Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/billings/page/20/)
Backers of the huge building project proposed for downtown Billings will have to persuade a majority of the City Council to put up at least $30 million in public funds for the project to work. The tougher job might be winning the support of the city’s finance director, Pat Weber, to whom a lot of council members will be looking for guidance. (more…) Continue Reading →
The public and private partners working on a huge development in downtown Billings got their first nod of approval Monday night from the City Council. By general assent—since no actual votes are taken at council work sessions like the one held Monday—developers of the One Big Sky Center got the green light to present the council with a predevelopment agreement at the council’s Sept. 12 meeting. (more…) Continue Reading →
This story has been updated. Developers of a $120 million-plus project in downtown Billings—including a skyscraper that would be the tallest building in Montana—unveiled their plans Monday afternoon. At a press conference in Meadowlark Gallery, 118 N. 29th St., attended by nearly 80 people, the developers and local people who’ve been working with them outlined plans to build the One Big Sky Center, which would take up two-thirds of a two-block-square area on the 2900 and 3000 blocks of First Avenue North. (more…) Continue Reading →
Like most long-established taverns in Billings, the Rainbow Bar has always had a fair number of regulars. It’s doubtful any of them are quite as regular as Linda Jacobson. Besides having run the Rainbow for just over 30 years, she lived in rooms behind the bar as a kid and has spent virtually all of her life in and around the Montana Avenue tavern. (more…) Continue Reading →
Billings Police Chief Rich St. John and longtime activist Eran Thompson agree on one thing: Billings needs more cops. They both see true community policing, which gives cops a chance to interact in a meaningful way with the people they serve, as the best way to close the divisions separating communities and police departments across the country. And good community policing takes more cops on the street than Billings has. (more…) Continue Reading →
Walking up to his new house a few blocks from downtown Billings, Randy Hafer apologizes for the tall weeds in the dirt surrounding the home. “The focus has not been on the outside of the house,” he says. That’s understandable. On the inside, the house is so advanced that there is nothing like it in Montana, and not many like it in the whole country. (more…) Continue Reading →
A 20-year-old man who spent nearly 19 months in Yellowstone County jail was awarded a new trial on Thursday, and the case against him could be dismissed. Casey Don Ehrlick was convicted of rape in October after being held in jail for nearly a year. He remained in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility until about a week ago, when evidence surfaced that his alleged victim may have lied about his guilt. (more…) Continue Reading →
Looking for objective news reporting? Don’t look in the news media. That was the message at a “Shining Light on the Media” presentation at a meeting of the League of Women Voters on Thursday. The league also is sponsoring a showing of the recent film “Truth” on March 15 at Art House Cinema & Pub during Sunshine Week, an annual focus on the media that is held during the week of James Madison’s March 16 birthday. (more…) Continue Reading →
Members of Billings TrailNet celebrated their accomplishments at their annual meeting on Tuesday but also heard a couple of sobering reminders. One is that federal funding has declined sharply, meaning that TrailNet must count on providing 100 percent of funding for new projects. Another was a reminder that despite great improvements in the local trail system, bicycling can still be dangerous in city traffic. (more…) Continue Reading →
If you ever saw Dwight Raup in downtown Billings, most likely on a bench under Skypoint, or at a table drinking coffee at Rock Creek Coffee Roasters, you might have thought he didn’t have much. He carried everything he owned: his clothes, a bedroll and a green duffel bag stuffed with belongings. (more…) Continue Reading →