Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/90/)
HYSHAM—In this Yellowstone River town 75 miles east of Billings, residents have learned how to get things done on a shoestring. When the town’s 60-year-old swimming pool started leaking—as much as 1,000 gallons a day before it was closed last summer—supporters of a new pool got to work. (more…) Continue Reading →
There are many good reasons to live in Montana—and one of them is so good that increasing numbers of people are only pretending to live here. That reason? Montana has no sales tax. That means out-of-state residents who set up a limited liability company in Montana could buy an expensive vehicle, or, better yet, a very expensive RV, in the company’s name and avoid tens of thousands of dollars in sales taxes in the state where they actually live. (more…) Continue Reading →
Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, has an interesting story about Luke Jackson, Sen. Jon Tester’s executive assistant. I had never heard of Jackson, and by far the most notable thing I learned about him in this article is that he, just like his boss, is missing the middle three fingers on his left hand. Could somebody better than me at math compute the chances of that coincidence? (more…) Continue Reading →
A huge parcel of prime riverfront in Billings is being offered for sale, but there’s a hitch: the 74-acre property is currently occupied by PPL Montana’s coal-fired power plant. At least one party, the city of Billings, is already interested in the land, which sits between the Public Utilities Division’s water production plant, just upstream, and city-owned Coulson Park, just downstream of the power plant on the Yellowstone River. (more…) Continue Reading →
Starting a week from today and continuing every Monday for about six months, Last Best News will be running a new feature, At Your Service. It will consist of a series of reviews, for lack of a better word, of church services—or mostly of services: one review will be of a musical presentation and another of a meeting of humanists—in the Billings area. To avoid blowing my cover, I have already made all my visits and written all my reviews. (more…) Continue Reading →
If you’re reading this and it’s warm and sunny outside, you might want to stop right here and continue later. That’s because I want to tell you about a collection of one-minute films that attempt to capture various aspects of Montana, and you’re liable to think, as I did, “What’s the harm in watching a few one-minute films?” (more…) Continue Reading →
Jenny Michaelson was one of the lucky ones. She managed to get her dog back after it had been impounded by Yellowstone County. But Michaelson, who lives just west of Billings off Grand Avenue, gives no credit to the county for the return of Nacho, her golden retriever. (more…) Continue Reading →
Critics of the animal control division of the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office (see the top story on Last Best News) say the disorganization and sloppiness there are partly to blame for some dogs being killed unnecessarily and other dogs being adopted out rather than returned to their owners. Just ask Cassie Dennison. Her family’s 8-year-old purebred black Lab went missing on Nov. 26, the day before last Thanksgiving. (more…) Continue Reading →
Don’t miss this great piece from NBC News on two of the most amazing women in Montana. Rhonda Cahill and Rachelle Croft, both of Bozeman, make up Team X Elles, and they came in 14th out of 125 teams competing in the Rallye Aicha Des Gazelles in Morocco, which concluded over the weekend. The race through the Sahara Desert is billed as “the longest, most difficult, all-female off-road rally in the world.” It’s not just the harsh terrain that makes the race so tough. Competitors are allowed to use dead reckoning only—which means employing only a compass, outdated maps and plotters. Continue Reading →
If there were any justice in this world, Gregory Frazier would be as famous as that other Montana motorcyclist, the late Robert Knievel. Frazier, who lives in Fort Smith when he’s not on his motorcycle, is not a daredevil in the traditional sense of the term, meaning he doesn’t jump over cars, buses or gorges. But it takes a different kind of guts, and incredible doggedness, to do what Frazier has done on a motorcycle. (more…) Continue Reading →
