Ed Kemmick

Ed Kemmick has been a newspaper reporter, editor and columnist since 1980. Except for four years in his home state of Minnesota, he has spent his entire journalism career in Montana, working in Missoula, Anaconda, Butte and Billings. "The Big Sky, By and By," a collection of some of his newspaper stories and columns, plus a few essays and one short story, was published in 2011.

Recent Posts

Yellowstone River Basin snowpack above average

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With so much snow on the ground in Billings, a lot of attention has been focused on city streets, especially on residential streets that are not being plowed. But let’s look at the bright side: all that precipitation has done wonders for the snowpack in this part of the world. According to a report from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bozeman, the Yellowstone River Basin is almost alone in the state in terms of having above-normal snowpack as of Jan. 1. Figures released by the service on Friday show that for the Yellowstone River Basin as a whole, snowpack was 107 percent of normal on Jan. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, snowpack, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Yellowstone River Basin

French baker to set up shop in downtown Billings

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Judd

Having spent most of his life working as an information technology expert on three continents, Francois Morin has a new home and is embarking on a decidedly different new career. The 55-year-old Frenchman is planning to open a small bakery in downtown Billings this spring, concentrating on a handful of simple, traditional French breads. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Culture, Diversions, Francois Morin, Jeremiah Young, Jeremy Engebretson, Lilac, Marmee Connell Morin, Stapleton Building

Calling on John Wayne to confront a bigot

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Molly Priddy, a reporter for the Flathead Beacon who did an internship at the Billings Gazette when I still worked there, recently summoned her inner cowboy to stand up to a homophobic man at a Whitefish restaurant. Writing in The Guardian, Priddy tells of how she and her wife, out to dinner with two other women who had just gotten engaged, overheard the anti-gay mutterings of the man at the next table. At first she wasn’t sure how to respond. But within seconds, I settled on the answer I already knew I would, the one I’d learned from my Montana upbringing: I was going to stand up to this guy. Framed in the blush of my face, my eyes caught his. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Flathead Beacon, Molly Priddy, The Guardian, Whitefish

Snow, cold lure desk-bound drone to go exploring

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Junked

Tuesday afternoon, I almost felt guilty, staying inside as much as I had over the past few days. I thought how terribly I’d miss the cold and the snow when the Chinooks returned, as they always do. So I went out looking for lasting images of winter, as reminders of what we had when we don’t have it anymore. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Diversions, CHS Refinery, MetraPark, Phillips 66 refinery, Schnitzer Steel, Yellowstone River

Prairie Lights: Looking back on, trying to forget, 2016

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Happy

We think it’s safe to say that 2016 will always be remembered as the year that tens of millions of people wish they couldn’t remember. It was a year in which the people of England voted to withdraw from the United Kingdom, Russian government hackers blatantly attempted to influence the outcome of “The Voice” and in America the unthinkable happened—the Chicago Bulls won the World Series. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, 2016, Bison selfies, election

Billings donations destined for refugees in Missoula

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Refuge

If weather conditions are favorable this weekend, Jane Moses hopes to make another attempt to deliver donations for international refugees in Missoula. Moses and her daughter Libby made their first attempt on Tuesday and got as far as Livingston, where a stretch of Interstate 90 was closed because of high winds. They detoured through Livingston and looked into what lay ahead. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Community Leadership and Development Inc., Eric Basye, International Rescue Committee, Jane Moses, Mary Poole, Soft Landing

Competitive twins on the way to early college graduation

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Twins

Brenna Hoffman is planning to graduate this spring from Montana State University Billings with a degree in finance. Graduation is scheduled for May 4, meaning she will be graduating from college a little less than a year since she graduated from Billings West High School. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Billings, News, Brenna Hoffman, Brittney Hoffman, Edward Jones, MSU Billings, Orchard Elementary, Riverside Middle School

In the midst of a comeback, photographer mounts exhibit

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Peters

Mary Peters was hanging some of her huge, canvas-mounted photographs at the Last Chance Pub and Cider Mill last week, preparing for the first of what Last Chance manager Tanner Vinecke hopes will be a series of collaborations with artists. For Peters, though, the exhibition has a deeper meaning. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Culture, Diversions, Last Chance Pub and Cider Mill, Mary Peters, Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, World Class Bucking Horse Association

Billings couple sends art aloft, lifting spirits in the process

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Gust

For part of Terry Zee Lee’s childhood, her family lived near the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. She and her three sisters and her brother would often spend the whole day playing on the beach. Their mother, who wanted to keep an eye on them but had things to do, would tie a kite string to each child’s wrist, so that they were all tethered to kites soaring above the beach. Their mother could do her work around the house while periodically looking out the window and counting kites. You might say that Lee has been attached to kites ever since. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Culture, Diversions, Alaina Buffalo Spirit, Angela Babby, Drake Smith, John H. Dover Memorial Park, Terry Zee Lee

Prairie Lights: For Christmas, a new best friend

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Dogs

Christmas came a day early for Kiki. On Christmas Eve, the 16-year-old sophomore at Billings Senior High School brought home Zarah, a Bichon Frise puppy that was born on Oct. 29. The impossibly cute little dog won’t be just a pet, though. She will also be Kiki’s emotional support and service dog, mainly helping Kiki deal with chronic depression and “really bad anxiety.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, Ann Jackson-Eaton, Bichon Frise, Billings Senior High, Faith Chapel