tagged w/ Montana
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David Karnos retired last year after teaching philosophy for 31 years at Montana State University Billings. Every year, he taught a class on death and dying, exploring end-of-life subjects including euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
If we think such discussions are new, he said, it's worth remembering that the most famous philosopher in history, Socrates, killed himself by drinking hemlock in 399 B.C.
"We've argued about it for 3,000 years," Karnos said.
In Montana, the age-old debate over end-of-life decisions took on a new urgency early last month, when a state district judge ruled that Montanans have a right to doctor-assisted suicide.David Karnos retired last year after teaching philosophy for 31 years at Montana State... more
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My dad Jim and I offer our thoughts on New Year's resolutions.
Shot at the Speedway Cafe in Forsyth, MontanaMy dad Jim and I offer our thoughts on New Year's resolutions.
Shot at the... more
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spooly
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3 years ago
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I am home for the holidays in Colstrip, Montana. My girlfriend Barb is back in New Haven, Connecticut. Since we are in two different time zones, we will be celebrating the clock striking midnight twice on New Year's Eve. We will be sharing that unfortunately over the phone.I am home for the holidays in Colstrip, Montana. My girlfriend Barb is back in New... more
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spooly
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Filmed in the mountains of Montana, this poignant, engrossing chronicle focuses on an extraordinary stallion, whose life has been recorded since his birth in the wild in 1995 by Emmy-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens.Filmed in the mountains of Montana, this poignant, engrossing chronicle focuses on an... more
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Elected to the Montana State Legislature in 2004, Mary Caferro knows that healthcare is a human right. At one time, Caferro was a single mother on welfare. In her career as a legislator she has worked to raise the CHIP eligibility levels so that more families have access to healthcare.Elected to the Montana State Legislature in 2004, Mary Caferro knows that healthcare... more
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GRITtv
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A Montana judge has ruled that doctor-assisted suicide is legal in the state, but the decision is likely to be appealed.
The judge, Dorothy McCarter, issued the ruling late Friday in the case of a Billings man with terminal cancer who had sued the state.
In her ruling, Judge McCarter wrote that “the Montana constitutional rights of individual privacy and human dignity” give a mentally competent person who is terminally ill the right to “die with dignity.”
The ruling said that those patients had the right to obtain self-administered medications to hasten death if they found their suffering to be unbearable, and that physicians could prescribe such medication without fear of prosecution.
But the state has argued that the Legislature should decide whether terminally ill patients have the right to take their own life. The state’s attorney general, Mike McGrath, said he expected the state to file an appeal.
The plaintiff, Robert Baxter, 75, said in a statement that he was “glad to know that the court respects my choice to die with dignity if my situation becomes intolerable.”
This man's life is his life and no one else should decide when he should die. I live in Washington state and I'm glad that it is one of the only two states where assisted suicide is legal. Two down, 48 to go...A Montana judge has ruled that doctor-assisted suicide is legal in the state, but the... more
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HAVERHILL, N.H. - A county treasurer who lost her bid for a fourth term last week to a 20-year-old Dartmouth College student from Montana blames her failed candidacy on "brainwashed college kids."
Republican Carol Elliott said students just voted for the Democratic ticket, which included Dartmouth junior Vanessa Sievers. Sievers won by nearly 600 votes out of 42,000 cast after targeting voters at Dartmouth and Plymouth State University through a $42 ad on the Web site Facebook.
"It was the brainwashed college kids that made the difference," Elliott, 66, told the Valley News of Lebanon. She said she had little faith that Sievers will fulfill her duties adequately.
"You've got a teenybopper for a treasurer," said Elliott, who has held the position for six years. "I'm concerned for the citizens of Grafton County."HAVERHILL, N.H. - A county treasurer who lost her bid for a fourth term last week to a... more
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WASHINGTON - Barack Obama has pulled ahead in enough states to win the 270 electoral votes he needs to gain the White House — and with states to spare — according to an Associated Press analysis that shows he is now moving beyond typical Democratic territory to challenge John McCain on historically GOP turf.
Even if McCain sweeps the six states that are too close to call, he still seemingly won't have enough votes to prevail, according to the analysis, which is based on polls, the candidates' TV spending patterns and interviews with Democratic and Republican strategists. McCain does have a path to victory but it's a steep climb: He needs a sudden shift in voter sentiment that gives him all six toss-up states plus one or two others that now lean toward Obama.
Obama has 23 states and the District of Columbia, offering 286 votes, in his column or leaning his way, while Republican McCain has 21 states with 163 votes. A half dozen offering 89 votes — Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio — remain up for grabs. President Bush won all six in 2004, and they are where the race is primarily being contested in the homestretch.WASHINGTON - Barack Obama has pulled ahead in enough states to win the 270 electoral... more
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jkw077
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3 years ago
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CUT BANK - The FBI is asking for the public's help in an investigation into the poisoning of a border patrol agent earlier this year.
Timothy Fuhrman, special agent in charge of the FBI's regional office in Salt Lake City, on Wednesday announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the poisoning of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agent Denton Moberly. A tip line has also been set up. The number is 1-866-931-6962.
Moberly had lunch at a fast food restaurant in Cut Bank in February and became violently ill. In July, an informant told the Glacier County sheriff's office that the "border cop" had been deliberately fed a farm poison.CUT BANK - The FBI is asking for the public's help in an investigation into the... more
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CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said Wednesday that it's revising its gray wolf management plan in hopes of placating concerns about providing enough protection for the animals, but environmentalists said the changes are inadequate because wolves can still be shot on sight in most of the state.
The department's revisions include new wording to clarify its commitment to maintain at least 15 breeding pairs of wolves and 150 individual wolves in the state and new wording that further restricts the state's ability to change trophy game boundaries.
By revising its management plan, tje department is trying to avoid being left out of a new attempt by the federal government to remove the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies from the endangered-species list.CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said Wednesday that it's revising... more
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A year ago, few people would have predicted that Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama would be their parties' nominees for president. A few months ago, when their party selections were assured, there was reason to hope that the general election campaign would be conducted on a higher level of debate than has marked recent presidential contests. So it has been a disappointment that much of McCain's campaign has focused on smearing Obama.
A year ago, few people would have predicted that Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama... more
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JACKSON - Eight-year-old children aren't supposed to make life-changing decisions. But Kira Brazinski did.
The now-16-year-old made a decision that would alter her life forever during the third grade. She decided to have her left leg amputated.
"She came up to me and said, 'Mom, I want my foot cut off, and I want it as soon as possible,' " Kathie Brazinski said.
Kira was born with a rare nonhereditary birth defect called proximal femoral focal deficiency. It's characterized by the shortening of a leg bone, typically the femur, and the absence of a kneecap.
John and Kathie Brazinski gave their daughter the choice to live with the shortened leg or have it amputated and get a prosthetic leg.
Now a junior at Jackson Hole High School, Kira is an emerging contributor for the Bronc swim team, which will compete for the state championship this weekend in Gillette.
With just one leg, she swims at an obvious disadvantage but compensates with a strong upper body and determination that has inspired her teammates, coaches and opponents.
"She just has an awesome attitude," coach Debbie Iobst said. "If you could coach a whole team of Kiras, it would just be great. She's truly been an inspiration."
Kira's parents had no warning their daughter would be born with a partial left leg.
"When she was born, it was a total shock," Kathie said. "There's nothing that can prepare you for that. But right after the day she was born and I found out what she had, I researched, researched, researched."
Kathie and her husband decided that ultimately their child should make the choice about what to do about her leg. "She was a bright girl," Kathie said. "I realized early on that she knew what we were talking about."
Kira was always self-aware. At the age of 2, she asked her mother when her leg was going to grow out.
"It doesn't," her mother told her. "Your leg is different."
Kira's options were simple. She could leave the leg as is, undergo a rotationplasty - a procedure in which the limb could be salvaged by surgically transforming the ankle into a knee joint - or have the leg amputated and live with a prosthetic limb.
At first, Kira was hesitant to have her leg amputated.
"I remember thinking I wasn't going to do anything with it," she said. "I was scared."
One day, however, she changed her mind. Her thinking was pretty logical, actually - at least for a preteen. "I remember I just wanted to be able to wear cool jeans," she said.
Her parents gained strength through their daughter's courage.
"She went into the operating room with a smile on her face," Kathie said. "What 8-year-old does that?"
Looking back, Kathie is proud her daughter made the right decision. She said many patients who have the rotationplasty experience problems later in life.
"Ultimately, she made the right choice," Kathie said. "This was a much simpler choice. Ultimately, in the early parts of her life, she was going to live with this. I wasn't going to make the decision for her."
Kira wasn't done impressing. She stunned her doctors by learning to walk with a prosthetic leg faster than expected.
"She's quite the athlete," her mother said. "That helps. She's so athletic it helps her."
Still, it would be six more years before Kira would take that athleticism to the pool.
Her swim lessons were going well at the Teton County/Jackson Recreation Center. She was just 4 at the time but comfortable in the water.JACKSON - Eight-year-old children aren't supposed to make life-changing... more
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By BRETT FRENCH
Of The Gazette Staff
Amphibian populations have crashed as isolated water sources have dried up in Yellowstone National Park's lower Lamar Valley, according to recently published research.
"This is strong evidence that climate change is altering one of the most protected areas in the United States," said Sarah McMenamin, a Stanford University biologist who co-authored the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"It's of course very depressing," said Liz Hadly, McMenamin's adviser and co-author, who started working in Yellowstone in 1982. "Even in this place that is so protected and enjoyed ... the kinds of temperature changes we're seeing on the planet are having a significant impact. Even this remote place is not immune from global change."
Amphibians are an indicator species, the proverbial canary in the coal mine, and their demise may predict problems to come for other species in the Yellowstone ecosystem, McMenamin said. By BRETT FRENCH
Of The Gazette Staff
Amphibian populations have crashed as isolated... more
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By The Associated Press
KALISPEL - Along a stretch of Highway 93, signs supporting former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul almost outnumber those of the party's presidential nominee, John McCain.
It's been months since Paul officially left the race, and yet a series of circumstances has the Texas congressman right in the middle of the presidential race in Montana. Political observers say Paul, on the ballot as a third-party candidate, will likely draw some votes away from McCain.
And if the race is close, Paul could be the difference.
"Ron Paul is the wild card," said David Hart, who oversaw Paul's campaign in Montana during the primary. "A lot of people are not happy with that." By The Associated Press
KALISPEL - Along a stretch of Highway 93, signs supporting... more
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HELENA - Until two weeks ago, the sleepy race to select Montana's next chief justice of the Supreme Court was shaping up to be a lot like high court races of the past.
Scholarly. Buttoned-up. In parts, even forgettable.
But earlier this month, a public action committee started by state Sens. John Cobb, R-Augusta, Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish, and Susan Good Geise, a former chairwoman of the Montana Republican Party, put candidate Mike McGrath, Montana's attorney general, directly in their crosshairs.
The group, which calls itself Montanans for Fairness Not Politics, alleges that as attorney general, McGrath sidestepped justice in favor of political expediency. The group is critical of how McGrath handled an investigation into the state's former and now discredited hair analysis expert, Arnold Melnikoff. HELENA - Until two weeks ago, the sleepy race to select Montana's next chief... more
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BUTTE - A 61-year-old Silver Bow County woman got into a tussle with an aggressive deer after it attacked one of her poodles.
Carol Lince says it happened Monday at her home about 35 miles southeast of Butte.
She says she let her three poodles outside, and then heard one "screaming bloody murder."
BUTTE - A 61-year-old Silver Bow County woman got into a tussle with an aggressive... more
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Echo Jamieson, a Billings stay-at-home mom, said she got nowhere Monday when she asked a man repeatedly calling her about Republican Jack Sands to identify himself. Sands is running against Rep. Gary Branae, a Democrat, who is trying to cross over to the Senate. The gist of the call, she said, was that Sands supports drug dealers and wants to keep them out of prison.
Here's the other side, (See article about Billings station refusal to remove a republican ad). Here, democrats are supposedly making false accusations etc..(local level tho from what I gather). Point is they should all be telling the truth, not making generalizations or using fear tactics to bump up the emotional level and get votes.Echo Jamieson, a Billings stay-at-home mom, said she got nowhere Monday when she asked... more
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The general manager of a Billings TV station has rejected the Montana Democratic Party's request to pull a Republican Party ad that Democrats said made false claims about attorney general candidate Steve Bullock.The general manager of a Billings TV station has rejected the Montana Democratic... more
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The Highwood Generating Station is a 250 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant to be located about ten miles east of the city of Great Falls. The project is being proposed by the Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative (SME), a recently-formed entity that includes five rural electric co-ops and the City of Great Falls.
For the last several years MEIC has steadfastly opposed the development of new coal-fired power plants in Montana because of their enormous contribution to global warming. SME's Highwood Generating Station is of particular concern. The electricity is not needed. The technology is outdated.
*It will be located on some of the most productive farmland in Montana and will ruin a National Historic Landmark. Stopping this plant requires action at the local, state, and federal levels.*
MEIC with the help of local farmers and ranchers, a local citizens group (the Great Falls-based Citizens for Clean Energy), attorneys around the state, and historic preservation advocates are engaged on every front to give the public and decision makers a full understanding of the plant's economic and environmental impacts.
SEE MAP OF LOCAL LANDOWNER OPPOSITION TO THE HIGHWOOD GENERATING STATION (750 K pdf)
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And this plant will not have carbon capture and sequestration,but again, even if it did it is still not CLEAN. HELLO AMERICA, anybody home?The Highwood Generating Station is a 250 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant to be... more
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