Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/84/)
I kept seeing these two around town when I didn’t have my camera, so when I spotted them painting a hydrant close to home Thursday—this was on the corner of South Broadway and Minnesota Avenue—I couldn’t resist. (more…) Continue Reading →
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of RVs, campers, motorhomes and fifth wheels in and around Billings. But it’s safe to say that nobody else has a ride quite like the one owned by Lyndsay Jackson and Patchwork. Patchwork is the name of Lyndsay’s companion, and he doesn’t use a last name. For the past four months, they’ve been living in a sawed-off church bus with a crude steel shed attached to it. (more…) Continue Reading →
The office of the Montana securities commissioner issued a press release today about a Miles City man accused of bilking at least two people—one of them 100 years old and the other suffering from dementia—of thousands of dollars. Innocent till proven guilty, I know, but the whole thing is pretty appalling. Here’s the whole press release, very lightly edited:
HELENA—A Helena judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a Miles City man state authorities believe is running an illegal Ponzi scheme that has already depleted the life savings of one 100-year-old victim and siphoned another $50,000 from a 75-year-old victim with dementia. Both of the alleged victims live in Miles City. District Judge Kathy Seeley issued a temporary restraining order June 12 against Richard Brandt, also of Miles City, after attorneys from the Office of Montana Securities Commissioner Monica J. Lindeen began investigating him upon hearing of a century-old-Miles City woman who had lost more than $73,000 to Brandt’s investment scheme. Continue Reading →
One of the most distinctive old houses in Billings is on the market for the first time in nearly 40 years. The white stucco house with a red tile roof, at 2306 Virginia Lane, is being sold by two sisters, Carmen Forsman of Seattle and Lou Hegwer of Billings. (more…) Continue Reading →
The New York Times is reporting today that Montana “leads the nation in business creation.” The Times attributes all the business-creation activity to the Bakken effect: so much money has been flowing out of the oil patch, and so many people have been flooding into the region, that new businesses are being founded to meet new demands. The same study quoted by the Times lists Wyoming as second and North Dakota as third in start-up activity. What the story does not note, for some reason, though the study itself does, is that Montana was first last year as well, and North Dakota was, as it is this year, third. Only Wyoming’s status changed, jumping from sixth place to second. Continue Reading →
When Tim Struck first saw the building that would become his commercial photography studio, it had recently been vacated by a radiator business. The portion of the building he was shown, Struck said, “was right out of the movie ‘Saw.’” It was where radiators had been submerged in an acid bath, so besides being filthy with grime and grease, it stunk something awful. They were calling it “the death room.” (more…) Continue Reading →
First United Methodist Church, 2100 Fourth Ave. N.
Service: 3 p.m., Sunday, April 6, 2014
Length of service: 48 minutes. Length of sermon: None
I did something a little out of the ordinary for this church visit. It was my intention from the start to avoid special days like Easter or Christmas, in order to witness “normal” services. That would seem to have ruled out attending and reviewing a special presentation of Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass” at First United Methodist Church. Continue Reading →
I regret to inform you that there will be no Prairie Lights column today. When I launched this basically one-man operation, I was warned to be on the alert for signs of burnout, things like neglecting to shave for several weeks, sacrificing small animals on the altar of Google Analytics and finding myself, unaccountably, in a closed casket. (more…) Continue Reading →
Off The Leaf, a popular coffeeshop that opened in 2008 on Grand Avenue, is getting ready to go big. Besides making plans to open two new shops in Billings and four elsewhere in the country, the new owners of the business will send out a fleet of trucks and SUVs on Monday, bringing their mobile coffee bars to music festivals all across the country this summer. (more…) Continue Reading →
By coincidence, two interesting, Montana-centric stories on retirement were published yesterday. One was a bit of a fluff piece from Newsmax, headlined “Benefits of Retiring in Montana.” One “benefit” is that Montana is not crowded, which seems silly. Retirees love crowded! Have you been to Florida? Continue Reading →
