Peaceful end to standoff welcome

Inter Lake editorial

Congratulations are in order for law enforcement officers who brought a standoff with an unpredictable murder suspect to a peaceful end.

After 31 hours of waiting and talking with the man, he was forced out of his home with the help of some "irritant gas." And that's better than an end involving gunfire.

The incident demonstrated the effectiveness and purpose of an armored response vehicle that was a bit controversial when it was donated to the Kalispell Police Department last year. The hulking black truck allowed officers to safely approach close to the house where the suspect was holed up.

With that advantage, time was on their side. That might not be the case if they had been watching from a Suburban, vulnerable to an armed and unstable murder suspect. In any case, everyone is glad this situation ended without further incident.

Another and very different kind of success story in law enforcement comes from the Flathead County Detention Center.

The Inter Lake reported last week on a new program that allows local inmates to confer with a psychiatrist in Helena through a teleconference connection.

This makes sense in a number of respects. It saves considerable travel time for the psychiatrists; it gives inmates quicker access to treatment; and it is likely to be less expensive in the long term than in-person care.

This is the kind of smart use of technology that can make a real difference in people's lives.

People traveling in the Flathead Valley have some new alternatives to driving with a commuter bus service that now links Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

The new Eagle Transit bus service that began last month uses eight buses that the local transit outfit shares with Glacier National Park. That's why you can see Going-to-the-Sun Road artwork emblazoned on the buses making stops in the valley's three cities.

With the price of gasoline soaring these days, this initial effort at valleywide mass transit is welcome. And Eagle Transit has been getting requests for some time for a commuter system.

The current level of bus service will last until early July, when the buses will be used for Glacier Park's shuttle program.

The hope is that operating money can be found to resume the Flathead Valley service after Glacier Park's season is over. The broad concept calls for Eagle Transit to use the buses for between-towns commuting for nine months of the year and Glacier Park to use them for the remaining three months.