Let's roll with the skateboard park

It's heartening to see plans for a Whitefish skateboard park finally moving forward.

A small but mighty group of skateboarding supporters has been pushing for a facility for nine years, and this week a $100,000 donation from David Olseth's family rejuvenated the effort. Olseth was an avid Whitefish skateboarder and mountain biker who was killed in a 2001 bike accident in Glacier National Park.

As other Whitefish projects such as the youth sports complex and aquatic and health center were completed in recent years, the Whitefish Skateboard Association never gave up hope that its members would one day have a skate park of their own.

The group has a ways to go in reaching its $325,000 goal for the park planned at the Roy Duff Memorial Armory property. The City Council also needs to approve a construction agreement for the public-private venture.

Even though it may take another budget cycle for the city to pay for a drainage plan at the site and contribute $50,000 to the project - as recommended by the Whitefish Park Board - the skate park is finally getting the attention it deserves. To the city's credit, officials have tried for years to find a workable solution for local skateboarders, including a temporary park a couple of years ago at Mountain Trails Park.

We urge the city to support the skate park as quickly as it's financially feasible to do so. Whitefish's skateboarders have been wandering the streets for way too long to find legal places to hone their skills. It's time to build the skate park.

Summer's just around the corner, and when summer arrives, so will the tourists, including our Aunt Mabel and your sister Susie.

So it's good to know that Glacier Park International Airport can count on an additional 150 airline seats starting in July. America West is boosting the size of the aircraft it uses to service our area and Northwest Airlines will add a third aircraft each day.

So far in 2005, passenger loads are up almost 14 percent, so it's not unreasonable to expect the service upgrades to become permanent not too far in the future.

And Airport Director Mike Daigle said another airline is also interested in serving Glacier Park International. Good luck to him in making the case. Anyone who has tried to fly out of the Flathead on short notice in the middle of summer knows that seats are at a premium.