Let's hope CFAC jobs return

Inter Lake editorial

The cyclical market forces that helped Columbia Falls Aluminum resume production in 2006 have now forced the plant to announce new layoffs and a curtailment in production.

That's tough news for the 120-plus laid-off workers and their families. This is a difficult time to be looking for work, and most jobs are not as lucrative as those in the aluminum plant.

It's also a significant blow for the Flathead Valley economy as a whole, since those workers are all consumers as well, and spend their money at local businesses.

But let's not lose hope. The folks at CFAC have been through tough times before, but they always seem to prevail. With a small amount of luck, those cyclical forces will swing back the other way in the coming months, and the plant's owners will decide to resume production at current levels.

There were two sporting events for the ages in recent days.

One was the epic Wimbledon tennis final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal; the other was the ascendancy of Olympic swimmer Dana Torres.

Nadal and Federer turned in what is being called one of the greatest men's tennis finals in history spanning five sets and almost five hours, and resulting in a stunning triumph for Nadal.

Their match heralds a new level in the quest for supremacy in men's tennis between the top two players in the world.

The triumph of Torres may be even more inspiring, since the swimmer - at the tender age of 41 - is headed for her fifth Olympics.

And Torres did it impressively, with an American-record time in the 50-meter freestyle plus a victory in the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials.

She accomplished this two years after giving birth plus after undergoing two surgeries in the past eight months.

A determined training regimen is partly responsible for Torres being able to defeat opponents barely half her age. There's a lesson in that determination, in the words of Joel Stager, director of the science of swimming program at Indiana University.

"It shows us what we can do," Stager told The Associated Press. "It's just that most of us don't."

A tip of the hat to all the people who helped out a gimpy black Labrador retriever.

Tres (so named because he now has three legs) benefited from free surgery from veterinarian Jim Thompson, loving care from animal-shelter volunteer Carmen O'Brien, and now the attention of the Michael Jaffe family that adopted the dog.

It's one more sign of the kind of caring community we have here.