Kalispell, Mont.

* “Wave of Distrust in the West� (Feb. 3) makes Kalispell, Mont., sound like the last great haven for the crazies of the world, when in fact most of the citizens are quite normal. More normal, possibly, than the majority of the citizens of your city. In fact, many of the radicals and trouble-makers we do have are transplants from other states, including California.

Kalispell is not a place where violence is the most popular method of expressing disapproval of the government or of a trial verdict. In Los Angeles, just a few years ago, citizens took to looting, burning and killing to express their disapproval of the Rodney King verdict. In Kalispell, when an abortion clinic was target of arson last fall the community banded together to create the Flathead Safe Place Project, a group of concerned citizens determined to make it known that such violent acts will not be tolerated in our town. The group Montanans for Property Rights is trying to change the way Flathead County is run. Through a lawsuit, not violence.

Flathead County, which is known to residents as “The Last Best Place,� may be far from perfect and it may have a few who think the government is going to do them harm but, overall, we are a normal, peaceful, growing community with little or nothing to be ashamed of. Can Los Angeles say the same thing?

FRANK THOMAS, Publisher

AMY WEGGELAND, Editor

Kalispell News

Kalispell, Mont.