Editorial

State hospital's funding termination could affect every community in the state.

Late last week, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to Montana State Hospital (MSH) in Warm Springs announcing the termination of their provider agreement due to the failure of the Hospital to meet health and safety standards, after four patients died in what investigators said were "preventable" deaths. This means that the State Hospital will lose $7 million annually in critical funding.

Ranch group urges FTC, DOJ to investigate vertical integration of feedlots

Billings – In formal comments submitted last week to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, R-CALF USA told both agencies that while beef packer concentration has plateaued since 2009 at the four-firm level of between 83% and 86%, it is now evident that major concentration and vertical integration efforts are underway in the feedlot sector of the live cattle industry. The group stated the oligopolistic structure of the beef packing industry is now being pushed upstream into the live cattle supply chain.

Chit Chattin

This week the Rosebud County Sheriff’s Office highlighted Deputy Sheriff Logan Dutton. He has been with the Sheriff’s Office for about a year. He graduated from the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in December of 2021. He comes from a family of law enforcement, and knew early on he wanted to be part of that. His first law enforcement job was as a Reserve Officer for the Helena Police Department in July of 2017. As well as being an active member in HPD/LCCSO’s Civil Disobedience Team he attended college at UM Helena, then transferred to Carroll College where he achieved his Bachelors in Criminology. Three days after graduation, he started with the Rosebud County Sheriff’s Office. He has many hobbies, the newest is practicing Gracie Jiu Jitsu, he is excited to be involved in the martial arts. He is proud of being a taser instructor and wash-bay manager. But what makes him the proudest is following in his father’s footsteps hoping to show the same level of passion and dedication and achieve a similar legacy. We thank him for his service and dedication for the man he is not only in his family unit, but also in his job in Rosebud County and the State of Montana.

Letter to the Editor: The numbers don’t lie

Editor, the IP:

Forgiveness

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When you get married you don’t just get a spouse, but you also get in-laws. When you get your in-laws, there are two ways it can go. Some have great in-laws, and some try to get rid of the in-laws. I have good in-laws and have a great connection with them. There have been many times the father in-law has dropped things on my head and put me in places of near-death experiences. I pray that he did that to get a job done and not to kill me. We have a great time together and share many moments that are good and many moments that have tested each other.

The declining state of our political system

We became acquainted over half a century ago and have always shared a keen interest in government and public service. In our lifetimes of serving in public office, and being close observers of the political process, we have never so regularly heard deep expressions of concern from our fellow citizens about the declining state of our political system.

Read between the lines to see rural America’s place in Biden’s address

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President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address mentioned rural America explicitly only in passing last night. But his references to “made in America,” fair trade, improving wages, educational opportunity, and the rhetoric of his party’s left wing addressed many of the concerns of rural communities.

The right to be left alone

In an age where people are falling all over themselves to divulge their most personal information to the world through social media, and where people willingly give their permission to internet search engines like Google to gather and sell their personal data, it seems almost absurd to worry about the right to privacy.

Serving the mental health needs of rural teens

“When you’re in a county of less than 7,000 individuals, and you’re hearing about numerous teen suicides, there’s an issue,” said April Anzaldua, director of community services and development with the Community Action Corporation of South Texas.

The impact of massive and unsustainable debt

When running for the U.S. Senate in 2018 the number one issue I discussed was the massive and unsustainable national debt, which is now over $29 trillion, or $229,706 per tax payer. All the issues important to Americans, from education, to social security, to national defense and global warming, can only be addressed if we have resources to address them. If we go insolvent as a nation, which will lead to poverty, unrest, and civil strife, these issues go by the wayside as we just try to survive.