Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/news/page/65/)
Two Billings lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would eliminate or overhaul a state law that allows authorities to seize the assets of people involved in crimes. Reps. Kelly McCarthy, a Democrat, and Daniel Zolnikov, a Republican, say that while widespread abuse of the law has not been reported in Montana, law enforcement authorities in other states have used similar laws to seize property — including houses — from law-abiding citizens. (more…) Continue Reading →
When Randy and Janna Hafer finish their house on the North Side of Billings sometime next year, it won’t look all that different from other houses in the neighborhood. There will be one noticeable difference, though — the 23-foot-high wind turbine on the corner of their lot at North 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue North. (more…) Continue Reading →
Eight times a year, on average, the Billings Police Department deploys its Special Weapons and Tactics team, 12 officers wearing heavy armor and toting semiautomatic and automatic weapons. In almost all cases, they are executing high-risk search warrants at the homes of suspected drug dealers, and they roll up in the BEAR, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Department’s 35,000-pound Ballistic Engineered Armored Response vehicle. (more…) Continue Reading →
At a meeting Friday morning to talk about how to get students and teachers into and out of Broadwater Elementary School starting next week, Principal Joe Halligan cut to the chase. “The first couple days — it’s going to be crazy,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
The company that is proposing to build five oil refineries in Montana and North Dakota — projects that would require funding of $2.5 billion — appears to have very few assets itself. Bloomberg was reporting as of Wednesday afternoon that Quantum Energy Inc.’s market capitalization — the number of outstanding shares times the value of a share — was about $3.8 million. (more…) Continue Reading →
Barely 48 hours after being chosen as the new Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat from Montana, Amanda Curtis stopped in Billings briefly to cheer on supporters of a nondiscrimination ordinance. Curtis, a Billings native and Butte schoolteacher serving her first term in the Montana House, spoke Monday evening on the steps of the First Congregational United Church of Christ. (more…) Continue Reading →
RED LODGE — A group of Clarks Fork Valley landowners appealed to the Carbon County Commission on Monday to create a special zoning district that would protect them from the impacts of oil and gas development. “We’re not here to stop it,” organic farmer Bonnie Martinell told the commission. “We want it done correctly.” (more…) Continue Reading →
A huge windstorm nearly canceled a show by Rick Springfield at the Fallon County Fair in Baker on Saturday, but an improvised concert was quickly arranged and became “a once-in-a-lifetime” experience. (more…) Continue Reading →
Glancing down any given residential street in Billings this summer, you might have thought a political campaign was in full swing. But those signs in what seems like every other yard are advertising roofing companies, not politicians. And that explains the sound you are likely to hear on any given street, too — the rat-a-tat-tat of nail guns attaching tarpaper and shingles to hail-damaged roofs. (more…) Continue Reading →
Jani McCall didn’t sleep much Tuesday. She is the Billings City Council member who first suggested, in December, that the city consider a nondiscrimination ordinance. Tuesday morning, the NDO went down on a 6-5 vote, with Mayor Tom Hanel casting the deciding vote shortly after 3 a.m. (more…) Continue Reading →
