Bachman stays where he belongs
Considering the cold and heinous nature of his crime and the helpless innocence of his victims, it is not surprising that child murderer Karl “Randy” Bachman’s request for parole was denied Wednesday by the Montana parole board.
There is no shortage of people who think he belongs right where he is, in the Montana State Prison, to serve a life sentence that he entirely deserves.
Bachman was convicted of taking 9-year-old Jessica Westphal and 11-year-old Karen Tyler into the woods near Marion on July 31, 1971, and shooting both of the girls in the head six times. Their bodies wouldn’t be discovered for three years — a harrowing period for their families.
Bachman wasn’t caught until he molested and threatened to shoot a 19-year-old Glacier National Park employee in 1977, leading to an interrogation in which he confessed to the murders.
Given his demonstrated capacity for evil, any claims he may have made about being “rehabilitated” should have been easy for the parole board to ignore.
One word for Makena: Wow
Bigfork’s Makena Morley continues her run through the sports history books.
The most recent achievement for the Bigfork High School junior may be the most dominant yet: She set an all-class state record Saturday in winning the Class B cross-country championship in a time of 16:35.31.
That time bettered by 15 seconds the previously unassailable mark set by Kalispell running superstar Zoe Nelson.
The magnificent Morley achieved the record time in spite of having no competition to push her in the race — the second-place runner finished two and half minutes behind her!
Here’s another indication how fast Morley ran on Saturday: Her time would have been good enough for fourth place in the boys race in Class B.
Wow!
History isn’t just in books
Flathead High School has a long and rich place in local history, but now local history has a place in Flathead High School, too.
That’s because the social studies department, under the leadership of Sean O’Donnell, has begun a project called History in the Hallways that lets students become archivists of their school’s and community’s heritage.
This is a great opportunity for our young leaders of tomorrow to get a feel for the traditions that have made Flathead High School a great institution — and to help spread the word that history is a part of our everyday world.
The school is looking for donations of material related to Flathead High School, particularly from the 1950s or earlier. If you have anything of interest, contact O’Donnell and let him know.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.