Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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A couple of months ago former Republican Governor Marc Racicot was labelled a RINO and formally drummed out of the Montana Republican Party, this in the face of the fact that he was responsible for the election of President George W. Bush and was also a former Chair of the national Republican Party. Where had he gone wrong? (For those who still don’t know, RINO means Republican In Name Only and the Democratic equivalent is DINO.) In the mid-1990s I organized a small, politically diverse group o...
I just wanted to give kudos to JJ & Kate Hardman, Rep. Paul and Jennifer Fielder, and the many volunteers for pulling off a fantastic Constitution Bowl! They put in many hours coaching kids and organizing this "Family Feud" style event teaching our young people a fun way of learning the United States constitution. And all of us viewers who attended learned a lot as well! High school and junior high students attended and earned some fantastic prizes, well earned and congratulations for a job well done! Shame on those schools who refused to take...
There was something different in last week's Ledger, however, no one really noticed. Last week, I wrote an article using artificial intelligence (AI) software. A friend of mine from California visited recently and asked if I had ever used AI in the newspaper. I gasped and said of course not, that all our content was created by us. I then explained how the thought of AI freaks me out a little. Will it make my job obsolete as a journalist? Will no person ever write an original thought again? The short answer, in my opinion, is no. My friend sat...
Just so you know, even if there’s nobody on the ocean to experience the waves, the waves are there. From 30,000 feet, whitecaps are still visible. And there are some big ones. As we make our way at 600 miles per hour toward the Hawaiian archipelago, a freighter appears to starboard, giving a sense of scale to the world below. If it’s headed for Hawaii, we’ll get there long before — days in fact. We live on an amazing world in an amazing time. I can haul myself out of bed in Montaho, land of not-quite-eternal snow and ice, at 2:30 a.m. — all f...
Have you ever had to stop reading for an extended period of time? Have you ever read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron? I started this book in April and it’s one where you read a chapter a week and there are all sorts of tasks for you to complete and challenges. Last week was Reading Deprivation Week and I thought I was going to die. Life went into a massive tail spin in general with a new puppy in the house and all was calamity. Despite not being able to read for an entire week, I managed to read 15 books in April and I thought 11 of tho...
by Tina Daugherty Happy May! Bring on the flowers!!! The real estate market is blooming as it always does with the flowers in May. More listing are coming on the market daily. What is striking from the data is that we are normalizing in dollar volume to pre-COVID numbers, which equates to approximately 1/2 of the volume of sales due to the average value of a property being at least double what it was then. The listing inventory remains low. April 2019 there were 144 home listings in Sanders County, with only 78 in April 2023, while April 2011 w...
There are many people in Sanders County who do a lot for others and never ask for any recognition. It's time to start recognizing those people. Let's start with Angie Lowe of Thompson Falls. I went to school with Angie and have known her most of my life. One of the things I most appreicate about her is how she is true to herself. I also really appreciate that she is direct and you never have to wonder what she's thinking. She's one of the hardest working people I've ever met, and this year will celebrate 23 years with the Town Pump corporation....
My name is Glenn Schenavar, board member and Chapter Chairman of the Sanders County Chapter of the Foundation for Wildlife Management. We are holding our annual banquet on May 13th, 2023 at 50 Wilson Lane, the Bar JR Arena in Whitepine, Montana. Last year we raised $58,000 for our wolf reimbursement program. This year due to successful Sanders County and Flathead chapters banquet fundraising, we were able to take reimbursements in Region one and Region two to $750 per wolf. Thanks for all the support from sportsmen and trappers! The Foundation...
Every little once in a while I am reminded that laws are created to protect us from ourselves, or more particularly from our faulty memories, or from forgetting history. For instance, years ago we didn’t have environmental protection laws because we didn’t need them. We were happy, at that time, to not eat fish we caught in Montana’s rivers because we knew that the high lead and arsenic content of those fish meant jobs, and we were happy to sacrifice our own selfish desires so that people could...
Trout Creek School. Why is so many people worked up about our little school. It used to be well run teacher and para were treated with respect. Oh, wait a minute, it’s not all about teacher and para. It should be all about our kids. After all, if it weren’t for our children there would be no school in Trout Creek, so let’s talk about them instead of archery. Oh, and by the way I love archery and the program, but what about our music, program, our track and field. Oops, we don’t have them anymore. Why? Our principal took them away because...
Montana legislators voted this month to ban TikTok. The legislation states that "TikTok's stealing of information and data from users and its ability to share that data with the Chinese Communist Party unacceptably infringes on Montana's right to privacy." The bill also accuses TikTok of failing to remove "dangerous content that directs minors to engage in dangerous activities," then goes on to describe those activities, such as attempting to climb stacks of milkcrates, pouring hot wax on a user's face and cooking chicken in NyQuil. Now, kids...
Mark Twain was famous for quipping, “What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist only takes your skin.” As I sit to write this there are two more days to complete your tax return and make the timely filing deadline. While it might have been easy for Mr. Twain to make a joke, many people struggle to complete their returns and get them in on time. And a growing number of disgruntled Americans debate the legality of even being required to file a return. Bar...
by Michael Scharfe In my last article I had discussed some common acronyms used in the mortgage world. Although there are more acronyms that could be discussed, there are two more that are worthy of shedding some light on: PMI and MBOH. PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. PMI is arranged by the lender and is provided by private insurance companies. PMI is usually required when you have a conventional loan and make a down payment of less than 20 percent of the home’s purchase price. Additionally, PMI is generally required if you’re ref...
I give an unapologetic sigh of relief that the Legislature’s attempts to send harmful—in my view—amendments to the Montana Constitution to the voters are in trouble. Before that became apparent, however, an opinion from former University of Montana law professor Rob Natelson made the editorial rounds. He made three criticisms of the Constitutional Convention of 1972 which are interesting to me. The first “…the decision to sit delegates alphabetically impeded the ability of the conservat...
Last year, it seemed as though there was some sort of bear conflict in the area just about every day. Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff was busy taking care of issues and trying to educate property owners how to reduce conflicts. The majority of conflicts last year, as in most years, were due to trash or chickens not being secured properly. I got to know FWP bear expert Kim Annis pretty well last year, and it didn't take me long to learn her key phrase of making sure garbage is secured "inside a structure with four walls, a roof and a door." More...
The Pope Who Would Be King, by David I. Kertzer, is the biography of a man placed in a position of immense power almost against his own will, and of how he dealt with that power. It’s a great read for anyone interested in the ancient tension between centralized authority and authority “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, or between conservatism and liberalism. But as with much of history, the real interest comes from considering contemporary events in the light of history’s lessons. Pius IX (Giovanni Mastai Ferretti, 1792-1878) w...
The editorial cartoon (at right) this week got me thinking about what we're willing to give up. It's Lent, but I doubt a lot of people gave up eggs. They are a pretty basic food staple that everyone buys. With the prices going up, people are still buying eggs. There are some substitutes, but applesauce and bacon isn't really the same as eggs and bacon. People adjust. Just like when gas was near $4 a gallon. There were still plenty of cars on the road. Some people adjusted by getting rid of their big trucks and SUVs. I got a smaller car and am...
My brothers and I and our significant others once stood in Grandpa Earl’s east field on a summer night, watching sunset fade away. Hanging in the sky ten degrees above the horizon was a brilliant, silver-white dot. My sister-in-law asked, “What’s that star?” I answered “That’s Venus.” I never forgot what she said to that. With a bit of incredulity in her voice, she said, “You mean, just right over there?” That caused me to start looking at the sky differently. Yes. Venus is just right over there; somewhere between 160 million and 26 million mi...
Dear Governor Greg: I sure wish you would take a serious look back on this CSKT water compact. I understand the urge to postulate to the tribes as a gesture, thinking no harm in it. After reviewing the treaties, the sale of the property, and the agricultural operations that have been going on since without any harm to anyone or create environmental issues. What compelled you and our Republican senator, just sign off on this? As a law person I see simple text in the U.S. Constitution, and the Montana Constitution, the Tribes representation is...
What does the loss of recreational land mean to the citizens of Plains? Eventual loss of almost 9,000 acres Need public input on what land is most important to save Needing financial backing to save land This summer, almost 9,000 acres are going to go up for market in both Combest Creek and Swamp Creek. Up to this point this land has been privately owned by multiple different companies that have allowed public access. This land has been used for multi-recreational uses for many outdoorsmen. Without the input of concerned citizens, all this...
We are down to the crunch time this week. By the time you see this, all appropriation bills, revenue bills and referendums will have had to pass to the other chamber. The discussion if proposed Constitutional amendments should be passed on to the senate will have taken place. The last week has been long hours with some committee meetings going past 8 pm. The final proposed bill count in the house was near 970. Some senate bills have been heard in House committees as well as some House bills having been heard in the senate so the next 23 days...
I’m writing this on April 1 which is difficult in a house of young boys who think April Fool’s Day is an excuse to be extremely loud, place whoopee cushions under everyone the moment they turn around, and generally make it impossible to do any reading. Bless their beautiful hearts. In March I read 25 books, 16 of which were four stars or better: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jodi Moyes is a medium-paced contemporary fiction that’s not as romance-y (it’s a word) as many of her books but just as funny and emotional as she’s known for being. This...
March was a month of more sales, yet still a very tight market. On average, the inventory rose a little as to number of listings, but the average sale price dropped a little. It was pretty stable in the scheme of things. And now April showers (or snow as the case has been) shall bring beautiful May flowers. With the instability of banking and other world worries, areas such as this tend to get busier, not quieter as real estate goes. A safe haven, we are thought to be. Many would like to have assets rather than cash at present and real estate...
At the forum discussing Montana’s state constitution earlier this month, there was a diverse group of more than 100 people. There were politicians and retired people and realtors and volunteers. There were people who had lived in Sanders County forever and some newer residents. There were women and men. There were Republicans and Democrats. What we didn’t see was much diversity in age. I am 43 and I was the youngest person in the room except for a young family who showed up later in the presentation. It bothered me that there weren’t more...
You will hear people say that we need to protect our “institutions” in America. What on earth does that mean? In a nutshell, an institution is words, an idea, not anything you can touch or feel, except with the mind and heart. It is like the cement that holds the bricks of a building together. The Montana Constitution is just such an institution, and it is under stress at the moment. I recently listened to former governor Marc Racicot talk about a constitution as a social contract describing how...
