Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/91/)
There’s lots of news about the news in Montana, though some of it is rather old by now. The most surprising news, to me, is that the Montana Standard in Butte has hired David McCumber as its new editor. The Standard, where I landed my first newspaper job 35 years ago, has had a lot of editors in its long history, but for decades most of its editors have come from within Lee Enterprises, the Iowa-based chain that owns the Standard (and the Billings Gazette). (more…) Continue Reading →
At the end of what must have been one of the most open winters in the history of Montana—a year after one of the snowiest winters on record—it occurs to me that I didn’t do nearly as much traveling as I should have. And then it occurs to me that when I set out on my first big out-of-town trip this winter, to do a story on the Beaver Creek Brewery in Wibaux way back in mid-November, it was snowing, windy and bitterly cold. (more…) Continue Reading →
Don’t miss Dan Brooks’ fine analysis of the 2015 Legislature. Writing in the Missoula Independent, Brooks reminds us that, despite so much evidence to the contrary, there is occasionally some justice in the universe. The jumping-off point for Brooks’ column was the recent outbreak of bipartisan cooperation in Helena. Searching for a cause, he concluded that we can thank Rep. Art Wittich, R-Belgrade, for this unexpected turn of events. “Wittich’s doctrinaire conservatism,” Brooks writes, “forced moderate Republicans into a coalition with Democrats last week, and their cooperation might make the 2015 session productive after all.” Continue Reading →
After a final week-long flurry of construction, Big Dipper Ice Cream in downtown Billings had a soft opening for friends, family and supporters Tuesday night. “The guys who are working for us, they went all weekend, 14, 16 hours a day,” co-owner Bryan Hickey said. (more…) Continue Reading →
During the 60-some years that the Monte Carlo Casino has operated in Billings, it’s hard to imagine that anyone ever confused it with the Monte Carlo Casino in the Principality of Monaco. But the powers that be in Monaco, which owns the trademark on the name, apparently thought it was worth the trouble to avoid the possibility of such confusion. And so, after more than three years of negotiations and legal wrangling, the Billings casino dropped the second part of its name last week. (more…) Continue Reading →
BUTTE—Six years ago, when she was still teaching English and history for Billings Catholic Schools, Stella Burke organized a two-day field trip to Butte for about 80 seventh-graders. There, among other activities, her pupils went into an underground mine and visited the mansion of Copper King William Clark. But the highlight of the trip, she said, was spending time in the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives. (more…) Continue Reading →
We went to Sacrifice Cliff Theatre Co.’s “New Works Festival” Friday night and recommend it wholeheartedly. It consists of 10 one-act plays of about 10 minutes each, all on the theme of “Welcome to Montana.” We have already described the plays in an earlier story, and will add here only that the plays, short as they are, cover a lot of ground and a lot emotional territory. (more…) Continue Reading →
Reading recent editions of the Billings Gazette—known fondly by some as the Billings Police Blotter—has been an eye-opening and thought-provoking experience. Amid the usual catalog of serial drunk drivers, oil-patch meth runners, girlfriend-assaulting miscreants and keno-addicted embezzlers, there were a few crimes of genuine weirdness, riveting in their strangeness and even, in a couple of cases, their moral ambiguity. (more…) Continue Reading →
COLUMBUS—When the owner of a bookstore in Cody, Wyoming, offered her entire inventory of 41,000-plus books to the Stillwater County Library, director Della Haverland had two questions. “How do you turn this down?” she said. “But we also asked, how do we take this on?” (more…) Continue Reading →
MISSOULA—In a few months, Scott Crichton is going to be playing a lot more guitar. Twenty-eight years after becoming the first full-time executive director of the Montana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, he plans to leave his job in August. (more…) Continue Reading →
