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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In this contest, hard to root for the home team

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Tank

A lot of goofy stuff crosses my desk, and this week nothing was goofier than a press release from Tnemec Company Inc., which describes itself as a “leading provider of high-performance coatings.” The release went on: “This is the 10th year that Tnemec has recognized the aesthetic, creative and innovative uses of its coatings on water storage tanks, including one from Brady, Montana.” That’s what it says. But look at the Brady (between Great Falls and Conrad) water tank. Innovative? Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Brady, Tanks, Tnemec

Exhaustive probe unearths location of gas station

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I was a little surprised this morning when I saw the headline shown above on this story in the Gazette. Or, I should say that the headline surprised me after I read the first paragraph and learned that the robbery took place at a Holiday Station. I thought I knew the South Side fairly well, and I couldn’t picture a Holiday Station there. Then I remembered the one at South Billings Boulevard and King Avenue East. I wasn’t sure that qualified as the South Side (technically, it is within the boundaries of the Southwest Corridor Task Force), but still, close enough. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Holiday Station, South Side

More evidence in the Grateful Dead tossed-object mystery

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Pitcxher

Almost a year and a half ago, I wrote about the one and only time the Grateful Dead played in Montana—May 14, 1974, at the Adams Field House on the University of Montana campus. In that piece, I touched on the enduring mystery of what exactly it was that was thrown by a concert-goer and hit Bob Weir in the head. A bit later, I wrote a follow-up story in which I came down fairly strongly in favor of the hypothesis that the object in question was an Aber Day pitcher. I have now received the most compelling evidence yet regarding the pitcher hypothesis. Tom Cockrell, a Billings native who has lived in the Bay Area since 1989 (the year I moved back to Montana), said he recently stumbled on my stories and he “had no idea it was such a Montana mystery.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Aber Day, Adams Field House, Bob Weir, Ed Beaudette, Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh, Tom Cockrell

‘If the states were bar patrons’—a hit and a miss

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Bar

You’ve probably all seen the latest list by now—”The 50 States of America if They Were Actually People in a Bar.” I know it’s been racing around the Internet. Based on my not particularly astute knowledge of this country, is seems fairly accurate. Two of my favorites were right next to each on the list:

“Texas is singing karaoke about how great Texas is.” “Utah is the designated driver, sipping on water and making sure nobody gets too crazy.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Montana, Texas, United States, Utah, Wyoming

On the op-ed pages, a conjunction of Crisps

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A few minutes after I posted David Crisp’s column on the Confederate battle flag this morning, I sat down to breakfast and opened the Billings Gazette. On the opinion page, I noticed a guest opinion piece headlined “Remove the battle flag, but then what?” And then I read the byline: “By JOHN M. CRISP, Tribune News Service.” I was reasonably sure that John was David’s brother. I met him years ago when he came up from Texas to visit. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Confederate battle flag, David Crisp, George Custer, John Crisp

A sad passing, a sorry job posting

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In Montana newspaper news, two items today. The Native American Journalists Association is reporting the death of Bonnie Clincher Red Elk, whom the association hailed as “a true champion for freedom of the press in Indian Country.” She sounded like a courageous, remarkable woman. The NAJA said she founded the Fort Peck Journal in 2006, after the then-tribal chairman removed her as editor of the official newspaper of the Fort Peck Tribes. Last year, the association presented her with its Wassaja Award, “given in recognition of journalists’ and publications’ dedication to continuing to report the news in the face of challenge and even threat.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Bonnie Clincher Red Elk, Chuck johnson, Don Pogreba, Fort Peck Journal, Lee Enterprises, Mike Dennison, Native American Journalists Association

Kavulla explains water compact in WSJ

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Kavulla

Travis Kavulla, vice chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission, gives readers of the Wall Street Journal a good, straightforward explanation of the comprehensive water compact with the Salish and Kootenai tribes in northwestern Montana. I can’t pretend to understand all the ins and outs of the voluminous, complex compact, but Kavulla makes a good case that it makes the best of a very difficult situation. Here’s a key part of his piece:
Even as whites resisted quantifying water use, the Salish and Kootenai tribal government hired a small army of hydrologists to measure theirs and anthropologists to document the historic range of their people. Since the 1980s, they have been compiling a meticulous record, preparing for the day when they would have to prove their claims in court. With the compact, that water war doesn’t need to be fought, saysHertha Lund, an attorney representing large irrigators on the reservation. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Public Service Commission, Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Wall Street Journal, water compact

Lancaster’s thoughts on rebel flag worth another read

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In light of all the attention being paid to the Confederate flag these days, I thought I should bring to your attention a fine op-ed piece that Craig Lancester wrote for Last Best News last August. In “The Confederate flag and the NDO,” Lancaster wrote about how, as a teenager, he and his classmates at Richland High School in North Richland Hills, Texas, rebuffed a request from the local chapter of the NAACP to remove that flag from the school’s letterhead, uniforms, etc. It is a good, timely piece, worth reading again. I should also update Craig’s bio at the end of the piece. It reads: Craig Lancaster, of Billings, is the author of the novels “600 Hours of Edward,” “Edward Adrift,” “The Summer Son” and the forthcoming “The Fallow Season of Hugo Hunter.” 

Well, that forthcoming book has been out for a while, and his new forthcoming book is called “This Is What I Want.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Confederate flag, Craig Lancaster, NAACP, Texas

State shuts down alleged Ponzi scheme

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The office of the Montana securities commissioner issued a press release today about a Miles City man accused of bilking at least two people—one of them 100 years old and the other suffering from dementia—of thousands of dollars. Innocent till proven guilty, I know, but the whole thing is pretty appalling. Here’s the whole press release, very lightly edited:

 

HELENA—A Helena judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a Miles City man state authorities believe is running an illegal Ponzi scheme that has already depleted the life savings of one 100-year-old victim and siphoned another $50,000 from a 75-year-old victim with dementia. Both of the alleged victims live in Miles City. District Judge Kathy Seeley issued a temporary restraining order June 12 against Richard Brandt, also of Miles City, after attorneys from the Office of Montana Securities Commissioner Monica J. Lindeen began investigating him upon hearing of a century-old-Miles City woman who had lost more than $73,000 to Brandt’s investment scheme. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Judge Kathy Seeley, Monica Lindeen, Montana securities commissioner, Ponzi scheme, Richard Brandt