I hope everyone is keeping warm during these few days of extremely cold weather.

Here are some topics that caught my attention for today’s column:

• Public Education Campaign
• Great Falls Public Library
• Corporal Punishment

PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN:

To sway residents of Great Falls to vote for a very large tax increase (public safety levy), The Electric reported that the city commission is thinking about spending $50,000 to $150,000 for “a third-party consultant to run a public education campaign on the proposed levy.”

In other words, the Great Falls City Commission wants to spend up to $150,000 of our money to get us to vote to take more of our money and increase our taxes significantly.

Who is running this circus?

I suggest they use the $150,000 toward public safety and don’t increase our taxes. We’ll call it even.

If the public safety levy makes it to the ballot, I urge Great Falls residents to vote no. If the city of Great Falls can find $150,000 to promote it, they can probably find more money to help with public safety without raising our taxes.

You can read the article from The Electric HERE.

GREAT FALLS PUBLIC LIBRARY:

Last year I wrote this about a proposed levy for the Great Falls Public Library:

“I don’t want my taxes raised at all, but I do support taxes that educate people – like taxes for public schools, and I have said from the beginning that I would support a levy for the local library. I said I would support the levy for the library to help educate the ignorant MAGA folks roaming around Cascade County. Plus, we need to ensure that the less fortunate in the community have access to the local library.”

According to reports, it looks like Great Falls residents will get the chance to vote on a mill levy for the local library. I will be voting YES. I have had a library card for years. I used it a lot when I was going to college.

It looks as though the vote will happen on June 6, 2023.

Great Falls needs to be careful not to let the wackos control what is contained in the local library. That’s happening a lot around this state and a few of those wackos spoke out against the library in the article I saw.

The Electric has a report about the library HERE. KRTV has a report HERE. ABC/FOX Montana has a report HERE.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT:

I was spanked in school, and I survived.

I remember it was fourth or fifth grade and this kid named “Donnie” had gotten into trouble on the playground during recess. Donnie had punched some kid in the nose, and this kid’s nose was bleeding.

After we arrived back in our classroom, Donnie was called to the principal’s office. It was very quiet in the school and all of a sudden we heard a whop, whop, whop, whop, whop, whop, whop echo down the hallways.

Donnie got it seven times with the wooden paddle that had strategic holes in it. I think it was made from walnut. Ouch.

While it taught Donnie a lesson, the sound taught the rest of us a very important lesson – it was a deterrent. If you were called to the office for anything it was like the other kids were shouting, “dead man walking” as you left the class for that long walk.

It seems there’s not as much of a deterrent for kids acting up in school as there used to be. Maybe that walnut paddle should be dusted off. More information about this subject is available HERE.

As for fights, they were planned for after school on the way home and we used fists, not guns. I was in a few fights as I traveled around a lot because my dad worked on road construction. I was the new kid. In all those fights I never felt worried about someone using a knife or a gun against me.

It’s not that way today and therein lies the problem.

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