Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 11.9.16

NEWS
FVCC Partners with Colombia College to Study Energy Systems Group from South America visits the Flathead for two weeks to learn and share ideas
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
The big sky. The big landscape. The big lake.
Last month, 10 students and instruc- tors from Colombia experienced their rst adventure outside of South America with a tour of Western Montana.
Through a partnership with Flathead Valley Community College, the group from a technical college in Colombia called SENA Caldas spent two weeks here working with students and instructors at the Kalispell-based community college while also taking in all the sights and sounds of the Flathead Valley.
FVCC was one of ve community col- leges in the U.S. to be awarded a $40,000 grant through the U.S. Department of State to promote collaborative exchange
programs between the U.S., Mexico, Cen- tral America and South America. FVCC and SENA are collaborating on alterna- tive energy projects involving solar and wind technology.
As the grant award explained, the future of the people and nations of the Americas is inextricably linked, and through this collaborative the goal is to help each school develop new systems and projects that could bene t the di erent nations in an evolving energy landscape.
“We know about the technology they use here at the college and we are here to acquire new techniques that we can apply in the manufacturing process in Colom- bia,” said Diego Vaneganas with SENA.
A group from FVCC took the group from Colombia to several local busi- nesses, including Applied Materials,
Kalispell Kreamery and the solar pan- els at Flathead Electric Co-op. They also drove to the wind farm in Shelby.
“As an instructor, this experience opens my mind and makes me think, ‘How can I apply and transfer this knowl- edge to my students?’ There are many dif- ferent techniques that I’ve learned here that I am excited to take back to Colom- bia and share,” Vaneganas said.
The high quality of programs at FVCC, including the occupational trade and manufacturing equipment and facilities, stood out to Vaneganas.So did Montana’s landscape.
“The cities here are not very big, but the land is very big,” Vaneganas said, laughing.
A year ago, FVCC sent three students and two instructors to Colombia for a few
weeks for a similar experience and exer- cise, hoping for them to bring back skills and ideas that could be incorporated into the community college’s electronics and manufacturing programs.
Patrick Kling, a student nishing his degree in machining in the electrical technology program, said the opportu- nity to visit Colombia and see how that country is addressing renewable energy and advanced technology systems was an eye-opener.
“They have incredible machining and electronics technology programs and insti- tutions, and their public schools are o er- ing all of these opportunities to students as young as eighth and ninth grade,” he said.
“There’s a lot of ideas like that that we could bring into this country.”
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
Limited Jail Space, Growing Population Strain Law Enforcement Kalispell police report a spike in property crimes and theft
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
The Kalispell Police Department responded to 26,318 calls during the rst nine months of 2016, about 4,200 more calls than it received during all of 2012, nearly a 20 percent increase.
“We’re busy,” said Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset, who attributed much of the increase to the Flathead Valley’s growing population and limited jail space. Other police chiefs in the Flat- head Valley also say their o cers are bus- ier than ever.
Nasset said in 2012 his department had 35 o cers, and this year it has 39. Despite the increase in uniformed o cers on the
street, the department is still stretched thin, he said.
“The o cers used to be able to get a day’s work done in a day, but that’s not the case anymore,” he said. “There’s not only an increase in calls, but the calls have become more complex, and that means more paperwork.”
Theft cases have spiked in Kalis- pell. During the rst 10 months of 2012, there were 680 property crimes reported within city limits. Through the same period this year, there have been 916 inci- dents, a 34 percent increase. Nasset said bikes have become a popular target and blamed the increase on the area’s grow- ing drug problem.
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Nasset also said that because the Flat- head County Detention Center is fre- quently over owing with inmates, it’s tough to punish misdemeanor o enders. In late October, there were 136 inmates in the jail, which was built in the 1980s to hold half that number.
“A few years ago, when there was more jail space, if someone committed a prop- erty crime we could put them in jail. But now all we can do is give them a ticket,” Nasset said. “If you can’t hold people accountable for what they’re doing, you really can’t stop that behavior.”
White sh Police Chief Bill Dial said his department has also seen an increase in calls. In 2015, the department
responded to about 12,000 calls, but this year the department is expected to top 14,000 calls. White sh has 16 full time o cers.
“Some of it’s due to growth in White- sh,” Dial said. “But the lack of space at the county jail is also contributing to the problem.”
“It’s constant go-go-go for my guys,” Dial added.
Dial said there has also been an increase in property theft in White sh, particularly people breaking into cars. He said the best way to address those crimes is to work closely with the com- munity he serves.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
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NOVEMBER 9, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM