Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/213/)
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.
Redevelopment of an industrial area of Billings that sits astride some of the most heavily traveled roads in the state is scheduled to start this spring.
The Exposition Gateway, as it is known, takes in an area bounded by First and Sixth avenues north, MetraPark and North 10th Street. A redevelopment plan for the Exposition Gateway aptly describes it as “the ragged edge of the downtown.” Continue Reading →
LAY OF THE LAND: A SERIES OF ESSAYS ON THE SPIRIT OF MONTANA
I could start this story atop the Bozeman Pass, at 10:30 on a snowy March night in the year 2000, big wet flakes swarming in front of my headlights with increasing fury. I could describe my hands clenched on the steering wheel of my tiny car, trying to keep my balding tires in the ankle-deep ruts ahead of me. I could describe my eyes squeezing shut as a passing truck sprayed gallons of slush on my windshield. I could describe my tires making tiny adjustments on the slushpack, momentarily losing their grip and searching for it again, and my whole body clenching up as if the force of my muscles could keep me on the road. I could describe my eyes becoming mesmerized by the flakes, then finally finding the orange light of a plow to follow behind. I could list the oaths I uttered when I realized that he was driving this storm-clogged road with his blade raised. Continue Reading →
I am sometimes accused, even by members of my own staff, of being too liberal. Sometimes, they suggest, my politics costs the newspaper money.
This criticism mystifies me. I am just about the most conservative person I know. I wear khakis and dress shirts. I teach rules of grammar to college freshmen. Continue Reading →
Nathan Blanding chronicled the construction of his Clark Avenue home on a blog he called “Mr. Blanding’s Dream House.”
The title was inspired by “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,” a 1948 film starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.
For Nathan Blanding, it really was his dream house: it was an infill project, multigenerational, handicapped-accessible and high-energy-performance. And he built it himself. Continue Reading →
A week ago today, Billings Gazette editor Darrell Ehrlick opened his Sunday column with the words, “This is one of those thing that hurts to write.”
If it’s any consolation, Darrell, it was also painful to read. Continue Reading →
Rudi Marten was considering different ways of expressing his commitment to downtown Billings when he thought of the classic Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street.”
Reflecting on the movie was doubly inspirational. It led him to think in terms of “Miracle on Montana Avenue,” the downtown street where he and his parents decided to relocate their Columbus photography studio two years ago. Continue Reading →
CODY, WYO. — The National Park Service has changed how it manages a short-term detention site in Yellowstone National Park after a review of operations there found serious deficiencies, and even recommended a temporary closure of the jail.
Following inspections of lockups at Yellowstone and Yosemite National Park conducted a year ago by the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General, auditors determined that the Yellowstone lockup “did not provide effective security.” Continue Reading →
