Opinion
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Committing to a career
I always love going to the years of service celebration at the courthouse. It’s amazing to see how long people have been at their jobs, and definitely an accomplishment worth recognizing. With my parents’ generation, it seems like most everyone...
Montana Viewpoint: Marketing Anger
I watch people driving down the highways in $80,000 pickups towing $200,000 campers (which are bigger than a lot of people’s homes, but then, so are some of the pickups) and then a boat is being...
Modern Homesteader: The wintertime blues
The wintertime blues are real. The holiday spirit has up and gone and springtide is just out of reach. I’ve always found February in Montana to be the toughest. You know there’s going to be more snow, you know there’s going to be more...
Same stuff, different day
Nanette Blake from Farmhouse Blooms brought over some newspaper pages she found under the flooring of the house she recently purchased in Thompson Falls. One of the newspapers was the November 10, 1911, issue of The Sanders County Ledger. On the...
Slice of Life: What the heck is a convention of states?
As I write this, our State Legislature is meeting in Helena, holding committee hearings and meetings regarding what the people of Montana are asking their representatives to move forward in the form...
Focus on continuing
Well, here we are in mid-January. How are those New Year’s resolutions going? The fact that the second Friday in January is called “Quitters Day” provides a pretty clear answer. Even if you made it to this point, research shows that most of us...
Investigation for the sake of investigation
The United States House of Representatives will be doing exhaustive (and exhausting) investigating into many things like Hunter Biden, Jill Biden, President Biden, and Major Biden (the Biden’s dog,...
Make your story a memorable one
One of my favorite parts of the newspaper is the obituary section. It's also one of the most read. Obituaries are such a personal look into a life. I love reading obituaries and learning about people. I discover unknown facts about peopel I've known...
A Few Thoughts .. On the future of the planet
Welcome to 2023. Here in the U.S. of A., it so far looks a lot like 2022. Or 2019, for that matter. We’re still stuck in neutral, suffering a lot of noisy engine revving and exhaust fumes from Congress, and getting absolutely nowhere. We‘re held...
Being good public servants
Last Thursday was the swearing in ceremony for the elected officials who won races in the November General Election. With the new year now comes new leadership in some key roles for Sanders County. We have two brand new commissioners and a new sherif...
Democracy wears a sweatshirt
When Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a joint session of the United States Congress, commentator Tucker Carlson was outraged, purely outraged. “As far as we know, no one’s ever...
Whatcha Readin'?
Whatcha Readin’? Reading resolutions Every year my husband and I set our reading goals and then track them using apps like StoryGraph or Goodreads. And thanks to apps like Libby where I can read library books for free from anywhere, I’ve been abl...
Taking care of our mental health
Well, another year is coming to an end. It’s this time of year, as we get ready to say goodbye to the old, that people start focusing on renewal and starting over. People will make resolutions, and a few will keep them for the next 12 months. Many...
SLICE OF LIFE: Happy New You, New Year
It’s that wonderful time of year again. Christmas is a wrap; gifts are put away and the effort to toss out the old to put the new in place has begun. For many, not only is there a tossing of old...
Utter depravity displayed
In light of the recent horrific murder of four college students; nearby in Moscow, Idaho. It has shed even more light on the darkness and blatant disregard for life that exists today. It has shaken families, friends, a college, a state and a nation....
Montana Viewpoint: Thanks
I started out to write about this being a good time of year to be helpful to others and that began to sound so preachy and goody-two-shoes that I thought that maybe I should just thank some people...
Finding the truth
The photo on this week's front page of Mya Aquino is priceless. Ed Moreth is great at capturing special moments. When she's older, Mya may not appreciate this photos as much, but it's a memory and a moment is something to which many parents can relat...
A Few Thoughts
Several days before Thanksgiving, a collection of tracks appear in my driveway, those of a domestic cat. My neighbors have cats, but they don’t visit. These tracks are everywhere, very visible in the fresh snow. I then realize there are two cats,...
This is 'our' community
Last week during the Holiday Stroll, I had the privilege of meeting several people who had just moved to the area. It's not a secret or anything new that the Sanders County population is increasing. It seems there are new people every time you go...
Montana Viewpoint: Middle-class politeness
There was a time that some look back at wistfully when politics was not so mean, and people of different parties mostly got along. That began changing in the late 1970s when a young candidate for...
Whatcha Readin'? Book Weather
How much are we loving this cold and snow?!?! If you’re not a reader, you probably hate it. This is my happy weather: grab a mug of tea and a book, huzzah! Thanks to the weather I was able to read three more books than last month. Of the 16 books...
It's an honor
I used to joke with a friend of mine that I’ll know I'm a big deal the day I get to be the grand marshal in a parade. Well, my time has come. I have the honor of serving as grand marshal of the Christmas on Main Street parade this Saturday in...
Slice of Life: Gratitude and grace
As I write this it is a week before Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays of the year. I am busy planning my menu and ordering amazing pies. I’m preparing beds for the family who will arrive...
Exceptional service
I just wanted to give a shoutout to our local DMV. I have in the past looked forward to dealing with the DMV (Drivers Licensing) with the same anticipation as going to my dentist for a tooth extraction. The young lady that does drivers licensing at...
A shift in focus
There's a subtle shift happening this week. The energy and adrenaline of summer and fall that built up to the election is giving way to the season of giving and thankfulness. Lately in the stores and at the post office, people have kept their heads...
