Editorials

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Thank a rancher

Published on Mon, 08/07/2017 - 5:04pm

Fire and drought — two nasty combinations for Montana ranchers.

And that one-two punch is hitting them hard. As of this writing, there are 24 active fires in Montana, according to the U.S. Forest Service, with the largest — the Lodgepole Complex fires in Garfield County — having burned 270,723 acres. Ranchers there have been overwhelmed by this catastrophic event.

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: You can knock her down but you can’t knock her out

Published on Fri, 08/04/2017 - 2:03pm

It’s been an unusual and trying week at The Livingston Enterprise.

The staff awoke last Saturday morning to learn that someone had broken into the newspaper and set the paper’s press on fire. Production manager Al Bublitz and the newspaper’s press crew worked tirelessly — with assistance from Livingston electricians and a press repair expert who drove to Livingston all the way from Oklahoma — to get the paper’s baby blue Goss Community press back in action.

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Volunteers, city staff to be commended for pool effort

Published on Fri, 07/28/2017 - 1:24pm

Slashed tires, motor oil dumped in the city pool and a number of other random acts of senseless property damage have gripped the city’s psyche over the last week.

With any luck, police will nab those responsible for the destruction and Livingston property owners will have some recourse to repair and replace what’s been damaged.

Police are reviewing surveillance video and may soon have further details about who is responsible for the crimes.

But enough about the bad actors who have recently plagued the city’s southwest side. 

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Watching what we say in a technological age

Published on Thu, 07/27/2017 - 4:36pm

A hot mic recently caught Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed talking disparagingly about how President Donald Trump’s administration was putting together the proposed 2018 budget.

Apparently referring to Trump, Reed says, “I think he’s crazy.”

Collins then says, “I’m worried.”

GUEST EDITORIAL: Whiskey, grandparents and revealing gender

Published on Wed, 07/26/2017 - 3:19pm

So it turns out your grandparents were right.

Grandparents, of course, would argue the above sentence is wrong.

And we’re not referring to the usual poor sentence structure, misspellings, or dangling participles that typically occupy this space. In this case the above sentence is simply incomplete. It should read: So it turns out your grandparents were right again.

Analysis: Congressional GOP coming to grips with failure

Published on Fri, 07/21/2017 - 4:35pm

WASHINGTON — A brutal reality is settling over Capitol Hill: The Republican effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare,” which has consumed the first six months of the Trump administration, may never yield results.

Not only that, the GOP goal of overhauling the tax code requires passing a budget that is months overdue. That means success on the tax front is highly uncertain, despite happy talk from House Speaker Paul Ryan and others. Promised infrastructure legislation is nowhere.

GUEST EDITORIAL: A brighter future for electric cars and the planet

Published on Thu, 07/20/2017 - 4:31pm

There is simply no credible way to address climate change without changing the way we get from here to there, meaning cars, trucks, planes and any other gas-guzzling forms of transportation. That is why it is so heartening to see electric cars, considered curios for the rich or eccentric or both not that long ago, now entering the mainstream.

Slow down, buckle up and wear a helmet

Published on Tue, 07/18/2017 - 3:55pm

The Montana Highway Patrol’s annual report reflects some positive news with a decrease in deaths related to crashes during the past two decades in Park County. Despite an increased population in the region, motorists may at least find comfort in knowing that the region’s roads are safer than they were 20 years ago.  

One troubling finding in the report, however, is the fact that fatalities are up during the first six months of 2017. From January to July, the patrol reports 11 fatalities in District 7 — Meagher, Broadwater, Gallatin, Park and Madison counties. 

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Let’s help put Montana in first place

Published on Fri, 07/14/2017 - 3:28pm

If you want to open doors in the Midwestern and Eastern states — whether you’re there on vacation, studying or working — say you’re from Montana. Suddenly, people look at you differently and hold you in higher regard, even awe. You aren’t just anybody — you’re from Montana.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Trump will take health care credit or cast blame

Published on Fri, 07/14/2017 - 3:26pm
By DONNA CASSATA and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — If congressional Republicans succeed in repealing and replacing the Obama-era health law, expect a big Rose Garden celebration with President Donald Trump taking credit.
If they fail? Trump has already indicated he will hold Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responsible, setting up an intraparty blame game that could be devastating for the GOP.

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