Oct92018

Students to study houses before they’re burned

Huntley Project

Originally published in the 10/5/18 print edition of Yellowstone County News

This is nearly vacant property across the street from the Huntley Project Schools is destined to become a parking lot, but first will offer educations opportunities for students and volunteer firefighters. (Judy Killen photo)

WORDEN — A couple of houses across the street from Huntley Project Schools will become a temporary learning lab before the property becomes a parking lot.

The school district bought the property from the Dassinger family. Superintendent Mark Wandle said the purchase was finalized last Friday.

The property includes two houses that have been rental properties.  The Dassinger family donated read more

Oct62018

Meet the Candidates – 2018 Special Election Edition

Politics • Top Stories • Yellowstone County

The 2018 general election is peaking and all campaigns are or should be in full swing at this point. The absentee ballots in Yellowstone County will be going out in the mail on Friday, October 12th. Bret Rutherford, Yellowstone County Election Administrator, stated that they receive back about 1/3 of the absentee ballots within 7-10 days. As Yellowstone County residents usually have a pretty high turnout, this year will mark yet another reason to fill out your ballots.  With that being said, the following are the responses the Yellowstone County News received from candidates in the general election.  All ballots are due in the Yellowstone County Elections Department on or by Election Day which is Tuesday, November 6th. We asked the candidates to answer the following questionnaire regarding local hot topic issues in the area and help us, the readers, decide in voting.  You can read their responses in this special issue.  Some candidates decided to be short as others decided to add detail.  We hope this special edition gives some insight into the candidates who are running in this area.

THESE WERE 6 QUESTIONS POSED TO THE CANDIDATES: read more

Oct22018

Obituary: Michele Burt

Obituaries

Michele Burt

Michele Burt, beloved mother, grandmother, aunt and friend, passed away on September 29, 2018 at her home, surrounded by her family.

Michele was born on August 6, 1944, in Long Beach, California. On October 26, 1968, she married the love or her life, soul mate and best friend, Lou. The two met while they were both working at the telephone company and they were the perfect couple. Michele told everyone that she fell in love with Lou from the first moment they met and Lou always said that “she molded him into the man he was”. They were blessed to spend 46 amazing years together before she lost the love of her life in 2014. Now they are reunited.

Michele and her daughter shared an extraordinary relationship read more

Oct12018

In our eyes, Jesse is perfect!

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Twenty-nine years ago, my family was blessed with a beautiful baby boy who we named Jesse. He came to us with an extra 21 chromosome, which makes him have Down Syndrome. He has brought joy and happiness to our lives. In our eyes, Jesse is perfect!

People like Matt Rosendale don’t see our son in the same way. While in the Montana Legislature, Matt Rosendale read more

Sep302018

It is “indispensable”

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

The Liberal media would have us believe there is no God – no need for religion in our national dialogue. George Washington, our first president, felt differently. On Sept. 19, 1796, he notified the people of the United States he would not run for a third term as president with a letter published in all the nation’s newspapers.

In his letter, the president reminded his fellow citizens that our national strength rests on the pillars of private morality, especially religion. The word he used to describe those pillars of American democracy is not “optional” or “desirable” or “helpful;” it is “indispensable.” His language is of another time, but read more

Sep302018

Mark your calendar for 11 October 2018…. 

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Mark your calendar for 11 October 2018….

Federal Judge Emmet G. Sullivan will be ruling on whether to compel Hillary Clinton testimony on her use of an illegal private email server. It’s the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch way back in 2016. JW is a bipartisan organization that believes in open honest government.

Judge Sullivan will also rule on motions to compel testimony from the former State Department Director of Information of the Executive Secretary, one John Betel. He previously pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer 87 questions at his deposition.

Hillary had also refused to answer questions about her use of an illegal private server. The FBI, with a nod from the read more

Sep292018

Amused by Carl “not-a Democrat” Wolf’s musings

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I have become amused by Carl “not-a Democrat” Wolf’s musings… example: he supports gun laws expansion while being a gunsmith; or, not-a-Democrat (NAD) but only smears Republicans.

Only a couple weeks ago, Carl (NAD) was chastising everyone (GOP) for not being civil and basically destroying civility, morals and discourse in the public arena, although the only party engaging in name calling and destroying civility is and always has been the Democrat party.

Frankly, it’s getting really old as the DNC party is the only one supporting such groups as Antifa, Black Lives Matter read more

Sep282018

I-186 will hurt Montana’s economy

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I-186 will hurt Montana’s economy. Out-of-state environmental groups are using litigation as a tool to stop future mining in our state and I-186 does nothing but make it easier for them to do just that.

What these misleading, out-of-state activists ignore is the fact that Montana has some of the strictest environmental protections in the world when it comes to permitting new mines. Permits approved in Montana have made it through years of review and scrutiny, but environmental activists don’t want to acknowledge that Montana’s existing regulatory read more

Sep282018

You can smell them at Walmart

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Hmmm, let’s see what my choices are in the upcoming midterm elections.

On the one hand, we have the Democrat party that is totally obstructionist in their treatment of anything dealing with President Trump, who they hate along with all his supporters, whom they call deplorables, racists, bigots, homophobes, misogynists AND liars and “you can smell them at Walmart.” And just last weekend Joe Biden called Trump supporters “the dregs of society”!

Their hatred of President Trump and their attempts to demonize and discredit his administration and overturn the results of a federal read more

Sep252018

Superintendent Sandbox – Education is a Community

Features • Custer

by Dave Perkins

The saying that it takes a village to educate a child is more than just a saying. I am going to present four different perspectives about how to approach education, three of which are faulty. My perspective of the responsibility for education has evolved over the years due to research, observation and experience. Experience in both the city and the country have also challenged my beliefs.

To illustrate the first approach, I am going to tell you a story of a teacher from many years ago. I was the principal of a campus that needed to become more child-centered.

“I taught the material, it is the student’s business to learn the material” by some of the staff, but far from all of the staff, had the attitude. Consequently, we had a handful of teachers who read more

Sep252018

Guest Editorial: You didn’t build that!

Features • Montana-Statewide • Politics • Yellowstone County

Originally published in the 9/21/18 print edition of Yellowstone County News.

“You didn’t build that.”

When President Obama said this, I found it breathtaking in its unexpected revelation of what the progressive movement is all about. It was probably the single most important statement he said during his entire presidency. Whether or not he meant to, the statement laid bare the basis of the conflict that is tearing this country apart.

Much has unfolded, has been said, and done, since then, to confirm that understanding, but it is utterly flabbergasting that we should have elected a president to follow President Obama, who would so totally reject that statement. “Make America Great Again” is to say, “Yes, you did build that!” and “Let’s keep building.”

Leaving out a scene of planting the American flag on the moon in the movie “First Man” is but to affirm President Obama’s utterance and to frontally rebut President Trump; but more significantly, it is a total affront to all American achievement and to every citizen that has ever achieved anything.

The movie producers are screaming, “You didn’t build that,” to all of America, for all time.

We need to understand read more

Sep242018

Kathleen Williams explain yourself

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Kathleen Williams sounds reasonable in her quest for Montana’s lone congressional seat. What could be more reasonable than letting people who are not quite Medicare age “buy into ” the Medicare program? This actually begs the question of how much should we charge these people to “buy into” this highly subsidized government program?

When I first went on Medicare I assumed that the monthly premium I was paying for Medicare actually covered all the benefits I was receiving. When I looked into it I realized read more

Sep242018

Montanans take pride in their clean air and water

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Politicians are elected to make decisions in the public’s best interests. Senate District 22 candidate Doug Kary’s voting record is proof he is irresponsible when it comes to the public’s best interests.

In 2011, Mr. Kary voted against landowner rights; to “authorize public utilities to acquire property by eminent domain without certifying the necessity of the acquisition.” He gave big government the right to take your property, no questions asked.

In 2015, Mr. Kary voted for leniency for sexual assault offenders. Voting to reduce sentences for sexual offenders not only puts read more

Sep232018

Voting absentee?

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

On Oct. 12, Montana absentee ballots will be sent out. More and more voters have been voting absentee. It is important for the voters to have truthful information on the voting records of political candidates. How did Sen. Tester vote on these bills that are important to Montanans?

Immigration (sanctuary cities).Jon Tester voted to protect and preserve federal funding to sanctuary cities, who harbor illegal aliens (H.R. 2579 — Toomey amendment, Feb. 15, 2018).

Net neutrality.Tester voted to block Trump’s removal of Obama’s Internet regulations (Senate Joint Resolution 52, May 16, 2018).

Waters of the United States.Tester voted to preserve vast federal power over any plot of land which may occasionally be read more

Sep232018

A native Yellowstone Valley candidate

Billings-Heights • Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

The Billings Heights has an exciting and new choice for Senate District 22. Jennifer Merecki is a native Yellowstone Valley candidate, with strong middle-class roots and values. Merecki is doing something refreshing in this district; she is going door-to-door talking to people.

Merecki is looking to discuss important values that impact the lives of her fellow community members, including public education. Merecki and her constituents believe in quality education for our youth, as they are the foundation of our future. Honest discussion — open dialogue, rather than narrow-focused partisanship ― is necessary. While candidates and voters often read more

Sep222018

Fact check everything the Left’s TV ads are telling you

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Gianforte or Williams – who’s best for Montana?

Amid the rhetoric of this campaign, several issues are simple and worth your consideration.

First, you need to fact check everything the Left’s TV ads are telling you.

The idea that Washington is locked in gridlock and nothing is getting done is the media rhetoric. If you follow Congressman Gianforte’s reports, you know Congress has accomplished a ton. Some issues are waiting on the Senate, where there is no clear conservative majority.

Notice how the Democrats have fallen silent about how Gianforte is not a native Montanan. That is because Williams only came to Montana in 1995 after graduating from Berkeley.

Essentially, Williams has never worked in the private sector – her employment record is in government read more

Sep212018

Let Carl write!

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I was reading the paper last week and I was shocked that Carl would not be writing any more of his political views.

While I agree he is way overboard, I must protest. It wasn’t too long ago, when I made a big stink about Carl and his outlandish musings, that Jonathan told me every one had a right to his and her own thoughts on political parties and their own views, even if I didn’t like them.

I agree. The paper is going to be very boring without his political options. So I hope Jonathan remembers what he told me and lets Carl do his political opinions. It gives me a reason to buy a paper on Thursday afternoons and read Carl’s biased views. So let Carl write.

Miracle Browning

Billings