Spartan race challenges thousands
The second incarnation of the Montana Spartan Sprint on Saturday near Bigfork promises to be even bigger than the inaugural race a year ago.
More than 5,000 racers are expected to race through mud, leap flames and scale walls as they make their way through an obstacle course designed by Spartan Race founder Joe DeSena.
A combination of natural and man-made challenges will await the host of runners who will tackle the course 200 people at a time starting Saturday morning.
Last year’s Spartan premiere was a huge success and there’s no reason to doubt Saturday’s version will be any different.
New ‘mayor’ a great pick
It was a splendid case of serendipity last week when the raffle to decide the honorary mayor of Kalispell came up with the name of Lillian Hinkley!
Hinkley has been an important part of the fabric of Evergreen for more than 45 years. She arrived in 1968 when her husband, Don, took the job of school superintendent and raised four children there.
She has already become an invaluable voice to promote the unincorporated community, and the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce will be wise to show her off throughout the next year.
Congratulations, Lillian!
A challenge to politicians
The Flathead County commissioners are just one vote away from eliminating the time duration for political signs on private property in zoned portions of the county. They passed a resolution of intent last week to adopt a zoning text amendment that will allow such signs to stay up for any length of time.
It’s hard to argue with the logic of saying that private citizens should be able to put signs up on their own private property to promote their favorite candidates or political beliefs without an arbitrary restriction, so the commissioners are probably on the right track.
Following a 30-day comment period that began Wednesday, the commissioners will take a final vote.
If it goes as expected, that will put the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of political candidates and their cronies to put up and take down signs in a timely manner. Many local residents emailed comments to the county about their concerns that campaign signs left up indefinitely would blight our beautiful area. That’s a valid concern, and it behooves our local politicians to be good neighbors by tending to their signs.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.