DIL Editorial
Thoughtful perspectives from the Daily Inter Lake editorial board—local viewpoints on issues shaping Northwest Montana.
Reckless cruisers jeopardize Main Street pastime
Kalispell’s downtown cruisers are dealing with a few rotten apples that threaten to spoil the bunch.
TIF districts are valuable tool for cities
We were glad to see opposition out in force to House Bill 359, which would needlessly cripple city governments that use tax-increment finance districts as a means of funding renewal and redevelopment projects.
911 funding remains critical
Some important local issues seem to linger unresolved for decades. The Kalispell bypass was one, and the courthouse couplet is another, but as important as those have been to the character and development of our co…
Trump and FDR: Precedents for a brash president
It’s no wonder that President Trump has been rebuked and challenged by those on the left for his unprecedented mix of brash outspokenness, stubborn determination to remake America, overweening confidence in his own…
Trumbull Creek easement is great news
A 7,068-acre conservation easement in Trumbull Creek north of Columbia Falls was given a final signature of approval last week. Add that to the 3,022 acres in nearby Haskill Basin protected in a similar transaction…
Our justice system demands openness
In a bit of parliamentary shenanigans our lawmakers are so good at, a state House of Representatives committee has cavalierly amended a bill to do exactly the opposite of what it was intended to do.
A century of football: The 'ideal' and risk of 'decadence'
The Super Bowl will be played today between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Longtime readers of this column will know that, as a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan, I had hoped for a different outcome e…
Carnival gets a serving of Seuss
Sneetches, Wockets and Nizzards will march alongside the yetis, penguins and divas at the 58th annual Whitefish Winter Carnival this Saturday.
RSVP will be sorely missed service
We were disappointed to learn that the longstanding and valuable Retired and Senior Volunteer Program will cease operations this spring, apparently under the weight of shrinking funding and expanding administrative…
Local man rises to occasion when he's accosted on plane for supporting Trump
Millions of people saw the video last week of an airplane passenger being accosted by a woman who was angry at him for saying that he was in Washington, D.C., to “celebrate democracy” rather than to protest Donald …
Another delayed win for asbestos victims
It’s been a long time coming, but Libby asbestos victims finally are getting a measure of financial compensation for their various diseases caused by asbestos exposure from the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine tha…
Stevens leaves lasting health legacy
The Flathead Valley lost a dynamic advocate for quality health care with the recent death of Kalispell Regional Healthcare President Velinda Stevens. Her legacy to this community, though, will live on for generatio…
Trump and America's economy
Most of those who liked Donald Trump’s inaugural speech Friday probably voted for him. And many others, if they bothered to pay attention, surely came away feeling sour. That’s not a reflection of President Trump a…
President Trump and the end of politics as usual
President Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, and he began his term with a call to action and a promise that politics as usual would come to a grinding halt in Washing…
Trump's victory was on shoulders of American people
It was approximately 18 months ago when I wrote my first column about Donald Trump. Like many of the columns I have written before and after it, the focus was illegal immigration.
Longtime project coming to fruition
It’s been a long time coming — 17 years to be exact — but it looks as though the commercial and residential community planned so many years ago for the area north of West Reserve Drive is poised to finally material…