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“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...
Medicaid expansion through I-185 is a bad deal for Montanans and presents serious issues for future legislative sessions and state budget discussions. In 2015 when Medicaid expansion was passed, there were months of heated debate between both sides. It was eventually passed but only after both sides agreed to include a “sunset clause” that provided a statutory appropriation through 2019 and would require the 2019 legislative session to re-approve the program. This was done so that the legislature could take a serious look at the pro...
Imagine a ballot initiative that would give every citizen in Montana $1,000 each year. That initiative would be very popular and would likely pass. But with a $1 billion price tag, it would result in a serious deficit for our state budget and require massive tax increases or cuts to other services. The authors of our Montana Constitution were wise to prevent these types of situations from occurring. Monetary appropriations by ballot initiative allow special interests to use the initiative process to reap windfalls of tax dollars and could bust...
The word ‘bamboozled’ isn’t one we use often nor is it understood anymore. However, if I-186 passes we’ll get a darn good reminder of its proper use. Bamboozled means the use of a ploy, ruse or scheme to achieve a specific goal. An example would be, “Tom Sawyer ‘bamboozled’ the neighborhood boys into doing it for him.” The proponents behind I-186 are presenting it as a much-needed solution, when in reality I-186 creates more problems than it solves. I-186 is a proposal to stop the future of mining in Montana that is being pushed almost e...
I am a proud Montanan and a veteran, and I support voter initiative I-185. About one in ten Montanans is a veteran, one of the highest per capita representation among all the states in America. Including the less fortunate among us Montanans, an estimated 9,500 veterans stand to lose their current healthcare coverage through Medicaid if I-185 does not pass. As a veteran I know first hand the sacrifices made by those who chose to serve our country, and the least we can do is provide healthcare coverage to those who have given up so much for our...
Imagine that you are returning to your vehicle after a day of hunting with your child. Before you put your rifle in the gun rack, you push the safety off to open the bolt and remove the round in the chamber. The moment you hear the click of the safety mechanism the rifle goes off in your hands. The bullet ricochets and kills your child standing nearby. Imagine the damage a bullet designed to bring down an elk will do to a nine-year-old boy. It’s a memory I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Sound crazy? It happened. Something similar hap...
I strongly support Alex Beal for Justice of the Peace. Not only is he highly qualified but his opponent, the current judge, is an embarrassment to the judiciary. Alex has been a prosecutor, public defender and attorney in private practice for 13 years. He serves as an assistant Municipal Court Judge in Missoula and has proven that he can keep a court functioning efficiently, handling a high volume docket with minimal wait. His opponent has made a mess of her court. She is frequently unexpectedly absent, throwing the court calendar into chaos. T...
Lee Bridges may be more prepared to run for the Montana Legislature than any other past or current candidate. She hit the ground running in February, right after registering for House District 92. Since then, Lee has been meeting people from all walks of life every week in the Swan Valley, Seeley Lake, Bonner and East Missoula areas. I’ve seen Lee at several community events, meetings and businesses, face-to-face at the Hungry Bear and most recently at Liquid Louie’s. I’ve watched her chatting with just about everyone, listening and getti...
As a pediatrician, I am alarmed by statistics that show that a rapidly rising number – now 30 percent – of Montana teenagers are using e-cigarettes or vaping. Without prompt action to reduce the appeal of these new tobacco products to teens, we’ll be raising the next generation of nicotine-addicted kids. We know nicotine exposure in adolescence can harm the developing brain. As a society, we all pay the millions in health care costs associated with tobacco use. Aerosols involved in e-cigarette use are harmful; they contain heavy metals and o...
As a firearms owner and active big game hunter for more than 55 years, the right to own firearms is important to me. Recently, I saw a Greg Gianforte television ad attacking Kathleen Williams’ position on firearms. A pistol-packing young woman claimed that if Williams is elected as Montana’s congressional representative, she would take away her right to defend herself. Not only is this misleading, it is an outright lie! I have gotten to know Kathleen during her campaign, and have had in-depth conversations with her about her position on fir...
One name to remember when voting this fall is Lee Bridges, who is running for House District 92, which includes Condon, Seeley Lake, Greenough, Potomac, Bonner, East Missoula and surrounding areas. I first met Lee 25 years ago when I was a building inspector checking the electrical and heating system that Lee had installed in her shop. That’s right, she did all of the work herself, to a level of perfection and craftsmanship that I had rarely seen before or since. Actually, I was so amazed that a novice was so good at this trade, that I e...
There are three contested statewide races on the ballot this year: US Senate, US Congress and a third one that receives little public attention, Clerk of the MT Supreme Court. While the office is obscure to most people, it fulfills an important role. The Clerk is charged by state statute with managing files and cases, overseeing the appellate process and keeping the Court’s records. The Clerk also licenses Montana’s attorneys, issues writs and certificates and protects public access to court records. Rex Renk has been part of this office for...
