Rave shines light on Native issues
Years ago there was a survey sent to people in the community asking how to serve us better. I suggested providing more news about Native Americans since there are so many of us living in the Missoula area.
You guys one-upped me and hired Jodi Rave. What a find! She seems to be everywhere and writing great stories about issues I'm interested in, but even more importantly, she keeps us informed about issues or events we had no idea existed. I'm grateful to you all for asking the question and even more grateful you brought us Jodi. Thank you.
Missoula
DD Missoula provides important service
I cannot applaud loud enough for Paul Ashton and Brandon Sturm. DD Missoula is a brilliant idea.
I cannot tell you how many times I've been downtown and witnessed people trying to use Home Free Missoula with no luck.
What a fantastic solution to Missoula's ever-growing drunken driving problem.
I would gladly pay $20 to get myself
and my vehicle home safely and DUI-
free.
Thank you boys for being proactive and essentially saving lives in Missoula!
Angel Hughes, Missoula
National ID isn't crucial issue for ads
I like our governor and generally feel positive about his leadership, however, I am sadly disappointed and more than a little frustrated by his first two political ads.
Addressing a national ID card, they are running on television over and over and over. Either this state is so well off that the ID is, indeed, a serious issue or the governor and his advisers are incredibly sheltered from the real world.
Governor, please turn off those mind-numbing, absurd ads and address the real issues facing Montana. If a national ID card is all that determines my vote, you will lose.
Mel Walters, Stevensville
Vote to expand emergency center
The foundation of an efficient and professional emergency response capability of any community is dependent on the ability to receive emergency calls and the appropriate dispatch of fire, law enforcement, medical and other emergency responders. Missoula city and county have been fortunate to have an excellent emergency operations center (9-1-1 center) since the mid-1970s, located in the basement of the Missoula County Courthouse, but the existing facility lacks the space and technology to address the growing needs of Missoula County.
The Missoula County Sheriff's Department has operated from hobnob quarters spread throughout the courthouse since the 1960s. I have great admiration and respect for the Missoula Sheriff's Department but wonder how do they do their work in such cramped space, lack of privacy for interviews, records storage, even having the sheriff located two floors below the main department.
Missoula County voters have the opportunity to vote on a bond measure for the construction of a new Emergency Operations and Regional Training Center along with Sheriff's Department quarters on Nov. 4. This new facility is vital to the public safety, safety of our law enforcement officers and providing the best service possible for all of us. As a retired Missoula police chief, I believe I speak from experience in stating how important this bond measure is and I urge all voters to support the measure.
Pete Lawrenson, Missoula
Vote anti-incumbent this election
For the good of the country, make your voices heard this Election Day.
The time has come to kick out all of incumbents in Washington, D.C.: Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike. Could rookies do any worse of a job?
I frequently see young children exhibiting more maturity, leadership and teamwork than what these egotistical, greedy, drunk-with-power politicians show on a daily basis. Instead of trying to work together to solve the nation's severe economic woes, they choose to point fingers at each other in vain attempts to gain more power. It's time to throw the whole lot of them out with the rest of the garbage, and yes that means "our representatives" too because they are part of the problem. Have you noticed that neither Sens. Obama nor McCain have even the slightest clue on what to do about the economic crisis? How could we all, Democrats and Republicans alike, have been so gullible to elect such a pitiful bunch of nimrods?
This election year, let's set the example by putting politics aside, and come together and get rid of as many of them as possible. Vote anti-incumbent. Can we have another primary season?
Bryan Henry, Missoula
Single parents need coverage
I am a 33-year-old, hard-working mother, and I am uninsured.
Thanks to programs like Medicaid and Tri-care, my daughter is covered. But for me, it's a different story. Because I work, I am neither poor enough nor rich enough to obtain simple health insurance for even preventative care. I am smack-dab in the middle of a no-win situation. I am forced to "keep the faith" that my health will maintain itself so I can raise my daughter as best I can.
It would be optimal for me, and the many others like me, to have access to even just preventative care. In the long run, available, quality, preventative care would save society money and provide peace of mind for me and other single mothers struggling in today's economy.
If we truly want what is best for our children, we must help parents maintain their health. We must, as a compassionate society, put health care for all first and foremost. It is truly the best investment. Healthy Parents Montana equals Healthy Kids Montana.
Sen. Baucus, we can't stand in the middle any more. It is time to choose sides. We can either stay with our "go it alone" system or we can stand on the side of quality, affordable healthcare for all.
Which side are you on?
Angela Goodhope, Missoula
Ask landowners; don't shoot sows
The morning of Sept. 19, I heard a loud rifle shot close to my house. My heart jumped because for the last two weeks a small mother black bear and her twin cubs had been eating chokecherries and service berries in our area.
The game warden knocked on my door that afternoon and told me someone had shot a bear (only a few yards from my house) in my neighbor's yard. Yes, it was the mother bear. Some thoughtless, gung-ho hunter, who never bothered to get permission from any of the landowners in that area; did not take the time to observe and determine if the bear was female or had cubs; showed no consideration for the homes and cabins in every direction of where the bear was eating; shot and killed the young black bear, leaving her body to rot in the field. Her two dependent cubs were left to sniff at her body, not knowing what to do. Hunters like this are a disgrace and endangerment to us all!
It was the game warden's unfortunate duty to eliminate two healthy, motherless cubs because of this idiot's mistake!
Hunters: Get permission to hunt on private property. Ask around, especially if you are hunting bear; land owners can probably tell you if there has been a female bear with cubs hanging around. It breaks my heart and makes me furious to know that healthy animals are being destroyed because of an irresponsible hunter. Check surrounding areas for homes and outbuildings before you pull the trigger. A rifle shot can travel for miles.
If you are unsure if the bear is male or female, don't shoot.
My thanks and respect go to the game warden who cares enough to clean up the mess others make and to enforce our laws.
Nicki McPhee, Ovando
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Lynne Carpino Hutton wrote on Oct 17, 2008 10:15 AM:
Since 1964 my family has owned the property where the slaughter occured.
As children, my siblings and I welcomed the site of an occasional bear passing through yard of cabin. However, we respected the animals, and kept our distance. We are sickened by the slaughter of innocent wildlife. Many thanks to the game warden. I would like to thank him personally, if anyone out there in Montana would send his name. "