Last Best Blog

This is the weblog page of Last Best News. Here you will find some news, perhaps, but also lots of commentary, opinion and satire. Just so you know.

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Coal prospects looking up? Maybe not

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The outlook for Montana’s coal industry may not be as bright as an opinion piece in Wednesday’s Billings Gazette suggests. The article sees losses of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues if Obama administration policies remain in place, but predicts all of that could improve under President Donald Trump. The author of the piece is Shelby DeMars, who is identified in the article as “the spokeswoman for Count on Coal Montana.” DeMars works with Chuck Denowh for The Montana Group, a consulting firm in Helena. Denowh, former executive director of the Republican Party of Montana, also has been identified as a spokesman for Count on Coal Montana. DeMars did not respond to a phone call or an email message on Wednesday. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Arch Coal, Chuck Denowh, Shelby DeMars, Signal Peak Energy

One more look at the record snowstorm of ’55

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Still

Typical Billings. We have a couple of days of Arctic cold, a heavy snowfall … and then a few days later it feels like spring again and half the snow is gone. Before the recent storm fades into memory, we thought we should bring to your attention the video we posted in March 2014, after another big snowstorm. The video, produced by Stan Parker, mixed some fresh footage of the 2014 snowfall combined with excerpts from a short film made in 1955 by a local chiropractor, the late Allan Downs. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Allan Downs, Stan Parker

Travel allegations against Zinke resurface

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Zinke

Ryan Zinke’s travel violations while serving with Navy SEAL Team 6 were more serious than previously reported, an online news source reports. Zinke, now a member of the U.S. House, has been nominated to serve as secretary of the Interior under President-Elect Donald Trump. The Intercept, founded in 2014 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, reports that Zinke continued to travel improperly after he was forced to repay $211 in travel expenses for falsely claiming that he was traveling to Montana to scout for training locations. The trips actually were to visit his mother and to work on repairs to a house he planned to live in after retirement, Intercept reporter Matthew Cole wrote. “The offense would normally have been serious enough to have ended Zinke’s career, but senior officers at SEAL Team 6 did not formally punish him,” Cole reported. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Larry Bailey, Ryan Zinke, SEAL Team 6

Snoop Dogg posts video of cruise through downtown Billings

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Dogg

Snoop Dogg played the Shrine Auditorium last Thursday. Before the show, in the midst of what would be the heaviest snowfall in 30 years, Snoop Dogg drove through downtown Billings, awed by the great heaps of snow already on the ground. He compliments his nephew, who is driving, and says someday he’d like to try driving in the snow himself. He also breaks into an impromptu rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Best of all, the whole thing was captured on video, which he posted on Instagram. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Billings, Shrine Auditorium, Snoop Dogg

Spencer may seek Zinke’s House seat

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Zinke

Richard Spencer, Montana’s most visible white nationalist, is considering a run for the U.S. House seat now held by U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., the Huffington Post reports. Zinke has been nominated for secretary of the Interior in the Trump administration. If he is confirmed for the job, a special election to replace him probably would be held early next year. Spencer is from Texas and spends a lot of time in Virginia, but he claims Whitefish as his home. He said he would run only if he thinks he could win, but he noted that his entering the race would draw national attention to him and his movement. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Jeff Essmann, Richard Spencer, Ryan Zinke, Taylor Rose

Waiting for another chance to remember Rankin

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School District 2 passed up an opportunity last year to name a new middle school after Jeannette Rankin, opting instead for Bataan Death March survivor and longtime Billings artist Ben Steele. The vote was understandable, especially since it gave the community a chance to bestow one last honor on Steele, who died in September. But there will be other schools, and other buildings, and one can only hope that Rankin will be remembered the next time a naming opportunity comes up. Rankin, a Missoula native, not only was the first woman elected to Congress, she was the only woman able to cast a vote in Congress for the constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote. A new article in the Washington Post reminds us that Rankin sacrificed her political career twice to vote against world wars. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Ben Steele, Jeanette Rankin

Billings Petroleum Club hires Lilac’s Engebretson

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Kitchen

Jeremy Engebretson is well on his way to becoming the busiest person in Billings. He opened Lilac, a popular Montana Avenue restaurant, five years ago, and just about a year ago he announced that he was partnering with Joanie Swords, owner of Harper & Madison, a bakery and cafe, so they could share their talents to make improvements at both establishments. Today, the Billings Petroleum Club announced that Engebretson has become its “executive chef in residence.” The Billings Gazette carried a story 10 days ago saying that the Petroleum Club had just finished a six-month, $513,000 renovation of its lounge and dining room on the 22nd floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, formerly the Crowne Plaza hotel at North 27th Street and First Avenue North. A press release from the Petroleum Club pointed out that Engebretson was recently named one of the top 100 executive chefs in the United States. It also said he plans to continue his executive management of Lilac. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Clayton Kukes, Harper & Madison, Jeremy Engebretson, Lilac, Petroleum Club

At Paws Up, life’s little pleasures, and then some

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P{iece

I’ve written once before about a writer for Forbes writing about the Paws Up resort in Western Montana, but the gaudiness of the joint makes it difficult not to mention another Forbes writer visiting there. This time the writer is Katie Chang, who describes her typical areas of coverage as “beauty, grooming, style, health, spa/fitness-focused travel.” I’ve never covered grooming, though I do think I once mentioned a monkey cracking his mate’s lice between his front teeth. Anyway, every time I read about Paws Up, I think of two things: first, as I mentioned in that previous article, the resort developer was the fellow who tried in vain to obtain exclusive rights to use of the phrase “Last Best Place.” The second thing is, is it really in Montana? Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Forbes, Last Best Place, Paws Up

Industry groups, states challenge flaring restrictions

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Flare

The Courthouse News Service is reporting that Montana and Wyoming, as well as two energy trade groups, are suing the federal government over new restrictions on the release of natural gas at oil and gas well sites. The separate lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of the Interior Department’s new Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, which restricts the venting, flaring and leaking of natural gas. The two industry groups filed their lawsuit on Nov. 15, and last Friday the attorneys general for Montana and Wyoming filed a joint lawsuit against the rule. The story also has links to both lawsuit. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Department of Interior, natural gas