Mike Jopek
@mikejopek.bsky.social
Flathead farmer. Columnist for Flathead Beacon. Former state representative. Active in Montana. Local control https://flatheadbeacon.com/section/opinion/uncommon-ground/
Uncommon Ground: Just a Bit Easier #mtpol -Dark money, broken promises, and what workers actually want
Just a Bit Easier - Flathead Beacon
A black fox stood in the yard. Motionless, it watched the ground squirrels. I didn’t see it have much luck. Neighbor said he saw the fox with two in the mouth. That was before it was so unbearably hot...
flatheadbeacon.com
Kelsey Pfendler is a 31-year-old American ocean rower and river guide who just completed the historic, record-shattering journey across the Pacific. For six solid weeks she spent 16 hours per day rowing across ocean waves.
Three Lifetimes
The courage of the younger generation is awe inspiring
substack.com
Uncommon Ground: Three Lifetimes flatheadbeacon.com/2026/07/08/t... #mtpol
Three Lifetimes - Flathead Beacon
The sun was rising. It was another perfect 40-degree July morning. I could hear the birds singing through the open farmhouse window. The day held a lot of promise. Opportunity was vested in the cold m...
flatheadbeacon.com
Power Guzzling Data #mtpol flatheadbeacon.com/2026/06/24/p...
Power Guzzling Data - Flathead Beacon
I stood at the thrift store looking at the electronic gadget. Decades earlier I’d purchased a used IBM 8088 desktop computer from the print shop that once occupied the same downtown space. I brought t...
flatheadbeacon.com
The politicians seem to enjoy letting big money talk. The rest of us can hope that the change this year’s shadow parties deliver turns out less expensive in real life than the change locals were promised from the same-looking glossy fliers mailed two years prior. #mtpol
Shadow Party
Nobody knows what values the big money pumping millions into Montana promotes
substack.com
Uncommon Ground: Preying on Us flatheadbeacon.com/2026/05/27/p... #mtpol
Preying on Us - Flathead Beacon
Leant against the mailbox, he stood on the side of the road. On the pavement and melting fast was a couple inches of freshly fallen, nickel sized hail. In the yard stood a proud Ten Commandments sign,...
flatheadbeacon.com
Uncommon Ground: Montana Yes-Men flatheadbeacon.com/2026/05/13/m... #mtpol
Montana Yes-Men - Flathead Beacon
The ground was warm. The robins had been chirping for weeks, the sun as hot as a July morning. We knelt in the aisle and transplanted the slips of onions into the row. One by one, we tucked the roots ...
flatheadbeacon.com
Uncommon Ground: Dark Money Circus flatheadbeacon.com/2026/04/29/d... #mtpol
Dark Money Circus - Flathead Beacon
A third glossy mailer just landed in my mailbox from that same shadowy political outfit based in Washington, D.C. According to secret money, their hand-picked golden boy is the absolute best guy to sh...
flatheadbeacon.com
It’s an old Helena trick. Lawmakers force Rose to pay more for local schools, so the state can pay less #mtpol
Blocking Local Control
The real pain of progress is watching Helena rip away our constitutional right to self-govern our own town
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Uncommon Ground: Blocking Local Control flatheadbeacon.com/2026/04/15/b... #mtpol
Blocking Local Control - Flathead Beacon
Rose and her family have lived in the valley for a half century. She and her family are Bulldogs, born into the local public school system. Rose raised her kids back when Whitefish was a timber and ra...
flatheadbeacon.com
The Montana royals of democracy decide who runs for office #mtpol
Treasure State Monarchy - Flathead Beacon
At over 3,000 towns and cities across the nation, a reported 8 million Americans took to the streets last weekend to exercise their First Amendment rights. There was a large political assembly in Whit...
flatheadbeacon.com
We are Montanans. This is our state. We share but don’t rob our freedoms. #mtpol
Winning Focus
Republicans who run everything statewide only cater to the political donor class
open.substack.com
Uncomon Ground: Winning Focus #mtpol -Republicans who run everything statewide only cater to the political donor class-
Winning Focus - Flathead Beacon
Three hundred Montanans turned out to hear from the four Democrats campaigning in the June 2 primary, each vying to become the western congressional district nominee. Many folks informed me later how ...
flatheadbeacon.com
Those dozens of dark money groups operating in Montana aren’t going anywhere soon. They operate outside the party, controlling more resources than Democrats and Republicans combined. None will unilaterally disarm. Voters decide what kind of Montana we live in. #mtpol
Dark vs. Dark
Party bosses seem intent on purging rural Republicans from their own party, replaced by loyalist who pass the ideological purity test
substack.com
Party bosses seem intent on purging rural Republicans from their own party, replaced by loyalist who pass the ideological purity test #mtpol
Dark vs. Dark - Flathead Beacon
SPLAT! The safe fell from the rope and squashed the dark spy. The light spy looked on with delight, arms crossed, too late to see the lit fuse rapidly burning behind him. POOF! For 26 years the Cuban ...
flatheadbeacon.com
Overtaxed and Underappreciated #mtpol
Overtaxed and Underappreciated - Flathead Beacon
We walked the dogs down to the fishing access. It was February, warm and raining. We’re still waiting for the last big freeze before seeding too much for later farm production. Who knows when the end ...
flatheadbeacon.com
After years of waiting, we know the men of Congress hardly lift a hand to help locals #mtpol
Give a Little Bit - Flathead Beacon
Years before I was born, a crotchety Grinch made his way into children’s books across America. With his half-sized heart that grew threefold by Christmas, the cranky creature from Mount Crumpet deligh...
flatheadbeacon.com
I sigh. The four men of Congress don’t care, don’t listen, unlikely to read these words or even talk with any working stiff in Kalispell. I’ll have to buckle down, farm harder, longer into retirement years and watch the American dream slip away from a generation of Montanans. #mtpol
Give Us a Break
Let’s hope next year is cheaper, kinder, and more accessible to the people working ordinary, everyday jobs
open.substack.com
Uncommon Ground: Give Us a Break flatheadbeacon.com/2025/12/10/g... #mtpol
Give Us a Break - Flathead Beacon
The clerk tallied up the groceries and said $320. Cha-ching. I looked at the pile of groceries, shook my head, and slipped a credit card into the pay slot. No use blaming the check-out guy, he’s just ...
flatheadbeacon.com
"A recent report from the American Farm Bureau Federation says bankruptcy filings among farmers are on the rise. Many Montana farmers say their margins are too slim to survive until next season without federal support." #mtpol
Feds promise aid to ag industry squeezed by rising costs, market changes
After months of pleading from the nation’s agricultural sector, the federal government says farmers and ranchers will get much needed financial aid at the end of the year. Numerous federal policy chan...
mtpr.org
My latest in the Beacon #mtpol The world could do with some words of kindness
Going Home - Flathead Beacon
For the lucky enough to be rich, the cruelty of Montana’s quickly increasing cost of living won’t much affect the wallet. One of the big East Coast newspapers even wrote that a handful of ultra-rich g...
flatheadbeacon.com