Plugging Montana's brain drain

A bill that has been quietly working its way through the session in Helena probably will have a big impact on many Montana families if it passes.

A Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously endorsed Gov. Brian Schweitzer's proposal to make hundreds of scholarships available to Montana college students and sent the bill to the Senate floor for further debate.

This scholarship program, which is scheduled to cost up to $3 million for the biennium, is a case of state government using money as a way to make more money in the long run.

Think about it. These scholarships will be used by Montana students to attend Montana colleges. Many of these students could conceivably be lured out-of-state by attractive financial aid packages at other colleges, and many of those students might never return to Montana.

That is a brain drain that a rural state like Montana can ill afford. We need to encourage Montana's best and brightest to stay put, and help keep Montana's economy growing. We can't guarantee that students will remain in Montana, but we are at least increasing the odds by helping them to afford college here.

Just because it happens every year is no reason to take it for granted.

The annual ALERT banquet will be April 23 at Majestic Valley Arena.

A social fixture in the valley for 27 years, the banquet raises money that supports the life-saving helicopter and fixed-wing work of the Advanced Life-support Emergency Rescue Team of Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Crews have flown more than 10,000 flights and saved over 1,000 lives.

At $300 a couple, the banquet helps offset more than $700,000 a year in expenses beyond revenues collected for ALERT flights. There are prizes, and there are soul-restoring stories of people who owe their lives to ALERT.

But if you can't make it for the glamour of the banquet, remember its purpose and make a contribution if you can. Contact Lori Alsbury at the hospital at 752-5111.

How do you help families torn apart by drugs or alcohol?

The local nonprofit group Family Concepts does it by providing a house and a staff that works to keep families connected as parents work to recover from addictions.

As one staff member put it, "We're looking always to reunite the parents and child."

It's a mission that has become more critical with the increasing number of people snared in the web of methamphetamine addiction.

For example, in December the number of children removed from meth-addicted families reached double digits. And many of the children were newborn infants.

The efforts of Family Concepts are another way the community can deal with the ravages of meth.

Family Concepts could use community support - there's a huge need for foster families for affected children, and the organization also could use a variety of household items and toys.

If you can help, call 257-4040.