Whitefish gets royal treatment

Hear ye, hear ye.

’Tis time once again for the Whitefish Winter Carnival and all of its royal glory.

King Ullr and his Queen of the Snow will reign over the final day of frolicking and festivities as the Flathead Valley heads north to Whitefish on Saturday for one of the biggest parties of the season.

Whitefish is a resort town that knows how to entertain.

The theme of this year’s carnival is “Carnival Marvels at the Comics,” so expect a lot of superheroes and action figures in the parade that starts at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Plan to spend the whole day in Whitefish because the action will be nonstop.

Other events include a Kiddie Carnival, the Penguin Plunge into frigid Whitefish Lake, a pie social at St. Charles Catholic Church, the new Beer Barter event and Yeti Snowskate Jam.

A torchlight parade and fireworks at Whitefish Mountain Resort top off the day.

Check online for times and places at www.whitefishwintercarnival.com.

By tomorrow, the race should officially begin for one of Montana’s seats in the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg is expected to announce on Saturday his quest to unseat U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.

That announcement will confirm Rehberg’s long-simmering candidacy — “the worst-kept secret in Montana,” in the words of Tester’s press secretary.

And it will set up a heavyweight matchup between Rehberg, the state’s top Republican, and Tester, one of Montana’s top Democrats.

Partisans on both sides of the political aisle undoubtedly are sharpening their rhetorical knives for the upcoming campaign. The stakes are high for both parties and for Montana in these supercharged political times.

One political scientist, Christopher Muste, expects a close election and a campaign that lasts far longer and gets far more attention than Montanans are accustomed to.

“I think they are both going to try to paint themselves as moderate in the Montana mold and accuse the other of being extreme and out of touch with Montana,” Muste told The Associated Press. “It should be a wild ride.”

Let’s hope the rhetoric — and there will be a lot of it, since the election is not until 2012 — is helpful and not hateful during what promises to be a long and interesting campaign.

Congratulations are due to a pair of local school principals who have achieved statewide recognition.

Edgerton School Principal Darren Schlepp was named the 2011 National Distinguished Principal for Montana by the Montana Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals.

That association also honored Dave Wick, principal of Columbia Falls Junior High, as Montana Distinguished Principal.

Both Schlepp and Wick are veteran administrators in Flathead Valley schools and are well-known to students, parents and co-workers. People over the years who have dealt with the two principals would agree that the honors are well-deserved.