Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/39/)
I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Montana Legislature’s website since the session began almost three weeks ago, mostly looking at bill drafts. A few days ago, I scanned through the descriptions of all 2,546 introduced and unintroduced bills, wondering whether our esteemed lawmakers had any of the usual crazy ideas in the wings. (more…) Continue Reading →
Editor’s note: Rep. Barry Usher called back after this story was posted. We have included his comments at the end of the story. Bicyclists from around the state are rallying against a proposed bill that would ban bicyclists and pedestrians from using virtually every two-lane road in the state that doesn’t have a paved shoulder. Kristi Drake, director of Billings TrailNet, said her first thought was not to worry about the proposal because it seemed to have so little chance of passing. (more…) Continue Reading →
Regular readers of Last Best News already know that we have been collaborating with Missoula Current, an independent online newspaper that is filling the same niche in Missoula that we have been filling here in Billings. We have been sharing stories, giving each other advice and talking about other ways we can work together to promote and expand independent journalism in Montana. (more…) Continue Reading →
Singer-songwriter Chase McBride, a native of Billings and a 2007 graduate of West High, has a new album “Cold Water,” that will be available starting tomorrow on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play, as well as a limited vinyl release. (more…) Continue Reading →
This fall, Christian Keeve was three-quarters of the way through his one-year volunteer stint with the city of Billings Parks and Recreation Department. A member of the Billings Metro VISTA Project, Keeve worked on the Billings Grown Gardening Initiative, which involves community gardens and other programs related to food security. At that point he was thinking about sustainability, about how to make sure the initiative he had worked on would be continued and expanded after he left. (more…) Continue Reading →
The people who wrote the new Montana Constitution, ratified in 1972, were admirably clear on the subject of access to public records. Under the heading of “Right to know,” in Section 9 of Article II, the Declaration of Rights, the constitution says: “No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberations of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions, except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.” (more…) Continue Reading →
RED LODGE —It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the transformation of Old Roosevelt School into the arts and culture hub of Red Lodge. The original three-story school, built in 1920 at 518 S. Broadway Ave., has numerous classrooms lined with big windows, flooding the rooms with natural light. In an even larger room on the third floor, there is a raised stage, its velvet curtain still intact, flanked by pilasters ornamented with painted scrolls. (more…) Continue Reading →
In marketing itself to the outside world, Carolyn Sevier said, Billings is “closely wedded to landscape—the Rims, the river, the mountains, the prairies.”
She hopes that the Montana Audubon Center, which she was named to lead effective Jan. 1, will become widely known as the premier entity for helping connect people in this region with their natural surroundings. (more…) Continue Reading →
Billings lawyer Joel Guthals isn’t sure how much effect his words will have, but he plans to testify Tuesday night on the proposed expansion of the Billings Regional Landfill, and to submit written comments as well. The state Department of Environmental Quality will be conducting the public hearing from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the gym of Blue Creek School, 3652 Blue Creek Rd. (more…) Continue Reading →
Last week in this space, I delivered a spoof year-end review of Montana and Billings-area news. I sincerely hope you all understood that was a spoof. If not, write to me and I’ll put you on our Satire and Spoof Alert Email List, which will go out in advance of any stories or columns of a facetious nature. (more…) Continue Reading →
