Our View: Hi-Line darts and laurels

Laurel — Havre is once again coming to the aid of someone in need. Rick Neuwerth, the owner of Grateful Bread in the Atrium Mall, has been beset with health problems. He’s on the rebound, but he has lots of medical bills to pay. People have been donating to help him get a handle on the bills, so he can keep his store open. Best of luck, Rick.

Dart — The American Petroleum Institute is challenging in court new federal regulations designed to reduce the chance of explosions in train cars carrying oil. There have been far too many in recent years as more oil is taken by train from the Bakken area of North Dakota to the rest of the nation. Many of those trains run through Havre. Domestic oil production lessens U.S dependency on foreign oil. We are partial to rail transportation of oil. Havre is a great railroad town. But railroads have to do a better job of preventing spills and blasts that are harmful to human life. Fighting new rules is a sign the rail industry is not doing that.

Laurel — Stone Child College and Montana State University-Northern students have graduated, and high school graduations start this weekend with the commencement ceremonies at North Star, Harlem and Chester/Joplin-Inverness. Best of luck to all the grads. Enjoy yourselves and celebrate this very important milestone in your life, but be careful. Don’t drink and drive.

Laurel — Several sportsmen and outdoors groups are pushing the federal Bureau of Land Management to tighten its rules against development in some unspoiled lands along the Hi-Line. A new draft plan indicates that some kinds of energy exploration and roads will be allowed on some areas where that was once forbidden. Energy exploration will happen on parts of the Hi-Line, but we hope state and federal government will maintain some areas that remain as they have for centuries. That is part of the Hi-line legacy and the Montana legacy.