Store move will pay off for town

The Whitefish City Council did the right thing in approving a conditional-use permit for a $12 million expansion and rebuild of the Safeway grocery store.

It was the first project subjected to Whitefish's new box-store law and the council at first seemed intent on scrutinizing the proposal to the point of micromanaging details such as the loading dock and walkways through the parking lot.

Public criticism erupted when the council postponed a decision.

Facing a crowd of Safeway supporters, the council accepted the building design - new and improved at the council's request - and deferred to the city's architectural review committee's recommendations for other details.

In the end, everyone won.

The council was satisfied with added design elements, Safeway can begin construction yet this summer and the public got what it wanted - an improved grocery store that will add 50 to 60 union-scale jobs to the town's work force.

We're all hoping for a swift recovery for Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Marin, who was injured June 2 by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Marin was burned when his Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. His uniform caught fire while he was inside the Bradley, but he was able to exit the vehicle and roll into a canal.

Marin, a 1993 Flathead High School graduate, suffered second-degree burns on 25 percent of his body. His gunner wasn't as fortunate and died later from severe burns.

Marin now is going through outpatient treatment for his burns, although the injuries may prevent him from returning to his unit in Iraq.

Along with the efforts of all our other soldiers on duty in Iraq, Marin's sacrifice is appreciated.

Appreciation also is due to Ron Clem, who turned his daughter's methamphetamine addiction into a crusade - first to save her life, then to help save others.

Clem and his daughter Carren chronicle the family's saga in a new book, "Loss of Innocence," which should serve as a cautionary tale for all parents and their children.

They wrote the book to show how dark the days of addiction are for addicts and their families and to show how much support families going through a drug crisis need.

To that end, Clem helped found Teens N Crisis, a volunteer-driven group to provide support for families faced with drug problems.

The Clems also have spread the word about meth at drug conferences and assemblies around the world.

Kudos to the Clem family for taking a destructive personal crisis and converting it into a forum to help others still living the horror of meth.