Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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I am keeping my promise not to write about politics for a while; and it may be forever. It seems moot. We are stuck in a political and ideological quagmire, and it appears we will remain so for a while. It might be better to explore something we can agree on, if it can be found. ’Tis a nice day, as I write; sparkling blue skies over a light frosting of snow. Fall has frozen right into winter after an extra-long summer. The tamaracks and maples seem somewhat confused, but they’ll get over it. Hopefully, we will too. Sometime before summer — m...
Just when I thought everyone would be complaining about the time change Monday morning, there was something else on peoples' minds — the winter storm. In recent weeks it's been in the back of my mind to drag up the shovel and ice melt from the basement at The Ledger. I kept thinking I had a few more weeks, or at least days. Not so, when I arrived to an inch of snow and some pesky ice Monday. I love that we get to enjoy all four seasons in our beautiful corner of the world. I'm whining about the cold and snow as well, but it's beautiful o...
I am writing this column before the election, and you are reading it after the election, and here’s my prediction; the losers will be unhappy, and the winners will be happy. I also predict that there will be at least one winner somewhere, who will not take yes for an answer and will demand an investigation into supposed irregularities in their own election for the sake of principle. And I further predict that such a person will have won by a sizable margin because nobody but a fool would want t...
When we look outside and see snow on the surrounding mountains, my husband’s first thought is, “did we buck enough wood?” while my first thought is, “do we have enough books?” Out of the 13 books I finished in October, I only gave six of them four stars or better. Here they are, in no particular order. The Surgeon’s Daughter by Audrey Blake is the second book in her series, the first being The Girl in His Shadow. These are historical fiction, fast paced, and roughly 390 pages apiece. They tell of a time when very few women were doctors, an...
Tuesday is Election Day. We get to go to the polls and submit our choices for elected officials and initiatives. We get to choose, as a county, who our leaders will be. We get to choose, as a group, whether or not we will collect a county tax on marijuana sales. The common theme here is that we have a choice. I have had people tell me in the past that they don't vote because their one vote doesn't matter. If you looked at the numbers following the primary election in June you realized that yes, every vote matters. I'm thankful that we have a...
Within the past few weeks, many Sanders County residents have learned of legislation that threatens the water rights of many of those living in Northwest Montana. Last Saturday, October 29, there was a meeting at the White Pine Mennonite Church for the purpose of getting information out to Sanders County residents concerning the loss of their water rights as the result of The Tribal Water Compact. My conservative estimate as to the number of people in attendance is 160 to 180 people. During the first portion of the presentation, the speaker...
Those of you who read my columns know I love to read. As a child I loved the library. I still recall the white wire chairs with the pink, orange and yellow seats in the children’s section and the location of my favorite books. Although if I were to return, I’m sure a remodel has changed all that! As children we were read many stories. Mostly fables or fairy tales of one sort or another, always with a lesson to be learned. Lately I find myself musing over some of the stories we were read and thin...
The cold weather is upon us and winter is on the way. I am gently reminded of this every morning when I step outside and see the snow-covered mountains. While summer is always busy around here, the pace is very much the same during fall and I’ve got plenty to do before the cold weather starts to stick around for good. I have a list of everything I need to do constantly running through my mind, none of which I have started on. I still need to dig up my dahlias, a tedious task I have to do every year that makes me question my love for these p...
How would you feel if you found that you and your water rights were the victim of a “Fraudulently derived, overreaching, unconstitutional water compact”? Pretty heated, I would guess, and rightly so if that were the case. The compact I am referring to is the Flathead Water Compact between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (CSKT), the State of Montana and the United States. Even though the compact is now law, there are many in Western Montana who think it...
Last week's Question of the Week in The Ledger was "who is your role model?" A young man named Nathan Stevens answered, "Superman." It made me chuckle, but it also made me think of a recent conversation about the wonder and innocence of the minds of children. This conversation I had recently centered around art. When you are young, it's just fun to be creative and make artwork. It doesn't matter what it looks like, everyone loves it and is proud of you. You experiment with all types of media and learning composition, but mostly you are just...
Editor, We have been fortunate to be friends with Colleen Hinds for over 45 years. Colleen is running for House District 13, and she is the best candidate for the job. Her decade’s long history as a nurse at Bonner General Hospital has showcased her compassionate nature and boundless work ethic. Besides being a good listener, she is intelligent, creative and understands the concerns of working class citizens. Colleen Hinds is the best choice to be our Representative from HD 13. Sincerely, Debbie and Dave Lyman, Heron...
There has been reference to the “Big Lie” leading to January 6, which refers to potential election fraud which has been neither proved or disproved to this day. But let’s talk more about big lies. To say January 6 was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government is a big lie. It was a protest that went awry, minuscule compared to the BLM riots which lasted nearly a year costing many lives and millions in damages. To say January 6 was worse than 9-11 is a big lie. To say January 6 was worse than Pearl Harbor is a big lie. To say the Afgha...
Colleen Hinds will be an effective, hard worker for Montanans in her district. She will focus on issues important to Sanders County and Montana in general. Colleen has lots of energy, is easy to approach, positive and won’t waste valuable time on distracting controversies damaging to Montana citizens. Vote Colleen Hinds for HD 13. Steve Oswald, Thompson Falls...
Last week there was a letter to the editor regarding how the Waste/Water Treatment Plant sale of land was being handled, casting doubt on Mayor Dan Rowan’s character and ability to serve as a county commissioner. The mayor does not make final decision on any actions that affect the running of the town of Plains. That is done by the Plains Town Council. The town lost a significant amount of land with a change in the flow of the river at the waste-water treatment plant and we were advised to move it out of the flood plain by the Army Corps of E...
When we were children, we played aA few thoughts on shedding an old skin. I’m two miles from the pickup and 500 feet above where I left it parked when I find a snakeskin on a rock midstream in the East Fork. It is frail and silky, and I set it afloat toward the river, five miles downstream. Somewhere nearby, a snake is feeling shiny, smooth and clean. Remains of an ancient road led me to a huge slab of water-scrubbed stone, slid down its surface into the creek and disappeared completely. From there, I rock-hopped upstream 200 yards through a gr...
This weekend we were sharing first hunt stories. My first year of hunting, my dad was so excited that he bought me an Elmer Fudd-looking orange hat complete with the fuzzy ear flaps. I wore that thing every day we went out because he was so proud of it. When I shot my first deer, it was the same. My dad and our friend Dave Helterline were with me when I shot a buck that first year. I was excited, but my dad was beaming with pride and Dave was elated to be along for the first one. It was a little guy, but I was proud of myself too. That was a...
I'm campaigning for Sanders County Sheriff – not for me – but for Deputy Cory Wheeldon as a write-in candidate. Cory is a Montana native who received valuable experience in Yellowstone County (Billings) and knows his way around Sanders County. I compare Cory to former Sheriff Wally Britton, (a legend in the 1950’s) because he would be a no-nonsense, get-the-job-done type of sheriff. If I were a bad guy, and we elect Cory, I'd pack my bags and leave - at once! I'm not convinced voting for the other two candidates is a good decision becau...
Hello Pot! Meet Kettle. Last week there was a letter to the Editor from Nick and Erika Lawyer regarding Commissioner candidate Dan Rowan. At first I was somewhat indifferent to the letter. Politics is politics is politics, but as time passed I couldn’t help but feel irked. The Lawyers’ letter seemed to be a pointed personal attack on Dan with very flawed reasoning being cited. Now I have no horse in the race for Commissioner, but one thing I can not stand aside for is injustice; and this letter seemed downright unfair. The Lawyers are not wrong...
This would be a response to Think Carefully While I realize the letter is mainly meant to be a campaign smear I do perceive a slight to how the town has done business. A little background is the city's sewer lagoons have been in danger of being swallowed up by the river so they had to be relocated. The Lawyers were approached with the best site for this project. They agreed to sell. By law the town can only pay appraisal plus 10%. We procured an independent appraisal that was $186,450.00. This was rejected by them as not enough money for the...
The Deer Lodge football coach was recently suspended pending an investigation after he recently switched sidelines during a home football game. The school board voted Monday to keep Coach Andrew Verlanic. In an interview with the Deer Lodge News Network (DLNN), coach Verlanic detailed his decision and his disappointment in the lack of support from the school district. “When you get booed at the pep rally as a football team, who wants to go out? Who wants to be a part of it?” Verlanic told DLNN. Later in the interview he continued, “As we stand...
I had a neighbor once who spent several days in the county jail because he wouldn’t make his mortgage payments. He felt he had a constitutional right to not pay them because the money wasn’t backed by gold. There’s a longer story there, of course, and he wasn’t in jail because he didn’t pay the mortgage but because of an ensuing confrontation with a SWAT team when they came to enforce his eviction notice. People get up in arms because of laws they believe are unconstitutional that they thin...
Mr. Elliott's change of focus to a single event of sending a few illegal aliens to punctuate the invasion occurring on our southern border put the predictable hypocrisy of the leftists on full display. Mr. Elliott would have us believe this is a legal operation where nefarious entities are paying for and luring millions of ignorant poor into a multi prong attack on America. Well over the number of American service members killed in Vietnam and Afghanistan have been killed veiled by creating this crisis on our border. Fentanyl made in China,...
Editor, Thank you to Annie Wooden and the Ledger for sponsoring the candidate forums at the Rex on October 3 and 4. It’s always enlightening to hear the candidates articulate their job qualifications and thoughts on the positions they are seeking or hoping to be re-elected to. I was very disappointed that two of three write-in candidates did not take this opportunity to face the voters and explain why they decided to continue to run for sheriff after being defeated in the primary. Knowing the issues their write-in candidacy could create with d...
Food for thought Very recently I decided to vet Jim Brown's candidacy for Montana Supreme Court. In doing my own due diligence before I "spend my vote", I wanted to learn more about him. I did NOT know: * Jim Brown is not a well-known attorney in good standing despite being an attorney for over 10 years. I could not find any information regarding his work in peer/client ratings of ethics and professionalism and legal ability for attorneys in the US. * Jim Brown is the current Chairperson for Montana Public Service Commission. I did not do a...
Actions speak louder than words. As our county grows, infrastructure needs are going to increase and County Commissioners will have to make choices of where to put additional services, and how to obtain the property to do so. The Town of Plains, under Mayor Dan Rowan, forced us to sell 10 acres of our property via eminent domain. We didn’t want a sewage lagoon on our property that we already had plans for, but realizing the need, and the immense power of the government, we offered to negotiate to arrive at a fair and equitable outcome. The l...
