Valley Views

valley views Fool’s Spring returns

As I sit here writing this, there’s a bit of dirt still under my fingernails. The spring bug has bit me, and I decided it was time to start my planting for this year.

With my luck, it’ll be snowing as you read this.

To be honest, the spring bug has been under my skin for months now, but I’ve forced myself to hold back from launching into my favorite new season activities. It’s that wonderful time of year where even people born and raised in Montana wonder if spring is finally rolling in, or if it’s yet another fool’s spring. And I’ve been fooled before.

Fool’s spring, like fool’s gold, looks a lot like the real thing to the untrained eye. Typically, there are several every year, usually starting around March, when a few days in a row of unseasonably warm weather get everyone excited for the end of winter. Hints of green might even start to become visible. Then the snow returns as if it never left.

My earliest recollection of being fooled by this phenomenon was as a preteen. After a beautiful, balmy weekend, I was sure the following school day would be just the same. This was back before I had a smart phone to check the weather, and of course I couldn’t be bothered to glance at the paper or check the news that Monday morning. I remember merrily hopping on the bus to go to school in my sandals. Then wading through the snow in those same sandals to get home after a snowstorm blew in while I was in class.

You would think I’d learn.

While I certainly didn’t make that mistake again, my version of this as an adult is getting my garden started before we’re done getting plant-murdering frosts in the dead of night.

I know I’ve dodged some of the fool’s springs this year at least. A couple weeks ago, I was finally able to pull my shorts out of the closet and spend some time sitting outside in the sun. A few days later, my family in Helena got a three-foot snow drift across their driveway.

Even when we know better, fool’s spring is easy to fall for, and many of us still do to some extent every year. It’s the eagerness for the birth of spring, for longer days and warmer weather and getting to play outside again. For green grass and full trees and plants popping up by the dozens. It’s the eagerness for these things that make us fall for it time and time again, even just a little, and especially when we know better.

While the month “spring” occurring in can be a pretty good indicator of whether warm weather is a fool’s spring or the start of the real one, things start to get a little less clear once May rolls around. Historically, May either means we’re finally in the clear for lasting warm weather, or one more blizzard will roll through and make sure the buds starting to surface never quite make it to bloom.

This year I’m cautiously optimistic. I’ve kept a close eye on the forecasts, I’ve bided my time, and now, maybe, my first round of plants will get to live to see the warmer months.

But just in case writing this is tempting fate, all of us who jumped on the opportunity to get our gardens going might want to ready our tarps.

A Taylor’d Approach Taylor Davison Editor, Valley Journal

Move the cloud above the clouds

The internet-undeniably the backbone of our modern world – it influences our banking, communication, shopping, and entertainment. In the last decades, we, as consumers, are increasingly reliant on the internet. The majority of us receive this service through some sort of cable or tower-based wireless system. However, a significant shift is coming to internet service, one that promises better services for rural states like our Montana.

Ever wonder what the internet is? A good description is a (mostly) interconnected network of computers circling the world. The majority of this interconnectivity is supported by more than 430 undersea fiberoptic cables. Together these cables span more than 800,000 miles. This marvel of technology provides you with nearly instant access to information on a computer located on the other side of the globe. Without underwater fiber optic cables, the internet, as we know it, wouldn’t exist.

This submarine approach to internet infrastructure is excellent for densely populated coastal areas where the substantial cost of laying cables can be offset by a large base of customers who pay a monthly fee

for access. Consequently, for rural, landlocked Montana, the financial viability of installing such infrastructure is often not feasible. Instead, rural areas are forced to rely on slower methods of connection such as copper phone lines or ben there wireless tower systems. Ben Stone Media Production, Valley Journal DONE that The combination of slower connections and fewer paying customers culminates in higher prices for

see page 11

LETTER POLICY

Letters to the editor are welcome. The content is the opinion of the letter writer and not the newspaper. The decision to publish letters is made by the editor.

Letters must be 350 words or less. A writer will only be published twice per month.

Letters may be edited for content or length, or may not be published if considered libelous, in poor taste, spiteful, self-promotional or of limited interest to the general readership. Space limitations also dictate when or if letters are published.

Letters must be signed by the author and name, address and phone number must be included – phone number is for verification purposes only. Letters from organizations must include the name of at least one author.

Please limit “thank you” letters to four people/organizations or less. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday to publish the following week.

Opinions expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the newspaper.

from page 10

lower quality service for our state. The inequality of service disadvantages rural areas in participating in the modern world, with proven negative socioeconomic effects.

The U.S. government has offered incentives to encourage building additional communication infrastructure. However, painfully slow progress and spotty coverage still plague rural areas. So, what if the internet wasn’t something that required all this physical infrastructure? And what if the internet could be delivered from above our heads instead of under the sea?

Enter Starlink, OneWeb, Project Kuiper, and other space-based internet companies that have launched in recent years. While satellite internet has existed for many years, it has traditionally been slower and more expensive than other conventional options. Thankfully, both of those things are beginning to change with this new generation of products.

Older versions of satellite internet were notorious for being quite slow: satellites were positioned in high orbits. But the new generation of products is ushering in changes. To resolve speed issues, newer services are placing satellites in a lower orbit, around 340 miles up. The reduced distance the signal needs to travel greatly improves the reliability. Together a faster and more steady connection is provided than in previous iterations of service.

Launching any satellite into space is extremely expensive, even more so for a network of thousands. As a niche product, few paying customers were available to offset the costs. Newer companies are trying to solve this problem by bringing satellite internet to the mainstream. With more users, the costs can be lowered to be more competitive in the marketplace.

Nevertheless, a larger number of users comes at a cost. Each satellite, no matter how well designed, can only support a finite number of users. The new generation of satellite internet relies on very large networks of satellites in orbit to send and receive information from the surface. Starlink, created by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is the most advanced new spacebased internet with 2,000 satellites in the sky. While this is impressive, it is only a small fraction of the 42,000 they plan to install in orbit. Even with this limited “beta” version of their service, Starlink has managed to provide faster speeds than most of the non-fiber optic internet options available in rural and isolated areas.

I view the brave new future of the internet to be a very bright one. Specifically, more advanced internet service will have a profound and positive impact on our state. Increased access to the online world opens the door for new tech enterprises, better connection with the rest of the world, and a plethora of added benefits. Moving the cloud above the clouds will profit numerous isolated areas of the world too, helping to usher in a new era of increased equality of access to information. How exciting is that?

vj

Consider the option

Editor,

Many politicians say they want to work on behalf of all Montanans. But when the rubber meets the road, somehow those words never translate to action. That is what makes Cora Neumann different. Cora has worked tirelessly to get out and support not just Montana cities and businesses, but also our rural and Native American communities.

Cora embodies Montana values. She is genuine and compassionate, and she believes that actions speak louder than words. She has a history of working on important national issues like restoring Bears Ears National Monument — sacred public lands that were played as a political football, now finally restored and protected. She reached out to rural Montana areas during the pandemic, providing assistance in the form of PPE, Covid-19 tests and expertise to health workers about COVID fatigue and burnout.

Cora will represent all Montanans with deeds, not words. She has been traveling throughout Montana asking questions and listening to our concerns and issues. She is results oriented and asks for local, grassroots solutions. Montana voters have a chance to get their issues heard through Cora Neumann. Something we have not had these past few years in a House Representative. She is a hard worker, tenacious yet gracious.

Cora has a vision for a better Montana, and she is determined to work across party lines to reach positive results. That is what makes her our best option for Congress and that is why we are voting for Cora Neumann on June 7.

D’Shane Barnett, All Nations Health Center Shelly R. Fyant, CSKT Tribal Council

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History project to preserve remote interviews of western Montana residents

Montana Public Radio will host StoryCorps for four weeks to record the stories of local residents and preserve them in the Library of Congress

News from StoryCorps

MONTANA — StoryCorps, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of people from all backgrounds and beliefs, will utilize a new virtual platform to record remote interviews in western Montana at the Missoula Public Library from May 26 through June 24 as part of its Mobile Tour. An opening day celebration is planned for 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 26 in front of the library.

Now in its 15th anniversary year, the StoryCorps Mobile Tour has facilitated thousands of meaningful conversations between people who know and care about one another. To date, these face-to-face conversations have taken place in its MobileBooth: an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio. For the first time, to respond to the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic — while working towards its mission to help people feel more connected and less alone — StoryCorps is piloting a Virtual Mobile Tour and offering the opportunity for western Montana residents to participate online.

Reservations to record will be available at 10 a.m. on May 12 and can be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800850-4406 or visiting storycorps.org.

In a StoryCorps interview, two people are able to record a meaningful conversation with one another about who they are, what they’ve learned in life, and how they want to be remembered. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides them through the interview process. After each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a digital copy of their interview. With participant permission, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.

During StoryCorps’ remote visit, the interview process and experience will be maintained using remote video conference technology, which allows both participants to see and hear one another during their conversation, and to be joined by a facilitator remotely.

Founded in 2003 by award-winning documentary producer and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, StoryCorps has traveled to every corner of the country to record interviews in the organization’s effort to create a world where we listen closely to each other and recognize the beauty, grace and poetry in the lives and stories we find all around us.

“StoryCorps tells an authentic American story — that we are a people defined by small acts of courage, kindness, and heroism. Each interview reminds people that their lives matter and will not be forgotten,” said Isay. “During this pandemic, the value of preserving these stories, and of strengthening connections between people who may feel physically isolated, is more important than ever.”

In western Montana, StoryCorps will partner with NPR affiliate Montana Public Radio. MTPR will air a selection of the local interviews and create special programs around the project. StoryCorps may also share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project’s popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books.

“We excited to partner with StoryCorps and have our Montana stories preserved,” said MTPR program director Michael Marsolek. “Our listeners are excited for this unique opportunity, and we know the recording times will fill up quickly.”

“There something amazing about the power of the human voice,” Marsolek added. “It creates such a deep connection to our humanity.”

StoryCorps is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Participants can start signing up for recording reservations on May 12.

COURTESY PHOTO

News from the Office of Senator Daines

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that registration is now open for the Montana “On The Rise” Economic Summit on Wednesday, June 1 and Thursday, June 2 in Bozeman. The summit will highlight Montana’s emerging and existing industries from high-tech and photonics to crypto and bioscience.

“We already know Montana is the best place to live, but it’s also the best place to work and grow a business. From finance and high-tech to energy and manufacturing, Montana businesses are driving job creation and innovation,” Daines said. “The Montana on the Rise Economic Summit will bring together the top business leaders from across Montana and the country to discuss the role Montana has in our global economy and how we’re creating more high-paying jobs.”

For more information and to register for the Summit go to: https://montanaontherise.com

The Summit will provide a unique opportunity to discuss the innovative role high-tech, photonics, crypto and bioscience has in economic development and job creation in Montana, and bring together business leaders to discuss the outlook and challenges facing these sectors and the national economy. We also look forward to featuring the leading companies in the state who are transforming their sectors, expanding their operations and relocating to Montana.

Daines announces Montana on the rise at economic summit