Nasset good choice for KPD chief

Frank Garner believes Roger Nasset will be "a heck of a police chief."

With confirmation by the City Council next week, as expected, Nasset will succeed Garner as Kalispell's police chief when Garner retires at the end of the year.

Nasset was the choice of a selection committee and has the blessing of his current boss. He's a good choice.

In the 12 years since Nasset joined the department, he has worked on the drug team, as a patrol officer and sergeant, SWAT team member and leader, and chief of detectives.

Garner's leadership style has been to foster leadership in others in his department. Nasset capitalized on the opportunities he was given and emerged as a capable, confident lieutenant with a reputation for integrity.

It is Kalispell's good fortune to have Nasset follow Garner as leader of the department. We wish both good men good luck.

ANOTHER SCHOOL year has begun for most of the Flathead Valley, and we encourage motorists to take a brake. Starting this fall, school traffic zones throughout the county will be enforced year-round to help drivers get in the mindset of driving slowly past schools.

And there's still plenty of school construction under way that requires an extra measure of caution by motorists. Kalispell Junior High and Whitefish Middle School are among the projects still being completed, and continuing construction at Glacier High School means extra vigilance on West Reserve Drive. There is also construction under way at Flathead High School.

Be careful out there. Our youngest citizens are counting on you to pay attention when you're out and about, especially in school zones.

Montanans can breathe a collective sigh of relief today that Pat Davison is not our governor.

He could have been. The Billings stockbroker ran second to Bob Brown for the Republican nomination in 2004, and might have proven a viable candidate against Brian Schweitzer in the general election.

But instead Davison returned to private business and today faces fraud charges stemming from what the state auditor's office says was an effort to swindle clients out of nearly $1 million.

Politicians, in and out of Montana, already have a low enough trust and credibility level. No one would have benefited from a scenario where Davison would have been fighting these allegations from the governor's mansion.

The jury is still out in his case, but there's no doubt that the public impact would have been much worse if Davison had been an elected official today.