Fed warning: Strings attached

Inter Lake editorial

Sometimes it's just not worth it to take a government handout.

A case in point is the federal government's grant to Flathead Agency on Aging to give coupons to senior citizens to buy fresh food at farmers markets.

On its face, the program appears simple and beneficial: a $3,500 annual grant spread among 200 fixed-income seniors who receive $20 worth of $2 coupons.

But nothing is simple, it seems, when the government is involved. Escalating government requirements and red tape have made the food-coupon grant too much to deal with.

Rather than simply pass along the money to those who need it, the Agency on Aging had to jump through unusual government hoops.

At one point each farmer who accepted the coupons had to have training in civil rights.

Later rules mandated that the Agency on Aging develop a fraud and abuse prevention program. And last year the government decreed that, for the Agency on Aging to get that whopping $3,500, a qualified state worker had to provide the civil-rights training.

One can only wonder about the horrors of the civil-rights violations that are possible over the purchase of $2 in tomatoes.

Anyway, the Agency on Aging, justifiably, decided enough is enough. It's going to abandon the federal largesse and raise the $3,500 on its own.

And it will have far fewer regulations to deal with.

People interested in contributing to the program may contact Wes Hulla at 758-5730 or mail a contribution designated for farmers-market coupons to the Agency on Aging, 160 Kelly Road, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Tired of winter yet?

Join the crowd. It seems like just about everyone these days has an opinion (usually not a glowing opinion) of our winter that won't go away and the spring that stubbornly won't arrive.

The recent cold snap and its accompanying snow, sleet and biting wind has wreaked havoc with outdoor sports schedules, gardeners' plans and recreationists' dreams.

The only silver lining in the clouds that have unloaded such a variety of weather on the Flathead lately is that the mountain snowpack is holding up well and, in places, is increasing.

That, however, could be good news or bad news. On the good side, above-average snowpack, if it melts at a reasonable pace, bodes well for river flows and lake levels into the summer. The bad side of the equation is if the melt comes suddenly in May when normal temperatures return, flooding is a distinct possibility.

If it's any consolation to those in the Flathead weary of winter, it's worse elsewhere. Great Falls, for instance, had 15 inches of snow over the weekend - and then a record low temperature of 8 below zero on Monday.