Welcome to a new Walmart
It is a popular pastime to make jokes about Walmart, but the fact of the matter is that the huge retailer is a vital component of our national and local economies.
Shoppers depend on the consistently low prices to help them make ends meet during these troubled times. And communities like ours depend on the steady supply of jobs for hundreds of locals.
Next week, Walmart opens a brand new superstore in the Hutton Ranch Plaza. This larger store will mean 150 additional jobs, and additional tax revenue for Kalispell. The old store in Evergreen will close.
The grand opening is at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 16. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held just before that at 7:30 a.m. As part of the celebration, Walmart is giving $60,000 in grants to regional charities including the Special Olympic Winter Games of Montana.
THE CHORUS of “he was robbed” that normally follows a blown call in baseball became a nationwide crescendo last week when Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga turned in a rare pitching gem.
An umpire’s blown call of safe on what was indeed the 27th and final out of the game relegated Galarraga’s mound achievement to officially a one-hit shutout.
The clamor for justice — the ump’s admission and the replays proved the hitter was out at first — went unheeded by the rules sticklers in the penthouses of Major League Baseball.
The fact that it was the final out and the outcome of the game would not be changed by reversing the call didn’t sway the commissioners’ office.
What was uplifting was the classy way that both the pitcher and umpire handled the situation.
“I believe in my heart I had a perfect game,” a gracious Galarraga said later.
His heart is right.
For everyone in America except the record-keepers at Major League Baseball, it was perfect.
THE BEST PART of winning a Folgers Coffee jingle contest isn’t just the $25,000 prize. It’s the possibility of what the national exposure might bring the band that performed the winning jingle.
Our own Flathead High School alumni Jenny Snipstead and Ethan Thompson were part of the group that recently won bragging rights in the nationwide competition. Congratulations to them and the other two band members responsible for the winning jingle. We hope it’s a catalyst for exciting things to come for these talented musicians.