Opinion

Let’s tax what makes the whole world sick

hen the Supreme Court halted the federal government’s implementation of its Clean Power Plan, pending judicial review. But even though the attorneys general of Colorado, Wyoming and other states might succeed in gutting the Clean Power Plan, they can never do what they really want to do: They cannot return the world to the 1990s.

Find adventures in ‘Confluence Country’

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Some of Montana’s earliest recorded history played out on the eastern fringes of our state. Through Fort Union, this “Confluence Country” held supremacy over the fur trade business of the Upper Missouri from about 1830 until the 1850s.

New grasslands conservation opportunity available

A new type of carbon credit program designed for long-term conservation initiatives such as conservation easements on grasslands is beginning to enroll landowners this year. The goal of this effort is to develop a pilot project designed to conserve grasslands and reduce potential greenhouse gas emissions from land conversion. The program could potentially pay landowners who are avoiding crop cultivation activities in concert with easement activity.

Where has all the pollution gone?

Dear Editor, I have a couple of questions to ask. How did all the ice that totally covered the earth a few million years ago melt? There were no smoke stacks burning coal or fossil fuel. There weren’t even any of those awful SUVs. Where did all that pollution from all those smoke stacks during our time of great production in this United States go? Where did all the pollution from all the volcano eruptions that have happened over the last thousands or millions of years go? Where has all the pollution from forest fires over the last thousands of years go?

Big Springs City Park deserves more

Dear Editor, Lewistown possesses a special place, a special beautiful place where couples choose to take their wedding vows. That place is the beautiful Big Springs City Park near the state fish hatchery. Rather than choose a manmade cathedral to pledge their vows, they chose a cathedral that was made by God. A few years back I observed a wedding taking place in that park.

They are listening

I learned in school the American flag is sacred and the general population confirmed this. I remember once at a sleepover watching a mother of a friend cry when she saw an image of someone burning a flag on the news.
The schools still try to teach kids the flag is sacred. My son comes home every Veterans Day and Memorial Day with patriotic art projects and homework assignments that encourage an understanding of democracy.

The glory of true love: inside a happy groom's wedding experience

 

Having been a groomsman close to 10 times, I thought I knew a thing or two about what it’d be like to get married.

I thought I’d know what it’d be like to be the groom.

Boy, was I wrong.

When I saw my bride – Kari Albertson – walk down the aisle of the First Presbyterian Church, I was so entranced by her beauty I could no longer hear my friend Chris play Pachelbel’s Canon on the organ, nor could I see any of the 200 in attendance. Everything stopped, and I realized I’d never felt anything like this before.

Remembering Pat Summitt

Monday night I finished reading Pat Summitt’s latest book titled “Sum It Up.” The book was written by Summitt with Sally Jenkins after Summitt received the news that she had early-onset dementia (Alzheimer’s disease) in 2011. Before I went to sleep I wondered how Summitt was doing. One never heard about her after she retired from coaching at Tennessee following her diagnosis. It was very much a surprise to hear on the radio on Tuesday morning that Summitt had died at the age of 64.

Thanks, Kevin

On June 30, Kevin Myhre will retire from his position as Lewistown’s city manager. After 25 years serving the community in law enforcement and city government, he is ready for a new challenge. For most of those years, I have had a front-row seat to Kevin’s career, while working at the News-Argus. There is a unique relationship between a local newspaper and the government of the city it covers. A newspaper celebrates the accomplishments of the city, but it also has a responsibility to be a watchdog of the government and report on the problems the city encounters.

Spring came too early in Alaska

A few years ago, in my coastal Alaskan hometown of Homer, pickup trucks and Subarus alike began sporting the same bumper sticker. It read: “Alaskans for global warming.”
The first time I saw it, I chuckled. Although our town is often polarized on political issues, we all enjoy complaining about the weather. We all long for summer days that get above 55 degrees and in February, we all dream of buying plane tickets to Hawaii. The bumper sticker was just another way of doing what we do best, joking about the not-always-hospitable climate in which we’ve chosen to live.