The people who wrote the new Montana Constitution, ratified in 1972, were admirably clear on the subject of access to public records. Under the heading of “Right to know,” in Section 9 of Article II, the Declaration of Rights, the constitution says: “No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberations of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions, except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Prairie Lights
Recent Posts
Prairie Lights: Looking back on the best of Last Best News
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Last week in this space, I delivered a spoof year-end review of Montana and Billings-area news. I sincerely hope you all understood that was a spoof. If not, write to me and I’ll put you on our Satire and Spoof Alert Email List, which will go out in advance of any stories or columns of a facetious nature. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, John Warner, Last Best News
Prairie Lights: Looking back on, trying to forget, 2016
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We think it’s safe to say that 2016 will always be remembered as the year that tens of millions of people wish they couldn’t remember. It was a year in which the people of England voted to withdraw from the United Kingdom, Russian government hackers blatantly attempted to influence the outcome of “The Voice” and in America the unthinkable happened—the Chicago Bulls won the World Series. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, 2016, Bison selfies, election
Prairie Lights: For Christmas, a new best friend
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Christmas came a day early for Kiki. On Christmas Eve, the 16-year-old sophomore at Billings Senior High School brought home Zarah, a Bichon Frise puppy that was born on Oct. 29. The impossibly cute little dog won’t be just a pet, though. She will also be Kiki’s emotional support and service dog, mainly helping Kiki deal with chronic depression and “really bad anxiety.” Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Ann Jackson-Eaton, Bichon Frise, Billings Senior High, Faith Chapel
Prairie Lights: Notes on a successful fund drive
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Just after we posted an appeal for donations to Last Best News on Tuesday, I got an email from Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. “Dear Edward,” it began, because Jimmy always calls me Edward, “When the clock strikes midnight, our email fundraiser will end—but we haven’t yet hit our goal.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Jimmy Wales, Last Best News, Montana Quarterly, Scott McMillion, Wikipedia
Prairie Lights: Truth, if it even shows up, doesn’t always win
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Listening to late-night radio for about five minutes the other night, I heard something I can’t get out of my head. The host of the show was talking to an “expert” of some kind, who had alarming things to say about the fate of the Earth in light of experiments underway at CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Book of Revelation, CERN, Hell, John Milton, Large Hadron Collider
Prairie Lights: Heritage, history call man to protest
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Jordan Wolf Voice was planning to leave early this morning for his second trip to join the pipeline protesters in North Dakota. Wolf Voice is a 27-year-old Northern Cheyenne and Lakota. He has lived in Laurel his whole life and he works in the deli at Lucky’s Market in Billings. In late November, he spent three days at the protest against the Dakota Access pipeline, just outside the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and he’s going back for three more days out of a sense of obligation. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Dakota Access pipeline, Jordan Wolf Voice, Lame Deer, Laurel, Northern Cheyenne, Standing Rock
Prairie Lights: In the new news biz, truth is for suckers
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There has been no lack of disappointing, discouraging news over the past few months, but I don’t think anything I read was as depressing as these two sentences:
“Six months ago, Wade and his business partner, Ben Goldman, were unemployed restaurant workers. Now they’re at the helm of a website that gained 300,000 Facebook followers in October alone and say they are making so much money that they feel uncomfortable talking about it because they don’t want people to start asking for loans.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Big Think, BuzzFeed News, Donald Trump, Facebook, Liberty Writers News, Washington Post
Prairie Lights: In the age of Trump, a new kind of elector
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My, how things have changed in six short years. In 2010, as you may recall, Tim Ravndal, the president of the Big Sky Tea Party Association, was ejected from the group because of comments he made on Facebook that appeared to endorse the murder of gay people. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Dennis Scranton, Electoral College, Jeff Essmann, Tim Ravndal
Prairie Lights: Glimmers of good sense in election results
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Three weeks ago in this space, I urged readers of Last Best News to vote for Gov. Steve Bullock and Montana Supreme Court candidate Dirk Sandefur, and in favor of Initiative 182, loosening restrictions on medical marijuana. I won’t claim one iota of credit, but I will admit that on an otherwise dismal Election Day, I was buoyed by the victories of Bullock, Sandefur and the proponents of I-182. (more…) Continue Reading →