal protesters screaming and throwing bottles at cars outside of the Supreme Court chambers and the Capitol. Senators home addresses and phone numbers being released and followed up with death threats. Sen. Corey Gardeners wife was sent a death threat with a video of someone being beheaded. Videos of Democratic legislators and activists telling groups of protesters to harass Republican legislators at home and where they eat, “don’t let them have a moment of peace” was the common pi...
For whatever it’s worth, this is how I will vote when the mail ballots arrive in a couple of days: Jon Tester for the U.S. Senate. Jon is a dirt farmer and a real Montanan. His opponent is a real estate developer from back east, who moved here recently and calls himself a rancher, although he doesn’t own any livestock. Jon Tester is the real thing. Kathleen Williams for the U.S. House. She has worked tirelessly in the state legislature for healthcare and she keeps traveling across Montana to get input from constituents. Her opponent has voted a...
Lee Bridges is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. She is honest and straightforward. She tells it like it is and most important, she listens to people. She appreciates the challenge of winning over a vote, she relishes talking to people and that twinkle in her blue eyes and her wide and eager smile and laugh, wins people over. Lee IS HD92. Her work ethic and community involvement, living in East Missoula for over 35 years, proves she would be an outstanding representative. Her opponent, on the other hand does not live in the distri...
As a firearms owner and active big game hunter for many years, the right to bear firearms is important to me. I first met Lee Bridges when she started campaigning for House District 92 and I have visited with her on a few occasions since then. She’s a proud member of the sheet metal workers union and is a board member of the East Missoula Community Council, one of the many boards she has served on. Lee has traveled to numerous events and watering holes to visit with residents of the district and has knocked on doors anywhere between East M...
As an organization that promotes integrated primary healthcare to achieve health and well-being for Montana’s most vulnerable and rural populations, the Montana Primary Care Association strongly endorses I-185, the Tobacco Tax Initiative. The impact on people from tobacco use is well-documented. Because we work with many of Montana’s vulnerable and rural people, including at the Seeley-Swan Family Medical Center (a satellite of Partnership Health Center, one of MPCA’s members), we know that tobacco companies have long targeted our lower incom...
Lee is an extraordinarily talented and unconventional person. She was the first women to be admitted to the Sheet Metal Workers Union and the devices she builds are not only useful but also in high demand. Politically, Lee has an astonishing talent to connect to people of all stripes. I am convinced that she will be able to reach across the aisle once she is serving in the legislature and she will help construct the practical compromises that make government effective. Lee is down-to-earth, with a strong personality and firm convictions. Her...
The 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights states “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The people who wrote our Constitution were exceptionally well educated with most schooled in ancient and modern history, many read and spoke multiple languages including French, Latin and Greek, many had extensive mathematical training, some were doctors, most had very significant legal schooling, some were inventors and scientists. These were peo...
Montana used to be known as the Treasure State. But in recent years, there has been a noticeable shift. Out-of-state environmental groups have been pushing to get rid of mining in our state and advance their extremist agenda. From filing frivolous lawsuits to putting in place onerous regulations, these well-funded environmental activist groups will use any tactic they can to prevent Montanans from developing our natural resources. And they’re at it again. I-186—their latest ploy to mislead Montanans—is an ambiguous ballot initiative that will...
We are writing to you as doctors, parents and citizens of our shared community. This fall, Initiative 185 is on the ballot and it will have an enormous impact on the health of Montanans. Campaigning for a ballot initiative is not something we normally do – we’re doctors, not politicians or lobbyists. However, the potential health benefits of this initiative are so great, that we are compelled to act. Big Tobacco is working hard to defeat this initiative, pumping $12 million to date into our state to support their cause. You have likely see...
We are blessed to live in a remarkably free country and I am proud to have served as a US Army paratrooper in Iraq and Afghanistan. Freedom, however, comes at a price. For generations, big tobacco companies have invested billions in advertising designed to get young Americans hooked as smokers for life. Big profits for them has meant big problems for the rest of us. My grandfather was a military veteran, a smoker and we lost him when I was very young. Treating tobacco-related diseases among our Medicaid recipients costs over $81 million...
I am supporting Lee Bridges for HD92 and here is why. Lee had left information cards on our door during the primary election in June and has personally been by twice since August. We were never home. Finally we were able to talk at two different “meet Lee Bridges” events. I decided it was time to learn more about this person than her party affiliation and her “around the world life” with her career military family and her passion for motorcycles. Yes, I like her style. I would describe it as down to earth, sincere and reflective. These charact...
SEELEY LAKE - The fine reporting effort by Andi Bourne on the Seeley Lake Community Park reveals how badly we have failed as a community in maintaining this valuable asset. Back in the eighties we played a LOT of baseball at the community park. There were four different leagues using the park: a pee wee, a women’s fastpitch, a men’s fastpitch and a co-rec slowpitch. The park was teeming with players and spectators virtually every night of the week and on the weekends for most of the summer. Visiting teams came from Deer Lodge, Clinton, Avo...
I’m writing today to support Mike Hopkins for reelection in House District 92. Over the last two legislative sessions he has demonstrated the ability to navigate the legislative process with professionalism and bipartisanship. His seniority of serving a third term would make him a stronger voice for the residents of his district and Missoula County. He serves on House Appropriations, Infrastructure and the Legislative Finance committees. Mike has worked hard to prevent the creation of new taxes on Montana families and has worked to simplify r...
