I-186 will hurt Montana’s economy

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

You can smell them at Walmart

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

Superintendent Sandbox – Education is a Community

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

Guest Editorial: You didn’t build that!

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

Kathleen Williams explain yourself

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

Montanans take pride in their clean air and water

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

Voting absentee?

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

A native Yellowstone Valley candidate

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

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

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

Let Carl write!

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

National group targeting Montana as election battleground state

by Judy Killen

HUNTLEY — A national grassroots organization is visiting Montana voters in an effort to support the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Marilyn Musgrave, vice president for government affairs for Susan B. Anthony List, told the Yellowstone County News in an interview Wednesday morning that the organization has targeted Montana as a “battleground” state in the upcoming November election and of key interest in the Kavanaugh nomination and confirmation hearings.

She said more than 500 volunteers are blanketing the state this week in an effort to persuade them to ask Sen. Jon Tester to confirm Kavanaugh in time for the next Supreme Court session to begin on Oct. 1.

The idea is that after the Susan B. Anthony List volunteers contact them, those voters contact Tester or one of his local representatives to ask him to vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

The group’s intent for Tester is to “give him yet another chance to do the right thing,” Musgrave said. “I hope that he will listen to his constituents.”

She said Tester voted against confirming Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017.

“We work really hard to elect good people,” she said, noting that President Donald Trump carried Montana in the 2016 election by 20 percentage points. They want to continue — and, hopefully, build on — that success in this election, she said.

People tend to respond positively to personal contact, she said.

“You see TV ads, you hear a lot of radio,” Musgrave said, “but there’s something so personal about having someone show up at your door.”

She’ll be in Montana through Friday, she said, but Susan B. Anthony List volunteers will stay in Montana through the election, with special attention as absentee ballots go out to voters on Oct. 12.

“We’re getting close to the election and so everything intensifies,” she said.

The organization wants to reach as many individual voters as possible, she said, noting recent surveys that show the Montana U.S. Senate race is close.

“If the polls are right, a few people can make all the difference,” she said.

Lockwood water, sewer district ponders expanding sewer service

Originally published in the 9/14/18 print edition of Yellowstone County News. 

LOCKWOOD — Plenty of public input is needed before a final plan is approved for expanded sewer service in Lockwood.

But areas that are more likely to receive sewer service are beginning to take shape in a plan being developed by the Lockwood Water and Sewer District and its engineering consultant.

The water and sewer district hosted a public meeting on Sept. 12 to provide an update on the Preliminary Engineering Report, or PER, being written by Jill Cook of Billings engineering firm Morrison Maierle. A handful of people attended the meeting, but few offered comments or questions about the report.

The water and sewer district has already completed the first two phases of the sewer system, with construction complete on the second phase in 2016.

The district began installing a sewer system after identifying neighborhoods where existing — and aging — septic systems were at risk of failure, including

read more

Safety number one priority for new BNSF Railway cop

HUNTLEY — Railroad police officers have come a long way since the days when they worked with the Pinkerton’s detectives and U.S. Marshals on the western frontier.

Justin Douglas, special agent for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway working out of the railway’s new Billings office, is more likely to use a drone or canine assist than a horse or stagecoach, but the top priority of the railway remains the same: transporting freight and maintaining equipment to keep people safe.

Douglas began his official duties in Billings on Sept. 1. He transferred to the area from Chicago when a longtime agent retired and the railway moved the regional office from Gillette, Wyoming, to Billings.

Coming to Billings feels like home for Douglas and his wife — he grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, and she’s from Mandan, North Dakota. But the veteran BNSF employee — a former conductor and XX as well as Chicago law enforcement officer — doesn’t expect to see much of the new Billings office.

Douglas is assigned to a region that includes 17 counties and 620 track miles in Montana and eight counties and 432 track miles in Wyoming, an area that extends south to Casper.

With two other railway agents in Whitefish and Havre, Douglas concedes that a backup officer may be a long way away. He operates read more

As for Trump accomplishment?

Dear Editor:

I have only been a subscriber for roughly 20 months but am increasingly amused at Mr. Wolf’s denial he’s a Democrat.  I actually find myself agreeing with him, but first some observations.  Since Carl is not a Democrat, which I agree, I think he always attempts to conveniently forget history.

He only seems to take offense to GOP politicians. Example, Carl is upset at Trump recently not paying reverence of the passing of a fellow GOP, Sen. McCain. They were rivals.

So, was Carl was equally outraged when Obama did not attend Justice Scalia’s funeral. I suspect not.  While Obama was spending so much time on the golf course, watching NCAA basketball, televising his sweet 16 picks —  Carl was equally outraged? Or was he to be found in his shop or watching birds. As for his comments about the outrage he holds for all things Trump (remember all his NMP comments), I again wonder if read more

Stick to writing about birds

Dear Editor:

I was at the Republican rally last week, and just so you know, Carl, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It’s awsome to hear people talk about the United States of America like they love it instead of people who hate it and for what it stands for.

I was disappointed to see that Carl has found the president guilty on made up charges and rumors. Last I knew, read more

Atlas Shrugged

Dear Editor:

I do not know how many of you have read Atlas Shrugged. For those of you that have, I am sure the similarities between President Trump and Taggart are apparent. Have we come to the point that we are happy with corporatists controlling every facet of our government? Here are a few examples: housing, grocery, fuel, travel. The free market does not exist in America today; it is a pipedream.

If you doubt that, try to start a taxi company in Montana or open a new family-owned grocery store; try to open a business to read more

God Bless America and MAGA!

Dear Editor:

“I am positive Trump is a liar, a womanizer, a tax cheat, egotist, bully, misogynist, racist, and is heartless and amoral, which means he will do or say anything to get attention.” ….says the clairvoyant Carl Wolf. Obviously there is no give and take in his world. Now what if we substituted Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or Hillary’s name in this over the top exaggeration?

As I previously wrote, I don’t agree with everything  President Trump has said or done, but he is certainly better than having the corrupt Clintons running read more

Vote NO on I-186. 

Dear Editor:

Three decades ago the spotted owl was used to obstruct tree removal and to force unreasonable “hands off” forest management that has helped result in today’s mega fires. So forgive me for not believing the water pollution calamity story now being told by similar activists promoting I-186. This initiative will instead just hurt young Montana working-class families and harm local small businesses that depend on mining.

The corporations pushing I-186 are distracting voters with a nonexistent clean water crisis to hide their harmful mission in a perceived warm read more