Our View: Hi-Line darts and laurels

Laurel — Havre certainly has shown lots of Christmas spirit in the past week. Schools, colleges, fraternal organizations and others put on their finest and celebrated the season with plays, concerts and programs to help needy people. It’s a great community, and it is doing a good job spreading holiday spirit.

Dart — During contract negotiations, usually union and management take turns blaming the other for negotiating the media. Recently, both the International Association of Fire Fighters and the city of Havre have accused the other of doing just that. Now it’s the union’s turn, expressing a hope that further discussions will not be in the evil media. It’s just that the talks in part concern the future of the city’s ambulance service, a topic that affects the the safety of everyone in town. The taxpayers’ health and the taxpayers’ money are at stake here. It’s not the place for secrecy. That’s our opinion. That's Montana law.

Dart — And while we’re at it, we think the city’s present form of ambulance service has worked out well for decades and ought to be continued. Havre firefighters are a versatile group with lots of experience and concern for the city. There’s no need to mess around with success. We feel great concern for city officials who are trying to balance the budget with their backs to the fiscal wall. And we’re sure that if they raise taxes or cut services, they are going to get hammered by a segment of the community. We don’t envy their position. But the savings in the case of ambulance service would not be worth it.

Laurel — Rocky Boy High School seniors worked hard to collect funds so that every student at Rocky Boy and Box Elder elementary schools had a nice Christmas. It was great on Thursday to hear that younger students at Box Elder all thanked Santa Claus for the gifts. It was even greater to hear that many thanked Santa in Cree. Lots of native languages are in danger of dying out. Young people at Rocky Boy are making sure that won’t happen here.