Letters on The Bozeman Daily Bee

I Voted in the School Election and Was the Only One There

Wed, 06 May 2026 10:00:00 -0600

I went to vote in the Gallatin County school district election on Tuesday. When I arrived at my polling location at 2 p.m., the poll worker looked up from her book with the expression of someone who had not seen another human being in several hours. She thanked me for coming. Twice.

I was voter number fourteen. At 2 p.m. For an election that determines how our schools are funded. People in this town will wait forty-five minutes for a breakfast burrito but cannot find ten minutes to vote on their children’s education. I don’t have children, and I still showed up. You’re welcome, Bozeman.

The Dillon Cinema Deserved Better Than a Taco Bell

Wed, 06 May 2026 09:00:00 -0600

Big Sky Cinema in Dillon is closing after decades and the building is being sold to become a Taco Bell. I don’t live in Dillon, but this still feels personal. When a town loses its movie theater to a fast food chain, something has been decided for that town without its permission.

I’m not against Taco Bell. I’ve eaten there. But there are already places to get a burrito in Dillon. There was only one place to see a movie. Now there will be zero places to see a movie and two places to get a burrito. The math does not favor culture.

Re: Bear Encounters at Yellowstone

Wed, 06 May 2026 08:00:00 -0600

I read that two hikers were injured by bears on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful last week. First, I hope they recover. Second, and I say this with respect, the trail is called Mystic Falls. It is in a national park populated by grizzly bears. At some point we have to acknowledge that the bears were there first and are not reading the trail signs any more than the rest of us.