Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/177/)
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.
Recently the Department of Homeland Security granted Montana an extension of time to conform to the “REAL ID” law passed by Congress in 2005. In a nutshell, the REAL ID law demanded that state driver license and identification cards conform to federal requirements concerning information and data-sharing as laid out by DHS, and that these identification documents have the approval of DHS. Continue Reading →
I was driving down Grand Avenue when my windshield was suddenly awash in Old Glory.
I did a quick look-see in the rearview mirror, ascertained that the right lane was clear and swerved over before I ran into something. Then I saw the problem: A big, black Ford F-250 was flying two American flags so enormous that they trailed more than a car length behind the bed of the truck. Continue Reading →
The West End of Billings has another non-chain, locally owned restaurant whose owner is committed to making good food in an informal environment.
Last month we wrote about the Local Kitchen & Bar, located near Shiloh Road and Grand Avenue. The new addition to the West End dining scene is JP Kitchen Asian Bistro, located on what used to be the West End’s main drag, 24th Street West. Continue Reading →
The family of a Sidney man who was found dead near the oil storage tank he was inspecting near Keene, N.D., has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Billings, blaming the death of Blaine Otto on the negligence of the company that owned the oil well.
The same attorney who filed that suit represented Dustin Bergsing, a 21-year-old oilfield worker from Edgar, Mont., who died under similar circumstances, and whose family reached a confidential settlement with Marathon Oil in 2013. The terms of that settlement were not disclosed, but a pretrial statement said a computation of damages put the value of the case “in the seven-figure range.” Continue Reading →
I have yet to book a ride through Uber, but now I have a pretty good idea of what it’s like to drive for Uber, at least in Portland, Ore.:
“GEORGE—eyebrows grown crazy, like weeds. Don’t these people ever look in the mirror? I can see the wild hairs in my rear view—sprouting out of each brow. Pick him up at Powell’s Books and take him to hotel across river. An old vet (veterinarian, not military) in town for a conference. Continue Reading →
For nearly four years, volunteers with the Yellowstone River Parks Association, individually or occasionally in small groups, have been working to prepare a regional park a few miles northeast of Billings.
This past weekend, their labors got an enormous boost from more than 500 volunteers in a project organized by Harvest Church. Continue Reading →
The recent death of Billings Outpost columnist Roger Clawson created pause for reflection—not just about Roger—but life, death, obituaries and newspapering in general.
The Outpost had a tribute to Roger as well as a formal just-the-facts-ma’am obituary. Outpost editor David Crisp’s account, and the obituary, appeared online via Last Best News even before the Outpost went to press. Later, Ed Kemmick of Last Best News published his own reflections on Roger.
Neither charged a cent for the coverage. Continue Reading →
All over Montana, bruins are on the march.
How could any of us have guessed what was in store back on the last day of August, when a black bear that had been breaking into houses in the Emerald Hills near Lockwood was killed by game wardens? Continue Reading →
In the weeks that have passed since we published “A Bleak Future for Colstrip Units 1 and 2,” the outlook for the these two coal-fired electric generators in Eastern Montana has only gotten worse.
Our report assumed, based on market expectations, that natural gas prices and energy prices would remain low for the next 10 years. That’s still the case, but forward-looking market indicators today are for natural gas and energy market prices to drop even further than we assumed in June. Continue Reading →
Sometimes the shortest way home just isn’t good enough.
I had to be in Red Lodge Tuesday evening, and since I wasn’t too keen on driving home afterward—dodging deer in the dark on Highway 212—I spent the night at a friend’s house and left Red Lodge the next morning. Continue Reading →
