Letters to the Editor

Gov praised

A well-earned round of applause for Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer for the manner in which he handled GOP political malcontents in the recent Legislature and special session.

Thanks to the governor, college tuition will not be going up for the first time in years after the Legislature passed Schweitzer's two-year freeze on tuition rates.

Also, every Montana homeowner will be getting a $400 rebate under the governor's budget plan and a controversial water tax on owners of water rights was finally eliminated.

The only humor in the special session occurred in the final days with an obvious split in the House GOP caucus. House Speaker Scott Sales helped oust second-in-command House Majority Leader Michael Lange in what Montana news media termed "a mutiny in the House." Also, Lange was heavily criticized by the news media for his profanity-laced attack against Schweitzer.

What Montanans did not over-look is that the Republicans who attempted to hijack the governor's original budget are the same political party that deregulated the utility industry, bringing about the demise of the Montana Power Company and ever soaring rates.

Thanks, Governor Schweitzer for hanging in there despite the divisive politics and name calling.

William A. Fairhurst

105 3rd Ave. East

Three Forks

Getting it all wrong

Virtually everything in Tom Rasmussen's column on evolution is wrong:

1) There is no growing doubt about evolution in the scientific community.

2) The "primordial slime" from which life emerged was not a result of the Big Bang (except to the extent that everything is an eventual "result" of it), but of the formation of the Earth, nine billion years after the Big Bang.

3) The age of the universe is not in dispute. It has been nailed down at 13.7 billion years.

4) Evolution does not suggest that plants and animals spontaneously formed.

5) There is no "Law of Biogenesis" that states that primitive life cannot arise from increasingly complex molecules.

6) Evolution does not violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. If nothing ever got more complex, snow crystals could not form.

7) Genetics has only substantiated evolution.

8) Fred Hoyle's theories suffer from his lack of knowledge of biology. They have never been corroborated, and they are more in the realm of personal opinion than scientific fact.

9) Lee Strobel is not a scientist, he is a Christian apologist.

Mr. Rasmussen's column is a great argument for why evolution needs to be taught in public schools. He could benefit from taking one of those classes himself.

Adam Laceky

649 N. Ewing

Animals gone

If you drive along Colorado Gulch Road, about a mile off Highway 12, you'll find a marmot area in the rocks. The marmots never seem to over multiply or move out of that rocky area.

Recently, I came upon a scene that made me feel fear in my heart. A strange man with a large gas can pretended to be working on his truck. When I came home that evening the man was still there, standing over a burning area and smoke was rising.

There wasn't any wood on the ground or debris that was being burned. I think he poured gas into the hole to burn the marmots out. I felt sick.

Not far from this area is a bald eagle nest. The resident pair have been visible in the area this spring daily. The eagles now have disappeared. We may never know exactly what happened there to the marmots or the bald eagles. One man I spoke to said, "the marmots are a danger to large animals maybe falling in their holes and he also said eagles are off the endangered list.

Hope he reads this, "Eagles are still a protected species."

Kate Lawler

6135 Moondance Rd.

Bingo Day

Recently, the Four Georgian's PTO sponsored our annual Bingo Day for students.

We wish to thank our bingo callers, Officer Lawrence and Officer Petty, Andy Fitzhugh and Kyle and Sandy Mihelish.

A special thanks to our surprise visitor, Carroll College mascot Halo, whose amazing spirit inspired us. As always, a high five to our amazing parent volunteers.

Once again, a special thanks goes out to Jim McKeon and the Knights of Columbus for loaning us their bingo equipment. We also thank the following for their generous donations: Balloon Boutique, Ben Franklin, Big Sky Cyclery, Birds and Beasley's, Blue Cross Blue Shied, Burger King, Candy Bouquet, Coke, Costco, Cross Roads Athletics Club, Dairy Queen (MT Ave), Dr. Travis Elder, Etchart Family, First Interstate Bank, IHOP, Independent Record, KTVH, McDonald's (MT Ave), Dr. & Mrs. Mihelish, Montana Army National Guard, Montana Book Company, Morrison-Maierle, Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply, Omara Family, Operation Lifesaver, Painted Pot, Patience Pocha, Shannon Payne, Pepsi, Petco, Pizza Hut (Euclid), Playtime Video, Power Townsend, Precision Embroidery, Dr. Kevin Rencher, Robbins Family, Rocky Mountain Credit Union, Safeway, Sleeping Giant Lanes, Staples, Bruce Swinney & Associates, Taco Bell, Target, UBC, Valley Bank, Van's Thriftway, Wendy's, and YMCA.

Sharon MacMillan

Four Georgians PTO

555 Custer Avenue

Why not ban evolution itself?

Rather than keep on discussing whether evolution should be taught or not, I suggest we end that debate by banning evolution itself. Anyone caught evolving or promoting the evolution of anything could be fined. Eventually, the actual physical and biological process itself will die out. Once it dies out, it could be eliminated from the curriculum and hopefully even from public discourse. Certainly, there is evidence that evolution may have already ceased in Kansas.

Marc Golz

552 Hillsdale Street