School background checks overdue

Kalispell Public Schools announced last week that moving forward the district will require background checks for all new employees and volunteers.

This is a valuable improvement in district safety brought to the Flathead by Superintendent Mark Flatau and Human Resources director Tracy Scott in their first year on the job.

As Scott said, “We want to make sure we can do all we can to make safe schools.”

And considering the relatively low cost of background checks — from $11.50 to $23.25 per person — it probably should have been done a long time ago.

Reappraisal ‘road show’

A once-every-six-year opportunity for those interested in property values will soon arrive in Kalispell, when the Montana Department of Revenue “road show” comes to town.

The Sept. 23 event will offer something of a status report on preliminary calculations for the reappraisal of properties that is carried out every six years. A similar event held in Kalispell in 2008 provided some useful information on valuation trends for residential, commercial or agricultural properties. It attracted many people from real estate and appraisal businesses, but also average citizens, who wanted their input heard.

The road show will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell.

A good deed well done

A little community-minded altruism can go a long way.

Alfreda Piland can attest to that. The roof of her mobile home was leaking so badly that several rooms were severely damaged by water.

Thanks to the efforts of a diverse cast, however, Piland is getting a new roof over her head. Western Building Center and Plum Creek donated materials, the Senior Mobile Home Repair Program provided coordination and the Dysfunctional Cowboys stepped up to do the roof job.

Members of the Cowboys, a biker club, grabbed their tools and have been coming to Piland’s home nightly to install the new roof.

The roof should be done and the leaks should be history by the end of the month, thanks to a great effort by many people.

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