Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/128/)
I’ve known Max Lenington for more than 15 years. I didn’t know him well, since I never did much reporting on Yellowstone County, for which he is treasurer, assessor and county superintendent of schools. But I knew him well enough to believe I had some sense of the kind of person he was. (more…) Continue Reading →
Around the Next Bend: A Fly Angler’s Journey, by Jerry Kustich. HeadWater Books, 2013. 199 pages, $24.95.
If this book were only about fishing, I can’t imagine I would have finished it. (more…) Continue Reading →
Before Michael Hitchcock ended up in Billings last fall, he had a wide, varied career in the business world. The Wisconsin native said he managed several fast-food restaurants in the Midwest, ran a machine shop, went into mechanical design, worked in China as a project manager for an import company, ran his own import-export business and even wrote a book about using business strategies to achieve personal happiness. (more…) Continue Reading →
Don’t look for any fireworks — or a big implosion — during the demolition of the old Parmly Billings Library
The three-story building, constructed as a heavy-duty warehouse, will come down in stages, chipped away by a crew of four people. If all goes well, they will be done by mid-May and a 102-space parking lot will be open by mid-June. (more…) Continue Reading →
At the Montana Agri-Trade Exposition, size does matter. Between the MATE show (which is redundant but which is what everybody calls it) and the Home and Health Expo, spread out over two large buildings at MetraPark, there were supposedly more than 500 booths. (more…) Continue Reading →
Neil Gaiman was a shrewd choice to bring in for a reading during the extended celebration of the new Billings Public Library. Appearing Friday night at the Babcock Theatre, courtesy of the Friends of the Library and the library foundation, he spoke lovingly of his own immersion in libraries as a boy and of their continuing importance in our culture. (more…) Continue Reading →
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath, by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman, 2009. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 464 pages, $30.
The central character in this history is Ben Steele, the Bataan survivor and artist who, now in his mid-90s, lives in Billings. Given that I greatly admire Steele and have written about him on several occasions, why did it take me four years to start reading this book? (more…) Continue Reading →
Kevin Nelson was more than a little surprised when he learned that he would be the first recipient of the Making Democracy Work Award from the League of Women Voters of Billings. “The first thing I said after ‘thanks’ was, ‘I didn’t think anybody was listening,’” Nelson said. (more…) Continue Reading →
You hate to kick a guy while he’s up, but is anyone else weary of the relentlessly laudatory news stories about former Sen. Max Baucus? After Baucus was nominated and then won confirmation as the new U.S. ambassador to China, it was inevitable that barrels of ink would be spilled to chronicle his 39-year run as a House member and senator. (more…) Continue Reading →
On our way to Fort Benton last spring, my wife Lisa was driving on the last leg of our trip, and we found ourselves on a road we’d never been on before — Highway 80 between Stanford and Fort Benton. (more…) Continue Reading →
