How you can help Katrina's victims

Day by day, hour by hour even, the magnitude of the disaster on the Gulf Coast seems to grow and grow.

The scenes are appalling: New Orleans underwater, towns turned into piles of scrap wood, desperate people isolated on rooftops, greedy looters ransacking a submerged city.

It's a disaster on a scale that is difficult to comprehend - and everywhere there's a rising tide of human misery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Wanting to help, many Americans feel helpless.

There are ways to help - and conversely ways that won't help.

Don't hop into your vehicle and head down on your own to help out hurricane recovery - you'll only get in the way. Don't fall for the Internet scams that started appearing even before the water levels started dropping in New Orleans.

Instead, give to a reputable organization such as the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Contributing to them will at least mean help will go where it's needed.

For instance, A $100 donation to The Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets, and cleaning supplies.

And money or blood donated to the Red Cross will help with the massive disaster relief effort. For those who are really interested in helping on the scene, the Red Cross offers training for volunteers, although that involves a commitment to spending up to three weeks at a time in adverse conditions. (And as the images pour in from Katrina's catastrophe, the adversity on the Gulf Coast is obvious).

If you can't help with time or money, there is still something you can do - pray for the survivors and for those leading the rescue and rebuilding efforts as they face an uncertain future.

Is it time for a revamp of the Northwest Montana Fair?

This year's dismal attendance numbers indicate it may be time for county officials to re-evaluate annual events offered at the fair and make some changes.

Ticketed attendance was down about 3,300 people and all events except the rodeo suffered from low head counts. Some have suggested that the Mountain Madness Air Show, a huge community event held at Glacier Park International Airport just a few weeks before the fair, may have affected fair attendance. Those who had to choose between the air show and the fair may have opted for the air show, which comes once every six years or so.

Whatever the cause may have been for this year's dip in attendance, the Northwest Montana Fair has been a grand tradition in the Flathead Valley for 103 years.

There's a lot of history connected to offerings such as horse racing and demolition derbies, but it's also the new millennium and upcoming generations may want more than a taste of tradition.

After all, the fair will get $376,000 in tax revenue in the next county budget cycle. It's only fair that taxpayers ask how wisely their money is being spent.