Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/page/85/)
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.
A newly formed group opposed to the use of animals in circuses is planning a series of protests during the 66th Annual Al Bedoo Shrine Circus in Billings.
Montanans Against Animal Circuses is planning its main protest for noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, at the Shrine Auditorium, 1125 Broadwater Ave., but it intends to have at least some protesters at each of the nine shows scheduled for March 29 through April 2. Continue Reading →
HELENA — The main state budget bill at the Montana Legislature passed first reading last week with some surprises, including the restoration of $11.5 million to higher education funding.
But one area has consistently struggled to find funding throughout the first half of the 65th Montana legislative session—special education. Funded through a combination of federal dollars and state funds, special education has seen minimal increases in state funds, leaving local and federal dollars to pick up the slack, according to a report by the legislative school funding interim committee. Continue Reading →
After uncertainty about how the upcoming special congressional election would change the makeup of the Montana Legislature, the nomination of Democrat Rob Quist and Republican Greg Gianforte means it’s back to business as usual at the state Capitol.
Multiple legislators had announced their intention to run for the vacant congressional seat after former Rep. Ryan Zinke was nominated and then confirmed as U.S. secretary of the Interior. Continue Reading →
There are some books you hear about so often that you begin to think, wrongly, that you might have read them.
Such was the case with John R. Barrows’ “U-Bet: A Greenhorn in Old Montana.” When I came across another reference to it recently, I told myself I’d read it, but then I started to wonder. Continue Reading →
Several members of the Missoula City Council have suggested that the number of local casinos has reached a saturation point, leaving in question the future of another casino proposed for North Reserve Street.
Concerns that local casinos were snatching up coveted all-beverage licenses also came up. Continue Reading →
The confirmation of Ryan Zinke as secretary of the Department of the Interior has created an exceptional event in Montana: the need for a special election to determine his replacement in Congress. According to the secretary of state’s website, a special election has not been held to fill a congressional seat since at least 1912.
How this special election, scheduled for May 25, will be conducted is proving to be controversial. Senate Bill 305, which would give county election officials the discretion to run the election entirely by mail, passed the state Senate only after the Republican caucus split on the question, with the Democratic members voting uniformly in favor of the bill. Continue Reading →
There is a tall, ancient, sagebrush beside a mailbox along a road to the Yellowstone River—a remnant of the open prairie of long ago. A wild-looking piece of creation, it is not content to hide in the roadside debris of beer cans, accumulated drifts of dirt and dust, and the many kinds of exotic weeds. Continue Reading →
