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Thanks, Friends of the Library

Each fall for the past many, many years (at least 25 and probably more) the Friends of ImagineIF Library work tirelessly to give the community a book sale of immense proportions. This year was no exception. The Friends raised over $11,000 that will be given to ImagineIF to bolster programs and services at all locations.

This dedicated group of volunteers couldn’t be so successful without help from other community organizations and businesses. This year those included Kalispell Center Mall, which provides the venue, Western Building Center, Insty Prints, FHS Community Schools, Montana Conservation Corps, Wendy Ostrom Price, Cub Scout Pack 4944 and many individuals; as well as the book drop-off sites at Evergreen Super1, Rosauer’s, Bigfork Harvest Foods, and ImagineIF Libraries. What an amazing job they did!

The gift that ImagineIF receives from the Friends will fund staff recognition and staff development as well as Early Literacy Classes for children ages 0 to 5. These are things that are not covered in the tax-supported county budget and would not be possible without the annual donation from our wonderful Friends of the Library.

The Friends of the Library work year around to collect books, sort them, haul them to storage and then haul them to the sale. It’s a very physical job for some very dedicated workers. We can’t say enough about how much we appreciate their hard work and dedication. The hundreds of children that enter kindergarten ready to read because of the literacy skills they’ve developed at the library can all be traced back to this dedicated group of volunteers!

Many thanks to our Friends of the Library and their helpers. —Kim Crowley, director, ImagineIF Libraries

Moore and wife are disgusting

Leigh Corfman says Roy Moore molested her when she was 14. I have not read that she is seeking fame or money. My impression is that she wants her story heard to change the dirty double standard that powerful and influential men can have their way with young women and get away with it.

As disgusting as Moore is to me, his wife Kayla is far worse. When she rallies her church-women friends in front of the Alabama Capitol in support of her predator husband, and a man in the back row holds a sign with a cross saying “take a stand for God,” I see how far my country has fallen into depravity.

When Jesus said to suffer the little children to come to him, I don’t think any of them had to worry about having their clothes taken off. I see Roy Moore as a Bible-waving pimp and his wife as his chief procurer. They have made harlots of the Commandments and Gospel to gain political power and the wealth that comes with it.

Even the woman governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, has thrown away her decency to side with them. Perhaps these whitewashed people full of corruption will indeed gain the whole world, since they seem to have already lost their souls. As Ivanka Trump has rightly said, there is a special place in hell for the likes of them. —Michael Merchant, Kalispell

Questions about the Roy Moore allegations

First and foremost let me say that sexual contact between a adult and a minor is wrong period.

The news is saturated with the Roy Moore story. A lot of young women, possibly minors, are willing, but that doesn’t make it OK. I have to wonder what a 14-year-old girl was doing going to an adult male’s apartment and why would a 16-year-old girl get in a adult male’s car. All this has been kept quiet for up to 39 years. I could understand it if a woman chose to forever stay quiet about a unwanted attack on their bodies but why weren’t these allegations brought up while the primaries were on or before with law enforcement? No one but the two of them really know the truth, but I do know he challenged them to take a polygraph.

As for Al Franken he in my opinion should never have been elected in the first place as there has always been too many clowns in the Senate. —Glen Hook, Kalispell

New apartment complex worries property owner

I have recently learned that a proposed 324-unit apartment complex is coming before the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. in the Kalispell City Council chambers, 201 First Ave. East.

This meeting is to address the request of a property owner to annex 15 acres, west of Kalispell, which is currently a pasture, in to the Kalispell city limits. Upon approval of this request, the owners are immediately requesting a conditional-use permit to build 324 apartments on this land.

I am a property owner in this area and I have several concerns. The density and height of these apartments would far exceed any other surrounding buildings. This land is in FEMA floodplain, and there are no storm sewers in this area. The builder is estimating that this project will result in approximately 2,600 additional vehicle trips per day on Two Mile Drive and Hawthorne Avenue. These are sub-par roads with no shoulders or sidewalks. This project would hook into existing city water and sanitary sewer, which have not been updated in this area in many years.

Very few people have been notified of this proposal. I called the utility supervisor of Kalispell to express my concerns, and even he did not know anything about it. If any other Kalispell citizens have questions or concerns about a massive project of this size being added to Kalispell’s city limits, without the proper infrastructure in place to support it, please contact the planning board before Dec. 12 at 406-758-7940, or come to the meeting. —Marilyn Driscoll, Kalispell