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Wright’s building was OK, but original owner was gem

The late Frank Lloyd Wright building meant something to me only because having the FLW architects design it delighted Bud Lockridge, the building’s original owner It seemed to me at the time that it was “nothing to write home about” except for the mystique connected to the FLW name. Most vivid in my memory at its opening is that the fireplace did not draw. I moved away from Whitefish so don’t know if that problem was solved.

Although the building itself to me was unexceptional and in time was aesthetically and functionally eclipsed by a half dozen other buildings in Whitefish, Bud Lockridge was exceptional — a genial, caring, generous, and dedicated doctor. I do not miss the building but miss the man who had it built. —Larry Rooney, Whitefish

Don’t believe them, Whitefish!

What a coup for Whitefish! Frank Lloyd Wright, still considered by many to be the greatest American architect, designed hundreds of structures across the broad expanse of the U.S. from imaginative museums and civic buildings to spell-binding private homes celebrating their surrounding nature and environs.

To think that of the 380 or so still remaining throughout the country, Whitefish is home to one of them ... oh, wait, you DID have one ... then you let some yayhoo from Southern California (a developer who’d never even heard of FLW ... go figure) come in, make an ill-advised purchase, then proceed to tear down and trash your unique architectural treasure. Typically he’ll replace it with a gee-whiz plywood monument to mediocrity whose distinction will certainly not extend beyond the Whitefish city limits, and likely not cause any excitement at all past the corners of the block on which it is piled.

While you’re dancing and prancing around the public stage, celebrating and singing about how cool, how artistically attuned, how special you are, don’t kick up your skirts too high: Loss of the Wright building leaves an embarrassing stain on your bloomers.

Oh, and if some outside observers do sing your praises, telling you how cool you are ... it’ll be OK for you not to believe them. —Lynn Gross, Bigfork

A building is worth what someone’s willing to pay

Forget the appraisals. Ignore the Chicago cheerleaders. A building is worth what someone will pay.

After 13 months of publicly approved demolition notice, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy scrounged up only one potential buyer who telegraphed tepid interest by demanding a refund of deposit should they simply walk away. Apparently nobody was fooled by the “crowdfunding” fantasy.

Mr. Ruis did not become the successful developer driving progress in Columbia Falls by wasting his time that others considered expendable. Perhaps they simply need to learn to act more quickly and replace their mouths with their money. —Andy Palchak, Kalispell

Mind your pooch’s poop

The upcoming Winter Trails Day on Jan. 20 is a good time to remind area dog owners to be responsible members of society. That is, our treasured recreational trails are not your dog’s toilet.

The poop problem becomes particularly acute in winter, when dogs and trail users become increasingly confined to narrow (and white hued!) trail corridors. So please remove what cross-country skiers jokingly refer to as the “brown wax,” especially around trailheads.

And here’s a shout-out to those responsible folks who not only pick up after their own pooches but, like me, also remove other poops from high value recreation areas. —Steve Barrett, Kalispell

Attorney Gen. Sessions, please do something!

We have multiple government scandals unfolding before us. And, as our highest law enforcement officer, the investigation and prosecution of such rampant corruption is the sacred duty of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Gen. Sessions, you’re responsible for both enforcing the law and ensuring equal treatment under the law. And, by failing to address all of the “Deep State” wrongdoing currently being exposed in our government, i.e., FBI, CIA, IRS, etc., and your own Department of Justice, you are being grossly delinquent by not restoring integrity to our government.

Please, begin prosecuting the egregious crimes that have or are still being committed at the highest levels of our government. (E.g., Clinton and other high ranking officials re: HRC emails, her server, Clinton Foundation, Fusion GPS, Russian dossier, Uranium One, obstruction of justice, perjury, etc.)

Sadly, our Washington bureaus have been grossly politicized and weaponized by those who are trying to undermine our institutions. What’s the mindset behind this widespread criminal behavior? Well, many self-appointed “bourgeoisie” bureaucrats in very high places believe actually that the Trump electorate is a bunch of backwater “idiots” and hapless miscreants and that, due to their own highly elevated intellects, superior progressive values and special elite status, that they are entitled to reject the will of a pathetically uninformed and illiterate electorate and to act according to their own elitist philosophy and partisan beliefs.

Most sadly, Attorney General Sessions is doing nothing about all of this including the deliberate subversion of our government and electoral process in 2016 and beyond. There is growing evidence that the kind of grave sedition that cost the Rosenbergs their lives in the 1950s is happening in our own times. And, naturally, there is massive and increasing public outrage about all this. Millions of patriotic Americans want action. Please, Mr. Sessions, don’t disappoint them. —Dave Hadly, Kalispell