Our View: Darts and laurels

Laurel — The moderate wings of the Republican Party in the Montana Legislature, especially the Montana House, have gotten just about everyone upset — except the people who elected them. The moderates have supported the Democrats on some issues and have voted with the conservative wing of their own party on other issues. That is what good politicians are supposed to do. For being independent voices, they have been criticized by Democrats and vilified by fellow Republicans, But they have gained a lot of respect from common folk from Kalispell to Ekalaka.

Laurel — The folks in Chinook have done a great job of starting a recycling project in their community. It will be kicked off with a community barbecue on April 28. The effort will make for a better Chinook, a cleaner landscape and more room at the landfill.

Dart — The news media has always had the rule "get it first if you can, but always get it right." Sadly, that seems to be out the window. There were a series of serious mistakes this week — not some fly-by-night Facebook accounts, but respected groups like The Associated Press and CNN. It's a fast-paced business that deals with complex issues,. Of course there will be mistakes. We've made way too many here. But some of the ones this week seem especially serious. Coverage of the Boston bombings, while it had many shining moments, also include several serious mistakes because reporters jumped the gun. The week ended with the highly respected Reuters news service reporting that billionaire George Soros, a leading campaign contributor to liberal causes, had died. Love him or hate him, George Soros is not dead. Never was.

Laurel — Montana State University-Northern has completed another year of its TekNoXpo program. The university brings in high school students to show them how much fun technology can be. It's a tremendous way to get young people to learn the excitement of technology and to get them to consider a career in technology. And if they to come to Northern to prepare for that career, all the better.