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This is for the women in Lakeside (and others that complained) who said their children’s lives were being ruined by the “Trump that B*tch” sign on the side of the road before the election.

I’m curious how you are handling day-to-day life with the disgusting signs and “costumes” that the protesters are marching around with. You can’t turn on a TV or computer without seeing this gross inappropriate garbage.

I would love for you to elaborate on how this is handled.

Or is this a double-standard incident whereby it’s acceptable because it is directed towards the candidate you voted against? —Suzy Lindsay-Moore, Kalispell

Legislative update

As I write this, the 65th session of the Montana Legislature has finished its third week. Bill drafts on various legislation are being completed and assigned to committees for public hearings. These hearings are open to the public for their input. If an individual is in favor of a bill becoming law or opposed to it, the committee hearing is where they can voice their opinions. If a bill is favorably voted out of a committee, it goes to the Senate or House floor where no public testimony is allowed.

Some bills of interest to the Flathead Valley are SB 9, SB 29 and SB 94. SB 9 is titled “Provide for Primary Enforcement of Seatbelt Laws.” Currently not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense. That means you can be fined for not wearing a seatbelt only if you are stopped for some other driving infraction. SB 9 would make it a primary offense. This bill was tabled in the Judiciary Committee. SB 29 is titled “Providing for the Crime of Aggravated Sexual Assault and Removing the Requirement of Force from the Definition of Consent.” This bill changes the definition of rape to include intimidation and coercion. Victims do not consent, but often from trauma or mental distress there is little to no resistance. SB 29 says that evidence of force is not the only definition of rape. This bill passed out of Judiciary Committee and passed the Senate with a 48-0 vote. It will now go to the House. SB 94 is titled “An Act Providing for a Property Tax Exemption for Certain Residential Property When Land Value is Disproportionately Higher that the Value of the Associated Improvements.” There are several people that have high property taxes with the value of the land much higher than the value of the improvements on that land. The increased value has been caused by neighbors buying land and building expensive homes. This is happening on many lakes in the Flathead Valley. Montanans are being taxed out of their homes not by what they did with their property but by what happened beside their property. SB 94 will limit the value of the land for tax puposes to 75 percent of the value of the improvements on that land. It will only be for primary residents. The Senate Taxation Committee heard this bill and will act on it in the near future.

These bills and others can be seen and tracked through the legislative process at leg.mt.gov. —Keith Regier, Kalispell Republican, SD3

Education system pushes global agenda

The Daily Inter Lake recently published an article titled “Students practice diplomacy at Model United Nations Conference.” I cannot help but think this is nothing more than brainwashing of our children and future leaders in an effort to convince them that our country is no better than any other and that the UN knows what is best for us all.

I am less than impressed with what our education system continues to promote as to how the world should be governed (controlled). A half century of these brainwashing conferences have taken place with our next generations, and where has the UN moved the world with their “can’t we all just get along” programs? Let’s see: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East in total is in chaos, and the U.S. is either the instigator or is dragged into most of these so-called wars. We are just used by the New World Order and the UN scum who control the puppet strings of so many of our leaders who are in lockstep with them. Then there are the major religious skirmishes throughout the African continent; South American countries are mostly communist controlled; Russia and China foment hell on their neighbors; forced migrations into Westernized countries are designed to change their demographics in order to create chaos within their borders.

Look around! We’re the only relatively free nation left on the planet. We are the last remaining hope for billions of people in about 200 other countries. The mainstream media, which is controlled by the New World Order, would have us all believe that the United States is the cause of all the worlds’ problems — and the UN promotes that lie. Without the USA remaining a viable, sovereign, strong and free republic we can expect nothing more than the entire population of earth being enslaved to the New World Order, and a thousand years of darkness.

I do not profess to have the answers, but for sure we must begin now to truly educate our kids. Pray it is not too late to save humanity — but there is not a lot of time left if we do not start right now.

It begins with our education system. Eliminate the Department of Education, giving control back to parents and the individual states. How about we teach our kids how our government works, even with all its flaws. The diplomacy part will come with maturity.

Secondly, we must cancel our membership to the UN. Our membership dues are in the billions of dollars annually — your tax dollars — and just so the UN can dictate to us what to do in the world. It is NOT our job to police the world. We should instead be focusing our kids on how best to serve OUR country while encouraging other countries to emulate us. We are not like all the others. For starters we have the First and Second Amendments. The rest of the world does not.

How about our kids debating as members of the three branches of our government, the DOI, BLM, ATF, BIA, FBI, CIA, EPA and the many other alphabet soup organizations? They could find ways to minimize the size of government, and learn to do a better job of spending our tax dollars. This puts our citizens first, rather than sending our money to the United Nations and other countries that do not welcome our interference and wish to destroy us. —John O’Neil, Kalispell

Plaudits for pond hockey

I want to express our heartfelt appreciation for all the hard work put in by volunteers, sponsors, vendors and anyone else associated with the Montana Pond Hockey Classic! I assume you were as tired as the players at the end of each day, but you should know that your efforts were noticed and reflect well on your community. We bring two teams to the event from locations ranging from Portland to Tacoma to Billings. We leave tired and happy — all hands are already looking forward to next year’s opening face-off.

I want to give a special shout-out to the Tamarack Barley team. It’s a rare opportunity to take the ice against NHL level players, which is a thrill in itself, but their on-ice spirit of sportsmanship was terrific, and will be something we remember always!

Lastly, returning to Foys Lake was special — it is a dream location for pond hockey. Clearing additional ice (outside that required for games) for young future Pond Hockey Classic players was an excellent developmental idea! —Chris Gorton, Richland, Washington

What’s good for the goose is good for the ...

This is for the women in Lakeside (and others that complained) who said their children’s lives were being ruined by the “Trump that B*tch” sign on the side of the road before the election.

I’m curious how you are handling day-to-day life with the disgusting signs and “costumes” that the protesters are marching around with. You can’t turn on a TV or computer without seeing this gross inappropriate garbage.

I would love for you to elaborate on how this is handled.

Or is this a double-standard incident whereby it’s acceptable because it is directed towards the candidate you voted against? —Suzy Lindsay-Moore, Kalispell

Legislative update

As I write this, the 65th session of the Montana Legislature has finished its third week. Bill drafts on various legislation are being completed and assigned to committees for public hearings. These hearings are open to the public for their input. If an individual is in favor of a bill becoming law or opposed to it, the committee hearing is where they can voice their opinions. If a bill is favorably voted out of a committee, it goes to the Senate or House floor where no public testimony is allowed.

Some bills of interest to the Flathead Valley are SB 9, SB 29 and SB 94. SB 9 is titled “Provide for Primary Enforcement of Seatbelt Laws.” Currently not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense. That means you can be fined for not wearing a seatbelt only if you are stopped for some other driving infraction. SB 9 would make it a primary offense. This bill was tabled in the Judiciary Committee. SB 29 is titled “Providing for the Crime of Aggravated Sexual Assault and Removing the Requirement of Force from the Definition of Consent.” This bill changes the definition of rape to include intimidation and coercion. Victims do not consent, but often from trauma or mental distress there is little to no resistance. SB 29 says that evidence of force is not the only definition of rape. This bill passed out of Judiciary Committee and passed the Senate with a 48-0 vote. It will now go to the House. SB 94 is titled “An Act Providing for a Property Tax Exemption for Certain Residential Property When Land Value is Disproportionately Higher that the Value of the Associated Improvements.” There are several people that have high property taxes with the value of the land much higher than the value of the improvements on that land. The increased value has been caused by neighbors buying land and building expensive homes. This is happening on many lakes in the Flathead Valley. Montanans are being taxed out of their homes not by what they did with their property but by what happened beside their property. SB 94 will limit the value of the land for tax puposes to 75 percent of the value of the improvements on that land. It will only be for primary residents. The Senate Taxation Committee heard this bill and will act on it in the near future.

These bills and others can be seen and tracked through the legislative process at leg.mt.gov. —Keith Regier, Kalispell Republican, SD3

Education system pushes global agenda

The Daily Inter Lake recently published an article titled “Students practice diplomacy at Model United Nations Conference.” I cannot help but think this is nothing more than brainwashing of our children and future leaders in an effort to convince them that our country is no better than any other and that the UN knows what is best for us all.

I am less than impressed with what our education system continues to promote as to how the world should be governed (controlled). A half century of these brainwashing conferences have taken place with our next generations, and where has the UN moved the world with their “can’t we all just get along” programs? Let’s see: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East in total is in chaos, and the U.S. is either the instigator or is dragged into most of these so-called wars. We are just used by the New World Order and the UN scum who control the puppet strings of so many of our leaders who are in lockstep with them. Then there are the major religious skirmishes throughout the African continent; South American countries are mostly communist controlled; Russia and China foment hell on their neighbors; forced migrations into Westernized countries are designed to change their demographics in order to create chaos within their borders.

Look around! We’re the only relatively free nation left on the planet. We are the last remaining hope for billions of people in about 200 other countries. The mainstream media, which is controlled by the New World Order, would have us all believe that the United States is the cause of all the worlds’ problems — and the UN promotes that lie. Without the USA remaining a viable, sovereign, strong and free republic we can expect nothing more than the entire population of earth being enslaved to the New World Order, and a thousand years of darkness.

I do not profess to have the answers, but for sure we must begin now to truly educate our kids. Pray it is not too late to save humanity — but there is not a lot of time left if we do not start right now.

It begins with our education system. Eliminate the Department of Education, giving control back to parents and the individual states. How about we teach our kids how our government works, even with all its flaws. The diplomacy part will come with maturity.

Secondly, we must cancel our membership to the UN. Our membership dues are in the billions of dollars annually — your tax dollars — and just so the UN can dictate to us what to do in the world. It is NOT our job to police the world. We should instead be focusing our kids on how best to serve OUR country while encouraging other countries to emulate us. We are not like all the others. For starters we have the First and Second Amendments. The rest of the world does not.

How about our kids debating as members of the three branches of our government, the DOI, BLM, ATF, BIA, FBI, CIA, EPA and the many other alphabet soup organizations? They could find ways to minimize the size of government, and learn to do a better job of spending our tax dollars. This puts our citizens first, rather than sending our money to the United Nations and other countries that do not welcome our interference and wish to destroy us. —John O’Neil, Kalispell

Plaudits for pond hockey

I want to express our heartfelt appreciation for all the hard work put in by volunteers, sponsors, vendors and anyone else associated with the Montana Pond Hockey Classic! I assume you were as tired as the players at the end of each day, but you should know that your efforts were noticed and reflect well on your community. We bring two teams to the event from locations ranging from Portland to Tacoma to Billings. We leave tired and happy — all hands are already looking forward to next year’s opening face-off.

I want to give a special shout-out to the Tamarack Barley team. It’s a rare opportunity to take the ice against NHL level players, which is a thrill in itself, but their on-ice spirit of sportsmanship was terrific, and will be something we remember always!

Lastly, returning to Foys Lake was special — it is a dream location for pond hockey. Clearing additional ice (outside that required for games) for young future Pond Hockey Classic players was an excellent developmental idea! —Chris Gorton, Richland, Washington