Thumbs up to another step toward preventing the phrase “Last Best Place” from being trademarked.


A provision to do just that written by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., passed by the Senate this week. It was designed to comply with a court ruling that blocked a similar attempt by former Sen. Conrad Burns.

Thumbs up to local Scottish Rite members for once again providing “emergency” clothing for elementary school students, just as they have for the last 10 years. Teachers say children often need an unexpected change of clothes because of spilling or other accidents.

Thumbs down to a 72-year-old Kalispell woman who was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Court records said she was responsible for the distribution of three to 11 pounds of meth during the course of about one year, demonstrating once again that older isn’t necessarily wiser.

Thumbs up to the state’s new geological map, which greatly improves the state’s 50-year-old former map by increasing the number of rock formations plotted from 76 to 324. Unlike the old map, the new version is stored electronically and can be updated as further studies provide new information.