Page 14 - Flathead Beacon // 6.17.15

NEWS
CITY BEAT
KALISPELL
Camp Invention Comes to Town
Elrod Elementary in Kalispell is call- ing all young inventors to participate in an upcoming, weeklong summer camp designed to foster innovation and cre- ativity in its participants.
Camp Invention, presented by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, will take place June 22-26. Participating students have to be between the ages of entering first grade through sixth grade.
According to Nancy Lenihan, the camp’s director, the camp offers students a chance to develop their skills that will matter for the participants’ future, such as those in the science, technology, engi- neering, and math realm.
Lenihan said the camp will help young innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs explore their ideas.
The theme for this year’s camp is “Illuminate,” with a curriculum that will investigate circuits and involve a nature-inspired design challenge. Par- ticipating campers will have a chance to build a prototype from scratch and enjoy team-building exercises, such as creating origami flight models.
Camp Invention states that it will be facilitated by local educators. For
FLATHEAD
Picnic for Older Americans on June 19
The Flathead County Agency on Aging will host a free picnic for county residents 60 and older on June 19.
Picnics are part of summer, and the Agency on Aging hopes to fulfill that sea- sonal aspect for interested county resi- dents. The picnic takes place at the Expo Building on the Flathead County Fair- grounds, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Doors open at 10 a.m.
Food will include burgers with “the works.” There will also be a moment of special recognition for veterans, as well as door prizes. A quilt raffle will benefit Meals on Wheels, and the organizers ask participants to bring potluck desserts.
For more information, call 406-758-5730.
Eagle Transit will provide pick-up service at the North Valley Senior Cen- ter and Whitefish Community Center. Call 406-758-5728 for more information.
GLACIER
Blackfeet Tribe to Improve Campgrounds
The Blackfeet Tribe is working on improving three campgrounds on the east side after it received a $65,000 grant from the Montana Department of Commerce. The money will be used to improve and rehabilitate the Sleeping Wolf Campground near Browning, the
registration information, visit www. campinvention.org.
COLUMBIA FALLS
City Council Considers Industrial Zone Change
The Columbia Falls City Council on June 15 took up a requested zone change for an industrial park on the north end of Columbia Falls that could lead to the expansion of SmartLam, a cross-lami- nated timber company.
If approved, the current zoning on 26 acres of the 110-acre property would change from light industrial to heavy industrial, and has been the subject of debate by residents concerned not about SmartLam, but about what other indus- tries the zone change might attract.
“We’re trying to bill ourselves as the Gateway to Glacier, but are we really going to become that with more heavy industry?” Columbia Falls resident Melissa Sladek said.
The site is being developed by BID Group Properties, of Vanderhoof, British Columbia, Canada, and SmartLam pres- ident and general manager Casey Malm- quist has expressed strong interest in relocating his company there.
The zone change isn’t necessary to relocate to the site, he said, but would
Red Gap Campground near East Glacier Park and the Chewing Backbones Camp- ground near St. Mary.
Most of the money will be used to improve the facilities, but parts of it will also be doled out to pay for campground employees, signage and a new website. In the application for the Indian Country Economic Development Grant, tribal offi- cials noted that the campgrounds would be popular with people in RVs because of the restrictions on those vehicles inside the park.
“The focus is on funding the camp- grounds for the jobs they will cre- ate,” Blackfeet Planning Department employee Lea Whitford told the Glacier Reporter last week.
For more information about the new campgrounds and to make reservations visit www.blackfeetcountry.com.
FLATHEAD
County Receives Bids for Stormwater Project’s Final Phase
Flathead County accepted bids on June 9 for the final phase of the Bigfork stormwater project, which has been ongoing since 2007.
The fourth phase will include con- struction for the north and south sec- tions of Bridge Street, with 2,180 feet of stormwater conveyance pipes; stormwa- ter treatment units; stormwater catch basins; asphalt paving restoration; and other miscellaneous tasks.
make the layout more compatible with the building and road design. He said SmartLam, which makes heavy-duty wood panels for building construction, is a clean and responsible industry.
The Columbia City-County Planning Board approved the zone change for the industrial park earlier the month in a 6-2 vote that came after hours of debate.
The city council took up the issue June 15 after the Beacon went to print.
WHITEFISH
Council Considers New Site for Cemetery; Discusses Budget
The Whitefish City Council is review- ing whether to acquire 5-7.5 acres near the city’s sewage treatment plant near the Whitefish River for a new cemetery.
The council held a public hearing for the proposal at its June 15 meeting.
The proposal comes from a sev- en-member committee formed in 2011 to address the dwindling space at the cur- rent cemetery. The site, located on U.S. Highway 93 and Ramsey Avenue near the golf course, was built in 1917 and has no availability. After being formed, the Whitefish ad hoc cemetery committee has met regularly and researched possi- ble options for a new location. City doc- uments show that discussions regarding
Three companies placed bids for the project: Nelcon, with a bid of $1,183,769; Sandry Construction with a bid of $813,079; and LHC, Inc., with a bid of $771,291.76.
The Flathead County Commission was scheduled to award the bid on Wednes- day, June 17.
Since 2007, the stormwater project has replaced a decades-old system that was found to be adding toxins to Bigfork Bay and subsequently Flathead Lake. The first three phases included above and underground measures which removed chemicals and hard metals from the stormwater before it hits natural water sources.
LINCOLN
NAACP Leader Facing Criticism Over Race Issues
Rachel Dolezal resigned as president of the NAACP’s Spokane chapter Mon- day just days after her parents said she is a white woman posing as black — a dizzy- ingly swift fall for an activist credited with injecting remarkable new energy into the civil rights organization.
The furor touched off fierce debate around the country over racial identity and divided the NAACP itself.
“In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and orga- nizational outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP,” Dolezal, who was elected the chapter’s president last fall, wrote on
a new cemetery have occurred intermit- tently since the 1950s.
The group searched private and pub- lic properties but whittled the list to two possibilities: the area near the treatment plant off Monegan and JP roads and the City Shop area off West 18th Street.
City Manager Chuck Stearns said the property near the treatment plan is a favorable location and would be large enough for a new cemetery.
The city council also held a public hearing on the proposed budget. A final budget hearing is scheduled for Aug. 17.
The city has proposed a 63 percent budget increase for the coming fiscal year, which would mean dramatically raising the property taxes in Whitefish for the first time since 2009. The pro- posed budget of $65.9 million is up $25.4 million from last year, due mainly to the inclusion of the $14.6 million City Hall and parking structure complex, as well as $8.5 million related to a state revolv- ing fund loan to provide funding for the Haskill Basin conservation easement. The budget calls for an increase of 22.39 mills levied. A three-story City Hall building with a full basement, parking structure and retail space is estimated to cost $14.6 million. The city proposes to fund the project with resort tax incre- ment funds.
the group’s Facebook page. “Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights.” Dolezal, a 37-year-old woman with a light brown complexion and dark curly hair, lived in Troy and graduated from historically black Howard University, teaches African studies at a local univer- sity and was married to a black man. For years, she publicly described herself as black and complained repeatedly of being the victim of racial hatred in the heavily
white region.
The uproar that led to her resigna-
tion began last week after Dolezal’s par- ents told the news media their daughter is white with a trace of Native American heritage. They produced photos of her as girl with fair skin and straight blond hair.
Her mother, Ruthanne Dolezal of Troy told reporters she has had no contact with her daughter in several years. She said Rachel began to “disguise herself” as black after her parents adopted black children more than a decade ago.
Rachel Dolezal initially dismissed the controversy, saying it arose from a legal dispute that has divided the family, and repeatedly sidestepped questions about her race. “That question is not as easy as it seems,” she said.
Late last week, the national NAACP stood by her, saying “one’s racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualify- ing standard for NAACP leadership.”
But Dolezal came under increasing pressure from local chapter members to resign.
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JUNE 17, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM