Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/tag/liz-welch/)
The owner of a new downtown coffee shop, facing threats of a boycott over his hate-filled racist and sexist rants on Facebook, apologized Sunday, calling his comments “the biggest mistake I ever made in my life.” “I completely apologize,” Larry Heafner said. “It was the dumbest thing I ever did. … I’m not going to sit and try to excuse my derogatory or negative comments, because it was ridiculous. I do want to say, I’m not racist by no means, and I’m not a woman hater.” Continue Reading →
The Rev. Michael Mulberry is passionate about food, but in ways most people most likely have never considered. He considers food from both a political and a spiritual perspective, looking at what we do to the earth and to ourselves in the growing and the eating of it. Along the way, he talks about immigration and the prophet Daniel and Daniel’s refusal to eat “the king’s meat.” He talks about the abundance and diversity of food promised by God in Genesis, about agricultural practices, “food deserts” and victory gardens. (more…) Continue Reading →
MISSOULA—In a few months, Scott Crichton is going to be playing a lot more guitar. Twenty-eight years after becoming the first full-time executive director of the Montana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, he plans to leave his job in August. (more…) Continue Reading →
Jani McCall didn’t sleep much Tuesday. She is the Billings City Council member who first suggested, in December, that the city consider a nondiscrimination ordinance. Tuesday morning, the NDO went down on a 6-5 vote, with Mayor Tom Hanel casting the deciding vote shortly after 3 a.m. (more…) Continue Reading →
All eyes will be on Mayor Tom Hanel Monday night, when the Billings City Council is finally scheduled to vote on a nondiscrimination ordinance. Hanel appears to be the swing vote on the 11-member council, and on a roll-call vote the mayor is traditionally the last one to cast his vote. (more…) Continue Reading →
Greg Gianforte, the Bozeman entrepreneur whose planned commencement speech at Montana Tech in Butte sparked talk of a boycott, offered to “step down” from giving a similar speech at Rocky Mountain College next month. But Robert Wilmouth, president of the private college in Billings, insisted that Gianforte give the commencement address as planned. (more…) Continue Reading →
Opponents of a non-discrimination ordinance are so eager to continue discriminating against certain people that they couldn’t even wait for the proposed ordinance to be drafted. That’s why they showed up last week when the City Council heard a request for a $25,000 donation to help fund a national conference that will be held in Billings this summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Not In Our Town movement. (more…) Continue Reading →
