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Our View: Hi-Line darts and laurels, May 23, 2014

Dart — Chinook residents are living without water this week because aging infrastructure caused a water main break. Chinook isn’t the only Hi-Line municipality that has water and sewer lines that are in poor repair. Many other communities have time bombs beneath the streets in the form of decrepit water and sewer lines. In most communities, the water and sewer lines were built shortly after the area was settled more than 100 years ago. In Havre, a street caved into the Bullhook drainage system recently. The solutions are difficult. Chinook is working on major repairs to its water system. Other communities should be planning infrastructure improvements as well. But it’s a costly effort. The federal government should help out. Federal funds would help communities and provide jobs. You can be sure that idea will be met with yelps of protest from some taxpayer groups. So the area will have to make do. It’s time to start planning for the area’s long-range safety.

Laurel — Havre Middle School students learned a lot about the court system and the dangers of drunken driving on Wednesday. They came to Havre City Hall and took part in a mock trial. A police officer faced a mock charge of driving under the influence. Student serving as judge, prosecutor and jury heard the case. After careful deliberation, the officer was convicted of drunken driving but cleared of texting while driving. The kids who talked to the Havre Daily News said they learned a lot from the experience.

Laurel — Four area high school students will sit on Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau’s Student Advisory Board. The four will have a tremendous opportunity to learn about the inner workings of state government. And they will get an opportunity to be a voice for their fellow students in the highest echelons of state government. With Denise Juneau, the students will have the chance to work with one of the nation’s top proponents of public education. Congratulations to the four:

• Ashley Hofland, a sophomore from Havre High School

• Gabriella Blatt, a freshman at Box Elder

• Teche Ereaux, a junior from Harlem

• Tristan Belgarde, a junior at Rocky Boy.

 
 

Reader Comments(1)

Ted writes:

Aging infrastructure, call the federal govt. it's free that way. If each user had kicked in an extra 10% on their water bill over the expected life of the system they'd have the money to replace it now. We gotta get over this entitlement mentality. Our local issues are not federal issues!

 
 
 
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