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A Bucket of Water and a Bar of Gold

By By Jeff Pattison, Republican candidate for Montana Public Service Commission

I have often said that when you truly need it, I would rather have a bucket of water than a bar of gold.

That may sound like a simple observation from a Montana farmer and rancher, but it expresses something deeper about how I believe government should work. We must understand the difference between what is valuable and what is essential.

Water is essential. Reliable electricity is essential. Affordable heat in a Montana winter is essential. Telephone and broadband services that connect rural families, businesses and emergency responders are essential.

The Public Service Commission exists because most utility customers cannot shop around for another provider. That places a serious responsibility on commissioners to ensure monopoly utilities receive a reasonable opportunity to operate successfully—but never a blank check at the expense of captive ratepayers

Read the complete article: A Bucket of Water and a Bar of Gold

An Open Letter to Llew Jones

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Llew,

With all due respect, enough, when it comes to your dogged determination to unlawfully entrench yourself as a Montana legislator in blatant defiance of term limits. Term limits are clearly defined in Article IV, section 8 of The Constitution of the State of Montana.

With all of the vainglory you regularly exhibit regarding your education, intelligence, and penchant for numbers, one would think that you would have the ability to read and comprehend the aforementioned Article IV, section 8.

Term limits described as 8 or more years within any 16 year period, seems quite obviously, to be an example of plain and clear usage of the English language, and calculating 8 or more years within any 16 year period seems basic arithmetic.

Read the complete Article: An Open Letter to Llew Jones

 

Enough

Overcome darkness, dispel the fringe llewnatics

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

By Montana Mind

Another election cycle, and with it, the standard ghoulish parade. Emerging from cold darkness, to shake your hand in broad daylight. Enter the bloated candidates; They seek to do the same to your government. They run with blatant disregard for both term limits, and general decency alike.  Whether they don’t know what logical fallacies are, or they’re just especially fond of them, is anyone’s guess. The probability that many of these debased creatures have entirely forgotten that there is a guiding document called the Montana state constitution is high. The lack of remembrance being the result of pharmaceutical drug addiction, may be even higher.

Read the complete article: Enough

Families Who Lost Loved Ones Under Rigid COVID Hospital Protocols Take Their Fight to Capitol Hill

Widows and relatives who lost loved ones under rigid pandemic rules hope the September 28 gathering will open the door to formal hearings on hospital accountability

By Liberty Bell Staff

WASHINGTON — For years, grieving families have carried the same unanswered questions: Why were they locked out of hospital rooms while their spouses and parents deteriorated? Why did requests for alternative treatments or simple discharge meet a brick wall? Why did standard protocols appear to override family wishes, informed consent, and even the desperate hope of a dying patient?

On September 28, some of those families will finally place their stories before a United States senator in a Capitol Hill roundtable convened by Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The event is not a formal congressional hearing. Organizers and participants, however, see it as a critical first step toward the deeper investigation they have long demanded; one that examines the role hospitals and their protocols played in the deaths of thousands of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the complete article: Families Who Lost Loved Ones Under Rigid COVID Hospital Protocols Take Their Fight to Capitol Hill

Flock Flack: When Surveillance Replaces Trust, Justice, and Moral Responsibility

A free society should be cautious whenever government asks citizens to surrender privacy in exchange for promises of safety.

By Staff Writer

The proposal is usually presented as straightforward: Install cameras, collect license-plate information, allow law enforcement to search the records, and crime will be reduced. Anyone who objects may be portrayed as suspicious, unreasonable, or unconcerned about public safety.

But the central question is not whether cameras can sometimes help solve crimes. Of course they can. The more important question is whether a constitutional republic should create searchable records of innocent people’s movements without individualized suspicion, a warrant, meaningful public consent, or effective oversight.

That question is not merely about technology. It reaches into the Fourth Amendment, due process, the presumption of innocence, the right to confront witnesses, and the principle that government—not the accused—must prove its case

Read the complete article: Flock Flack

Harvard’s Fraud Case Sounds Alarm for Montana

ARE UNIVERSITY GRANTS AT RISK?

By Staff Writer

Harvard University’s legal troubles over allegedly falsifying information in NIH grant applications could lead to multimillion-dollar penalties. This alarming situation is not confined to Ivy League corridors—it’s a stark warning for Montana’s universities, which rely heavily on similar federal funding for critical research projects.

The scandal underscores the importance of rigorous oversight. Montana’s institutions are deeply invested in federally funded research across various sectors, including health, environment, and technology. For instance, NIH grants support vital health studies addressing rural healthcare, while EPA funds drive essential environmental research in Montana’s unique ecosystems. NSF grants aid in technological advancements that are crucial for regional development.

If errors or falsehoods in grant applications occur here as they allegedly did at Harvard, the financial and reputational repercussions could be severe. Montana’s universities may find themselves in the precarious position of needing to repay substantial sums, thereby jeopardizing future research efforts.

Read the complete article: Harvard-Fraud Case Sounds Alarm for Montana

Bridging the Gap How Grid United Can Align With America’s Industrial Renaissance

How Grid United Can Align With America’s Industrial Renaissance

By Lisa Bennett

As the push to bring manufacturing back to American soil accelerates under the current administration, energy demand is skyrocketing. National leaders are aggressively courting multi-trillion-dollar investments to rehome industrial plants, tech hubs, and energy intensive data centers across the American West, including Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Northern California.

For projects like Grid United’s 420-mile North Plains Connector, aligning with this economic renaissance offers a tremendous opportunity to set a new gold standard for American energy resilience. As our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, corporations that build our critical infrastructure have a unique patriotic calling: to look past a century-old dependency on heavy steel-core technology and invest in the next 250 years of American prosperity. Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) Commissioner Randy Pinocci has highlighted the immense stakes involved in building a grid capable of supporting this growth, emphasizing the vital role of modern technology:

“I have a responsibility to point out these common-sense benefits of carbon core transmission lines.”

Read the complete article: Bridging the Gap How Grid United Can Align With America’s Industrial Renaissance

MacQue Bohleen Under Investigation

by State of Montana for Alleged Election Law Violations-Her Time as
Clerk and Recorder is Up-Vote for Integrity and Transparency

– Vote Cheryl Denton for Clerk and Recorder

By Staff Writer

Trust in local government isn’t given—it’s earned through transparency, statutory compliance, and absolute integrity. When public officials abuse their authority, conceal records, and obstruct the very citizens they are elected to serve, they forfeit the privilege of holding office.

As Carbon County voters prepare to cast their ballots this November, they face a stark reality: current Clerk and Recorder Macque Bohleen and her Election Administrator, Crystal Roascio, are the targets of a formal criminal investigation before the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP) for alleged violations of state criminal election law.

Read the complete article: MacQue Bohleen Under Investigation