Letters to the editor June 23
Nurses should give hospital CEO a chance
Proponents of the SEIU nursing union at Kalispell Regional Medical Center appear to be unwilling to give CEO Dr. Craig Lambrecht a chance to correct mistakes made in the fallout from the recent federal settlement. He has been here two months.
Perhaps they desire a really quick shuffle and a change that almost certainly would spell the end of KRMC’s independence, forcing our hospital into the arms of the big chains headquartered out of state. Maybe SEIU, headquartered in Washington, D.C., likes it better that way.
Labor law stipulates that elections can be repeated in 12 months. Perhaps a fairer approach for both our nurses and our community might be to give the new administrative team a year to achieve the collaborative staffing and employment goals they have been planning as the financial picture continues to brighten.
If, at the end of 12 months, the time your kid spends between sixth and seventh grades, we have the fairer, internally healthier and vibrant medical center we all want, our continuing independence will be a huge victory for the people of the Flathead and Western Montana going generations into the future.
And if not, time’s up. Vote in SEIU and the big-money owners from the coasts. But kiss local mores, aspirations and eye-popping hometown patient care goodbye.
— Dr. Andy Palchak, Kalispell
Discontinue the use of treble hook
On June 17 Rick Funk shared a letter that misrepresents a proposed change to the 2020 fishing regulations. He states that the proposed change would limit anglers to a single hook. That’s not the intention of the change. The new regulation would require “single-pointed” hooks on the three forks of the Flathead. It would not affect the current “hopper-dropper” technique using two hooks per line. Hooks with a single point would simply replace treble hooks. You could still use multiple hooks per lure as you do now, they would just have to be single-point hooks. It would also have no effect on the number of fish you are allowed to keep.
We are seeing a rapid increase in the number of anglers on the three forks of the Flathead. More anglers means heavier use of the resource. We are fortunate here to have the best unspoiled and interconnected native trout habitat in the country and some of the last remaining wild westslope cutthroat and bull trout. As we see more and more angling pressure there is a need to take reasonable steps to protect threatened trout for our children and grandchildren.
The upper Flathead is no longer a subsistence fishery, it is a recreational fishery. Most anglers release native fish, whether due to regulation or ethics, but this also means that these fish are caught more often, resulting in increased hooking damage and mortality. Much of this damage and death can be alleviated by not using treble hooks. Treble hooks cause disproportionate damage to mouth parts and viscera and can result in keeping fish out of the water longer to remove the hook. A simple solution to protect the fishery is to discontinue the use of treble hooks on the wild waters of the three forks above Columbia Falls.
— LaVerne Sultz, Kalispell
Abuse of cellphones by teenagers
I would like to extend a special thanks to Inter Lake reporter Kianna Gardner for her recent article “Screen Time: Schools, parents ask how much is too much?”
In my opinion, the use/abuse of phones by teenagers during school is the number one issue facing education today. You simply cannot educate a student who is constantly distracted.
The Inter Lake did a great public service by bringing this issue to our attention.
For a bit of humor (and education) on the subject I recommend on YouTube: “JB Sears, How to Be More Addicted to Your Cell Phone” and the follow up “Winning Your Mind Back! Ending Slavery to Devices.”
—Steve Eckels, Kalispell
Regarding global warming
A letter regarding Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) submitted June 16 requires a response, since the author indicated that those who are skeptical of AGW are fantasizing. A few “fantasies” of the AGW believers:
1. “The years since 2000 are the hottest on record in the since the 1870’s.” Are you saying that the 18 hottest years on record are all in the last 19 years? Are you disregarding the 1930s, for example? Your assertion is simply not logical.
2. “The fate of the earth will be determined in the next 12 years. If we don’t act now, we are doomed!” Really? Has anyone in the AGW crowd ever made this claim before? Another illogical claim often used to “gin up” support.
3. “Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that AGW is real and of significant concern — perhaps the largest existential threat ever to face the world.” Are you kidding? You could put 100 scientists in a room and argue that the earth is round and you wouldn’t get 97 percent consensus. There are literally thousands of credible scientists who don’t believe this nonsense.
4. “We must significantly reduce our carbon footprint.” Bernie Sanders (three homes), Al Gore (five homes), Barack Obama (three homes), and John Kerry (mansions, yachts, etc.) all make this argument. Don’t you see the hypocrisy?
5. Glacier National Park has recently taken down signs asserting that the glaciers are receding and will soon disappear. Could this be because the glaciers are no longer receding?
6. “There is a very close nexus between CO2 presence in the atmosphere and AGW.” Wrong! Increases in CO2 have never been an antecedent for global warming; the increases have always followed warming.
I could make many more arguments, but I’ll close with this: Man will never supersede nature regarding global warming.
—William Gehling, Lakeside