Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/202/)
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.
There’s lots of news about the news in Montana, though some of it is rather old by now.
The most surprising news, to me, is that the Montana Standard in Butte has hired David McCumber as its new editor. The Standard, where I landed my first newspaper job 35 years ago, has had a lot of editors in its long history, but for decades most of its editors have come from within Lee Enterprises, the Iowa-based chain that owns the Standard (and the Billings Gazette). Continue Reading →
At the end of what must have been one of the most open winters in the history of Montana—a year after one of the snowiest winters on record—it occurs to me that I didn’t do nearly as much traveling as I should have.
And then it occurs to me that when I set out on my first big out-of-town trip this winter, to do a story on the Beaver Creek Brewery in Wibaux way back in mid-November, it was snowing, windy and bitterly cold. Continue Reading →
Senate Bill 143 appears to be dead. Fortunately, the students it aimed to protect are still alive.
After passing the Montana Senate in February, the bill failed, 49-51, on second reading Monday in the House. SB 143, introduced by Sen. Cary Smith, R-Billings, would allow students at Montana’s public colleges and universities to carry concealed weapons on campus. Continue Reading →
UPDATE: It has come to our attention that many readers failed to realize that this was an April Fool’s Day story. The writer, Ruffin Prevost, had hoped that the “yeti toe” would have provided enough of a clue, together with the links in the story to his previous April 1 spoofs. But apparently not. We repeat: This was a spoof, just like our story last April 1 about the gentleman surfing in the BBWA Canal. Continue Reading →
After a final week-long flurry of construction, Big Dipper Ice Cream in downtown Billings had a soft opening for friends, family and supporters Tuesday night.
“The guys who are working for us, they went all weekend, 14, 16 hours a day,” co-owner Bryan Hickey said. Continue Reading →
During the 60-some years that the Monte Carlo Casino has operated in Billings, it’s hard to imagine that anyone ever confused it with the Monte Carlo Casino in the Principality of Monaco.
But the powers that be in Monaco, which owns the trademark on the name, apparently thought it was worth the trouble to avoid the possibility of such confusion. And so, after more than three years of negotiations and legal wrangling, the Billings casino dropped the second part of its name last week. Continue Reading →
BUTTE—Six years ago, when she was still teaching English and history for Billings Catholic Schools, Stella Burke organized a two-day field trip to Butte for about 80 seventh-graders.
There, among other activities, her pupils went into an underground mine and visited the mansion of Copper King William Clark. But the highlight of the trip, she said, was spending time in the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives. Continue Reading →
One of the first things Al Nash can remember about Yellowstone National Park is the smell.
“I remember how stinky it was—that sulfur smell,” Nash said, recalling a trip to Yellowstone with his parents when he was a young child, more than 50 years ago. Continue Reading →
We went to Sacrifice Cliff Theatre Co.’s “New Works Festival” Friday night and recommend it wholeheartedly.
It consists of 10 one-act plays of about 10 minutes each, all on the theme of “Welcome to Montana.” We have already described the plays in an earlier story, and will add here only that the plays, short as they are, cover a lot of ground and a lot emotional territory. Continue Reading →
