Letters to the editor Sept. 29
Kalispell growth
My first reaction to reading Kurt Vomfell’s letter about how wonderful of a mayor Ryan Hunter would be, was: Is this a joke?
According to Vomfell, Hunter supports more compact development and conserving the character of this valley. This is the same Ryan Hunter who voted for the proposed high density subdivision at the corner of West Springcreek Road between Two Mile and Three Mile Drive. This is miles away from any other “compact development,” miles away from shopping, employment, parks or any city services and is totally out of character with the surrounding single family neighborhoods.
The proposal will contain 650 homes, with 450 of them to be 45-foot-tall apartment buildings and the remainder to be 200 rowhouses. All of this on 90 acres that was zoned as single family.
In order to do this, Hunter had to vote to rezone the parcel, in spite of the fact that it was not in compliance with numerous requirements in the city’s growth policy, and also not in compliance with the city’s zoning regulations. And as a bonus, he voted to give the developer a variance on the required height of the rowhouses, which will now be 40 feet tall.
What is the point of zoning regulations or a growth policy if it can all be changed by any developer’s random request and the whims of the city leaders?
My advice would be to vote for someone with common sense who will follow the actual regulations that the city requires for growth.
— Diane Etter, Kalispell
Pentagon ‘minders’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently escalated the Trump administration’s war against freedom of the press and the public’s right to know what’s going on in our government.
On Sept. 19, Hegseth issued new restrictions on press coverage of the Pentagon. Pentagon reporters must now be accompanied by “escorts” as they walk through the building. We’ve long seen such restrictions on reporters in Russia and China — we commonly refer to those escorts as “minders.” Now the Trump administration has adopted similar practices in the U.S.
According to Hegseth’s mandate, “information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
Under this rule, how likely is it that the press can report on financial mismanagement at the Pentagon, or the waste of resources, or on practices or equipment that simply don’t work? People inside the Pentagon may be aware of these problems, but how likely is it that such information would be approved by Hegseth and his minions for release to the public?
And if information is suppressed, how will problems ever be dealt with?
Hegseth likes to talk about reviving the warrior spirit in the military, but his actions are aimed more at covering up problems, including problems that could cost the lives of American service men and women.
Why aren’t Sens. Tim Sheehy and Steve Daines, and Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing raising hell about this?
— Steve Paulson, Billings