Letters to the editor Sept. 21

Be mindful of buses

I am writing today to bring about awareness surrounding our children who are back in school and riding the bus. I know this has been a weird year with a global pandemic weaving it’s destruction into all of our lives. I recognize that schools were out for many months and we’ve all let our guard down.

The buses we did see out the last several months were probably out getting maintenance, training new drivers and/or practicing bus routes. In these cases, they were not hauling children but they are now. I don’t have to tell you how important the cargo that is being carried in those buses are but apparently it is worth reminding people that we need to stop for buses.

Being mindful of bus routes on any road but especially on the high-speed roadways, and in my case U.S. 2 in Columbia Falls, is of utmost importance. Practicing defensive driving will keep everyone safe on the roads and will ready us all for winter driving needs in Montana.

Before cooler darker days come, where stopping will be difficult, if not impossible, hear my heart cry and desperate plea. Please be mindful of bus routes in your area and on the roadways you travel. I guarantee you will not regret it.

My sincerest gratitude to the village it takes to bring up the next generation of our Flathead Family, safely.

A mom at unease,

—Janelle Borgen, Columbia Falls

Rolling Acres

This letter to the editor is mainly to thank Mark Johnston for his much appreciated letter in the Sept. 6 edition about the proposed Rolling Acres development. It was concise, clear and deeply factual. It was a letter from the heart.

Like Mr. Johnston, we too are extremely concerned about this Rolling Acres development. This massive influx of houses with its many occupants will not only bring intense amounts of noise and light pollution, but do consider the vehicles that will be on the road. If you have not been on Columbia Falls Stage Road in a while, hang on and buckle up if you dare to take a little ride out this way. Posted 45 mile per hour signs are completely ignored as most vehicles fly by at speeds well above 60 miles per hour. It’s almost like rockets whizzing by your homestead. There’s little, if any, concern for people biking, running, walking or, God forbid, riding a horse!

Now they’re going to add 77 more households? And just how many more vehicles will come with this Rolling Acres development?” What about the many elk, deer and turkeys that roam about that area? In the late fall, we always have our herd of elk that meander up from the river and graze about here and there. The turkeys and deer especially enjoy the soon-to-be Rolling Acres. Sadly, many have already been hit by speeding motorists, left in the ditches or the sides of the road to die a painful, slow death.

And what happens to the McWenneger Slough area with its many ducks and turtles crossing the road, or at least, attempting to cross the road? I guess just keep driving over them cause, after all, these people have places to get to and time is tight! The respect and lack of concern for life in general is alarming and now, now, they are going to add 77 more households to acres that truly will be rolling.

The old days when all of this area was so pristine and appreciated, not to mention, cherished, is now at a close ... because like everything else in today’s world, money always talks.

-—Brenda Anderson, Columbia Falls

Public endorsement

I was shocked to read the last paragraph of the letter written by the superintendent of West Valley School publicly supporting a political candidate. I always thought there was an unwritten rule that school administrators, teachers and other staff members keep their political views to themselves.

In most cases we adults, even in schools, know which way each other leans politically, but we should not express these views to young children. Our colleges throughout the nation have forgotten the unwritten rule, but hopefully a small school in Northwest Montana should not have to endure political bias by their superintendent.

I am sure Mr. Ketchum is an outstanding superintendent, but he should have not written the last paragraph publicly endorsing Governor Bullock for Senate.

-—Jack Sollars, Kalispell

The flag of losers

Fly the Confederate flag, consider yourself a racist.

Wear it, consider yourself a racist. It’s not just an “historical display.”

360,222 U.S. soldiers died in the Civil War. They died fighting that flag. They died fighting the people who flew it and the people who wore it, along with the racism, white supremacy and bigotry that disgusting rag represents.

For those who think it’s cool to fly the Confederate flag, claiming that “it’s just part of history” (wink, wink), this is a great response.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave a speech explaining why the four monuments commemorating the Lost Cause and Confederacy were being removed.

And part of that speech explained exactly why flying the Confederate flag is not a simple display of history, but a clear and direct endorsement of slavery and white supremacy.

Mayor Landrieu stated “Should you have further doubt about the true goals of the Confederacy, in the very weeks before the war broke out, the vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens, made it clear that the Confederate cause was about maintaining slavery and white supremacy.

Alexander Stephens said, in his now famous “Cornerstone speech” that the Confederacy’s “cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”

He was wrong, and he lost. The Confederate flag is the flag of losers. Worse, it is the flag of racism and treason against the United States.

-—Eric Funk, Whitefish