Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/news/page/25/)
The Montana Supreme Court has denied former state Sen. Art Wittich’s four-part appeal of his conviction on charges of violating Montana’s campaign finance laws. Justice Beth Baker said in the 42-page opinion that the high court affirmed all of the District Court judge’s rulings in the case, and it found that former state Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl did nothing illegal in filing the action against Wittich in District Court. (more…) Continue Reading →
CASPER, Wyo. — Shortly after the total eclipse ended, my brother’s 9-year-old niece, Lily Litman, said, “That was literally the coolest thing I’ve seen in my entire life.”
I’ve got a few years on Lily, but I would have to agree. For pure awe and wonder, I can’t imagine what might compete with seeing a total eclipse in near-perfect conditions, which is what we had in Casper on Monday. (more…) Continue Reading →
SHEEP MOUNTAIN LOOKOUT, Wyo. — Ninety-seven percent totality was just fine for the Morrisons. Brian Morrison and his wife, Robin, live in Casper, where thousands of totality-seeking visitors flocked to see Monday’s solar eclipse. Brian said they don’t much like crowds, so they chose to experience the rare event atop a 9,600-foot peak in the Bighorn Mountains, where they spend lots of time each year getting away from it all. “It is pretty crazy in Casper,” he said before the eclipse started. Continue Reading →
CASPER, Wyo. — Here on the front lines, things are running pretty smoothly. After reading all about the total eclipse for days on end, and hearing stories about how people from all over the world could be converging on Casper for front-row seats, we didn’t know what to expect. (more…) Continue Reading →
Billings will soon have a police officer specifically assigned to patrolling city parks. The new position was approved by the City Council in July, with funding from the city’s General Fund, and the person selected for the job will be helping respond to what is perceived as a growing number of problems in the parks. (more…) Continue Reading →
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has, heretofore, never had a single journalistic presence devoted entirely to making sense of our vast region. Now it does. Mountain Journal was just launched this week as an online, not-for-profit entity devoted to the mission of public-interest journalism. (more…) Continue Reading →
The former state legislator who was jailed on Tuesday for contempt of court reportedly refused to cooperate with authorities regarding his involvement in a political corruption scandal, calling the court case against him “a political game.” Wesley Prouse, of Shepherd, who will turn 49 on Thursday, was in jail and could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but the Billings lawyer who prosecuted several Republican legislative candidates involved in the so-called dark-money cases gave an account of the events that landed Prouse in jail. (more…) Continue Reading →
With the city primary election set for Sept. 12, a little less than a month away, the Yellowstone County Democratic Study Group, also known as the Democrats Breakfast Club, is offering a few more chances to see City Council candidates in action. The Democratic group has already hosted two events for mayoral candidates and another for Ward 3 City Council candidates. This Wednesday, it will have City Council candidates from Ward 1 — Joshua Kostelecky, Charlie Smillie and Mike Yakawich — as speakers at a no-host breakfast forum at the McCormick Café, 2419 Montana Ave., starting at 7 a.m.
There will be a question-and-answer session and the public is welcome. There is generally enough time for any person to ask specific questions of the candidates. Continue Reading →
ABSAROKEE — If you’ve ever seen a slumped-shouldered sullen kid in the summer sun who didn’t have a place to swim, you know how Absarokee kids felt 50 years ago when parents kept them out of deep irrigations ditches and rapid running rivers, the only places a youngster could find cooling water. Those were dangerous places with the sluggish but heavy pull of water in the ditches and the swirling water that could tug a swimmer from a river’s edge to the rapids. (more…) Continue Reading →
In response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, about 60 people gathered on the lawn of the Yellowstone County Courthouse on Sunday to call for peace, justice and inclusion. “Virginia?” Penny Ronning asked. “Charlottesville? That could be Billings. Continue Reading →
