Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/blog/page/14/)
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.
I was glad to see Tom Lutey’s story in the Billings Gazette this morning, a solid follow-up to my Sunday column about the presidential elector from Miles City who went on Facebook six years ago to make joking comments about the killing of gay people. (more…) Continue Reading →
I’m probably late in noticing this, but James Welch, who surely ranks as one of the best writers in the history of Montana, is the subject of today’s Google doodle. Today would have been the 76th birthday of the author of “Winter in the Blood” and “Fools Crow,” along with other novels and poems. The beautiful doodle by artist Sophie Diao nicely captures Welch’s thoughtful, placid demeanor. Most references to Welch that I found today refer to him as a Blackfeet writer, but Indian Country Today has the more correct designation: Blackfeet/Gros Ventre. I thought Google’s announcement was slightly off in one respect, in the way it confidently asserts that “Fools Crow” was his “best known work.” That was actually the first Welch book I read and I certainly loved it, but I would have to say that “Winter in the Blood” is his best-known work, especially after the release of the Smith brothers’ film of the same name. Continue Reading →
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., has been placed in the “Snow Job Caucus” by Talking Points Memo. The caucus, according to TPM, consists of members of Congress who have used “Word Salad to Avoid Giving a Position” on House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to replace Medicare with some sort of private insurance and voucher system. Zinke “told a TPM reader that there was no plan to phase out Medicare, therefore he does not support a plan to phase out Medicare,” the liberal web site reported. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was placed on the “We’ll Get Back to You:” list of those “whose offices were caught unaware, or claimed they would pass on constituents’ concerns.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., was listed as opposing the Medicare changes. TPM disputed Zinke’s claim that there is no plan to replace Medicare: “What Zinke’s office says isn’t true. Continue Reading →
Here’s some very good news: the 2017 Montana Folk Festival is a go. George Everett, director of Mainstreet Uptown Butte, the lead organizer of the festival since 2008, made the announcement in a press release this morning. (more…) Continue Reading →
I wrote a story last month about a Red Lodge teacher, a story that began like this: “Kate Belinda needs your vote, but she’s not running for office.” Well, it’s crunch time now and she needs your vote more than ever. Your votes, rather, since everyone is free to vote once a day for their favorite teacher in a Dream Big Teachers Challenge, sponsored by Farmers Insurance. Belinda is the adviser for the Red Lodge High School Green Team, which hopes to use the $100,000 contest prize to erect a wind turbine on school property, saving the school lots of money in electricity costs and greatly reducing its carbon footprint. The Red Lodge teacher has already come far by being named one of 15 finalists from among several hundred teachers nationwide who sent in proposals. Continue Reading →
Legislative candidate Robert Saunders has apologized for a deleted Facebook post that said vandals involved in civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., should be shot with “two rounds through the brain.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Few charges are more damning in modern America than an accusation of racism. That’s why Last Best News sat on a story making exactly that charge against Robert Saunders, a Republican candidate for House District 48. The openly partisan Montana Cowgirl blog broke the story on Thursday. The Billings Gazette followed up with a front-page story on Saturday. We’re still not buying it. Continue Reading →
An equine-therapy program that works with military veterans with disabilities has received two major grants to help expand the program in Montana. Horses Spirits Healing Inc., which operates from the Intermountain Equestrian Center, said in a press release that it will benefit from a $52,500 Veterans Administration grant and a $20,000 Montana Healthcare Foundation grant. (more…) Continue Reading →
Regular readers of the Billings Gazette might be wondering, “Who is this new writer who seems to know so much about Montana?” I am referring to Jessica Wick, whose byline reads “For The Gazette.” I plugged her name into the Gazette’s search bar and got hits on 32 stories, all published this summer. Every story under her byline follows the same pattern: the five best of this or the six best of that, all with a Montana theme. (more…) Continue Reading →
In the 32-month history of Last Best News, few stories were as fun to report as the one about Kate Morris’ grain bin house, which the former Lockwood school teacher built on some family property north of Great Falls. (more…) Continue Reading →
