Letters to the Editor

Bridges for Life

On the evenings of May 22 and May 24, the Bridges for Life classes took place at the Helena Front Street Learning Center. These are classes put on by the Career Training Institute each month. We had 13 attendees, 3 chaperones and the teacher of the class. We covered nutrition, diet, portion size, etc. the first evening and the participants chose a balanced menu. The second evening we met, prepared, and enjoyed the meal! We just wanted to thank everyone that helped make this class possible. Thank you to Albertsons, Van's Thriftway, Real Food Store and Student Assistance Foundation for donating the food items. Thank you to the Front Street Learning Center for the use of your facility. Thank you to the janitor for staying each evening until we were finished. And thank you so much Wendy Brook for your nutritional expertise and great teaching abilities. The meal was fun and educational for all of us!

Rhonda Wodnik

Student Assistance Foundation

2500 Broadway

Gov's critics off base

The critics of our governor sure have important issues to be critical about, don't they? He went to Kentucky when the Derby was taking place. So what? I am told that there was a national meeting of Democrat Governors, and our governor is the treasurer of the group. Oh, yes, it is somehow improper that he is in California doing a little fund raising during the session. Another big deal. Well, these experienced, knowledgeable critics perhaps forget that he took no contribution from political action committees (PAC's) during his first campaign. PACs happen to be funded primarily by big business, of course. Based on my experience in the legislature, I think it might be a positive thing if the governor is gone at times during the session -- "the Legislature proposes and the governor disposes," you know.

Then we even have a Democrat senator picking up the charge of being a "bully," because the governor charges that legislators were "eating steak and drinking whiskey supplied by lobbyists." You know, the truth is the truth, isn't it?

Let's be honest about this matter.

Ray Peck

2412 Columbia Ave.

Foster care

Each day in Montana, about 1,500 children are cared for by licensed foster families. Although foster care provides temporary security to a child, the difference that a foster family makes in the life of a child is long-lasting. Foster families make their commitment to children look easy. What we don't see when they pass by us in the grocery is what they provide daily to help every child feel important and safe. You may not think you know a foster family -- but chances are you see them every day. One gift foster families give a child is a sense of normalcy -- not standing out. May is National Foster Parent Appreciation Month. If you know a foster family, please take time to thank them for all they do for abused and neglected children. Theirs is an immeasurable gift -- we are certain of that. For information about becoming a foster parent, call 1-866-9-FOSTER.

Liz Hayden, Peggy Colvin, Colleen Lippke, Mary Clark

Department of Public Health and Human Services

Child and Family Services Division

Foster and Adoption Program

316 N. Park

Evolution

I guess I must be as dumb as the primordial slime that life is suppose to have come from. I had not noticed the heated debate that is going on about evolution or the attempts by the scientist to dismiss anyone that would question their theories and try to stop any debate. I watched a movie on Showtime Monday night about this subject and some of the history that they brought up was that the religious men of the past tried to stop at all cost the advancement of science. It looks to me that the scientists of today are trying to do the same to the people with the intelligent design theory. Just like evolution it is still a theory but the evolutionists have their egos so out of whack that they are as blind as the men of the past. These scientists walk around thinking they are right and everyone that dares to question them is wrong, gee doesn't that sound familiar.

Give the people paying for the education both sides and let them come up with their own conclusions. P.S. yes this also is meant for the religious side.

Dan Butkay

1635 Poplar

Closing a public road

The Eldorado Heights Homeowners Association owes Lewis and Clark County, Helena and all of the rest of the residents of the area an apology for attempting to keep the public out of a public picnic and boat dock area by placing "PRIVATE ROAD" signs all along Forest Service Road 4125. So I invite all of the public at large to come on down and enjoy a beautiful spot right on the river and have a picnic. Their latest escapade was an attempt to keep a small sapphire miner from getting to his legal mining claim by putting a 3/4" steel cable across the road. Hydraulic cable cutters quickly made that steel cable a pile of scrap. No one has the right to block a public access road. No one. Just follow any Forest Service Map along FS4125 all the way to the river. From York head to Nelson. Turn left into Eldorado Heights. Be sure and follow the PRIVATE ROAD signs. It ends up directly across the river from Black Sandy.

Lyle Myhr Jr.

4960 Silver Creek Road

Anniversary present

We would like to take this opportunity to thank whomever bought our meal at Applebee's on May 16. It was especially so nice as it was our 64th wedding anniversary.

Thank you again for being so kind.

Jack and Bobbie Spurzem

12376 W. Lincoln Rd.

Canyon Creek

Secret Santa

On behalf of the Lewis and Clark Children and Youth Project, a comprehensive health care program that served the community until the mid-eighties, I offer our sincere congratulations to Wayne and Ann Miller who most certainly deserve the Kay McKenna Community Service Award.

C&Y was a federally funded comprehensive health program and while we were able to pay for certain health problems that were identified in our clinic, sometimes the cost of the needed care was beyond our allotted budget. That's when we called our "Secret Santa" who always responded with no questions asked.

Tthe identity of Secret Santa was a top secret until one morning a parade of people carrying roast turkey, baked ham, and everything that went with it, including linen and silver, arrived at the health department the day before Thanksgiving. Secret Santa was honoring the Lewis & Clark Health Department staff for their service to the community. What a thank-you it was! And we, the remnants of C&Y, continue to thank Ann and Wayne Miller, our Secret Santa, for their unquestioning help whenever we asked, and for their continued concern and caring for our community.

Pat Hennessey, MS, CLC, RD on Behalf of C&Y

701 E. 6th Ave.

A once-great nation

In Lebanon, the Palestinians and Lebanese Army are at each others throats, trying to kill each other and create further tension in the area. The Lebanese Government requested the American government (King George) to lend all possible assistance in the form of medical supplies, food, arms and ammunition. Lo and behold, in less than 48 hours, Air Force cargo planes began unloading food, medical supplies, arms and ammunition at Beirut International Airport.

Meanwhile, our elected representatives in Washington, who incidently are employed by us, the citizens, voters and taxpayers of this republic, cannot muster the votes to override Mr. Bush's threat of veto of a 3.5 percent pay increase for the military, who are paying with blood for his private war, his proposals of cutting Medicare and Medicaid benefits to pay for his ventures.

Meanwhile, New Orleans sits in its own stink, with blocks of contaminated housing, a shrinking population, lack of employment, and a bureaucratic political appointee sits on millions of dollars that have been allotted to the rebuilding of the city. And this is two years after Katrina. So much for the Republican bean counters who are more interested in saving a buck, rather than saving a once great and respected nation.

Charles "Bud" Lawson

510 S. Walnut

Townsend

Don't shoot bison

Patience not government hazing and slaughter is what is needed to solve the challenge of "managing" bison in Montana. Bison typically begin calving in mid April and are largely done by the end of May. Brucellosis is only shed in the environment during the pre-birthing period, essentially March through May. The bacteria which causes the disease also breaks down very quickly in the environment, a matter of days, once the temperatures warm up in the spring. Thus by June 15 there will be virtually no risk of brucellosis transmission from Montana bison to cattle. Now is no time to lay down irrational government mandates.

To think of wild Montana bison as a "Park" animal is insulting to those of us in Montana who appreciate wildlife, wild places and our traditions of tolerance, habitat and public hunting. There is no logic to the relentless government harassment and slaughter of Montana bison at huge expense to taxpayers. Wild bison are a gift from Yellowstone, an opportunity to right a wrong, a chance to work together to restore a native icon, a majestic keystone species. Stop the senseless slaughter. Let the bison be.

Glenn Hockett

745 Doane Rd.

Bozeman

Shameful votes

Two million Iraqis are refugees as a result of the Iraqi war, and two million have been displaced within Iraq. Four million people -- four times the population of Montana -- have lost their homes. And yet, since 2003, less than five hundred Iraqis have been given asylum in the U.S. Thus, it seems that the war without end is also the war without accountability. Not only are we, the taxpayers, not paying for the war (but rather foisting its costs off on our children), we as a country are not taking care of even a fraction of the people displaced by the war. While it is apparent now that President Bush would like nothing more than to "run out the clock" on this failed venture and dump it in his succesor's lap, our two Democratic Senators, John Tester and Max Baucus, have a duty to do more than just let the president's time run out while our troops, and thousands of more Iraqi civilians die or are displaced. They both failed to do that in voting against Senator Feingold's bill designed to bring American troops home within a year. What a shame.

Kim Wilson

110 South Beattie

Honoring vets

I enjoyed reading the IR's front page article on Memorial Day tributes around the country. It's so important to remember and honor those who have died to protect our freedoms. It's a shame that the IR did not report the Memorial Day events in our own city. One thing that I expected to see in the paper was the placing of flags on the graves of veterans at the Fort Harrison cemetery. To see the youngsters of the Civil Air Patrol spending their Saturday honoring our heroes by placing flags and flowers on the graves of the 2,200 veterans buried there was enough to make your heart burst. Just to realize that these young people could have been spending that beautiful Saturday with their friends or families makes it even more wonderful. Thank you, cadets of the Civil Air Patrol and your families, for making this Memorial Day weekend so memorable.

Nita Vanisko

1019 Trails End

A late interchange

I was disappointed today to read in the IR that the Custer exit is at least four years away. Seven or eight years ago the residents of the valley were assured that if we backed off on pursuing the Forestvale exit from I-15, then Custer would be moved up and completed sooner. I, for one, accepted that and was under the impression that we would have a completed interchange by now, The growth we have seen in business development near Custer Avenue has made the traffic dangerous. What happened to the money we had for Forestvale and why is Custer out another four or five years? Did the new exit to nowhere on the south side of Helena cost us the Custer interchange? Inquiring minds want to know and I urge the IR to get to the bottom of this. Thanks.

Senator Dave Lewis

5871 Collins