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Downtown sidewalk plan is not realistic

Kalispell has pretty drawings of what Main Street would look like if we spent money widening sidewalks and adding sidewalk extensions into traffic “to make the walk across the street shorter.” Pretty to look at, and pretty to live with, are two different things.

Those pictures show trees growing within the sidewalk extensions. Kalispell has many downtown tree stumps from trees killed by salting the roads. Kalispell plans to keep using salt to handle winter ice. Putting live trees in the proposal picture is misleading.

From experience, while the sidewalks are being torn up, walk-in traffic for Main Street businesses will dwindle. Last time the city of Kalispell did major sidewalk renovations, over a half dozen businesses went out of business during construction. More were out of business within months because after the work was completed, traffic did not increase as promised. For most businesses it became less than before the “improvements” because their old customers learned to shop elsewhere.

If the proposed sidewalk changes are done, there will be less easy-in, easy-out corner parking. The planned sidewalk extenders will make exiting corner parking spots more difficult.

From experience, the sidewalk extenders will make walking downtown with strollers and children in tow uncomfortable. Why? It will be necessary to stand next to traffic while waiting for a crossing light.

Why does anyone want to spend over $100,000 widening Main Street sidewalks? When the weather is perfect — not too hot, cold, rainy, snowy, windy — we could have more room for sidewalk sales. But should every Main Street businesses sacrifice income for a maybe advantage for a few perfect days? Or is our money better spent on year-round useful improvements like overhead crosswalks and/or a parking garage? —Fran Tabor, Kalispell

Trump is a ‘jerk’

Donald Trump is a jerk. He is also president of the United States. His fans and voters know he is a jerk and love him for it. He is the same low-caliber person he has always been. In spite of that fact 62,979,879 people voted for him. It matters not that 65,844,954 people voted for Hillary Clinton. It matters not that over 5 million people voted for other candidates. And, far worse, it matters not that 108,600,074 eligible voters did not vote at all.

What matters is that we have a reckless twithead in the White House and that’s not even our biggest problem. We the People are. It is American citizens who apologize for him, excuse him, ignore him and normalize him that make his presidency a national humiliation.

Trumpian party puritans condone his obscene behavior. They defend filth so foul I cannot write a letter to the editor that meets editorial page standards if I directly quote the president of the United States of America.

What will it take for his devoted base, most of whom are white evangelical Christians, to at long last realize that they have sold their souls to the Donald? —Wanda LaCroix, Arlee

Your vote does not count

While Congress has been battling so many close legislative issues from health care, immigration, tax reform, and Cabinet and Supreme Court confirmations, Montana has been in its best position in history to cast the deciding vote in a virtually deadlocked U.S. Senate. Meanwhile our two Montana senators have voted exactly opposite on every issue, giving us a “Net Zero Vote.” We pay two senators $350,000 plus, plus to squander Montana’s vote!

Clearly, at least one senator is out of touch with voters. I sent Sen. Tester a note to express my wishes for him to confirm Mr. Gorsuch as Supreme Court justice. I received a reply. He told me that my opinion was wrong and he would not support Gorsuch.

Mr. Tester voted lockstep on every issue above with California, New York, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado in spite of their out of control taxation and spending, skyrocketing real-estate markets, crime rates, and refusal to adhere to federal law on immigration and drugs. Pelosi, Schumer, Patti Murray, Elizabeth Warren, and Maxine Waters have no business influencing Montana politics.

My suggestions for transparency and accountability:

- Make our congressional representatives accountable for their vote. An emailed statement that they support their party’s view is insufficient. We deserve to know they are pro-actively polling Montana by publicly posting results from Democrat and Republican voters.

- Recognize that the “other” Montana senator is one of us, not the enemy. Communicate like gentlemen, share data and resolve your differences with a goal of two countable Montana votes.

- Form a voting alliance with surrounding states like Idaho, Wyoming, Dakotas, and Alaska (supported by Sen. Daines) that share our values and economic reliance on agriculture, mining, energy and tourism. Go off to Washington with a dozen votes in hand instead of a vote that doesn’t matter. —Michael Jackson, Kalispell

Go back to God’s values to help those in need

The Jan. 7 Inter Lake had an article and an editorial about a homeless man who died in a van during distressing weather conditions. It was speculated the cause of death was natural causes possibly worsened by the weather.

During the holiday season, amidst Salvation Army bell-ringing fund raisers and start-of-year United Way pledging, people are already in a heightened awareness of situations of need. The homeless man’s death and Inter Lake articles raised people’s attention even further.

A group wants to try to help people transition back into the community from prison.

Law enforcement knows the severity of the problems and some care enough to try to help, even using their own money.

All agencies are over-burdened and growing. As has been known for years, “only water what you want to grow” has created more and more people needing these services. Social services have taken over half the old Glacier Gateway Mall and a giant portion of county resources.

Globalists, liberals and progressives deliberately worsened these conditions to gain power and control.

See my website to find out who is behind all misery and destruction: www.giveGodlove.com. See “Sold their souls” and “My people believing lies.”

It’s time to go back to God and His values and teachings, repair and restore families and do your own actual homework about politics, so you won’t believe Jon Tester is “affable, poised, gregarious, articulate, a good public speaker … and charismatic.” Or is “…actually, philosophically, ideologically a moderate Republican, Democrat in Name Only (DINO)…” when Jon Tester voted with Obama over 90 percent of the time.

Remove obstacles and barriers, restore morality, ethics and right worship and get people helping themselves so that living an alcohol-saturated life on a bus stop bench and slapping a tree trunk won’t seem more attractive than helping yourself. —Kathy Folden, Kalispell