I met Marion Dozier in 1996 or 1997, when I was working as a reporter and wanted to do a story about efforts to clean up some of the most blighted properties in Billings. Marion, who was a city code enforcement officer at the time, filled me in on some of their efforts, but then she had a better idea. We hopped in a city vehicle and she gave me a guided tour of a handful of the worst eyesores in the city, complete with a running commentary on the city’s history with each property, and some pointed comments on the property owners in question. (more…) Continue Reading →
South Side
Recent Posts
Group working to bring grocery store to South Side
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A group working toward establishing a grocery store on Billings’ South Side met Thursday morning to talk about the next step in the process — conducting a market analysis of possible locations and what kind of store might work best. The analysis would also include five years of financial projections, including start-up costs, and a look at what other businesses might possibly co-locate with a new grocery store. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, News, Billings Clinic, Healthy By Design, RicerStone Health, South Side, St. Vincent Healthcare
Something lost: Nostalgia and the price of progress
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Billings is booming. Its population has climbed from 80,000 in 1990 to more than 110,000 in 2015. It’s also growing—from 32.8 square miles in 2000 to 42 square miles in 2010. In that same decade, the city added 7,000 new housing units. Billings is the biggest city in the state, home to the largest medical complex, the biggest newspaper and the tallest building in Montana. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Diversions, Bell Tones, Jim Ronquillo, Joseph Leone, Mark Dahlberg, Nellie Foster, Novasio's
The Bar Tab: Odd, authentic Reno Club scores big points
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You’ve probably driven past the Reno Club, nestled just south of the Sixth Street underpass at 150 Calhoun Lane. It’s not quite a South Side bar, not quite a West End bar, not quite a downtown tavern. Somehow it seems to transcend all those geographic classifications while embodying some of the better traits of each. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Diversions, 'Midnight Train to Georgia', Four Seasons, Reno Club, South Side, West End
South Side charity group doing good, staying put
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Driving around the South Side of Billings with Eric Basye, you can hardly go a block or two before he points out a project his organization has been involved in. Near South Park are three of its duplexes, all rental units. A few blocks away is a dilapidated house, recently purchased and ready for renovation. He points out a few more rental units, and then a house that was moved into the neighborhood from the medical corridor. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, News, Community Leadership and Development Inc., Dave Hagstrom, Eric Basye, John Geiger, Koinonia, South Side
Exhaustive probe unearths location of gas station
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I was a little surprised this morning when I saw the headline shown above on this story in the Gazette. Or, I should say that the headline surprised me after I read the first paragraph and learned that the robbery took place at a Holiday Station. I thought I knew the South Side fairly well, and I couldn’t picture a Holiday Station there. Then I remembered the one at South Billings Boulevard and King Avenue East. I wasn’t sure that qualified as the South Side (technically, it is within the boundaries of the Southwest Corridor Task Force), but still, close enough. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Holiday Station, South Side
At Your Service: A visit to a humble house of worship
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Eagle Ministries Inc., 304 S. 32nd St. Service, 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Length of service: 1 hour, 20 minutes. Length of sermon: 46 minutes
I decided I needed a change of pace—something other than a Sunday morning and something other than a large West End church. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: At Your Service, Crimea, Eagle Ministries, Facebook, Hobby Lobby, Joe Cutler, MET Transit, South Side
Photo Gallery: Shrines of the South Side
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My dogs and I spend a lot of time walking on the South Side, where we all find much to interest us. I don’t think the variety of olfactory data is any thicker on the South Side than elsewhere in town, but my dogs certainly keep busy on our strolls. With their snouts an inch or so off the ground, they move their heads from side to side like minesweepers, occasionally pouncing on a fragment of food or a scrap of unrecognizable organic matter. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Photo Galleries, angels, Buddha, cherubs, Jesus, prayer flags, South Side, Virgin Mary
Earlier, grittier Billings featured in debut novel
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More than a decade after she began writing “The Home Place,” Billings environmental lawyer Carrie La Seur’s debut novel will be released on July 29. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Culture, 'Hamlet', 'The Home Place', Billings Downtown Rotary, Billings Public Library, Carrie La Seur, Crowne Plaza, Plains Justice
Bridge story stirs memories of early adventures
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My story on the pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks brought in this response from Ellen (Bragg) Arnold, who grew up Billings and is now living in Boulder, Colo.:
“This story brought back some memories for me! (more…) Continue Reading →
