Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/13/)
I was planning to ride off into the sunset today, but if I may appropriate an observation by Benjamin Franklin, it looks as though I might be heading in the direction of the rising sun.
In the week since I announced that Last Best News would cease publication today, I have heard so many expressions of interest in reviving it in some shape or form, with or without my continued involvement, that it appears likely that this independent online newspaper will live on.
Often, when I sit down to write, I have to search for a topic. It’s common for me to write three or more articles and then decide which one I want to run that week. For the record, this is version four. I figure if I’m going to write something I at least ought to be interested in it. I write a lot about politics because I was involved in it for a long time, but today’s politics is not a joyous subject. Continue Reading →
Twenty-two years ago, I took my daughter to see “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” the story of a music teacher in a public high school. He teaches kids of every description in times of trial and triumph, but the big scene is the last one. Continue Reading →
Former U.S. Sen. John Melcher, who died Thursday in Missoula at age 93, was a leading congressional supporter of federal farm bills and programs to fight hunger here and around the world. Continue Reading →
HELENA – A dark-money political organization that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the 2012 election to support conservative candidates for office has settled a lawsuit accusing it of violating Montana’s campaign finance laws. Continue Reading →
A panel discussion on “Opioids: A Community Issue,” is scheduled for Sunday, April 29, at First United Methodist Church, 2800 Fourth Ave. N. in downtown Billings.
Presented by the Mental Health Friends Network of First United Methodist Church, the event will feature a panel of experts discussing opioid use and abuse in our region. This program is being presented as a kick-off Mental Health Awareness Month in May. Continue Reading →
The day after Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he was retiring, an audience of 150-some energized people listened to six Democratic congressional primary candidates sound off Thursday night at the Babcock Theatre in downtown Billings. Continue Reading →
“Listen, kid, it’s all part of building character. The struggle will make you a better person. Stronger, more appreciative.”
Sound familiar? It’s lovely, isn’t it, that we can call something as pernicious as starvation “character building”? The “back in my day” proposition is feeding the stereotype of the struggling college student who must ingest ungodly amounts of sodium in order to get by, and only marginally at best. Continue Reading →
Having taught music in Billings for 69 years, Marion Devitt recently decided it was time to quit. Accordingly, after she gives a few final guitar lessons on Monday, April 30, Devitt Music Studios will close for good.
“I really hate stopping teaching,” Devitt said. “I just got sick of everything that goes with it — the selling and everything.” Continue Reading →
Thirty-one Missoula families can thank the generosity of neighbors they’ll likely never meet for saving their homes from the auction block.
A two-day online fundraiser collected $9,730 to pay delinquent taxes on mobile homes scheduled for auction Wednesday morning – not enough to save every home, but enough to keep 31 families in place. Continue Reading →
Imagine a powerful gun lobbyist with an Irish accent and you get some idea of last week’s debate at Rocky Mountain College. Continue Reading →
