Sorted by date Results 139 - 163 of 362
Dear Editor: Last week, Brad Tschida, a legislator from Missoula wrote a letter to the editor criticizing me. There is a reason why Tschida is attacking me: I disagree with Tschida on many issues. While I normally ignore baseless attacks, because of the current COVID-19 situation I am limited in the personal conversations I would be able to have during a regular campaign season and I want you to know the truth. Tschida voted against a bill to prohibit sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants in Montana; I voted to prohibit sanctuary cities in...
Dear Editor: I have served in the Montana House of Representatives for the past seven years in your neighboring house district. I know both of your Republican candidates for HD #35 very well. The voters of Richland County are fortunate to have such a clear and distinct choice in the upcoming Republican primary. The dictionary defines misrepresentation as “the action or offense of giving a false or misleading account of the nature of something”. For the last two years Richland County has been misrepresented in the Montana House of Rep...
Letter To The Editor In response to Brad Tschida’s editorial comments on House Representative Joel Krautter’s voting record, I as a Montana’ taxpayer and voter the past 44 years, did some research. SB 338, collection of bed/hotel taxes, provides funds for the Historic preservation grant program: historic sites, museums, tourist promotion, maintenance of state parks and construction of the Montana Heritage Center. HB 661, the aviation fuel tax, will increase revenues for MDT’s grants to local public use airports (Glendive and Sidney), aviatio...
Dear Editor: Several weeks ago, before the letters to the editor by Representative Joel Krautter, Julie Millam of Helena and Glenda Edgeworth of Stevensville, I had been asked for my opinion about the allegation that Representative Joel Krautter’s vote for Medicaid reform supported abortion. My ‘off the top of my head’ response included these points. 1. Having had several conversations with Mr. Krautter personally I have no reason to question his sincerity when he says he is anti-abortion and very pro-life. 2. I know that he is part of a stron...
Dear Editor: During the last legislative session, I had the distinct pleasure to represent Montana’s farmers and ranchers and advocate on issues of importance to the agriculture community. Now a proud Sidney resident, I am supporting Joel Krautter’s re-election campaign for representative because of the strong work I personally saw him do for agriculture in Helena. Thankfully the 2019 legislature was one of the most productive for agriculture with the passage of important legislation like HB 50 which Joel sponsored to hold commodity dea...
Dear Editor: I am a Democrat and I know a Republican when I see one. Joel is a Republican friend of mine, as are many other Republicans in this community. The smear campaign that the Ler camp is attempting is less than graceful. - Cara Lokken-Frandsen...
Dear Editor, I am the current Republican Majority Leader in the Montana House. Early in the 2019 Legislative Session, I noticed Freshman Rep. Joel Krautter voting for bills that were contrary to established Republican Platform positions. I visited with him to ask about the basis of his votes, having knowledge of the values of voters in Richland County through my relationship with his predecessors, Reps. David Halvorson and Scott Staffanson, and his current Senator, Steve Hinebauch. As the Republican Majority Leader, elected by the majority of t...
Dear Editor, ‘Krautter is a Prolife Ally’ When considering support of a candidate, our first concern is whether or not that person is pro-life. Through talking with Representative Joel Krautter and reviewing his voting record, we have found him to be 100% pro-life. In addition, the Montana Family Foundation gave him a 100% score. If there were any concerns, he would not have received that score. Representative Krautter has also co-sponsored pro-life legislation in Helena. It is deeply disturbing to read the lies being perpetrated about him supp...
Pro-life organizations around the state are aghast at Joel Krautter’s assertions in your wonderful publication. As a decades-long resident of Montana, a Constitutional Republican, a Christian volunteer, and a pro-life activist, the record needs to be set straight. As the Montana Family Foundation has made abundantly clear, the Medicaid expansion rule that Krautter voted for along with Montana House Democrats, did indeed provide for tax-payer funded abortions. Krautter claims he has an A-score with the Montana Family Foundation, but that score d...
I saw Rep. Joel Krautter’s article in the Roundup, as did many conservatives around the state, and I want to respond to it. As the former executive director of the Montana Family Coalition, I need to respond to it for the sake of honesty. The first thing that you need to know is that Krautter, in calling pro-life voters “extremists,” is actually mimicking word-for-word a fake news site set up by the leftist “Solutions Caucus” called the “Extremist Chronicles.” Favored by the progressives with whom Krautter caucuses in Helena against Repub...
The commencement of election season has brought a rash of fake news being written by right-wing extremists, borrowing a play from the radical left, and spread on social media about my voting record. The distortions concern pro-life issues and my vote this past session for the Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act (MRIA) that our Sidney Health Center asked me to support. It’s disappointing to see politically motivated misrepresentations, but I’m glad to highlight my pro-life work, set the record straight, and help people be better able to ide...
Large numbers of Richland County people have given public comment about closure of MDU’s Lewis and Clark Station at Sidney. We did this four times to MDU and three times to the Public Service Commission. Richland County Commissioners have filed written public comment. With a few precious exceptions such as PSC Commissioner Randy Pinocci, we have been speaking to people who have plugged their ears. One PSC commissioner has even complained about us being allowed to appear before them. Public comment is good, but we need to take further steps. W...
Dear Editor, For years we have watched the passion of the “Pro-choice” and anti-gun people and the progress they have made. There has been over 50 million babies killed by abortion since 1973, plus thousands of women have died, in the process. The anti-gun people have taken several runs at trying to take our guns away across the nation and even in this state. The most recent attempt that made the headlines was in Virginia. The point being, we have a problem. My wife and I had the privilege of going to Sidney to the meeting held on Jan. 20 to...
Dear Editor, I would like to sincerely thank the many attendees at the town hall forum hosted by the Republican Party to discuss making Richland County a sanctuary county for the Second Amendment and the Right to Life. I was very pleased to see so many of our neighbors attend the event, which was likely a record of some kind for the county. As we proceed in this venture, with so many in support, we should realize that not everyone is in agreement. When that is the case, we should state our...
Dear Richland County, As pastors in this community with the charge to care for the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40), our heart is burdened for the unborn. We encourage the attendance of all people of faith and/or conscience to attend the Jan. 20 meeting at the Extension Office at 7 p.m. to lend their voice on the subject of Richland County becoming a Sanctuary County for Life. We believe that your voice will be important in this matter. The clergy of this community are united on the subject of protecting those who need protected the most. We...
Many of you may not remember who “Dr Dirt” was. I am an Internal Medicine physician who has worked in this area since 1986. I took a sabbatical from medicine for several years. I have been back in medicine for over six years, doing what I was always meant to do. During my sabbatical I ran a small landscaping business with my three sons. I did a variety of other things as well. I wrote a weekly newspaper column for “The Roundup” for five years that was entitled “Dr Dirt.” After reading the obituary on the legendary Russ Wells and attending his m...
Dear Sidney Community, On behalf of Richland Opportunities, Inc. I would like to personally thank the many people in our community that helped make the 1st Annual ROI Prom a huge success. There were many staff that put in a lot of hours of their own time to help make this night special, but I want to give a big “shout out” to all the community members and businesses that contributed to the ROI Prom 2019 “Summer Nights” on June 22nd in the Sidney High School Gym. Having a Prom for the individuals at ROI has long been a thought, but to actuall...
The E-rase your E-waste Committee would like to thank everyone who participated in our 2019 Spring E-rase your E-waste events in Sidney and Fairview. The official tallies are now in and, altogether, more than 80 MonDak area businesses and residents recycled another 14,385 pounds (more than 7 Tons) of electronic waste! That brings our grand total to 487,000 pounds recycled since the program's inception 15 years ago. That's more than 243 Tons of e-waste with its toxic substances and heavy metals...
The legislature has finished its work after 87 days. The session was filled with many long days at the Capitol but we saw many legislative breakthroughs that will benefit our district and all of Montana. The driving force behind these victories was the Conservative Solutions Caucus. The Conservative Solutions Caucus is made up of fellow Republicans from all across Montana who believe, like I do, that our constituents expect us to go to Helena to solve problems and work to find solutions and govern, not just vote “no” and go home and point fin...
The past two weeks have been some of the biggest weeks in the House during the session. Contentious bills we took up in the House included Representative Buttrey’s Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act, as well as the Infrastructure Bonding Bill. I supported Representative Buttrey’s bill because I believe in the reforms it makes to the Medicaid law set to expire in June without reauthorization. The resolution from the Sidney Health Center Board of Trustees asking me to support continuation of the...
I will never forget the day I learned the cost of my husband’s new medication: $9,000 per month, totaling $108,000 per year. Panic set in as we wondered how we would pay. We researched alternatives. There weren’t any, even though the drug has been on the market for over 20 years. To our great relief, our health insurance covered - and continues to cover - this expensive medication, which we could otherwise not afford. With this drug my husband stays out of the hospital, can go to work, pay taxes and remain a productive member of society. My...
This Letter to the Editor is in response to a news-article in the April 3rd edition of The Roundup titled "Farm Bureau Members Attend Advisory Meetings, Meet With Congressional Offices In D.C." Wild horses stand ready to reduce the incidence of wildfire. If released in remote areas where dry old grass and twigs abound, they would graze down those "one-hour fuels" that could otherwise feed fires. The "Wild Horse Fire Brigade" would provide a safe, smoke-free, cost-free method of reducing the fuel-load. In fact, immediate and ongoing savings...
The 2015 Montana legislature passed the Medicaid Expansion program in Montana, providing healthcare coverage to low income and disabled individuals. Importantly this act included work/training programs, premiums, as well as a 4 year expiration “sunset” date to allow the legislature to review the data and consider whether to leave the program unchanged, make reforms or discontinue it. Initially the Federal government paid for 100 percent of the program, tapering down to 90 percent by 2020. The program is set to sunset in June of 2019, unl...
It’s often said that Montana is like a small town with long streets. Montanans may be separated by hundreds of miles but it’s amazing how many mutual friends you find you have after talking with someone for five minutes in this giant small town. A defining characteristic of small towns is that people care about one another and rally together in challenging times. Chances are you’ve attended at least a few community benefits to raise money for medical bills or to help a family that had some other misfortune strike. Today, our giant small town...
I am a third-generation farmer and rancher in Montana. My family has a long history of working the land and raising cattle. I understand full well the negative impact low commodity prices have on agriculture and the communities that rely on Agriculture to survive. The ag economy of the United States is in increasing trouble, one only needs to see the following stats to understand this: FDIC reports that U.S. Farm real estate loan delinquencies for Q3 in 2018 are the highest rate of delinquencies on all bank loans for the first time in...
