Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/2/)
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.
One week from today, on July 1, Last Best News will be suspending operations.
I plan to keep the site live on the web at least through Sept. 1, so people can use the archives and save any stories they may want to preserve, but as of July 1 we won’t be adding any new content to the site. Continue Reading →
I love talking with a wide range of folks about history and philosophy, government and law, politics and policy. I’m a Democrat, but many of my best discussion-mates are Republican friends who are willing to reasonably, rationally and civilly advance their political thoughts to me as I advance mine to them. Continue Reading →
More than a decade into the Bakken oil boom, the state of North Dakota, where the vast majority of the boom is concentrated, still does not have a single landfill licensed to accept radioactive oilfield waste.
Montana does. Oaks Disposal operates a landfill 26 miles northwest of Glendive that has taken in nearly 350,000 tons of oilfield waste of all kinds since it opened in 2013. Two other landfills that could accept radioactive waste, one near Outlook and one near Culbertson, have been licensed by the state of Montana but have not yet opened. Continue Reading →
Feeling flush, we decided to increase the monthly payment we were making on a credit card. Risky as it is, we pay bills online, and after rooting around on the credit card company’s website for a while, I found where automatic payments are set up. Continue Reading →
The building that once housed the old Western and Wheel bars, located side by side on the 2700 block of Minnesota Avenue, has been sold, and the new owners plan to convert it into residential apartments.
Jack English and Jeff Payne, principals of Illuminations Systems Inc., an electrical construction business in Denver that has an office in Billings, closed on the property in December and hope to start demolition on the building this summer. Continue Reading →
Her life’s work has been equity in education, and it’s that commitment that compelled Denise Juneau to make the difficult decision to leave Montana for the opportunity to lead Seattle’s public schools.
That move now imminent, Juneau said she’s focused on the goal of leading the Seattle Public Schools District as it brings to reality a broad community resolve to correct the wide achievement gap between its white and minority students. Continue Reading →
Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and other U.S. trade partners have increased the cost of products sourced by Montana manufacturers, though the full ramifications aren’t yet fully known. Continue Reading →
Voices from the Valley is an occasional series of conversations between Sherri Cornett and Billings-area leaders who are committed to creating a vibrant community for all.
As a master’s of education student at MSU Billings, Taylor Tellez’s main message is to be unapologetically yourself. He and I talked about identities and labels and the growing number of circles in Billings that support such discussions. Continue Reading →
John Kuglin, who retired in 2005 after a long career as a reporter and editor in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington and Montana, recently told the Montana Standard in Butte that he was thinking of writing a book called “When Journalism Was Fun.” Continue Reading →
As part of a project to expand and modernize the city’s wastewater treatment plant, failure to turn off several valves put the plant into noncompliance with state pollution-discharge limits for a short period in April.
The city informed the state Department of Environmental Quality of the violations a few days later, and the DEQ’s environmental compliance inspector in Billings, Dan Freeland, said the city is unlikely to be penalized for the incident. Continue Reading →
