Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/22/)
The crowded mayoral race in Billings will be pared to just two candidates in the Sept. 12 primary election. Seven candidates filed to run for the position being vacated by Tom Hanel, who will be stepping down after two consecutive terms, the maximum allowed by the City Charter. (more…) Continue Reading →
SALT LAKE CITY — Not counting all the hours I’ve spent in purgatory, also known as Concourse E at the Salt Lake City airport, or the two-hour layover during which I went to a Mexican restaurant with a friend who lived here, it had been more than 40 years since I’d spent any time in SLC. I am here for Labor Day weekend, visiting Daughter No. 3, and this time I have a car and some money and at least a faint aura of respectability. (more…) Continue Reading →
Alexander Andrews wants to give homeless people in Billings the things they need, including food and clothing. He also wants to give them a voice. That’s why he started Spread the Word 406, a group that will take supplies to homeless people on the street or wherever they congregate. At the same time, group members will be gathering stories and testimonials, giving the homeless a chance to speak for themselves. (more…) Continue Reading →
The Sweetgrass Border Patrol Station, which last month reported the apprehension of an Irish national attempting to sneak into the United States, publicized another arrest on Thursday. In a press release, the Border Patrol said its agents arrested a 25-year-old man from Alberta, Canada, trying to enter the United States illegally while carrying “large amounts of U.S. currency.” The release said agents saw a “suspicious vehicle” traveling along a road near the border in the vicinity of the Sweetgrass Port of Entry, northeast of Cut Bank on Tuesday evening. They stopped the vehicle and questioned the driver, who said he had illegally entered the country by cutting down border fencing. The man, who was not named, was arrested and his vehicle, a white Chevy pickup, was impounded. Continue Reading →
Seven units in one of the earliest downtown buildings to be converted to loft apartments are now on the market as condominiums.
The two-story loft apartments, averaging about 1,700 square feet each, are located in the Oliver Building at 2702 Montana Ave., at the corner of Montana and North 27th Street. (more…) Continue Reading →
A Montana Supreme Court ruling will send back to District Court a lawsuit filed against the city of Billings by a group of current and retired city police officers. The ruling came down Monday, just shy of a year after the city was dinged for more than $2.7 million in back pay, fines and legal fees. The suit was filed in 2009 by 27 police officers, who said the city had incorrectly calculated their longevity pay, going back as far as 1994. (more…) Continue Reading →
Having lost in District Court and now at the Montana Supreme Court, former state Sen. Art Wittich has appealed again to the court of public opinion, airing the same old grievances and portraying his lawless self as the victim of a dastardly conspiracy. Before the start of his trial on charges of breaking campaign finance laws, Wittich said then-Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl, who filed the charges, had no case. (more…) Continue Reading →
Another Montana politician accused of illegally accepting campaign contributions from corporations has admitted his guilt and agreed to pay a fine. Pat M. Wagman signed a settlement agreement in which he agreed to pay a civil fine of $19,599 by Oct. 1, and to pay $100 a day for every day after that if the fine is not paid in full. Wagman signed the settlement on Aug. 8 and it was signed Friday by state Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Magnan. Continue Reading →
Driving home from witnessing the total solar eclipse in Casper, Wyo., on Monday, I saw my chance to take a backroad-drive I’d been thinking about for months. When I went down to Wyola last spring, to write a story about the school there (it ran first in the Montana Quarterly, then on Last Best News), I brought along my trusty DeLorme Montana Atlas & Gazetteer, 2013 edition. (more…) Continue Reading →
Organizers of Richard Dreyfest V are calling the event a big success, and they are already laying plans for Dreyfest VI. “All in all, we were really stoked about how it turned out,” said musician and writer Phillip Griffin, one of the main organizers of the punk-inspired music and arts festival. “The event got off without any major hitches, which was something of a surprise because no one in this year’s organizational core had done it before.” (more…) Continue Reading →
