What's wrong with accountability?

Gov. Schweitzer exercised his first veto late in the just-ended legislative session, and frankly we are left a bit puzzled by it.

The bill would have required the Department of Public Health and Human Services to report annually to the Legislature about how well it is doing in meeting various goals.

The governor said the bill is "overly prescriptive and micromanages work that should be within the province of the executive agency."

Frankly, that sounds like a turf war with the Legislature, but the governor should remember that he can only execute what the Legislature finances. And since the Legislature is spending money on behalf of all Montanans, he should expect us to take an interest in making sure that the money is spent well.

The department said it could comply with the requirements easily enough, so there was any practical bar to the measure being implemented.

Instead it would have provided useful information so that legislators and the rest of us would be able to hold this crucial social-services agency accountable.

What's wrong with a little accountability in government?

Now there's a name attached to Kalispell's new high school.

Work is expected to start in late May on Glacier High School, the final pick from a host of suggestions for the new school.

Now all that remains to finalize the school's identity is to pick a mascot and school colors.

The mascot choice might be interesting, too. Grizzlies would be logical (except for competition from a certain university just south of us), but other early suggestions have included Avalanche, Wolverines and even the Fighting Marmots (which is at least unlikely to be duplicated anywhere else).

The mascot pick may not be made until fall.

Congratulations to Barb Andersen, who last week won Montana's 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching at the elementary level.

Andersen, a sixth-grade teacher at Peterson School in Kalispell, joins a long list of local teachers who have attained top honors.

Her well-deserved honor is another benchmark of quality instruction in our schools.

Pope Benedict XVI has his work cut out for him.

The new pope has a tough act to follow as he succeeds the popular and long-serving John Paul II.

And the former Cardinal John Ratzinger takes the helm of a church trying to navigate an unsettled world.

The papal selection process was an interesting throwback to long-held tradition - it was interesting to see the news about the world's key religious leader communicated by smoke signals.

But don't think that the Vatican is all about doing things the old way. On Thursday, it was announced that Pope Benedict will have his own e-mail address (benedictxvi@vatican.va) to receive messages from around the world.

It is a small symbol of what appears to be the new pontiff's willingness to look to the future as he guards the traditions of the past.