Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/77/)
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.
Missoula Independent Matt Gibson said on Thursday that he chose to sell his business to Lee Enterprises to tap the corporation’s technical capabilities, adding that the Indy’s new partnership with the Missoulian will remain a work in progress as the weeks unfold.
On Thursday morning, the Missoulian announced that its corporate owner, Lee Enterprises, had bought the Missoula Independent for an undisclosed price. The announcement that took the community by surprise. Continue Reading →
“Shut up, dude, I’m trying to listen to your song,” a friend said as we were taking a seat at the Gem Theatre in Wibaux.
An extension of the Beaver Creek Brewery, the Gem is host to fine dining and an impressive stage setup. On this particular night, the band belonged to brewery co-owner Jim Devine. At 6-foot-6, his friends have been known to call him “Mighty Big,” a nickname he also uses for his band, Mighty Big Jim and the Tall Boys. Continue Reading →
Teachers from around Montana received a joyous lesson in the power of music Wednesday at Montana State University Billings.
First they watched “The Music of Strangers,” a 2015 documentary about the Silk Road Ensemble, an international-music project founded 16 years ago by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Then they had the chance to listen to and speak with two dynamic members of the ensemble—a bagpiper from Spain and a bamboo-flute player from Japan. Continue Reading →
Kent Harris took Walt Disney’s words to heart: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Gear Head Land was not in the headlights for Harris in his youth. And the retired banker admits that he was never really much of a motorcycle or car guy. He had, and does own, some nice wheels, but he had never gone in for the nitty-gritty part—the dirty, oily hands, scratched-up knuckles and sleepless nights thinking about projects. Continue Reading →
Ask a simple question, and you may get no answer at all.
I began trying a week ago to get an answer from Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., to an obvious question. I’m still trying. Continue Reading →
It’s time for the second annual Last Best News fundraising party.
The first Last Best News bash was held on Feb. 26, 2016, on an unusually beautiful day that brought about 400 people to the Garage Pub at the Yellowstone Valley Brewing Company. I wrote in the aftermath of that event that we hoped we wouldn’t need a fundraiser again for a good long while. However, as I said, “we also agreed that the party was so much fun that we ought to make it an annual event.” Continue Reading →
Editor’s note: We went to the opening of “Young Guns,” a new exhibit at Tyler Murphy’s Montana Gallery, 2710 Second Ave. N., Friday night, and we liked what we saw. It wasn’t just that the paintings were good, which they were. We were impressed with the way Murphy interspersed throughout the exhibit short, typewritten descriptions of the painting trip he made with a couple of fellow artists. Besides saying some cool things about Montana, Murphy really captured the joy of creativity, the inspiration of shared work. Continue Reading →
