Letters must be civil, mostly accurate

I do not exaggerate when I say that there is a mountain of letters to the editor on my desk. As we get closer to the election, they come from near and far; people writing in to urge their fellow voters to cast their ballots one way or another. Whether it is for the presidential race or a county commissioner seat, passions are running high as the calendar ticks down to November 4.

And with high passions come, well, some problems. In the pile of letters are plenty of personality attacks, half-truths and a few flat-out lies. They're aimed at all candidates, though it has to be said that the majority of volleys tend to be aimed at Democrats from local to national levels.

If ever there could be an argument as to why people in the media lean left, it's that we are put off by deluges of silly attacks like calling someone a girlie man (honest).

But here's the thing, the Eagle won't be running any letters that constitute ridiculous personal attacks. We also won't be running letters that are patently untrue (i.e. Barack Obama is a Manchurian candidate Muslim with plans to hijack the country). In part this is because they drag the discourse into the mud. In part because knowingly printing falsities, even in the letters to the editor section, could get us sued.

So as the next few issues of the Eagle come out leading up to the election, please keep it civil and at least somewhat intelligent, otherwise the letter will not see the light of day.

Buckle up

Standing on the highway late Friday night with firefighters and law enforcement officers as they investigated and cleaned up the fatal accident on Highway 209, it became crystal clear the wide impact that being unsafe on the highways can have.

Bigfork's volunteer emergency crews have responded to four fatalities on the roads around Bigfork in recent weeks, and they looked tired for it.

Beyond the obvious impacts on the deceased's family and friends, our friends and neighbors who volunteer their time and abilities to respond to these calls are again and again confronted with what sometimes amounts to needless, careless deaths.

There is nothing ambiguous about the stats from the last few weeks. None of the four people who have died were wearing their seat belts. Would buckling up have saved their lives? Who knows. But it seems certain that their chances would have been improved. With the slippery roads of winter on the horizon, buckle up Bigfork.