New car dealership 'wunderbar'

Kalispell got another nugget of good economic news this week as DePratu Ford and Volkswagen in Whitefish detailed plans to build a new Volkswagen dealership in south Kalispell.

Glacier Volkswagen, which would be located near Kalispell Toyota, will sell new and used Volkswagens and have its own service department, bringing 20 to 30 jobs to Kalispell. The project still has to wind its way through the planning process, and we encourage both the Kalispell Planning Board and City Council to support this business endeavor.

Volkswagen, or “Das Auto” as the company’s current slogan proclaims, is known for its superb German engineering. That fact that we’ll now have closer access to these fine German vehicles is, in a word, wunderbar.

Graduation matters

There was plenty of fun — sumo wrestling and carnival games — at a giant gathering of eighth-graders last week in Kalispell, but there was an important message imparted, too.

That message at the Graduation Matters Kalispell event was about the importance of graduating from high school.

One set of numbers summed up the problem: At the current graduation rate, 100 of the 700 eighth-graders gathered at the fairgrounds would not be graduating from high school within the standard four years.

Beyond the carnival kickoff, Graduation Matters Kalispell aims to improve graduation rates by creating a support network involving the school district, community organizations and businesses to help, inspire and mentor high school students.

We’re glad to see such emphasis locally as well as at the state level on trying to get our kids to stay in school.

Transparency matters, too

Good for Gov. Steve Bullock for making transparency a priority.

In one of his first official acts as governor, Bullock announced a new website — transparency.mt.gov  — where Montana taxpayers can keep track of how the state’s money is being spent. 

“We’ll have a searchable database so that any Montanan — or anyone in the world, for that matter — can look at how we are spending the taxpayers’ money. It’s the right thing to do and it’ll lead to a more effective government,” Bullock said in his recent State of the State address.

Payments made through the state’s accounting system can be searched in three ways — by department, category or who the payment was made to (the payee). A search by category allows users to track costs for expenses including utility and postage costs, supplies like ammunition or gas, or services like fire suppression. 

In announcing the new website, Bullock said that it will be continually improved and updated. We hope so. Right now, the information is all there, but it’s still somewhat awkward to access unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.