Identity theft: A crime of the times
One of the scariest things in our modern age is the possibility of losing your identity.
We don't mean amnesia. We're talking about identity theft, where con artists and scammers get ahold of your personal and credit information and rack up big bills under your name.
It's one of the unfortunate consequences of putting all the information in the world into binary code and converting it to electronic signals.
Because despite the best intentions of the companies involved, sometimes the information gets into the wrong hands.
That's what happened in a small way to 9,000 people from around the country recently when someone used fake credentials to gain access to information in a Kalispell company's database.
The good news is that Merlin Information Services is taking all the right steps to be expected in the wake of such an incident. The company is providing access to free credit monitoring for one year for those people affected, as well as buying ID theft insurance to cover actual damages. The company has also tightened its procedures to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
We can't opt out of the electronic world, so in the future more and more crime will take place in "cyberspace." That being so, we hope Merlin's responsible approach to handling ID theft and other e-crimes will help set the tone for the rest of the information industry as well.
We commend the new Whitefish Lake Institute for taking foresightful steps now to preserve the quality of Whitefish Lake in years to come.
The new group will be a "little sister" of sorts to the Flathead Basin Commission and an umbrella organization for all Whitefish-area lakes. As development pushes on in the greater Whitefish Lake area, it only makes sense to have solid leadership at the helm of the ship that will steer water-quality issues.
Septic contamination and nutrient loading are red flags that consistently show up in state studies.
Fisheries biologist Mike Koopal will direct the organization's studies, accompanied by a solid group of nine Whitefish community leaders. We expect good things will come from this bunch. Plans include hiring a full-time research scientist within three years.
It's the right time to tackle water quality in Whitefish. Anyone interested in being a member of the Whitefish Lake Institute can e-mail mike@whitefishlake.org or call 862-4327.
Whitefish golf got on the map last weekend when Ted Purdy won his first PGA tournament. Purdy's 15-under score topped golf's best players as he won the Byron Nelson Championship.
Until three years ago, Purdy had a home in Whitefish, and he's an investor in the Iron Horse development.
It's a proud moment for Purdy and his family. His parents live in Whitefish and his father, Jim, is a real estate developer. His local lineage goes back even farther: Purdy's grandfather became a ranger in Glacier National Park in 1929.
Congratulations, Ted.