Community members join editorial board
Community members of the Inter Lake’s newly expanded editorial board have been announced by Publisher Rick Weaver, and met for the first time as a group last week.
The five new members will join Weaver, Managing Editor Frank Miele, Assistant Managing Editor Scott Crandell, Features Editor Lynnette Hintze, and Senior Reporter Jim Mann on the board.
Weaver said he hopes the new members will help give the paper a better feel for what is important in the community and provide fresh perspectives. The board’s first discussion provided grist for editorials Thursday on the Iraq War and Sunday on the current crisis of lawlessness in Mexico.
In alphabetical order, the new members of the board are:
Bob Brown: Brown, a Kalispell native, is a well-known figure in the Flathead Valley, having served many years in the Legislature. In addition to running as the Republican candidate for governor in 2004, Brown also served a term as secretary of state from 2001-05. After leaving state government, Brown became a senior fellow at the University of Montana’s Center for the Rocky Mountain West and later at the university’s Mansfield Center. He retired this spring and is happy to be back at his home in the Whitefish area full time.
Mona Charles: Charles moved to Montana in February 2000 following 25 years in Los Angeles, where she was an actress and worked in film production. She edited the newsletter for the World Airline Entertainment Association for 10 years and now is a Realtor with Big Sky Properties of Montana. Charles participates in local theater, the Hockaday and the Bet Harim Jewish Community, and is a member of the Central Committee of the Flathead County Democratic Party.
James How: How is a former newspaperman who worked in advertising and management at the Mankato Free Press in Minnesota and at the Cape Cod Times in Massachussetts. He has served as president of the Glacier Institute locally, and while semi-retired, remains an avid songwriter.
Scott Jones: At 30, Jones is the youngest member of the editorial board and moved to Kalispell in 2009 with his wife and two young children to be close to family members who already lived here. Jones is an actuarial consultant for the Seattle-based firm of Milliman and brings considerable expertise in the workings of the health-insurance industry.
Wendy Ostrom-Price: Well-known to local residents for her many years as a radio personality and reporter at KOFI in Kalispell, Ostrom-Price is now the public relations officer for Flathead Electric Cooperative. Ostrom-Price has served on several boards and is involved in a variety of local causes. She is a Kalispell native.