Letters to the Editor
Voices from the community—reader-submitted letters sharing opinions, concerns, and perspectives on local and statewide issues.
OPINION: We aren’t mad enough about PFAS in Montana’s rivers
For many Montanans, rivers and lakes are more than scenic landscapes.
EDITORIAL: Absent students and missing values
If you don’t show up, you can’t learn, and more and more young people just aren’t showing up for school.
LETTER: Concession plan for park is wrong
Concessions are contrary to the state parks. Ultimately there will be signage. Where does it lead? It’s a precedent, and I foresee food concessions — hot dogs, sodas, etc. — resulting in trash. We all hopefully rec…
LETTER: Deny illegal aliens free stuff
Why do illegals from Mexico cross the border? The answer is simple; they want a better life for themselves that their country is unable to give them. For their pregnant wives, they get free prenatal care and birthi…
LETTER: Local water use must be protected
In January 2004 we returned home from a trip. The drive had been grueling because of icy roads and frigid temperatures. We wanted to warm up with a hot shower but when we turned on the water, there was only a dribb…
LETTER: Commissioners should act to stop bottling plant
Do you think the water right you have on your well guarantees you will have the water you need to supply your home or farm?
LETTER: Lives well lived
Recently the Flathead Valley and the Flathead Catholic community lost two men, both of whom were examples of lives well lived, and though in different fields, their work and personality was much the same.
OPINION: Muhammad Ali: a reporter's remembrance
I met and interviewed Muhammad Ali before one of his biggest fights.
OPINION: A tribute to Dr. Chuck Jonkel
The highly intelligent, much esteemed by everyone who knew him or heard of him, renowned worldwide, Dr. Chuck Jonkel, of grizzly bear and polar bear behavioral scientific research fame and advocate for their surviv…
OPINION: Heritage Center would protect common legacy
As the rhetoric ramps up leading to the election and the next legislative session, so does the finger-pointing at the failure of the past Legislature to pass meaningful infrastructure funding in the final form of S…
OPINION: EPA oversight at CFAC site critical for our future
I have been watching the events around the Columbia Falls Aluminum plant unfold with great concern. The issue hits right at home, as I am raising my two boys just outside of Columbia Falls, and have worked as a uni…
LETTER: Letter to editor from CAIR disingenuous
I found the May 1 letter from Arsalan Bukhari, the Washington state director for CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) quite astounding. He condemns the Inter Lake for publishing a letter suggesting that…
LETTER: Hospital's growth should be matched by new infrastructure
I am impressed with the scope and services that the planned pediatric wing at KRMC will offer. This $40 million project should give Northwest Montana patients, visitors, and residents the sophisticated care they ha…
OPINION: Don't blame the messengers ...
Regarding Bill Cox’s letter in the Inter Lake about Islamic/Syrian refugees moving into Montana and the citizenry who oppose it, Cox says the letters opposing this “migration” were orchestrated by a campaign of pro…
LETTER: Bottling plant's water use not same as farmers'
Sorry, but I’m growing tired of Lew Weaver and the proposed Montana Artesian Bottling Company’s habit of trying to compare the bottling of water for export to farmers’ irrigation wells. This has nothing to do with …
OPINION: Teacher 'cringes' at editor's column and 'lack of empathy'
I have lived in Kalispell since 1959, after a few years of family wanderlust thanks to the U.S. Army. Since that time, I have gleaned a decent education from the local and state schools, and have tried to pay back …