Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 7.9.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS JULY 9, 2014 | 15
Eureka Court Falls Victim toBudgetCuts DREAM
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Justice of the Peace office will close Dec. 31 as Lincoln County looks to cut its shrinking budget
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
The Lincoln County Commission has decided to close the Eureka Justice of the Peace office in an effort to trim the county’s dwindling budget. The board made the decision on July 2, with commissioners Tony Berget and Ron Downey voting to close the office and Mike Cole, who represents Eureka, hop- ing to keep it open.
The office will close on Dec. 31 and with it one and a half jobs will be cut. The decision to close the office comes months after the commission decided to
consolidate Libby and Eureka’s justice of the peace positions into one. Now Eu- reka’s Stormy Langston and Libby’s Jay Sheffield are running for one open seat in this year’s election.
Prior to last week’s vote, Langston said whoever won the November elec- tion would hold court in both Libby and Eureka, but now residents in north Lin- coln County will have to drive all the way to Libby to deal with legal matters.
“I’m really disappointed by the fact that they’re not going to provide this basic service to people in the north end of the county,” Langston said. “It’s un- fair and it puts a financial burden on the people up here.”
The decision to close the justice of the peace office comes as Lincoln County looks to cut even more from its shrink- ing $15 million budget. Besides receiving less Secure Rural School funding from the federal government, the county mis- takenly overtaxed residents by about $2
million over three years. The mistake was realized earlier this year and the
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commission has since been looking for ways to pay residents back.
While next year’s budget has yet to be finalized, a preliminary version is expected to be available in the coming weeks. According to Berget, most de- partment budgets have been cut by at least 5 percent in an effort to reduce the budget by at least $500,000. The sher- iff department’s budget was reduced by approximately $200,000 and the road departments in Libby, Eureka and Troy each lost $25,000.
The cuts come as the county’s com- mission is also being shaken up. In June, Berget was defeated in the primary at about the same time Downey an- nounced he would be stepping down for health reasons. Cole, who was elected in 2012, will become the commission’s se- nior member come January.
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Alleged Kalispell Health Clinic Burglar Charged in Second Theft
Zachary Klundt pleaded not guilty to felony charge relating to the theft of tools and equipment from Lazarus Log Homes in March
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
The 24-year-old Columbia Falls man who allegedly broke into and vandalized a Kalispell health clinic in March appeared in court last week on another felony charge stemming from a separate alleged theft.
Zachary Klundt pleaded not guilty in Flathead County Dis- trict Court on July 3 to felony charges of theft. According to court documents, some time in early March Klundt allegedly stole more than $1,500 worth of tools and equipment from Gla- cier Log Mill and Lazarus Log Homes in Columbia Falls. The theft happened about the same time Klundt allegedly broke into, vandalized and robbed All Families Healthcare in Kalispell.
The Kalispell health clinic provides a wide range of family practice and reproductive services and was also the valley’s only abortion provider.
On March 27, Klundt pleaded not guilty to charges of felony burglary, criminal mischief, theft and attempted burglary stem- ming from the clinic break-in. If convicted of all four felonies, he could face a maximum of 60 years in prison and a maximum of $200,000 in fines. A trial date is set for September.
On March 14, Glen Prestegaard of Glacier Log Mill and Laza- rus Log Homes filed a report with the Flathead County Sheriff that some of his tools were missing. Law enforcement later found
Zachary Klundt, 24, of Columbia Falls, appears in Flathead County District Court on March 27. Klundt allegedly broke into All Families Healthcare on March 4. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
out that Klundt had worked for Prestegaard two years ago. About a month later, on April 17, Ric Hawk presented the Flathead County Sheriff’s office with tools that had been found in Klundt’s garage. A few days later, Prestegaard positively identi- fied the tools as the ones that had gone missing from his business. If convicted, Klundt could face a maximum of 10 years in
prison and a maximum fine of $50,000.
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