Page 4A
A
4
TUESDAY
JUNE 9, 2015
Opinion
Opinion desk: 447-4080
[email protected]
TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015
Let’s correct a bad
decision at state
veterans cemetery
We were disappointed that
the Montana State Veterans
Cemetery no longer allows
graveside committals.
The cemetery has adopted
national standards, which
forbid graveside prayers.
Over the years, we have
officiated at VA and national
cemeteries and indeed
officiated in such shelters like
the one recently built at Fort
Harrison. The real reason for
committal shelters, of course,
is for cemetery efficiency and
not for honoring the veteran.
Virtually every bereaved
family we have ministered
among at a VA cemetery has
expressed dissatisfaction
that they could not be at
the graveside.
They had wanted to stand
next to their loved one’s final
resting place. They wanted
to say their farewell prayers
there, not in some cold,
detached structure.
Happily, this was not
the case at the Montana
State Veterans Cemetery.
Pallbearers bore the casket
or urn to the graveside where
family and friends, along with
the honor guard, stood nearby
for committal prayers, salute
and presentation of the flag.
Under snowy skies or sunny
days, family members and
priests placed a handful of
soil in the grave, a tangible
and deeply moving moment
for all concerned. (The
superintendent sometimes
even graciously supplied a
bucket of soil.) Afterward,
people lingered and
contemplated the beauty of
the cemetery. Some
looked for the graves of
friends and other departed
family members. As is our
custom, we usually stayed
until the urn or the casket was
placed in the grave. It is our
final watch as priests. Now
this has been overturned.
We want the Montana
State Veterans Cemetery
Administration to address
the larger Helena community,
especially veterans and their
families, about these things:
Why was this decision
imposed without consulting
the public, especially
veterans’ groups?
Are states required to
follow national guidelines?
Heidi
Kinner
Stephen
Brehe
Has our state
cemetery
been
nationalized?
What was
wrong with
the dignified
way we have
committed
Montana
veterans
through
the decades?
Can’t we
allow the
family to
have a choice
of whether
they use the
committal
structure or
go to the
graveside?
Our ordination binds
priests and some pastors to
do specific things at funerals
and burials. These words
and actions are not optional.
Among the things we are
required to do is stand at
the graveside for committals
and to cast soil onto the
coffin. Not every church
requires these things, but
what about those of us who
are required? Furthermore,
we have witnessed many
moving moments at the
graveside that could never
have taken place in a detached
concrete structure. Flowers
dropped into the grave.
Notes. Mementos. One time,
even a golf ball. All of these
actions helped the bereaved
have closure.
Hopefully families will be
allowed to have the choice
of the using the committal
shelter or having the service
at the graveside. Here is the
contact information for VA
officials. Let them know of
your thoughts and feelings:
State Administrative Office,
Montana Veterans Affairs
Division, 1900 William
Street, P.O. Box 5715, Helena,
MT 59604-5715; Joe Foster,
Administrator, jofoster@
mt.gov, Tom Hall, Cemetery
Program Manager, thall@
mt.gov
The Very Rev. Heidi Kinner is
Dean of St. Peter’s Cathedral
and Veteran, USMC. The
Very Rev. Stephen Brehe is the
retired Dean.
YourTurn
Time to get valley kids of the buses
I am writing to support the
school bond currently proposed
by the Helena School District.
Specifically, I write in response
to those opposing the bond who
assert that this bond should fail
because it is not perfect because
in the long run it will not guarantee that the ideal of a “walkable” school — i.e.,. within a half
mile of home (not even three
quarters of a mile or one mile) —
will remain intact and available
for each and every one of the
current and future elementary
students who live within the
central Helena district.
What the opponents of the
bond issue focus on is everything but what this bond will
do. This bond will address the
needs of those many hundreds
of elementary students who —
without the bond — do not and
will not ever have the option
of attending a school that is
within half mile or one mile or
two miles or five miles of their
homes. These valley students
are currently keeping an artificially high census in the central
Helena schools. To do that
means that they all are without
the opportunity to walk or bike
any reasonable distance to their
elementary school. Instead, they
are all literally held hostages on
a bus for hours each school day,
so that those who have had the
resources and means to buy real
estate in the central area of Helena can have the convenience to
stroll to school within half mile
of their home — not even three
quarters of a mile or 1 mile. It is
the busing alone that maintains
the artificially high census of
some of these central Helena
schools that keeps the school
census high enough to allows
them to economically operate.
Statements have been made
that infer that allowing the
development of resources in the
valley is a detriment to central
Helena’s families, students and
businesses. There is an implication that there is something
inappropriate about living in
the valley and sending children
to school there, as if there is a
nefarious plot to undermine the
stability of the neighborhood
schools and downtown business.
Helenans, open your eyes! These
families in the valley are living
there because that is where they
can afford to live. These children
should not be ping-ponged back
and forth across the valley every
day in order to protect a pet
neighborhood school or two that
may be at risk because there are
not actually enough school aged
children who live within that
walking distance to fill it.
I am a Hawthorne parent.
Both my children attended Hawthorne and I readily admit I was
happy to walk my kids to school
a short six or eight blocks. However, it horrifies me that such a
large percentage of Helena valley
students have been required to
spend extensive time on the bus
each day in order to, in effect,
“subsidize” the ability of those
of us who are centrally located
to enjoy that. This is unbalanced
and unfair. While I loved having
my children attend Hawthorne,
I cannot support denying decent
school buildings within a reasonable distance of the students’
homes to those in the valley
because of some fear, justified or
not, that Hawthorne’s population (or the population of any of
the other neighborhood schools)
would drop so low that it would
need to be closed. If that is what
the opponents fear, their efforts
should go to development of
affordable housing within central Helena and marketing of
that property to families with
young children. If the neighborhood population of school-aged
children is not sufficiently
high to provide a neighborhood
school census high enough to
economically justify keeping a
school open, that school should
be closed, plain and simple.
The opponents of the bond
ask us to wait and spend another
two or three years meeting and
meeting and meeting to reach
“consensus” on a long term plan
that will address the needs of
all students at every grade level.
That is simply not reasonable.
There will never be a plan developed that is a true “consensus”
given the differing viewpoints
that have been and will continue
to be expressed. The students
in the valley have spent enough
time on buses in order to allow
those with the resources to live
in central Helena to stroll six
blocks to school.
Please vote “yes” on the bond.
It is time to get the valley kids
off the buses.
Kimberly Kradolfer
Helena
Innovation means good jobs, clean air in MT
MARNE HAYES
“We will do that through
innovation, through recognizing that the only certainty is
that tomorrow will look a bit
different.” – Montana Gov.
Steve Bullock
The word “innovation” has
always intrigued me, with
its promise of both a better
tomorrow and reflection of the
creative spirit that Montanans
bring to the table when solving problems.
The promise of innovation
was certainly the key takeaway
message at an event recently in
Helena called “Powering Up:
Renewable Energy and its Economic Benefits for Montana.”
The conference celebrated
the 10-year anniversary of
Montana’s Renewable Portfolio Standard by shining a
spotlight on the emergence of
a renewable energy economy in
Montana over the last decade;
anchored by the fact that Montana’s RPS requires at least 15
percent of our
energy originate
from renewable
resources such
as wind and solar
power. For a state
that holds our
natural resources
Marne
to a standard of
Hayes
dollars and sense,
that shows progress in the right direction.
In honor of this decade-long
investment in a sustainable
renewable energy plan, the
Bozeman-based firm sciGaia
unveiled new data showing just
how successful the standard has
been during the last 10 years.
Their research showed that
an average of 100 new windpowered jobs have been added
annually in Montana since 2005,
with the same potential for job
growth expected through 2020.
Wind energy has added $17
million to the annual gross state
product, and the market value
of Montana’s wind generation
properties is now $1 billion.
Edison Lee
EditorialBoard
„ Tyler Miller — Publisher
„ Greg Lemon — Editor
„ Jesse Chaney — City Editor
„ Anita Fasbender — Operations Manager
Further, wind-generated electricity has gone from zero in
2005 to 6.5 percent of the power
produced in the state, with
rural counties having benefited
the most from investments in
renewable energy.
But it’s not just environmental groups and renewable
energy industry leaders who are
taking note of this momentum.
Community leaders and elected
government officials including
our own Governor Bullock are
rallying around this idea that
investments in energy sources
can create good jobs and
clean air.
At the conference, Bullock
remarked, “By ultimately
working together, we can keep
our lands more productive
for farming, for ranching for
generations to come. We can
maintain and even improve our
air and water quality without
pulling the plug on jobs already
in place. And when we build
a stronger energy economy,
we are building new jobs and
opportunities.”
Business for Montana’s Outdoors couldn’t agree more. This
is not an either/or discussion
that pits renewable and nonrenewable energy against each
other. It is, and should continue
to be, a discussion of how we
can advance a future rich in
energy potential with resources
that keep Montana livable.
That’s a good business model
in a state where 73 percent of
businesses polled (in a field
sample of 200 businesses)
say that we can protect land
and water and have a strong
economy with good jobs at the
same time.
It’s often said that to move
forward, it is helpful to look
back. The last decade of new
jobs and investments in renewable energy didn’t just happen.
It took a lot of work, incentives and smart policies to get
here. We should be grateful
that a former Montana Senate president created such a
strong coalition to help push the
Renewable Portfolio Standard
through the state legislature
in 2005.
That Senate president’s name
should be recognizable to you.
He is now Montana’s senior U.S.
senator. Fast-forward to today
and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester still
remains a champion for renewable energy in Montana. A few
short weeks ago he introduced
a bill intended to help Montana
become a renewable leader by
better tapping into our state’s
geothermal resources.
To be sure, there will be challenges ahead of us in order to
unlock the full potential of a
sustainable energy future in
Montana. Even so, the renewable portfolio standard has
clearly been a success story and
helped Montana position itself
for another decade of new jobs
and economic growth.
Marne Hayes lives in Big Sky,
where she works from her home
as a director for Business for
Montana’s Outdoors.
Mallard Fillmore
LetterPolicy
The IR welcomes signed
letters of all points of view.
We publish as many letters
as possible unless they
are defamatory, in poor
taste, contain significant
inaccuracies, poetry, or are
too long. Please limit letters to
250 words.
Letters may be edited for
clarity or length.
Writers must include their
address and daytime phone for
verification.
Send your letters to:
Reader’s Alley
P.O. Box 4249
Helena, MT 59604
[email protected];
fax: 447-4052