Opinion

Cat’s death is a reminder to slow down

Published on Mon, 07/17/2017 - 2:38pm

Editor:

I will keep this short but maybe not so sweet. I watched a cat get ran over on front street, right off the corner of 5th street a couple weeks ago. 

The poor thing was ran over, flailed in extraordinary pain as blood poured from his nose, until he died about 10 long minutes later. 

The person that hit the cat never even stopped, if you are reading this, shame on you! A woman driving by did stop to help. 

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.

Reinstate Alex Sienkiewicz

Published on Thu, 07/13/2017 - 3:46pm

Editor:

As a wilderness outfitter/guide throughout western North America for the last 39 years, and as a longtime advocate for science-based conservation, I’ve dealt with a huge number of federal agency employees. I’ve never met a U.S. Forest Service ranger with more integrity than Alex Sienkiewicz. His dedication to good resource stewardship is second to none. Recently, he was removed from his District Ranger position for standing up for public access to public lands. His removal was purely political. 

GUEST EDITORIAL: Revisit Authorization for Use of Military Force

Published on Thu, 07/13/2017 - 3:45pm

For more than a decade, the United States Congress has ceded war-making powers to the executive branch and abdicated its constitutional responsibility to debate and declare war if and when it is necessary.

The result has been a foreign policy that is increasingly disjointed and counterproductive, with the nation in a state of perpetual, aimless war.

WRITERS ON THE RANGE: The wrong way to see bears in Idaho

Published on Wed, 07/12/2017 - 3:27pm

For $16.96 a person, you can see bears — guaranteed furry stimulation. It’s called Yellowstone Bear World, a “drive-thru wildlife park” in eastern Idaho that’s crammed with over 40 black bears and grizzlies. There are also elk, mountain goats, whitetails, mule deer, wolves, moose and bison, all living in guarded enclosures on just over an acre of land.

If that sounds too small for that many animals, you’re right.

For now, it looks ‘collusioney’

Published on Wed, 07/12/2017 - 3:26pm

WASHINGTON — That quaking beneath your feet is from shock waves in Washington where tipping points are merging with other tipping points to create the Mother of All Tipping Points.

Not only did Donald Trump Jr. meet with a Russian attorney who, he was told, had damaging information about Hillary Clinton, but there are emails indicating that he knew in advance that the opposition research was part of the Kremlin’s effort to help Donald Trump become president.

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Here’s to roadkill on your dinner plate

Published on Mon, 07/10/2017 - 2:54pm

Quick: What meat is 100 percent organic, free of antibiotics, free of MSG and flat-out as lean as you can get?

Grass-fed beef? Free-range chickens?

No. Roadkill.

Montana began allowing the harvesting of roadkill in 2013. Last month, Oregon became the latest state in the union to legalize it. Last year the state of Washington also decided to allow folks to gather this alternative food. Today, around 20 states permit salvaging roadkill.

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Sienkiewicz reassignment raises questions

Published on Fri, 07/07/2017 - 2:57pm

The recent reassignment of Livingston District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz of the United States Forest Service raises many questions.

The first and most obvious question is whether top-ranking Forest Service officials reassigned Sienkiewicz for working to improve access to public land.

Another question the federal agency must answer is whether this decision was politically motivated.

PSC purposely working to kill small renewable projects

Published on Fri, 07/07/2017 - 2:56pm

Editor:

A “hot mic” recently caught Commissioner Bob Lake of the Montana Public Service Commission telling staffers that cuts the PSC made to rates and contracts offered to small renewable energy projects are “likely deep enough to kill future development.”