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Change name of high school? Where will it end?

Change the name of Flathead High School? (as suggested in a letter to the editor)?

How far will this country go to insure that no one is offended?

Should we also change the name of the college? Of the largest lake west of the Mississippi? Of our valley? Will that somehow change the prevailing views of the leadership in the 1800s?

Will removing historic monuments and the Confederate flag eliminate slavery from our past?

Should Germany demolish all concentration camps? Would that change the horrific ethnic cleansing in their history?

When and where will it stop? No country has a perfect past, but whitewashing it is not the answer.

What needs to happen is for each of us to know our history, understand our history and to learn from it.

Let’s all try to be more tolerant, listen and consider an opposing viewpoint and use some common sense. —Elsa Putzier, Bigfork

Don’t balance budget with Medicaid cuts

I started working in nursing homes and came to assisted living care because my oldest son is disabled and I wanted to help build options for his care long after I’m no longer here to fight for him.

For the first time in his life, I’m afraid for his future. We seem to be losing the will to make sure the most vulnerable among us receive the services they need.

I am shocked about the proposed Medicaid cuts that will make it more difficult for elderly and disabled Montanans to get the assisted living services they need. These services are for people who can no longer stay at home but don’t need to be in a nursing home. Offering assisted living as part of Medicaid is the right thing for our elders and saves the state money. Why are we cutting services that save money?

There is time to fix this and I’m hoping everyone involved will put their heads together to find a better solution to our budget woes.

I don’t know how we got from overwhelmingly passing HB 17 that provided for more services and access for people to stay at home or in assisted living to where we are now — with DPHHS proposing to CUT these services by almost 3.5 percent! A big factor in passing HB 17 was to help people with Alzheimer’s and their families get the care and help they need — now what?

Our elders fought for our rights, built our roads, farmed for years feeding us, and have spent their savings on their health-care costs as they’ve gotten older. Now they seek our help to get needed care and live out their lives with dignity. Even those of us who are younger are one car accident, heart attack, stroke or life-changing illness away from spending the rest of our lives needing care. Rather than tearing it down, we need to invest in our health-care system to be sure it’s there when we need it.

There has to be a better way to balance the budget and make any needed cuts in a more reasonable, fair way. People who need help shouldn’t have to pick up a newspaper and read that money is being “found” for pay hikes for state workers while their access to services is being cut.

Let the governor and your legislators know they should re-think the Medicaid cuts. We can — and should — do better. —Michael Coe, Administrator, The Pines Assisted Living, Polson

School: Thanks to Roundup for Safety!

My name is Cal Ketchum and I am in my sixth year as superintendent for the West Valley School District. West Valley School has experienced sizable growth over the past decade. With the recent 36,000square-foot addition, we were in need of a front-door security system that tied into our alarm system. Not only is our building used for students and staff, it is also used almost every night of the week by the community for various events. We were in need of a way to make sure the school was safe and still able to let community have access to the building during non-school hours. We have been working with Kenco to combine our front-door entry system with our alarm system and that’s where Roundup for Safety comes in.

Often when I read the editorial page, it is filled with people expressing anger over politics or some other injustice in the world, real or perceived. I am happy to write this letter to the editor for something good! I was able to present our project to Roundup for Safety Board in February. West Valley was granted $3,000 towards our project, which we just completed in July. I have been on several boards and currently sit on three educational boards throughout the state and can emphatically say the Roundup for Safety board is amazing and it is plainly obvious to see that they truly care about each project. They spent time researching the project and asking me quality questions before deciding to grant us money to help with our project.

The process is fairly simple and I would encourage any organization thinking about doing a safety-related project to fill out the very simple application form. Thank you, Roundup for Safety! —Cal Ketchum, Kalispell

Taking a stand against Chinese rights abuses

In response to Bob Brown and Steve Levine’s letter on July 30 regarding “Chinese political prisoner is reminder of price of freedom,” I would also like to comment on the human-rights abuses in China.

In June 2016, Congress passed House Resolution 343, condemning the Chinese government for sanctioning the pillaging of organs from Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience.

Falun Gong is a type of Buddhism whose principles are truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. On July 20, 1999, this teaching was outlawed by the Chinese communist government under the leadership of Jiang Zemin. Falun Gong was becoming too popular and he wanted it eliminated.

In 2006, investigators found those arrested were being blood typed, killed and their organs sold for transplantation.

In 2008, Israel passed a law prohibiting its citizens from getting an organ transplant in China, where wait times are only 1 to 4 weeks. In other countries it can be a few years wait time. Illinois, Pennsylvania and Minnesota have passed resolutions condemning China’s organ pillaging; these states alert their citizens to what is happening in China. Montana should do the same.

There is a Senate Resolution 220 which condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s violent suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, including the killing of Falun Gong practitioners and selling their organs for transplant. Please sign the petition to encourage Sens. Tester and Daines to co-sponsor this resolution at http://www.stoporganharvesting.org/contact-your-senator/. —Katherine Combes, Kalispell

Zoning plan for 93 corridor needs another look

Development planning should benefit the whole community not just favor a small group of people for their personal profit.

The Highway 93 South Whitefish Corridor Plan and Zoning Amendment appears to be in the process of being shoved forward by the County Planning Board on behalf of a small group of landowners.

The proposed rezoning proposal is outrageous. It is denser than the zoning on the Highway 93 corridor between FVCC and Reserve, which includes Home Depot, Lowes, Costco, and Walmart to name a few. Incredibly, the proposed setbacks for businesses and signs would be ONLY 5 feet. In contrast, Kalispell’s Highway 93 gateway setbacks range from 20 feet to 150 feet depending on the speed limit. What’s going on here?

Since the corridor and zoning changes will hugely impact the city of Whitefish, people in Whitefish should be given the opportunity to assist in shaping the outcome of these plans. It is the entrance to our city, and most residents would like to keep sprawl and eyesore development to a minimum. The current proposal is an “anything goes” plan and would be extremely detrimental to Whitefish.

The county commissioners should deny these plans as written and request that a more thoughtful plan be created. —Barbara Palmer, Whitefish