| November 19, 2009
Editorial
Quitting could become a habit
By Jim Blow
Editor
Today's a great day to do what you've been thinking about doing for a while now. You know it's the right thing to do — for you and for your family — but it's still won't be easy.
It helps that, knowing you really should do it for all the right reasons, but it's still going to take every ounce of your willpower to get the job done.
But today is a perfect day to get it done, to quit smoking and quit chewing and quit dipping once and for all.
Today, Nov. 19, marks the Great American Smokeout Challenge, a rally to help motivate tobacco users to give up smoking or chewing or dipping for just one day. The idea behind the challenge, which is in its 34th year, is to get tobacco users to quit for one day, as well as promote the benefits of smoking cessation. Hopefully, those who take that challenge — and it clearly is a tough challenge — might realize how far they have come in 24 hours and decide to extend their quitting streak.
Those of us who don't smoke have a role in helping those who do decide to take the challenge. We can encourage them, as well as remind them of all the benefits that come with quitting. We can also help them stay on track when the urge to smoke becomes overwhelming.
We should remind smokers that the benefits include:
• Savings of an average of $1,950 a year by quitting smoking.
• Just 20 minutes after quitting, your heart rate and blood pressure drops.
• Just 12 hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
• Within two weeks to three months after quitting, your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
• Within one to nine months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
• Within one year after quitting, the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.
• Five years after quitting, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker.
• Then 10 years after quitting, the lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's.
You can also explain to smokers that they'll be much better looking after they quit. Smoking does cause premature wrinkles, according to the Mayo Clinic. The more you smoke, the more damage that will be done to your skin.
Make sure your friends understand how more kissable they'll be when they quit smoking. Gum only masks the stench of cigarette smoke. Within hours of quitting they should notice how definitely fresher their breath is.
You'll smell better, too. Some of the toxins associated with smoking are exuded from the body through the skin, resulting in a distinct body odor. After several weeks, the body gets rid of enough toxins to make a noticeable difference in body odor.
The American Cancer Society provides some important facts everyone should know about tobacco use, including:
• Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S.
• Cigarette smoking accounts for about 443,000 premature deaths – including 49,400 in nonsmokers.
• Thirty percent of cancer deaths, including 87 percent of lung cancer deaths, can be attributed to tobacco.
• Smoking also accounts for $193 billion in health care expenditures and productivity losses.
Thanks to combined efforts across the country, great progress is being made in reducing tobacco use in the U.S., with adult smoking rates in 2007 declining among all adults to 19.8 percent.
For help quitting today, visit tobaccofree.mt.gov on the web or call the Montana Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-784-8669. That free phone line operates seven days a week, including Monday-Thursday 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., Friday 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The Quit Line is a free program that really works. It provides advice and personalized cessation coaching, as well as free or discounted nicotine replacement therapies for two weeks, including gum, patches and lozenges.
It also provides for discounted Chantix prescriptions at just $50 per month, a huge 50 percent discount over the retail cost of the drug. Chantix is a relatively new drug that has proven very successful in easing the craving for nicotine during a planned cessation period.
Tobacco isn't illegal for an adult to use. But it's one of those habits that all of us can live without. Quitting smoking shouldn't be about being politically correct or avoiding the social stigma that goes with smoking. Quitting smoking should be a very personal decision that is a positive decision to enjoy all the benefits of not smoking, whether it's getting your wind back or living a long life with those you love.
Whether you quit for an hour, a day, a week or a month, each minute you take gets a little easier to cope with the powerful addictive effects of tobacco. Do it for all the right reasons. Do it because we care. Do it because we want you around for a long time to come. Do it for your kids. Do it for your partner. But, most of all, do it because you want to.
Although it isn't an easy row to hoe, it's a long, fruitful one that will reap a harvest of a longer, healthier life.
Letters to the editor
Tax increase is not slight
Editor,
I wish to thank Governor Brian Schweitzer for taking the time to reply to my letter to the editor concerning the large increase in our Lake County property tax assessment.
You sent my letter to Dan Bucks, Director of Montana Department of Revenue at Helena. I need to correct the reply you received from Mr. Bucks.
He states our property will actually see a decrease. He also states my taxes in 2008 were $1,272.41 or $1,452.41 less fees. I have a cancelled check for $1,452.41 for 2008. He states our 2009 taxes are only $1,260.79. My tax bill from 2009 reads total due is $1,517.11.
I believe this is a pretty big increase, not a slight one. Maybe we weren’t spending enough on schools when Mr. Bucks attended. He seems to run a little short on a couple of the three R’s. He definitely needs to learn how to read and his math skills are badly in need of repair.
Mr. Bucks states the agricultural land is taxes according to production only, not by what the owner can sell it for. Why then, do 60 percent of the ranchers in Lake County have to work out to support their farms and ranches?
In an article published in the Missoulian on Dec. 6, 2008, it was stated that Flathead County reappraisal increased at 81 percent and Lake County at 103 percent. Agricultural property in Lake County topped the list at 141 percent.
Mr. Bucks stated in that same article that “The revenue goals are to freeze the taxable value of a property for six years.” I guess so, once you have raised them high enough.
He tells me, “Lake County and Flathead property is highly desirable. A cabin on Flathead Lake is worth much more than if it were on Fort Peck Dam.”
Sir, I do not own a cabin.
Mr. Bucks said I may be a little confused due to inconsistent numbers in the newspapers. Yes, I am old, but not stupid.
A friend gave me a form, (PBB8E) Rev. 09-09. It is Extended Property Tax Assistance, program for people with a total income less than $75,000 for 2008. How many families in Montana earn even close to this?
To get this form, write to the Montana Department of Revenue, PO Box 6169, Helena, MT 59604.
Why isn’t this form given out at our Lake County Office?
Some things in my 78 years I have come to understand. We have to endure the loss of ones we love and overcome illnesses like cancer and heart, but I prefer not to be taxed to death.
Wilma Bick
Ronan
Thanks for supporting the clubhouse
Editor,
The Leon Community Club members are very grateful to our friends and neighbors who joined us Friday evening for a pancake supper at the clubhouse. This historic building is a gem in our community, and we really appreciate your dollars in helping fund remodeling projects.
Thanksgiving is approaching fast, and we extend our thanks and blessings to all.
Connie Plaissay
for the Leon Community Club Members
Charlo
Monster Mash was a huge success
Editor,
The Polson Pirate's Monster Mash Fun Run was a huge success with year with more than 300 participants. The Polson School District community showed what they are made of by completing a one-mile or 5K in not so ideal weather.
But, that is Montana and that is the kind of community we live in. An event like this doesn't just happen, there are many in the community who need to be thanked and recognized for their support and contributions.
We first want to thank the faculty and staff of the Polson School District for their continued efforts in creating opportunities for our students and families to participate in fun, safe and health activities.
The Monster Mash has been a great way to bring Red Ribbon Week to a conclusion.
We would also like to thank the Polson Parent/Teacher Organizations for their support through promoting and participating in this event. Also, thanks to the Polson Business Community for the donations and discounts they made. Our business community does a great job when it comes to our kids, and we appreciate all that they do.
At the finish of the 5K, we served a chili lunch to all the people who participated. This year, Malika Cunningham and the After school program at Linderman worked to create a wonderful lunch that warmed and replenished our runners.
Malika has prepared the chili for the pas few years and she is most appreciated by all of us. We especially appreciated her initiative in working the after school program. They all did a great job.
Last, but not least, the volunteers kept registration moving, stood in the rain to keep the course safe, timed all the participants and made sure we had results and certificates for the top finishers.
There is a lot of work that goes into an event like this and the support was overwhelming. See you next year.
Lori Russell
Catherine Young
Polson Pirate Monster Mash Committee Members
Polson
Polson rural fire resolution raises concern
Editor,
I am a resident of the Polson rural community. I have been informed that at the last meeting of the Polson Rural Fire Board, a majority of the board — against a lone dissent, Jack Clapp — passed the a resolution that in effect states that the PVFD (Polson Volunteer Fire Department) is not a part of the Polson Rural Fire District structure or organization.
It is my understanding that this means there is now no fire department in the rural area, although the PVFD will continue to respond to rural calls until directed otherwise by the Rural Board. As a rural resident, I am concerned about the safety and insurance implications of this decision.
Someone once famously posed the question, "Can't we all get along?" That would appear to be a particularly relevant question in this situation. All parties should have worked together in an effort to resolve whatever differences there were.
I believe that the Lake County Commissioners should now look into this issue to insure that this decision is in the best interest of the rural community and that there will be no diminution of fire protection. Finally, perhaps the minutes of the Polson Rural Fire Board meetings should be published in order to keep the community better informed about these issues.
Frank Jones
Big Arm
(Editor's note — The minutes of the Polson Rural Fire Board meetings are published online at
www.polsonfire.org/minutes.html)
Children's Theatre packed the house
Editor,
What a pleasant experience to see all those wonderful performers in Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) perform Robinson Crusoe last Saturday at Arlee Schools. The lines were heard throughout the gym, the punch lines of performers were received with laughter and awe, and the dancing and singing of all the students made our hearts glad and happy.
As a long time member of this community of Arlee, helping and being in the very first play produced by MCT in Arlee in 1978, seeing so many children love performing arts, and all because of the opportunities presented to us by Missoula Children's Theatre. Arlee Schools, the grant writers, the local businesses who have helped so tremendously in funding, the Montana Arts Council, the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, along with so many others all these years, are to be commended for their financial and volunteer help.
The bleachers were packed, the littlest ones were mesmerized, and the MCT directors brought those students to do their best in just five days.
MCT, I thank you, Arlee community thanks you, and please continue to bring joy to all of us.
Anne Stewart
Arlee
|
.jpg)
