Our View: Hi-Line darts and laurels

Laurel — Havre firefighters rescued a couple who live on Davey Road earlier this week. Flood waters trapped their tractor as they were driving it across Little Box Elder Creek which divides their property. Who knows what would have happened if the professional firefighters were not close enough to respond to the call. Firefighters are sometimes derided for sitting around the station all day. Frankly, we don’t think that’s true. In any case, it’s good to have trained professionals on hand who can quickly answer the call when summoned.

Laurel — Under the auspices of the Havre Public Schools, a free breakfast and lunch program has been initiated for the summer month. Young people can eat free by showing up at Lincoln-McKinley Primary School every day. For a variety of reasons, this program should be of assistance to young people. Some families are in tough financial straits. Others have working parents unable to prepare food in the middle of the day. And some kids just enjoy getting out with their friends at lunch. The Montana Office of Public Instruction picks up the tab. Congrats to all who were behind this project.

Laurel — The wisdom of Montana’s purchase of the Milk River Ranch will probably be debated for all of eternity, though we suspect in a century, hunters will be grateful Fish, Wildlife and Parks bought the land. Up until now, opponents have controlled the dialogue on the matter, but this week, when FWP Commission held its monthly meeting in Havre, Dave Aageson, one of the former owners of the land, came forward with his side of the story. In an impassioned and reasoned discussion, he told why he thought the state got a good deal. Nothing was settled at the meeting. Other speakers spoke against it. But it was good to hear the Aageson family, to this point silent, speak up.

Laurel — Chris Inman has been the Havre High School swimming coach since 1999. During those 14 years, she has coached state championship teams and swimmers and has walked away with numerous state coaching awards and even nominations for national coaching awards. More than that, she has taught students a lot of about life and how to work for what they want to achieve. Inman will remain a city of Havre parks and recreation director, but she’s stepping down as the Blue Pony coach. We salute her for what she has done.