Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/170/)
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.
What made us choose to visit the Southern Empire Emporium? Sheer curiosity, really. It is positioned on the south side of exit 446 at 1212 Mullowney Lane, and we had gone past the place too many times not to check it out.
We weren’t expecting much, but it turned out to be a memorable decision. Continue Reading →
When my youngest daughter was in junior high or high school, I said something to her about a major episode of World War II. I was surprised that she hadn’t heard of it.
“They never taught us about the war,” she said. “All we heard about was the Holocaust.” Continue Reading →
Friends and family gathered last week to celebrate the life of David Barnett, whose two great loves were music and the outdoors.
The former leader of the Billings Symphony Chorale died of a sudden heart attack on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26. Continue Reading →
When I was a boy, back in the pioneer days, our family would drive around looking at Christmas lights with absolutely no help from anyone else. Nobody printed maps of good displays in those days, and when we attempted to consult the Internet, it was only to be reminded that it hadn’t been invented yet. People today have it so easy! Just look at this “Christmas Light Spectacular” map, created for Bridge Creek Dental and offered up to you, the reading public, at no charge. It’s not terribly easy to read, I know, but you can go to the Bridge Creek Dental website and download the map to take with you on your excursion. Continue Reading →
Three big projects are underway on the 2600 block of Minnesota Avenue.
Steve and Joni Harman, who own every building on the north side of that block, have converted a portion of what used to be an automobile showroom into Steve’s new law office, with a second-story space that could be either an apartment or another office. Continue Reading →
There is a Grinch stealing trees (and Christmas) from us in Stillwater County.
He passes incognito as “county road supervisor.” The good boys and girls of the county pay their taxes and his paycheck, but he is grumpy and grouchy if they ask him not to cut all their trees down along their roads. He bellows “Maintenance!” and “Safety!” and will not compromise his single-minded mission to clear-cut every tree in every right of way in our county. Continue Reading →
Recently, Ducks Unlimited magazine dismissed noted Montana outdoor writer Don Thomas from his longtime contributing editor position.
It seems that Thomas wrote an article for another publication criticizing billionaire Montana landowner (and Ducks Unlimited member) James Cox Kennedy for his overt attempt to undermine Montana’s stream access law, particularly as it pertains to the portion of the Ruby River flowing through his property in Twin Bridges. Continue Reading →
David Gessner’s new book, “All the Wild That Remains,” is at once a celebration, biography and comparison of two of the West’s seminal writer-conservationists—Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner. Continue Reading →
I have never met Robert Staffanson, but I am prepared to answer “yes” to the question in the headline above.
I base my opinion on having just read his autobiography, “Witness to Spirit: My Life with Cowboys, Mozart & Indians.” His story follows an arc that seems almost unbelievable. Continue Reading →
