Life is about making an impact, not making an income. ― Kevin Kruse

Today’s topics include:

• Romano Announces
• Montana Legislature & DUIs
• Biden vs Trump Poll

Romano Announces:

If you follow me on Twitter (@TheWesternWord) then you were one of the first to know that Melissa Romano announced her candidacy for Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction on Tuesday.

In her press release, Romano said:

“As a Montana teacher leader and proud public school educator, I believe all children deserve the opportunity to be prepared for the future with a quality education. Montana students need a fierce leader in their Superintendent, who will advocate every day on their behalf,” said Romano. “I am running to be Montana’s next State Superintendent of Schools because I’m determined to restore competent focused leadership that will protect and promote quality public education for all.”

In 2016, Romano lost to current Superintendent, Republican Elsie Arntzen, by 16,200 votes out of more than 491,000 votes cast (if my math is correct).

Also in her press release, Romano went after Arntzen, saying:

“Like so many of my fellow Montanans, I’ve been discouraged by the lack of leadership coming for the current head of the Office of Public Instruction, especially during the 2019 Legislative Session. Montana students deserve a fierce advocate in Helena, but when school funding came before the legislature, our current Superintendent of Public Instruction was absent for the conversation; when the right of children to attend school was under attack, our current Superintendent was nowhere to be found; and when some politicians threatened to divert our tax dollars from public schools to for-profit private schools, our current Superintendent didn’t say a word,” Romano said. “Montana parents want a champion for their kids and as Montana’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will be that champion. I will treat the job with the level of commitment and seriousness it deserves instead of viewing it as a stepping stone to higher office.”

This should be one of the more exciting statewide races in 2020.

Montana Legislature & DUIs:

The 2019 Montana Legislature did not toughen the drunken driving laws in Montana this session and that means more people will probably die in Montana in the next two years.

That’s a cold hard fact.

Just a day or two after the Montana Legislators were patting themselves on the back and saying how great a job they did during this session, the Flathead Beacon reported that 31-year-old Jared Allen Parsons crashed into an Evergreen home and killed a sleeping teenager, 15-year-old Erin Howk, a student at Columbia Falls High School.

According to the Beacon, if convicted, Parsons faces a maximum of 30 years in the Montana State Prison and a fine of up to $50,000.

The maximum punishment in Montana for killing someone with a vehicle is a joke.

Maybe if Montana had tougher DUI laws, people like Parsons would think twice before driving drunk.

Or maybe some drunk drivers, like Emma Jean Whiteman, would not be on the streets at all if the Montana laws were tougher.

According to MTN News out of Bozeman, Whiteman has a 20-year criminal history of drunk driving. She allegedly almost drove head-on into another car on Monday and was charged with her 4th habitual DUI in Gallatin County Justice Court.

MTN reported that a check of Whiteman’s driving history showed she had five prior convictions for DUI in 1999, 2001, twice in 2006 and one in 2011.

It’s time we elected state senators and representatives who will stand up to the pressure from lobbyists and pass meaningful and tougher DUI laws in Montana.

If they did, maybe Montana would be known for more than drunk drivers.

Biden vs Trump:

There’s early speculation of former Vice President Joe Biden (age 76) and current President, Donald Trump (age 72), meeting in the General Election in November 2020. It would be an interesting match between the two old guys. I would think the Presidential debates would need to be held in the late afternoon so they could get to bed early.

Back in 2018, Biden was asked about how Trump treated women and Biden said if he was in high school he would “take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.” Trump responded via Twitter saying Biden “would go down fast and hard, crying all the way.” (Vice.com)

So that brings us to today’s poll question from The Western Word:

If Joe Biden and Donald Trump were to fight, who do you think would win?

 

I will post the results in a few days. Please let your friends know about the poll.

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