Letters to the editor Jan. 31
Nice property in the North Fork
I enjoyed reading the article about Lee Downes in the Monday January 28, 2019 Daily Inter lake. It brought fond memories from when I hauled logs down Coal Creek from a few different logging jobs some years ago. Everyone I worked with always mentioned that was Lee Downes place and I was lucky enough to meet him a time or two.
I hope the Department of Revenue does not try to tax him off his place as they have tried to do to me. I bought a small cabin on a lake in 1991 for a modest price. The taxes were affordable. Now because other places close to me were purchased for way more money, they make me pay the same as the rich feller pays.
Doesn’t quite seem fair to me, but that’s just my opinion. I hope Lee Downes’ property stays in his family for many generations and they don’t get taxed off their land!
— David M. Brandt, Eureka
Where have all the hippies gone?
I would like to initiate a public conversation on the ideals of the Aquarian revolution. You know - those ideals such as peace, love, simplicity and acceptance of diversity? I have a feeling that the hippies are out there somewhere, and have been doing their part to promote peace and love in their own quiet way.
Our new attorney general, William Barr, is known to have made disparaging remarks about the Aquarian revolution when he was a younger man. True, free love leads to problems, and true, drugs lead to other problems. But is dismissing the Aquarian revolution because of the sex and drugs an over simplification? Or, “Was the Aquarian revolution a failure?”
I believe that we see the broader manifestations of the Woodstock generation in the environmental movement, wellness, natural food, women’s rights, civil rights and other areas. Some hippies have found sanctuary in academia or in the arts. But what is the status of the changing tide of consciousness? Are we doomed in a cycle of futility, or are we moving toward greater happiness? With the 50th anniversary of Woodstock this summer, and the Martin Luther King holiday in January, it is a good time to talk about this.
—Steve Eckels, Kalispell
Purchasing power
Red Lobster is apparently joining the ever increasing list of companies withdrawing advertising from conservative television or radio shows or services to conservative businesses such as gun manufacturers in response to pressure from extreme leftist organizations. This insidious form of censorship attempts to silence alternative views just as college endowments boycotting investments in Israel try to punish an entire country for defending their democracy and way of life.
Apparently companies such as Nike and Red Lobster have determined that this move will increase their sales. Hopefully, they will suffer a backlash from those of us outside of the hallowed demographic of those 18 to 35 years of age, a backlash that I urge all conservatives and older citizens to support. Though there is no Red Lobster in the valley, before I moved here 20 years ago it was one of my favorite less expensive seafood restaurants in Columbus, Ohio.
Just as I told my investment advisor to no longer send me Nike golf balls for a Christmas present (he sent me Calloways this year), I will never purchase another Nike product. On my travels, I will no longer enter a Red Lobster and I urge all fair-minded individuals who support free speech and an alternative to the left wing media to voice their opinions both in communication with these companies and by no longer support their products or services.
It is far past time for conservatives and those of us outside of the prized younger demographic to demonstrate the importance of our purchasing power so we are no longer dismissed as inconsequential.
—P. David Myerowitz, Columbia Falls
Roundup for Safety benefits student athletes
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Flathead Electric Cooperative Roundup for Safety initiative for all the funds they provide to this community. This could not be done without the help of the Cooperative members who choose to roundup their monthly bills to make the grants possible.
Athletic trainers are health-care providers at the forefront of assuring sport safety – we are so grateful to have partners such as Roundup for Safety members who share our passion and efforts in protecting our valley’s youth.
While our high schools may historically be viewed as rivals, we have come together to work on the same important initiative of providing a safe and fun environment for our student-athletes to engage in athletics. This year athletic trainers from both schools worked together to create a combined proposal to increase the amount of safety equipment available to our student-athletes. We wanted to show our community that the schools can work together to improve the quality of health care our students receive.
We applied for, and received grant money to purchase additional vacuum splint kits for both schools, these are tools used to immobilize a body part in the event of fracture or dislocation, for transport to advanced medical services, and an additional AED for Glacier High School to increase the coverage area for all events occurring on both campuses.
Please accept our great appreciation to our Co-Op members who support the Roundup for Safety program. We could not have purchased these items without your help, as they are expensive, yet necessary equipment to provide exceptional medical care to our very deserving student-athletes.
—Brian Straub is athletic trainer at Flathead High School; Kerianne Fuller is athletic trainer at Glacier High School
Government expenses
If you think spending $5 billion dollars to secure the border is too much money, here are some similar government expenses: Washington state is spending $3.3 billion on the Alaskan Way Viaduct (that’s a highway in Seattle); the District of Columbia Department of Transportation is spending $1 billion in improvements; the California high-speed rail is a $77 billion project; and the Trans Canada Pipeline cost is $8.3 billion. Also Chuck Schumer recently presented his infrastructure bill which could total hundreds of billions of dollars.
So $5 billion doesn’t seem like an extreme cost to pay for the security of the U.S. Maybe the cost has nothing to do with it. It’s political resistance.
—Carol Nelson, Bigfork