The Billings Gazette back issues from October 2007:
Making Wood Work
Oct 01, 2007; ... An allergy turned Ken Thornton into a log furniture designer and builder. Thornton worked as a truck mechanic for 25 years before developing a debilitating allergy to certain chemicals. The allergic reactions were so severe that he lost his upper-body strength and had to quit his ...
Sunsetting on Nelson?: Cabin owners, BuRec at odds over working in lease contracts
Oct 01, 2007; ... Lora Woodward is convinced the federal government plans to terminate her lease and those of 104 others who have spent tens of thousands of dollars building, buying or improving their cabins on Nelson Reservoir. Denials by Bureau of Reclamation that proposed new rules will have any effect ...
Auto diagnostics company focused on customer satisfaction
Oct 01, 2007; ... Just about everyone has a horror story about being treated badly or ripped off by an auto mechanic. James Halligan has been in the auto repair business a long time and he's seen some shady practices. That's one reason he wanted to open his own shop. Most people, Halligan said, ...
Eatery owners sued by feds
Oct 02, 2007; ... A federal agency is suing the owners of Chuck E. Cheese in Billings, alleging that they failed to stop a night manager from sexually harassing teenage employees. TNT Pizza Inc., which owns the restaurant at 100 24th St. W, failed to prevent the man in his late 20s from subjecting the ...
New lodging tax goes into effect
Oct 02, 2007; ... Billings hotels and motels plan to boost the local tourism industry six bits at a time. A new surcharge of 75 cents per night on the city's 3,800 hotel and motel rooms went into effect Monday. Local hospitality industry officials are optimistic that the fee will help the city land ...
Reappraisal lowers taxes for vacant Northern
Oct 03, 2007; ... To help the latest owner develop the vacant and storied Northern Hotel, three Yellowstone County Commissioners voted Tuesday to lower the countys property tax bill for the Northern by $79,366. San Francisco developer Hassan Kangarloo, who purchased the hotel in May, also is preparing to ...
Sugar producers eye Farm Bill
Oct 03, 2007; ... A half-a-cent-a-pound increase in the federal sugar loan rate does not sound like much - until one multiples it by hundreds of millions of pounds. And channeling excess sugar in the domestic market into ethanol production is a safety valve to prevent depressing prices to U.S ....
Itching to fight deadly fungus
Oct 04, 2007; ... Two Montana State University Billings biologists are making history while tackling a nasty fungus that can kill people. Their research into the Candida albicans fungus has led to the university's application for its first patent to protect intellectual-property rights. David ...
Benefactors step forward for zoo otters
Oct 05, 2007; ... A donation from a Billings businessman and his wife has spruced up the habitat for two of ZooMontana's most popular animals. After 15 years, the otter habitat was beginning to show its age, said Gary Oakland, who with his wife, Frances, donated $30,000 to adopt the exhibit. "The ...
Heavy turnout hears plan for Billings Bypass
Oct 05, 2007; ... Nearly 150 people attended a Billings Bypass public meeting held by the Montana Department of Transportation Thursday night. "Wow, we didn't expect such a Large turnout," said Debra Perkins-Smith, a project consultant with David Evans and Associates. The Billings Bypass ...
North Park Task Force removes its chairman
Oct 05, 2007; ... The North Park Task Force voted Thursday night to remove a City Council candidate as its chairman after members claimed he spoke against their wishes at a public meeting. Curt Zygmond brusquely handed his gavel over to his cochair, dropped his keys on the table and walked out of the ...
City leaders haven't seen plans for Kohl's
Oct 05, 2007; ... Television news reports Thursday that the Billings Planning Department approved plans by Kohl's department store to build at Shiloh Crossing, a new West End development, was news to top city officials. Mayor Ron Tussing and City Administrator Tina Volek, reached in Bozeman at a ...
Cabela's buys land as Billings plans take shape
Oct 06, 2007; ... Development along South Billings Boulevard, the middle exit to Billings, will take off now that Cabela's has officially purchased land for its first Montana store. Cabela's Retail Inc. signed its name on a warranty deed Thursday, buying 44 acres of sugar beet fields along Interstate ...
Growing Gracefully
Oct 06, 2007; ... After 18 months of construction, St. Patrick's Co-Cathedral will dedicate its new Parish Center on Sunday. The $3.2 million project at the downtown church incorporated a seamless addition to the 103-year-old building that was renovated in 2000. The new three-story, nearly ...
The marriage of art & furniture
Oct 07, 2007; ... You rarely see furnishing store windows covered with brown paper. But last week, windows at Gene Rockman Interiors were covered while contractors remodeled for new owners. After 40 years in the Billings retail furniture business, Gene Rockman sold the retail portion of his ...
A platinum anniversary for diamonds
Oct 07, 2007; ... The best stories are the ones gleaned during 70 years of running a family business in Billings. And Montague's Jewelers of Montana, which hit that rare anniversary mark this year, has a doozy. Chris Montague, the third-generation family jeweler, said most men plan for their ...
Brucellosis - hit ranch gets no more state aid
Oct 08, 2007; ... HELENA - A Bridger ranching family that had to slaughter all its stock because of a cattle disease won't get additional money from the state as reimbursement. Gov Brian Schweitzer said Friday that he cannot legally give the couple any state money. "I am not sure how I can ...
Troubling signs?
Oct 08, 2007; ... Almost 16 months after the Billings City Council appointed a committee to come up with regulations governing electronic signs, the council is finally scheduled to vote on a proposed ordinance Tuesday night. The council vote will be preceded by a public hearing on the measure, during ...
Class Clown
Oct 15, 2007; ... Patrick Branger still has all his fingers, thankfully. The 15-year-old juggles machete knives, which always leads to the obvious, but not unreasonable, question. The better question may be: Why? The teenager also juggles flaming clubs, hula hoops, balls, silk scarves, and, well, ...
Roundup store a universe of collectibles, hardware items
Oct 15, 2007; ... Siegfried Mahn may have the only store in Montana where you can buy a nice used paperback, a whisky bottle covered in blue velvet, a ceramic ashtray shaped like a hula girl, a church pew and a jar of plumber's glue. Mahn runs The Universe and Signature Hardware at 137 Main St. in ...
Long-term effort spruces neglected corner of city
Oct 16, 2007; ... The reconstruction of crumbling, potholed streets in the area of town that used to be known as the Conoco Triangle has been well-received by the 40-some employees of Precision Plumbing and Heating. "Everybody's happy," said owner Dave Biegel. "It was a kidney-pounder to go down the ...
Former first lady pitches site for state historical museum
Oct 16, 2007; ... HELENA - Former first lady Betty Babcock urged Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Monday to support building a new Montana Historical Society museum where Helena's Capital Hill Mall is now located, but he insisted that he's site-neutral. Babcock, a former legislator and the wife of former Gov. Tim ...
COT pushes new nursing program
Oct 16, 2007; ... A two-year registered nursing degree at the College of Technology could move another step closer to reality today. The college proposes adding a six-semester associate of science registered nursing degree to its medical programs. The proposed degree will be discussed before the ...
From whistles to whispers
Oct 16, 2007; ... At his son's wedding last weekend at the Billings Depot, urban-renewal specialist Greg Krueger said he couldn't hear the trains rolling by. However, when the locomotives get a little closer to the North 27th Street grade crossing, all train engineers are required to blow their ...
Beall boilermakers strike over health care fight
Oct 17, 2007; ... More than 100 members of the boilermakers union at Beall Corp. in Lockwood went on strike Tuesday morning after contract talks stalled over health care. David Bye, president of the Boilermakers Union Local 599, said the company wants union members to pay part of their health insurance ...
Council OKs sign rules; details still to come
Oct 10, 2007; ... After three hours of staff presentations, public testimony and extended debate, members of the City Council voted Tuesday night to adopt an ordinance setting some restrictions on electronic signs. And they directed city staff members to report back by Dec. 3 with recommendations on ...
Study finds gap in wages rising in state
Oct 10, 2007; ... HELENA - Many job openings in Montana fail to pay a "living wage" sufficient for people to meet their basic needs without public assistance and leave no room for money for emergencies and planning, a new study said. In Montana, rising costs of health care, housing, utilities and ...
Cabela's to open doors in Billings next summer
Oct 09, 2007; ... Cabela's announced Monday that its first Montana store should be open in Billings by early next summer. Cabela's will build an 80,000-square-foot store surrounded by a dozen other retail sites near South Billings Boulevard off Interstate 90. "Montana is a mecca for sportsmen and ...
Railroad owner aims to make deal for leasing coal
Oct 13, 2007; ... While the Tongue River Railroad now has federal approval to build the 117 miles from near Decker to Miles City, what its owner needs is a coal lease and money to build a mine and track north from Ashland. "The whole project is contingent on getting coal leases in the Otter Creek Tracts," ...
Brand Loyalty
Oct 20, 2007; ... Paul Johnson knows a good brand when he sees it. He has the background to appreciate a livestock marking that is easy to read and is in the correct location. Johnson wears two shirts. During regular working hours, he is a brand inspector for the Montana Department of ...
Insurer 'presuming' appeal in cop's case
Oct 20, 2007; ... With a deadline a month off, an official with the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority said Friday that the organization continues to mull an appeal to the Montana Supreme Court in the case of a Billings police officer who won a $13 million verdict against the city. Bob Worthington, the ...
Rail permit holder seeks state coal
Oct 20, 2007; ... Deep seams of coal underlie the prairies of the Great Northern Plains. Some are more valued than others, some not at all. Some are being mined while other sites remain in perpetual potential. A long-term effort to develop the more desirable coal under the rangeland of Eastern Montana is ...
Aileen's owners try farewell on for size
Oct 12, 2007; ... After 72 years of their family running the stylish women's clothing store Aileen's, the Bohlinger sisters decided to sell out and close rather than pass on the business their grandparents started. "It's hard to sell grandmother," JoLynn Sommers said. "It just didn't feel ...
GE selects Big Sky EDA lot in Transtech Center
Oct 12, 2007; ... GE Commercial Finance will put its new Billings operations center on 7 acres of county-owned property in the Transtech Center, a high-tech business park at 32nd Street West and Gabel Road. As part of a complicated financial arrangement, the Big Sky Economic Development Authority will ...
State subsidies at center of insurance fight
Oct 12, 2007; ... HELENA - A Kalispell insurance agent wants a list of the 785 businesses that get state subsidies helping them buy group health insurance, saying he might be able to offer them better coverage. But state Insurance Commissioner John Morrison has said no, citing privacy laws and other state ...
Bless the beasts
Oct 08, 2007; ... Helping animals is its own reward. But sometimes, you get a little something extra. Ruth Brown, executive director of the Beartooth Nature Center in Red Lodge, was honored with the Vinnie Award from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks at the annual Mikal Kellner Foundation ...
FINGER-PICKIN' GOOD
Oct 08, 2007; ... Gerald Pierce isn't exactly a musician, per se, but he's a virtuoso when it comes to the guitar-shaped billboard he wields for a local pizza chain. With earphones in place and a portable radio tuned to local rock and country stations, the 52-year-old Lockwood man jams out on his "guitar" ...
Busy mom balances dual business ventures
Oct 08, 2007; ... You would think that with a growing family and a growing preschool business, Linda Eliason would be busy enough. Then last November, she started an in-home craft business called Vinyl Heartstrings. "I thought I could use a hobby," she said. Better yet, it's a hobby that produces ...
In emergencies, cooperation kicks in
Oct 18, 2007; ... Billings ExxonMobil's own fire brigade responded to the explosion and fire at its oil refinery early Wednesday morning in Lockwood, and more help was standing by if needed. The backup assistance is available through a mutual-aid agreement ExxonMobil has with other emergency responders ...
Refinery fire lingers after blast
Oct 18, 2007; ... A small fire at the ExxonMobil refinery in Lockwood continued to burn throughout the day Wednesday after a huge early morning explosion and fireball that jolted surrounding homes and businesses. A spokesman for the oil company said crews would try today to shut off the flow of gas that was ...
Clinic plans pumpkin event
Oct 18, 2007; ... The Eugene F. Herman Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders Clinic serves 160 children each week "It's really expanded," said Lacey Selle, certified instructor of infant massage with the Scottish Rite Clinic. "The big difference this year is that we've gone from just speech therapy ...
Nursing-degree program OK'd
Oct 18, 2007; ... The Montana State Board of Nursing gave unanimous approval Wednesday to a new two-year registered-nursing degree in Billings. The Montana State University Billings College of Technology has proposed starting an associate of science degree in nursing that would incorporate its current ...
Insure Montana may cut into health plan benefits
Oct 23, 2007; ... HELENA - The board overseeing a subsidized health insurance plan for nearly 800 small businesses in Montana indicated Monday that it will try to hold down double-digit rate increases by cutting plan benefits. Jim Edwards, a member of the Insure Montana board, said increases in January ...
EPA wants prompt PCE cleanup
Oct 19, 2007; ... Cleaning up the source of contaminated groundwater beneath a Billings neighborhood could cost about $7 million and could take three to five years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The costs, at least initially, will be borne by the EPA. The agency later will decide ...
How Sweet It Is
Oct 22, 2007; ... Surrounded by the ingredients of 190 confections in their recipe book, Patti and Gary Brockel have to decide which part of the kitchen to move before whipping up the next batch of candy. "This is an inefficient kitchen," deadpanned Gary on a recent afternoon. "We've adapted to ...
Utilities fight rent claim for streambeds
Oct 22, 2007; ... HELENA - A District Court judge here will take up the case today that looks at whether utility companies should pay the state rent for using the riverbeds on which their hydroelectric dams sit. Attorney General Mike McGrath has argued that the ground beneath riverbeds is state land held ...
Rancher banking on sod as newest cash crop
Oct 22, 2007; ... Bill Flanagan jokes that he got into the sod business to support his "ranching habit." Truth is, like most smart business owners, he saw a need and filled it. "I knew I could produce a very competitive product," said Flanagan, who farms and ranches and grows grass near ...
Health Care On Call
Oct 22, 2007; ... HARLOWTON - When a trauma victim is brought into the emergency department at Wheatland Memorial Healthcare, chances are that a team of medical personnel will be there and at the ready, even in the middle of the night. The hospital's night crew, usually a registered nurse and a couple of ...
House panel OKs bill imposing mining royalties
Oct 24, 2007; ... WASHINGTON - Companies that take gold, uranium and other minerals from federal lands would have to pay up to an 8 percent royalty under an update to the 1872 hard-rock-mining law approved Tuesday by a key House committee. The bill has the support of a coalition of taxpayer groups, ...
As Billings, Qwest reject blame, residents face bills
Oct 24, 2007; ... Before noon on Sept. 27, Al Ortmann heard a crash and ran outside his Yellowstone Avenue home. A few minutes later, Kristai Andersen came home to her house on Clark Avenue. What the two neighbors saw in their shared alley shocked them: a city dump truck on Sixth Street West had snagged a ...
Red Lodge ski resort suitor emerges
Oct 24, 2007; ... Rumors of a change of hands at Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort have been circulating in Red Lodge for weeks, and Tuesday the name of the possible buyer was confirmed. A Forest Service review related to the potential sale of the ski area found no objections to a proposed stock purchase by ...
Proposed cell tower by park raises concerns
Oct 24, 2007; ... A proposed cell phone tower in Gardiner is drawing concern from some locals and the National Park Service over the effect it might have on scenic views in the small, tourism-based town on Yellowstone's northern edge. Alltel Corp. is proposing a 115-foot pole on private property an White ...
Utility, state agree on rent at dam site
Oct 24, 2007; ... HELENA - A Spokane, Wash.-based utility has agreed to pay Montana $4 million a year in rent to use the state-owned riverbed to generate electricity at its northwest Montana dam and reservoir - a move that narrowly avoided a trial over the matter. Avista Corp., which owns the Noxon Rapids ...
State access route called public road
Oct 21, 2007; ... A road that leads to thousands of acres of public land in north-central Montana has been ruled a public highway by the Blaine County attorney. In a letter to the Public Lands Access Association, which had pushed to open the road, Blaine County Attorney Donald Ranstrom said he concluded ...
Chamber sets ambitious course
Oct 24, 2007; ... Roger Huebner ended his term as board chairman of the Billings Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau with an equestrian flourish Tuesday. He entered the Holiday Inn Grand Billings Convention Center on horseback, carrying a branding iron as part of a skit about one of the ...
Tussing meets with fire union
Oct 26, 2007; ... After a bruising lawsuit and the resulting loss of promised firefighter jobs, Mayor Ron Tussing and officials from the firefighters union met this week to see if there's any room for compromise or any way to save jobs. Union President Jamie Mertz said the meeting was productive, although ...
Trash heap of history grows
Oct 26, 2007; ... Archaeologists thousands of years from now might wonder why a baseball stadium was buried next to a church in the Billings landfill. The answer is more mundane than mysterious. The summer of 2007 was simply one of the busiest when it came to tearing down buildings in ...
RMC brings back calf program
Oct 26, 2007; ... For its 20th Black Tie Blue Jeans Ball, Rocky Mountain College leaders hope that Montana ranchers will donate the proceeds from the sale of one calf from their herd to the scholarship benefit. This year, Rocky President Michael Mace is recognizing how much Rocky owes to the Western ...
Red Lodge resort's sale official
Oct 26, 2007; ... A San Francisco-based investment company confirmed Thursday its purchase of Red Lodge Mountain Resort. Details of the negotiations, including the sale price, were not disclosed. JMA Ventures LLC was founded in 1986. Its investments include Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, ...
Workplace issues face ed leaders
Oct 26, 2007; ... Higher-education leaders heard some familiar themes - including that the state needs more trained workers - Thursday morning during one of the last listening sessions organized by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. Todd Buchanan and Janine Pease, who are Billings members ...
Beall employees voting on contract
Oct 26, 2007; ... Boilermakers picketing Beall Corp. of Montana may be back on the job after voting this morning on a contract proposal that includes a change in health insurance providers. The union went on strike at both Beall Montana locations in Lockwood and Billings a week ago, and representatives ...
Health care forum organized
Oct 26, 2007; ... HELENA - Potential fixes for the nation's ailing health care system will get a full airing in Helena next week, as more than 200 people gather for a forum that features reformers from across the country. The organizer of the Montana Healthcare Forum is Montana Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the ...
REd Lodge ski area sold
Oct 25, 2007; ... Red Lodge Mountain Resort has been sold to a San Francisco real estate investment firm that recently purchased two ski resorts at Lake Tahoe and owns Ghirardelli Square, a historic Bay Area tourist attraction. According to Rob Ringer, ski area manager for the past eight years, new owner ...
Beall union approves contract, insurance plan
Oct 27, 2007; ... Members of the Boilermakers Union Local 599 on Friday voted to ratify a three-year contract with Beall Corp. of Montana, bringing 114 workers back on the job after a weeklong strike. The workers voted 70-25 to accept a contract that includes a change in health insurance providers ....
Pay for state's leaders depends on regional average
Oct 28, 2007; ... HELENA - Four out of five states pay their governors more than Montana does, a national survey shows. Gov. Brian Schweitzer's annual pay rose July 1 to $100,120, a 3.8 percent increase over the $96,462 he was paid over the previous two years. That salary will continue until June 30, ...