Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/106/)
Casey Affleck has already been cast as Meriwether Lewis in an HBO miniseries on the Lewis and Clark expedition, but filmmakers are still looking for a young Native American woman to play the part of Sacagawea, the expedition’s Shoshone guide and interpreter. (more…) Continue Reading →
Like a lot of people born and raised in Billings, Matt Blakeslee was used to looking to other cities for arts, culture and entertainment generally. Billings was a good place to make money and it was the biggest city in Montana, “but it had never felt like the most cultural or vibrant community,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
Nine years after the Montana Meth Project was founded, nine years after millions of dollars were spent to saturate the state with horrifying images (and to enrich countless publishers, TV executives, billboard companies, etc.), meth use is said to be making a huge comback in Montana and is the No. 1 public safety threat in Billings. What can we do? “We need to expand this ‘Not Even Once’ message,” said Montana Meth Project Executive Director Amy Rue, referring to the group campaign targeted at teens. “We need to extend the message to adults.”
I don’t know if the Montana Meth Project is entirely privately funded these days, but if it isn’t my own slogan would be “Not Even One Dime in Public Money.” Continue Reading →
Shortly after we arrived at our cabin on the Yellowstone River outside Park City on Saturday afternoon, my wife and I went for a short walk. Lisa and I strolled along the riverbank and then poked around an upstream island reached by a narrow, dry channel before heading back to the cabin. On the point of the island, I laid myself down on the warm sand and listened to the wind spilling through the towering cottonwood trees. (more…) Continue Reading →
MILES CITY — As a lifelong resident and mayor of this history-rich cowboy town, Butch Grenz knows what makes Miles City unique. But as a downtown businessman who has watched the decline of what used to be the center of his city, he also knows what makes it similar to other communities in the state. “It’s just typical Main Street Montana without a highway,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
October is domestic violence awareness month, but it already seems to have been domestic violence awareness year. There has been an outpouring of stories on the subject since football player Ray Rice’s brutal assault of his then-fiancee Janay Palmer early last month was captured on videotape. (more…) Continue Reading →
HARDIN — Seven years after it was built, the Hardin jail is finally up and running, with a slowly expanding roster of inmates. Warden Kenneth Keller said the head count was 56 on Friday, all of them prisoners committed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or from individual Indian tribes in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. (more…) Continue Reading →
Standing in the kitchen of his brand-new restaurant, Jason Corbridge said his life has come full circle. “This is where I fell in love with food,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
Marcasa is out and the Big Dipper is in. Marcasa Clothing, the popular upscale clothier on the northwest corner of First Avenue North and North Broadway in downtown Billings, was closed Tuesday, with signs in the window announcing a going-out-business sale that will start Wednesday. (more…) Continue Reading →
I don’t want to pick on the Democrats because I know from my years in the newspaper biz that the Republicans are just as bad, but for some reason I am only on the Democrats’ email list this election cycle. These past few weeks I have deleted many dozens of emails from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in addition to “personal” emails from Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, James Carville, John Walsh, John Lewis and others. I looked in my email Trash file today and was struck by the great string of alarming subject lines, which included these dandies: “Kiss any hope goodbye,” “Midnight tonight,” “Begging (12HR),” “Shocking setback,” “This could be the end,” “Terrifying,” “Begging, begging,” and “12:01 will be too late.”
People, you need to know that alarmism only works once in a great while. Ten times a day for weeks on end tends to take the edge off those Nightmare on Elm Street headlines. And then the emails themselves, with their whining, cajoling, pathetic tones! Continue Reading →
