Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/108/)
Fall starts on Monday, according to the calendar, but if you’ve been out much at all in the past few days, you know that for all intents and purposes it’s already here. In some spots the signs are subtle, providing just a hint of things to come. In others, it’s like a blazing announcement that the summer of 2014, following the cold, incredibly snowy winter of 2013-14, was pitifully short and officially over. (more…) Continue Reading →
Martha Scanlan is a songwriter and musician I’ve been lucky enough to see perform in Red Lodge and in Billings. She lives on the Tongue River and has already recorded albums that reflect that beautiful place. Now she has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help produce a new album, The Shape Of Things Gone Missing, The Shape Of Things To Come. Here’s how she describes her idea: “My previous record, Tongue River Stories, centered around bringing musicians to the landscape where the songs came out of; The Shape Of Things Gone Missing, The Shape Of Things To Come brings the landscape and the songs to the musicians in the studio. The songs seem to have a central theme of transformation, currents that weave through life, the point where struggle turns to flow. Continue Reading →
HARDIN — I went down to Hardin Thursday to rendezvous with a trio of bankers from Little Horn State Bank. The four of us then went to see Brett Nedens’ enormous new beet harvester. The bankers were Andy Rio, president and CEO of LHSB, and ag lenders Al McCormick, Billings branch, and Matt Torske, Hardin branch. (more…) Continue Reading →
Although they’ve still got some fundraising ahead of them, the people behind an “event-centric” movie theater and pub in downtown Billings will be getting down to business Saturday morning. That’s when they’ll start demolishing portions of the old Center Lanes bowling alley at 109 N. 30th St., beginning its transformation into the Art House Cinema & Pub. (more…) Continue Reading →
Work on what is thought to be the largest house ever built in Yellowstone County is proceeding quickly. Much of the framing on the 26,000-square-foot house appears to be done already. The house is being built just to the northeast of the developed portion of the Ironwood Subdivision, which itself is just east of the railroad overpass on Molt Road. (more…) Continue Reading →
This story has been updated, in a postscript. The power of social media was on display in Billings Monday, when users of a Facebook page quickly solved the mystery surrounding a tombstone found in the Yellowstone River. The granite headstone was found Saturday during the eighth annual Yellowstone River Cleanup. A group of Rocky Mountain College students found the headstone near Duck Creek Bridge, on dry cobblestone near the water’s edge, and hauled it by boat to Norm’s Island, a few miles downstream. (more…) Continue Reading →
There are two things about all those “best of” lists that newspapers, magazines and websites love to publish: 1) they’re mostly bullshit, and 2) they’re irresistible. The main objective of all these lists — the skinniest city in America, the most business-friendly, the best place to raise a family, the best outdoor city, etc. — is to sell more newspapers or magazines or steer readers to your website. The criteria are often questionable and the question of how to assign value once you’ve established criteria is more questionable still. And yet they are irresistible. Continue Reading →
Gunter Rodrigues and Taylor Trowbridge are tucked into the recessed entryway of a vacant building at Montana Avenue and North 28th Street. If you’re used to sleeping on the streets, this isn’t a bad place to be. The entryway is a long rectangle, maybe 15 feet long and 6 feet wide, with brick walls on two sides to stop the wind. Over the concrete there is a strip of well-worn outdoor carpet, a sliver of warmth and comfort. (more…) Continue Reading →
People often ask, how does the mind of a newspaper columnist — or that of a digital newspaper columnist — work? The short answer is that it rarely does. Instead, it seeks diversion and distraction and asks to be plied with coffee, or, later in the day, alcohol. Ostensibly, these are stimulants that will help the mind do its work, but in fact they are merely different kinds of diversions and distractions. (more…) Continue Reading →
