Latest
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Growing Stability From the Ground Up
Growing Stability From the Ground Up Last year, and again this year, a private membership community here in the Tobacco Valley sponsored a seed-sharing event. On the surface, that might sound small. In reality, it represents something much bigger: a quiet but intentional effort to restore self-reliance, food stability, and shared responsibility within our local communities. This year, roughly 90 percent of the seeds shared were varieties that have already been grown, harvested, stored, and replanted for at least three consecutive seasons. These are commonly known as landrace plants—plants that have adapted over time to the soil, weather, and growing conditions…
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In Montana, feeding your family isn’t a slogan or a lifestyle brand. It’s work. It’s land. It’s responsibility. We raise cattle in snow and drought. We keep chickens through hard winters. We hunt elk, deer, and antelope not for sport alone, but because freezers don’t fill themselves. We fish rivers our grandparents fished, and we…
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Forty years ago, I lived in the nation’s transexual capital. Dr. Stanley Biber, at Mount San Rafael Hospital was the world’s leading surgeon for transexual surgery – performing, according to Wikipedia, over 2,300 male to female surgeries, and over 1000 female to male surgeries. That article says that at times he was doing five surgeries…
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Not every state gives the ACT to all of its high school students. Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming all tested 100%. Montana tested 97%, while Arkansas and Nebraska tested 95% and Wisconsin hit 94%. Other than those states, I’m reluctant to compare ratings that are based on the ACT. So…
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2-16-603. Officers subject to recall — grounds for recall. (1) Any person holding a public office of the state or any of its political subdivisions, either by election or appointment, is subject to recall from office. What does ‘holding public office’ mean? 2) “Public office” means a position of duty, trust, or authority created by the constitution…
local
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When I went to get some repair work done, the person I was consulting advised fixing the structural issues and then putting the same ancient dilapidated siding back on the building. The rational? Property taxes. Last summer, we joked about how much the nice flowers my mother had on their porch raised their taxes. They…
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I spent most of a year away from the school after I finished my term. I attended a couple of board meetings because I was asked – on one hand, there was, at the least, the appearance of an unlawful board meeting . . . unlawful because it appeared to violate Montana’s open meeting law.…
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Historically, independent voters, and voters for minor third parties, do not get a large percentage of votes. Often, they’re considered “spoiler” candidates, who lose the election for someone by dra4wing critical support away during a close race. Or their thought of as simply “protest candidates” with no chance of winning. In Montana, for the presidential…
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Not many years ago, if you were faced with a cluster of unacceptable clowns on your ballot, you could write a name in and cast a protest vote. Hell, I guess you still can – the thing is, your write-in protest vote won’t be counted or reported. With the elimination of subsection 7 last year,…
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I’m having trouble summarizing this one, not least because I lost my notes. In short: The meeting did discuss prayer, but did not discuss a four day week. About prayer: The discussion was specifically with regards to having prayer on the agenda as a part of each school board meeting. The result- no. Community presence…
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The proposed library district has me looking at taxation again. One of the great things about Lincoln County is that, with three high school districts, it’s easy to figure out which communities provide the funds that keep our county going. Market Value Taxable Value Percentage Libby $1,687,186,708 $21,911,499 36.42% Troy $831,354,553 $10,966,329 18.23% Eureka $1,974,407,031…
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Now it takes a single click to get the data. So what does it mean? I measured the record lows back in 1977 – this chart, from the Grave Creek site, shows how the critical snowfall that brings us up to normal or above occurs between the February measurements and April 1. I don’t know…
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The USDA has updated plant hardiness zones, and despite last winter’s impressive cold, we’ve jumped up a zone (to 5a from 4b in 2012; the average low went up by 6 degrees) Hardiness zones are a (partial) climate description that’s been in existence for a bit over a century, though the government didn’t get involved…