City's art project not priority

Inter Lake editorial

A project to put four bronze sculptures at the intersection of U.S. 2 and U.S. 93 in Kalispell has become the latest victim of the recession.

The city of Kalispell, still struggling with budget shortfalls, has put the project on the back burner, and rightfully so. The project is an art lover's dream, but shouldn't be completed right now when the city is cutting both services and staff to weather its financial storm.

When times are good again, and they will be, we hope city leaders will see it through to fruition, perhaps with private funds. The one-of-a-kind bronzes planned for each of the four corners of this major crossroads would become landmarks and denote Kalispell as a community that appreciates the arts.

Flathead County is getting a badly needed fourth District Court judge, and it should be understood that it is the public that will benefit the most.

A new judge doesn't necessarily make life easier for the three current judges and their staffs. When the new judge takes office in January 2011, the current judges will show up for work just as they do now to put in a day at the office.

But it will make a difference for people who have cases pending before the courts. Hearings and trials will come about more quickly than they would with only three judges serving the district.

And for many people, resolving a case in a few months rather than a year is a big deal.

The passing of Jack Kemp this week reminds us once again how drastically the political climate has changed in the past 15 years.

The former Republican congressman and 1996 vice-presidential candidate was a proud and principled conservative who built his political career on the base of popularity he achieved as a quarterback in the old AFL. But though Kemp was even more fiscally conservative than Ronald Reagan, he never got stuck with being labeled a wacko, right-wing hater the way so many conservatives do these days.

It's funny really. In Kemp's day, politicians seemed more likely to stand for something, to be unafraid to speak up for their values, and yet also to exhibit more civility and decorum in the public dialogue.

Kemp was a true gentleman. He will be missed.