Hello Friday – here are some things that caught my eye this week:

• State Senator Keith Regier
• State vs United States
• Missouri Republicans
• Wildcard Weekend
• Chiefs & Bills

STATE SENATOR KEITH REGIER:

Back on January 5, I wrote about Montana State Senator Keith Regier proposing a resolution to encourage Congress to investigate “alternatives” to American Indian reservations.

Since that column and outrage from the Native American community, Regier has pulled the resolution.

KRTV in Great Falls followed up by contacting tribal leaders in the area and getting their thoughts. It is worth a read.

Read/watch it HERE.

STATE VS UNITED STATES:

I know there’s a certain style or rules journalists go by when writing stories, like abiding by the Associated Press style guide.

Here at The Western Word (TWW), I don’t have to abide by those rules. The journalists reading this are probably shaking their heads and saying, “I can tell.”

One thing that “bothers” me is when the Montana legislature is in session, those covering the session call elected officials Senator and Representative in their articles, putting them on the same level as a U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative when they are not even close.

Here at TWW, I try to list them as State Senator and State Representative because they are not as powerful as the United States Senators and United States Representatives although many think they are.

As for the bills, I worked in a U.S. Senator’s office and many constituents did not realize that the bill being debated in Helena was not being voted on by the U.S. Senators. Here at TWW, I try to distinguish if it is a bill in the state or one in the U.S. Congress. By the way, Congress meets in Washington, D.C., and not in Helena. Those serving in Helena are not congressmen or congresswomen.

I know the clowns serving in the Montana legislature think they are all-powerful. Yes, they really can screw up our lives, but let’s make sure we don’t make them more powerful than they really are.

MISSOURI REPUBLICANS:

The Washington Post reported that the Republican-controlled Missouri House of Representatives used its session’s opening day Wednesday to tighten the dress code for female legislators, while leaving the men’s dress code alone.

Do you remember when a Montana State Representative embarrassed the state when he wanted to ban yoga pants?
(Source)

Republicans seem to want to control not only women’s bodies but the way they dress, too.

The struggle is real…

Read the WaPo article HERE.

WILDCARD WEEKEND:

Just a reminder that the NFL playoffs begin this weekend with two games on Saturday, three games on Sunday, and one game Monday night.

Check out the playoff schedule HERE.

CHIEFS & BILLS:

As you may know, the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game was canceled because of the injury to Damar Hamlin.

The NFL has decided if the AFC title game ends up being between the Bills and Chiefs, then it will be in a neutral location. That is because the Bills have one less game played than the Chiefs. The Bills had the tiebreaker over the Chiefs if they had won the canceled game. Since that game was canceled the Chiefs have a better winning percentage.

The NFL picked Atlanta as the neutral site for the game if it is played. Atlanta is a domed stadium. Both the Chiefs and the Bills play outdoors. The Chiefs play on real grass.

I thought the game should be played in Chicago. It’s about the same distance from both cities and it is an outdoor stadium.

The big thing is that the Bills need to win two games and the Chiefs one game to get to the AFC championship. The Chiefs have a bye this weekend.

## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##