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Aluminum tariffs will have no appreciable impact on cans

I had to laugh at the article in the Inter Lake shouting the alarm that tariffs were going to jack up prices.

The market price of aluminum is currently showing a 52 week high of $1.03 per pound. It takes approximately 34 12-ounce cans to equal one pound of aluminum. That comes to 3 cents per can.

So with a 10 percent increase in price due to the proposed aluminum tariff, we are looking at 30/100 of a penny increase in cost. Now it is true that from original point of manufacture to end product there could easily be three layers of mark up by each party in the process. I therefore added a 30 percent markup three times and I still come to less than three-quarters of a cent increase in the tariff cost per can to the consumer. Yep, less than a penny.

I think that’s money well spent to stimulate domestic production of raw aluminum. If it goes up much more than that one would have to wonder if we are being gouged in order to make a political point. —David Mosby, Kalispell

Water bottling plant and water from the river ... a history lesson

I understand we will have a chance at the June election to vote for or against the Creston water bottling plant.

I wrote a letter in the paper before and I would like to remind everyone again about our water. We moved here in 1928. We drilled a water well 400 feet deep and no water. We ran out of money so we got our drinking water from the Flathead River. In 1971 we had a well drilled and ?nally had good water! We drank river water for 41 years. In 1964 we had a ?ood that covered the Evergreen area and a lot more acres. The Kalispell sewer over?owed and ran into Ashley Creek and into the Flathead River one and a half miles upstream from my home. I came home from work that night and my kids wanted me to come down to the river. The river was green with moss coming out of Ashley Creek. I couldn’t believe that there was human waste ?oating along the edge of the bank. I don’t agree with the state people for issuing a permit to discharge the wastewater back into the river. I think the Flathead River is a beautiful, clean river and it’s up to us the people living here to keep it this way. When I was about 15 years old we swam, ice skated and rowed our wooden boat back and forth across the river.

West of our house our grain ?eld bordered a grove of trees. It was about 250 yards from the edge of the ?eld to the river bank. It has sliced off through the years and is now out in the river. The ?eld is right next to the river. The land is gone, never to be again and we still pay taxes on the land that has gone down the river. The state people who issued the water permit and the Corps of Engineers could do something with every bend of the river to help with the erosion going into the river. We had to drink the Flathead River water for 41 years. I will protect my water well anyway I can. There are boats going up and down the river all the time There is a six-inch wave law on all lakes and rivers, so slow down. If your wave is two feet high it’s causing erosion along the banks and I don’t like my grain ?eld going into the river.

The next time we have a ?ood, would you like me to give you the first or second glass of river water to drink? —Merle Baldwin, Kalispell

Garner is right guy to serve us

I’ve known Frank Garner for over three decades. I worked with him when he started on the Kalispell Police Department and we shared the same shift and sometimes even the same patrol car. I saw him grow from a rookie cop to become Ka|ispell’s chief of police and I followed his work in Afghanistan and his endless work with charities and service organizations.

I’ve seen his work, I know his family and I know his heart. I’m proud of the job he has done for Kalispell and Montana and I’m proud to call him my friend.

I appreciate that he works to solve problems and that he puts the people of Kalispell first. I appreciate that he isn’t sitting around waiting for the party bosses or people in Helena to tell him how to vote and that he thinks for himself. I’m a lifelong Republican and I’m one of many people I know that are grateful that Frank continues to serve the people of Kalispell in our Legislature and I’m asking everyone I know to help me send him back to continue that service.

Thanks, Frank, for all you’ve done and thanks for not letting the naysayers drag you down into the ditch with them. —Roger Krauss, Kalispell

A no vote for Kalispell levy

How pathetic that the Kalispell Public Schools would dare to ask for a new levy to support/operate a new elementary school being built that hasn’t even opened yet, much less ask taxpayers to support purchase of new land for another new school.

What type of grossly negligent decisions are made to build a new school without adequately addressing maintenance/support issues at the onset. Hard-working taxpayers already have had a major tax increase last year to support the new elementary school being built. Seems we just went through this with the new high school being built due to maintenance issues at the old high school. Maybe with adequate maintenance, the old high school would still be in existence. Whose fault was it? Certainly not the hard-working taxpayers.

With this type of negligent mismanagement, maybe it’s time for the taxpayers to consider privatization of public schools where accountability can be held for mismanagement. Enough is enough. No accountability, no new levies. I WILL vote no and encourage all taxpayers to do the same. —Steve Allen, Kalispell

Smith for FEC board of trustees

We need to re-elect Emery Smith the Flathead Electric Board.

Emery has served the Flathead Electric membership well for many years. Emery’s knowledge and experience is second to none. Emery always puts the interest of the membership first in every decision he makes. Emery continually participates in continuing education related to Flathead Electric issues and this knowledge is a huge benefit to Flathead Electric members.

We can’t afford to lose Emery’s Knowledge and experience. So please join us in voting to re-elect Emery Smith to the Flathead Electric Board. —Jeff and Ardis Larsen, Kalispell

Wallace for FEC board of trustees

It’s time for a change and your vote is needed. As a long term resident of the Flathead Valley I have watched Flathead Electric change and grow over the years.

The board of trustees has proven to be adept at providing a base level of service while changing and adapting as new services and technologies become available. I think that their ability to change and grow is due in part to the introduction of new trustees to the board every few years.

I believe Todd Wallace can provide fresh insights, energy and perspectives to our board, and I encourage you to vote for him. —Ted Zach, Bigfork