Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/prairie-lights/page/10/)
Filling out a medical form the other day, I was asked whether I had lately felt any “fatigue or disinterest.”
I wanted to say, “As a reporter and proprietor of an online newspaper, I strive to be disinterested on a daily basis, unless I am clearly stating my opinion, and even then I hope a spirit of disinterestedness informs what I have to say.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Here’s some moderately good news, I guess: In a ranking of best states for millennials, compiled by MoneyRates.com, Montana came in fifth, after first-place North Dakota, followed by South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. The worst five states were, in descending order, Vermont, California, Arizona and Virginia (tied for second-worst) and rock-bottom Washington. (more…) Continue Reading →
Let the baking begin. Saturday put me in mind of my first couple of summers in Billings, in 1989 and 1990, before which all my Montana summers had been spent in Missoula and Butte. Missoula was always cool at night, no matter how hot it was during the day, and Butte was so cool that during two summers we spent there, I think we might have taken our (then) only daughter to the city swimming pool maybe three or four times. (more…) Continue Reading →
I told myself I wouldn’t write about Donald Trump again. But if I may quote the late Jim Harrison, writing in another context entirely, “it was like trying not to think of a white horse.” Trump is lodged so firmly in my mind, and in the minds of millions of my fellow Americans, that love him or hate him it is hard not to think about him. (more…) Continue Reading →
When I got to the third paragraph of a new book from the Montana Historical Society Press, I was hooked. “Beyond Schoolmarms and Madams: Montana Women’s Stories” is a collection of 98 short pieces about notable women or topics germane to the history of women in Montana. The first piece is titled “Nineteenth-Century Indigenous Women Warriors,” and here’s that third paragraph: (more…) Continue Reading →
Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons delivered the commencement speech at the University of Montana yesterday and I heard it went well. He’s a great actor and reportedly a great guy. Few schools are able to attract that kind of star power. Small high schools in particular are often thrown back on the unpleasant expedient of asking some local politician to speak, or just bagging the commencement speech altogether. (more…) Continue Reading →
I saw on Facebook the other day that a Trump-loving tow-truck operator in North Carolina refused to help a disabled woman whose car was inoperable, saying it was the Bernie Sanders sign in her window that prompted his decision. This gentleman, who calls himself a Christian, told local reporters, “Something came over me, I think the Lord came to me, and he just said get in the truck and leave. And when I got in my truck, you know, I was so proud, because I felt like I finally drew a line in the sand and stood up for what I believed.” (more…) Continue Reading →
The late Sen. Conrad Burns was an inspirational public figure. He inspired roughly half the population to love him and the other half to hate him. The thin margin between love and loathing was never more apparent than during his fourth and final Senate run, which he lost by just a few thousand votes. (more…) Continue Reading →
I feel doubly bad about the viral video in which the young woman attempts to pet a bison in Yellowstone National Park. For one thing, thousands, perhaps millions, of people will watch it and think, “I knew that business about the bison being dangerous was bullshit. The animal couldn’t have cared less.” (more…) Continue Reading →
It was reported last week that a survey of job satisfaction in the United States ranked newspaper reporter at the very bottom of the list for the third year in a row. You’d never have guessed it Friday evening at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Uptown Butte, site of the annual meeting of the Butte Press Club. There was some talk about the dismal state of print journalism, but the prevailing mood was anything but gloomy. (more…) Continue Reading →
