Dust deputy no laughing matter

Inter Lake editorial

A few people scoffed when Flathead County assigned a deputy full-time to patrolling gravel roads to target speeders.

Those on the receiving end of the 150 traffic tickets and 95 warnings the deputy has handed out so far probably aren't scoffing now.

Putting the so-called "dust deputy" on patrol is one tactic county officials came up with to try to limit dust problems. His job primarily is to enforce speed limits, since high speeds produce more dust from the 700 miles of county roads.

The pace of the ticket-writing for Deputy Stewart Smith has slowed down since he started in May, which he attributes to people recognizing his presence. And he is writing fewer tickets for motorists going 20 mph or more over the posted speed limits.

One deputy, of course, can't be expected to control traffic on all the county's back roads. But at least his patrols on roads with the worst dust represent a first step toward combating one of the most vexing problems in Flathead County.

While Jim Hurst has been an outspoken leader of the Montana wood products industry, his partner in Eureka's Owens and Hurst lumber mill was a leader of a different stripe.

Gaylon "Lum" Owens died July 19, and is highly deserving of a memorial that will be held Saturday (from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Red Lion in Kalispell) because of his quiet leadership in the wood products industry in Northwest Montana over the last few decades. He also loved stock-car racing and was known as "The Granddaddy of Tri-City Speedway." He raced until he was 63.

In his various business pursuits, mostly in logging and trucking, Owens employed hundreds of people. And by many accounts, he was a fair and generous benefactor for people who needed help in a volatile and often troubled industry.

Every community would benefit from having more businessmen the likes of Owens.

The announcement last week that Whitefish will be the home of a new treatment center for eating disorders was welcome news, even though the subject itself is not usually talked about.

Eating disorders are a significant problem in the United States, and yet they are little understood and often seen more as a target for comedians than as a serious medical condition.

It turns out that people with eating disorders also are severely underserved by the medical community. Steve Bryson, a co-founder of North Star Institute, the new 24-bed facility planned near North Valley Hospital, said the nearest similar treatment center is 600 miles away.

This represents another significant addition to the already burgeoning medical industry in the Flathead.