Letters to the editor Dec. 18

Kalispell Kindness

Blessings come when needed most. My family was in a horrible car accident in September near Creston. Mom’s bucket list trip to see our National Parks ended that day. Blessings started immediately as witnesses came to our aid. Not a few but many. Blankets, water, caring assessments of my injuries, and two people who took charge to find out who was trapped in the car. A veterinary even gave my dog a roadside physical. All this before EMTs arrived.

The kindnesses just started there. Mom and I were admitted to the hospital, and my wife had to be flown to Harborview in Seattle for two trauma surgeries. The ER staff kindly pushed our gurneys together so we could at least touch hands and say I love you. The staff, all who cared for us, were more than professionally competent...they were kind.

My brother flew to Kalispell to help me and we quickly started receiving kindnesses from your community. The 70 year old owner of the impound lot actually used heavy gloves, climbed onto the hood and held up the shattered windshield so my brother could uncover my wife’s wallet and cell phone. The ophthalmologist at Glacier Eye Clinic asked his brother, a local surgeon, to explain the complexities of care being given to my wife 400 miles away. The heartfelt kindnesses of the folks at The Homestead in Lakeside, our neighbor of the VRBO we rented, the state trooper office staff who let us use their address to have the accident report mailed. These are just a few of the kind folks who cared.

I’m in Seattle still, my wife is recovering. I hope you all will continue to be kind. To me, it is Kalispell’s defining quality and why we will come back someday.

— Ken Hilliard, Bryson City, North Carolina

Transportation funding

A big “thank you” to all the workers who recently completed the Foys Lake/Kalispell Bypass project. This was a large and complex work of construction for a relatively small rural community, and the result is not only very functional but also beautiful as well.

Where did the money for this $14.7 million project come from? I’m sure a lot of local folks were curious, as I was, so I did a bit of research.

Libertarians might be surprised to learn that $12.7 million, the vast majority of the total cost, originated in a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation under a popular federal government program started by the Obama administration in 2009 in response to the financial crisis and Great Recession. Now referred to by the acronym BUILD, the original TIGER (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery) was part of Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, designed to stimulate a moribund economy amid the financial crisis and Great Recession of 2009.

This project is a great example of the federal government helping local and regional governments to apply for transportation projects beyond the limits of local and state funding.

Since 2009 TIGER/BUILD has provided grants for 678 projects worth $8.9 billion to both semi-urban and rural areas. Most grants are in the $10-$15 million range, with a cap of $25 million, which in practice prevents grants from going to large cities. Best of all, this $14.7 million contract was awarded to two local firms: LHC Construction Inc. and KLJ Inc. engineering consultants, creating well paid local jobs, boosting the local economy, and vastly improving a dangerous traffic bottleneck.

— George McLean, Kalispell

Support the library

One of my first actions when I moved to a new place was to find the library and sign up for a library card. A library card gave me options, gave me access to books, computers, information, and it made me feel like I was part of the community.

When I moved to the Flathead and wanted to get involved in the community, it was the library that gave me that opportunity. Even in a world of increasing digital communication and information our libraries are not irrelevant. They are still vibrant, necessary, desirable community spaces. If you aren’t sure you agree I’d encourage you to visit one of our county library locations and see for yourself.

I support our libraries, I support our library staff, I am proud to have my taxes support this essential community service and I want our library salaries and wages to be competitive and properly compensate our hard-working library staff. We have amazing services and programs through ImagineIF and I hope our elected officials and volunteer board members choose to support and retain the staff that make our libraries so amazing.

— Carla Fisher, Columbia Falls