Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 1201 - 1225 of 1510
When does an Executive Order usurp the constitutional powers of Congress? Certainly when it directs distribution of funds for a purpose that has not been approved by Congress. Recently the House passed a measure that would revoke President Trump's Executive Order appropriating money to build a wall on the Mexican border. The United States Constitution gives Congress, and only Congress, the power to appropriate and spend American dollars; not the Judiciary, not the Executive. What President...
There is a new word being thrown around that most people haven’t heard of – “infanticide.” Which is most appropriately defined as murder. If your Congress person voted for this, they don’t deserve their office. Gary Thompson, Thompson Falls...
If you’ve watched the news recently, you’ve probably heard of the ridiculous petition circulating online that has a creative solution to the U.S. national debt. The petition at Change.org suggests the U.S. sell Montana to Canada for $1 trillion. As of Tuesday, the petition, created by Ian Hammond, had nearly 17,000 signatures. The goal is 25,000. “We have too much debt and Montana is useless. Just tell them it has beavers or something,” Hammond wrote. Many Montanans commenting at Change.org supported the petition. The state Legislature is gett...
When did we as a nation lose our sense of humor? It seems that we hear every day that someone has been offended by words, actions or images and this information somehow makes the news. Years ago we had movies like Blazing Saddles and television shows like All In The Family that allowed (and even encouraged) us all to laugh at ourselves and at/with one another. I think the loss of that sort of humor is tragic. An example; I’ve been working a job out of town with some friends. The other day one o...
The sportsman’s meeting held in Kalispell, January 30, drew 400 plus attendees. We would like to thank the area sportsmen and women, the Foundation for Wildlife Management, Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks for being there. It was a very passionate, concerned crowd who were frustrated with the ungulate population counts in Region One, located in Northwestern Montana. Following is some alarming information received from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on ungulate and p...
There is no other nation whose citizens are better equipped to make moral judgments about total strangers than Americans. After all, a good part of the first Europeans here were the Puritans whose religion was based on what one skeptic said was “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” So, when it comes to our government helping the poor, we are the experts on who should not be helped. We might categorize them as “those unwilling to work,” or deadbeats, or losers, or whateve...
The information that we have been seeing on the sewer project is either for or against. I wanted to see some objective research. Does the sewer or the septic systems affect the value of your property, the availability of financing, appraisal, insuring, and selling of the property? I spoke with two appraisers, three realtors, two insurance agencies, the State Assessor’s Office, and our largest bank. The general consensus was that as long as the septic system was not in failure, it would not affect financing, appraisals, sales, property tax, nor...
We have to admit, when we see someone carrying around a little dog in a fancy purse or walking their pup in a sweater or special outfit, we giggle at the silliness. Putting our farm dog in a sweater sounds like a ridiculous — and impossible — task. Spoiling our pets with fancy sweaters and designer travel cases isn't a priority, but we do make sure our pets have a warm spot on these cold winter days and nights. Often in winter, we see dogs roaming along the highway or through our towns, and we'd like to take this time to remind you to keep you...
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the MHSA all-class state wrestling tournament in Billings. I had not been there since high school, when I was a wrestling manager for Thompson Falls. Decades later, I have more of an appreciation for the dedication and focus we see in wrestlers. The competition was tough. Some kids lost out in two matches. With numbers down in many sports, including wrestling, athletes don't have the same competition at tournaments and in practice as they did decades ago, when schools had multiple wrestlers in...
I’ve mentioned in prior columns my strongly held belief that we should all do the work of finding the truth of a matter before forming an opinion. It’s an unfortunate fact that there is a great deal of false and/or misleading information printed and broadcast by major media outlets. There are examples of this every day, but I’ll use a recent high-profile event to illustrate my point followed by one from my own experience. On January 19, 2019, students from Covington Catholic High School in Pa...
This is to serve as a warning anyone who might want to welcome a roommate to share their home. I recently had one such experience that involved a veteran who came recommended by a friend. This veteran, a man, came and told me that he would pay me for the privilege of sharing my home. He said at the outset that he would pay me $150 on the first day of the month and an additional $150 on the 15th. I thought that would work out well enough and help me pay some of my bills. So, I agreed to his living with me. He paid the agreed amount on the first...
Not quite as smart as I might look, I, John Hamilton, The Ledger’s sports guy, have decided to take a shot at editorial writing and offer my opinion on the national holiday vacation day idea, referred to as Democracy Day. Usually limited to the play pages, I would like to offer a few other ideas about this proposed election day holiday that I hope will contribute to a discussion, here on the opinion page. Let’s start with the rationale for enacting such a proposal. If it came to pass, what other holiday would be more important? We could hav...
The Republican controlled Montana Legislature is changing its rules in order to forbid the posting of “legal reviews” on the legislature’s website. This is good news for Representative Greg DeVries, (R-Jefferson City) who has introduced a bill to abolish Montana’s compulsory education requirement. (Where was this guy when I was in grammar school?) Legal reviews were notes attached to bills that pointed out that there might be a good chance that a bill might, say, violate the Montana Constit...
Dear Editor, I am in favor of moving forward with Phase I and II of the wastewater project. I would like the City Council to vote in favor of this and would like to encourage everyone in favor to send a note or email to City Hall, by the end of this week, expressing their support. The wastewater project is needed to help address the septic problems that are happening and will continue to happen. These are things that we know for sure: 1. If you eat, you have to poop. 2. Septic systems on the hill are failing and there is not enough room on...
I feel the need to express how much I enjoy the bi-weekly columns written by Blaine Blackstone. The topic and content of his January 31 commentary was spot on. When we are being daily bombarded with unsubstantiated rhetoric from our biased press, his viewpoint is a breath of fresh air. I find it amazing that our congressional leaders, Speaker of the House Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Schumer have a total of two years work experience between the three of them. Senator McConnell did work two years for a...
Medicaid Expansion in Montana has not only helped reduce the number of people who are uninsured, but a recent study also touted the economic impacts the program has on our state. Since the 2015 Legislature passed the HELP Act, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana found that expansion has generated more than $500 million a year in health care spending in Montana. The study found other impacts of expansion, including reducing property and violet crime, and improving financial health by reducing outstanding...
I first started writing this column after a discussion with The Ledger’s owner/editor. She felt that my opinions, based on my personal experiences, might make for some interesting reading. I want to make it clear to the readers that this is an opinion column reflecting my spin on different issues. I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind here. Just offering a perspective based on my background and, hopefully, encouraging people to think critically rather than falling into lock step with the media. This has been a new experience for me and I’m def...
We’ve listened at the public meetings and hearings. We’ve read the news articles. We’ve spoken with our neighbors. Now is the time to look up, look around. Others, Main Street Committee, Trails Committee, Chamber of Commerce see the value and importance of investing in this community. I encourage those on the hill to join this vision, for a better community, and look to the future viability of Thompson Falls. It is our responsibility to leave our world better for future generations. Step up and support the Special Improvement District. It do...
On Tuesday, January 22 I had the honor to testify before the House Subcommittee for Veterans' Affairs. I was supporting the Ravalli County Veterans group in their effort to get funding from the state to assist the financing necessary to establish a Veterans Service Office in every county in Montana. My testimony was requested and I accepted the privilege to represent the 1,500 veterans of Sanders County and add my support to all Montana counties' veterans. I arrived at the capitol and was getting oriented when House Representative Bob Brown...
If you received a letter from the City of Thompson Falls, about the Proposed Waste Water System, you were probably concerned or at least puzzled about what this all means. I’m sure glad the neighborhood was listening. Several residents have come together to provide a place to meet and give assistance as needed. If you happen to be opposed to the project, they are helping by providing a form letter with your parcel information included. They are delivering the letter to city hall if you so desire. It appears word of mouth, neighbor telling n...
Editor, We own the 508 Preston Avenue parcel and this letter is a written protest against the proposed water improvements and against the creation of the enlarged water district. We recognize the need for additional sewer connections above the railroad tracks and upgrades below the tracks. However, your Notice of Intention states the project will cost $688,000. Surely you left off a ZERO! $6,880,000 is a much more likely figure! As everyone who lives in Thompson Falls knows, above the railroad tracks that hillside is rubble from Glacial Lake...
The Local Advisory Council, Western Montana Mental Health Center, Flathead Valley Chemical Dependency Clinic, the Tobacco Prevention Specialist for the county and the local schools all have expressed concern about vaping. There have been public meetings and presentations at schools about the dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes. It happens as school, at sporting events and in homes. Sometimes it’s easy to look the other way and not pay attention or think “my kid would never do that.” We’ve encountered many community members who don’t know what...
When you were little, did you ever use a cuss word in front of your mother and get called on it, maybe even smacked? Maybe you defended yourself by saying, “But Dad says it.” Maybe your mother told you that just because Dad uses it doesn’t mean you can. But that’s exactly what it does mean; if a person you respect cusses or talks about people in a derogatory way, that means it’s alright for you to talk that way, too. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot more use of derogatory language in America because those in the most respected government...
About the only thing I can agree with Blaine Blackstone “Truth is incontrovertible” is his recommendation on checking the facts. Particularly, check the “facts” presented in his column. Speaker Pelosi was not the only one with a negative reaction to DHS Secretary Neilsen’s presentation. Senator Dick Durbin’s reaction to it included “it was preposterous” and “was not a credible presentation.” And as for listening to people on the ground, Todd Bensman, who worked for a decade along the Texas border: “I can say definitively that the number of te...
To Area Representatives and Senators Jennifer Fielder, Bob Brown and Denley Loge We, the Sanders County Commissioners are writing this letter in support of our local medical facilities regarding the sun setting of the HELP Act. It’s impossible to put into words how important to Sanders County our Critical Access Hospital is in Plains, MT. Beyond the obvious benefits of having medical services including ER, OB, long term care, primary clinics, surgery and orthopedics Clark Fork Valley Hospital (CFVH) alone, employs 225 people with a payroll o...
