Small price to pay for pesky problem

If at first you don't succeed - try, try again.

The old saying may be relevant Tuesday when Flathead County voters will be asked once again to approve a small levy for a countywide mosquito-control program.

This issue came before voters in June and was narrowly defeated.

Now the mosquito levy is back in reduced form on Tuesday's general election ballot.

This time around, the request is for up to one mill in extra property taxes (down from two mills in June). That mill would cost just an extra $6 a year for the owner of a home with a $200,000 taxable value.

We supported the earlier proposal and we still support mosquito control. If we in Flathead County are going to get serious about trying to abate the problem of mosquitoes, those efforts need money.

If voters approve the current request, the money would fund an integrated pest management program with surveillance, larviciding and public education.

That won't wipe out mosquitoes here (they have an overwhelming superiority of numbers on their side) but it may make enough difference to make life a little more comfortable outdoors in the Flathead.

There are also health problems associated with mosquitoes, most recently the West Nile virus. Those concerns should not be underestimated, but for most of us reducing the mosquito population is a quality of life issue, not a health issue. Six dollars a year is a small price to pay to be able to enjoy your own backyard year round.

A seasonal hazard completely unlike mosquitoes arises almost every autumn in Montana - Halloween.

No, we are not against the holiday; we are against the weather.

Oct. 31 probably makes great sense for trick-or-treating merriment in Texas, California and Florida, but it's almost always a cold and miserable day in Montana.

You can pretty much count on a good-sized snowstorm showing up the week before Halloween, and temperatures dipping down into single digits.

It makes for some chilly ghouls and goblins.

So here's our proposal. Flip October on its head, and put Halloween at the start instead of the end. The weather around Oct. 1 is usually delightful, and since Halloween candy and costume sales start by mid-September anyway, there should be no problem outfitting trick-or-treaters for their annual foray into the streets.

Of course, there is a vague religious connection to the Halloween holiday. Oct. 31 is the night when vigil is kept before All Saints Day in the Catholic Church, but maybe the church would be glad to be rid of the material trappings of the secular holiday anyway.

Do we really think there is a chance that Montanans will start to celebrate Halloween a month early? Heck no, but while we were shivering and slipping on the icy sidewalks this past Tuesday, dreaming about a balmy Oct. 1 Halloween seemed like a family-friendly alternative to cursing.