Letters to the editor
Good values
On May 30, 2012, my husband and I attended the 4-H Cloverbuds and Outdoor Adventures School year end program at the Ronan Boys and Girls Club. Rene Kittle, the MSU Flathead Reservation Extension Agent, Brenda Richey, MSU Flathead Reservation Program Assistant and Cloverbud leader, and Amy Vaughn volunteer and club leader, officiated and participated in this event.
This was an opportunity for the young people in this program to demonstrate what they learned over the course of the school year, and also to recognize volunteers who had taught segments of their program. The room was filled, with standing room only. Parents, grandparents, siblings and friends were present. The young people were very well behaved and enthusiastic as they participated in the presentations.
The Mother Nature’s Wish presentation really spoke to me. Mother Nature was crying about all the litter that is ruining the world. The children did a demonstration of the “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” theory of properly disposing of waste products and using our valuable resources wisely. This presentation demonstrated that these children understand the theory and have a deep commitment to keeping the earth clean.
Two other demonstrations that also impressed me were how you properly pack a backpack for an outdoor outing and how to splint injuries and stop bleeding. I was amazed that these elementary and early middle school children could have such a working knowledge of content that many adults do not possess.
My husband and I truly went away from this event with a very good feeling about this group of young people, their leaders and the volunteers who work and teach in these programs and the Ronan Boys and Girls Club.
Milla Koger
Ronan
Relay for Life
The dates for the 2012 Lake County Relay For Life are Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14. It is time for you to choose whether or not you will organize a team. Become a captain to help raise thousands of dollars by participating and inspiring others to join in! Since it is in Ronan, will the hassle of the nine miles get in your way of getting involved? Will it be too much of a chore to find team members who will be willing to come up with fundraisers? Will the rain follow us to July so that once again we will have a soggy relay? There are some decisions to be made.
I ran across a blog written by Carley Grace, a young lady in the middle of her fight against cancer and she writes:
“And from this, I realized something important. I said to myself, “You have a decision to make.”
Each decision makes all the difference… and it trickles down, from one to the next, and so on and so on.
You have two choices. You can pretend like you don’t have cancer, or you can admit it.
You have two choices. You can go through the motions or understand what’s really going on.
You have two choices. You can run from it or stand your ground, come rain or shine.
You have two choices. You can stay in bed, or live your life.
You have two choices. You can live with the “label,” or break the mold.
You have two choices. You can just stand there, or you can fight.
You have two choices. You can be a wimp, or you can give it everything you’ve got.
You have two choices. You can complain about what you’re doing, or just do it.
You have two choices. You can accept what’s going on, or waste the time you have left.
You have two choices. You can enjoy the little things, or be sad waiting for something big.
You have two choices. You can be happy, or you can let cancer invade your entire life.
You have two choices. You can understand the side effects or ignore them/feel even worse.
You have two choices. You can be you or you can “be cancer.” And when it comes down to it… You have one choice. You have cancer …That doesn’t mean you don’t have options.
Wow, after reading that, nine miles doesn’t seem like such an effort and another soggy relay shouldn’t be all that uncomfortable! I am asking you to put a team together. I have room on my team I am asking you to join my team. I am asking you to sponsor Lake County Relay For Life.
I am asking survivors and caregivers to come to the survivor reception, rain or shine. I am asking you to come to the opening ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday to support our cancer survivors as they make the first lap. I am asking you to come to the Luminaria Ceremony to witness the glow of illuminated bags, some lit celebrating the survivorship of those who have battled cancer and have lived to tell their stories, others lit, commemorating the lives of those who have been lost to this disease. All represent someone special who has been profoundly affected by cancer and the family and friends who continue to fight back in their honor.
I am asking you to make this truly a Lake County event and participate in the fight against cancer. If you’ve thought about getting involved with the Lake County Relay for Life, it just stays a thought until you do something about it. See you there!
Joyce Kackmann
Polson
Water rights response
In response to Mr. Garrison’s letter stating his concern over the important water compact negotiations, I am acutely aware of the importance and necessity of guaranteed water security for property owners.
I do not serve on the Reserved Water Rights Commission, so I have no authority there. The 2013 legislature will vote on its eventual water rights compact, which I would have judged in the best interests of my constituents – the majority being private landowners.
Because of my long and respectable tenure in the Mission Valley, I was selected to serve on the State Tribal Relations Committee, and was elected chair at my first meeting. I consistently advocate non-native rights while conducting meetings with Montana’s Indian Tribes with diplomacy.
I agree with Mr. Garrison that it is desirable that “only individuals contribute to political campaigns,” but the reality is that individuals choose to organize into groups for more political power. Personally, I chose to join the Polson Chamber of Commerce and Montana Taxpayers Association to add my membership to their pro-business, fair-tax goals.
The Montana Contractors’ Assoc., Montana Auto dealers and several other Montana business and professional organizations made modest donations to my campaign. Does that mean my pro-business goals are suspect?
I earned the respect and legitimate $160 support of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes through diplomacy, respect and integrity, characteristics in great demand now.
Senator Carmine Mowbray
Polson
Impact fees
In 2009, developer Mike Maddy was told by a Polson city planning official that a special use permit (SUP) was needed for a commercial building annexed to the city. City attorney James Raymond, serving as city manager at the time, and later, city manager Todd Crossett, ruled Maddy’s building would not be subjected to the normal planning process for an SUP. Citizens trying to address the SUP issue and other irregularities discovered Raymond did not pay impact fees when applying for a building permit for his new home and Maddy was not required to pay impact fees for the commercial building.
Resident taxpayers spent over $62,000 to hire a consulting firm to inform and advise the process for adopting an impact fee ordinance. When adopting the ordinance, in March 2007, the council voted to exempt subdivisions going through the decision unreasonably inequitable. Raymond may have thought the decision untenable as well because he didn’t include the decision in the ordinance and the owners of lots in subdivisions going through the preliminary planning process when the ordinance was adopted were required to pay impact fees.
When individuals researching irregularities asked for an explanation, Raymond pointed to the city commission decision that he failed to incorporate into the ordinance as justification for allowing him alone an exemption.
Meanwhile, Hillcrest Drive homeowners, when annexed into the city and requesting to hook up to the sewer service, were automatically assessed impact fees amounting to about $3,600 for city sewer, parks and fire protection services. They were already connected to city water service. City residents, who had been paying taxes on their city lots for many years, were required to pay $7,100 in impact fees when getting a building permit.
An outside attorney hired by the city recently called the ordinance un-enforceable and the council is paying back the impact fees collected from those who were exempt in their original decision, but they are ignoring the fact that the payback and the original decision is unfair to all other citizens required to pay.
Margie Hendricks
Polson
Whitetop
I read with interest the article on whitetop in the Missoulian. My deceased rancher friend, Walt Mangels, advised me many years ago to be on the lookout for whitetop on my land and not to buy any hay from the Bitterroot or the Ronan-St. Ignatius areas.
Twenty-some years ago, I discovered what looked like three small patches of whitetop in one area of my pastures on the top of Polson Hill. I took a sample to our weed board and, yes, it was whitetop. I asked them what would kill it. They said, try a heavy dose of Tordon. The first year, it killed most of it. The next spring, I applied it again and killed the remainder. I assumed the seeds had been brought here by birds, hunters or motorbikes.
I also witnessed knapweed being brought up here from those same areas. I have fought it for over 35 years by pulling and spot spraying from horseback. Now, we have an introduced Eurasian root weevil, which is really helping.
John H. Oberlitner
Polson