Letters to the editor Oct. 6

Azzopardi a great choice

We all want Montana to be a beautiful, clean and safe place for future generations to live and raise children. Our constitution guarantees a “clean and healthful environment,” and we want to keep it that way.

We want government that will solve problems that affect our community - not foster divisions with culture wars. We want our children to be well-educated, to be able to think rationally, and to understand the rich history that we are heir to in Montana. This is why Shirley Azzopardi is a great choice for House District 93.

She appreciates the natural beauty of Montana, and will work to protect it.

As a retired special education teacher, and longtime resident of the Mission Valley, she knows this community and its history. She is a good listener, and has the skills to work with individuals, community, schools, and families to come up with real solutions to problems. She will foster a community that is diverse, but that can work together.

She respects and honors tribal sovereignty, and will listen to the needs of tribal communities. For the benefit of all communities, she will work to increase funding for Indian Education for All.

As our representative for HD 93, she will protect our environment, advocate for all Montanans; ensure that we all have a voice in our state government, take a pragmatic approach to community problems, and strengthen our public schools.

This is an important election, both for Montana, and for our country. Be sure you are registered to vote.

— Gail Trenfield, St. Ignatius

Elephant in the womb

There’s an elephant in the womb. Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines co-signed South Carolina's U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposed bill for a national abortion ban.

Traditionally the Republican Party has stated they are for individual rights, and has supported keeping power in the state government rather than in federal laws.

Apparently these stances have flipped. This is no longer your father’s Republican Party. My mother, who would be over 100 if she were still alive, would no longer recognize it as her Republican Party. That’s the elephant in the room, or the womb in this case; the obvious situation that’s being ignored that a drastic change has happened to a traditional political party that used to be respected.

The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant, and I want it to stay out of the wombs of Montana women.

— Stephanie Brancati, Big Arm