The Billings Gazette back issues from July 2008:
Fire crew contract heads to mediation
Jul 01, 2008; ... A state mediator will consider many issues between Billings firefighters and city management after contract negotiations stalled Monday. Leaders from the firefighter union and the city met for the third time Monday and decided shortly before noon to go to mediation. The city will request ...
States leery of cattle from Montana
Jul 01, 2008; ... States worried about brucellosis-infected cattle are imposing strict rules on Montana livestock and are cracking down specifically on ranches in counties surrounding Yellowstone National Park. "We all realize, in states viewing this from afar, that Yellowstone is a huge problem," said ...
Dehler Park doesn't disappoint
Jul 02, 2008; ... A couple of innings into the first Billings Mustangs game at Dehler Park, about two-thirds of the 3,749 fans in attendance left. A steady rain with lightning on the horizon convinced many to head for home not long after the first pitch, but those who stayed made it worth their while, ...
Pediatric neurologist to be in city monthly
Jul 02, 2008; ... A pediatric neurologist set to close his practice in Billings this summer will continue seeing patients on a monthly basis, alleviating some concern about access to specialized care for children with neurological disorders. When he announced plans earlier this year to close his practice ...
PSC OKs rate hike for gas, electricity
Jul 02, 2008; ... HELENA - On a 3-2 vote, the state Public Service Commission on Tuesday gave final approval to a $15 million annual rate increase for NorthWestern Energy's electricity and natural gas customers in Montana. The increase, in effect on a temporary basis since January, raised rates about 2 ...
Coffeehouse hasn't lost its perk
Jul 03, 2008; ... Come fire, flood or famine, the show will go on at the Yellowstone Perk. There will be a punk rock show Friday at the popular coffeehouse and concert venue despite a kitchen fire Tuesday. The fire ignited at 4:30 p.m., when Don Hurley, who owns the business and lives in an ...
Tentative contract OK'd for E. Boulder
Jul 03, 2008; ... EAST BOULDER - More than 400 union members working at Stillwater Mining Co.'s East Boulder mine will be voting on a new contract next week. And Jim Williams, president of the Steelworkers International 11-001, said he's hopeful about the outcome. "It's pretty much the same contract," he ...
Solar power isn't free, at least not to start, but it has backers
Jul 04, 2008; ... CUSTER - Even now there are places on Montana's sagebrush-covered plains where modern electricity never caught on. George Larsen's ranch is one of them. Where the road to Larsen's 20,000-acre property turns to gravel, the power lines do not follow. Larsen's parents, ...
Caffeine in a hurry
Jul 07, 2008; ... When cars line up for the morning coffee rush at Peggy Sue's Coffee, things can get pretty busy. Chelsea Ross, a barista at Peggy Sue's, doesn't let the rush get to her. She takes a quick scan of the line and identifies a number of regulars. They order the same thing every day ...
Bakery's goal is to make pets happy and keep them healthy
Jul 07, 2008; ... Hearing voices isn't always the best prompt for starting your own business. But, it worked out for Ellie Whitney. She swears that she heard her two dogs, Max and Tyee, whisper in her ear, "Mom, we want delicious, all-natural food and treats every day - and we want to come to work ...
Jokes aside, hyperbaric chambers have real usesp
Jul 08, 2008; ... If you're old enough to remember the late 1980s, chances are you've seen the photos of pop star Michael Jackson lying prone in a hyperbaric chamber. Jackson purportedly slept in the oxygenated cylinder to reduce the effects of aging. Not surprisingly, it was at about that time that the ...
Youth center station eager to flex power
Jul 08, 2008; ... COLUMBUS - Directors at the Stillwater Youth Center had little idea what to expect when their number came up. "It's like we went out 'Here, kitty, kitty, kitty' and we got a cougar," said Bill Hagen, a member of the center's board of directors. For several years, the Stillwater ...
Baucus takes on Medicare cuts
Jul 08, 2008; ... HELENA - Sen. Max Baucus vowed Monday to press ahead a third time to stop scheduled payment cuts to doctors who treat elderly Americans on Medicare, pushing for another vote on the issue perhaps as early as Wednesday. "If we pay doctors properly, seniors will get to see their doctors ...
Big Sky EDA closes in on possible leader
Jul 08, 2008; ... Steve Arveschoug, the top candidate to become executive director of the Big Sky Economic Development Authority, is the executive director of Historic Riverwalk of Pueblo, an organization based in the southern Colorado city. Arveschoug said the Riverwalk specializes in revitalizing ...
Obama criticizes Plum Creek talks
Jul 09, 2008; ... HELENA - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday blasted closed-door talks between Plum Creek Timber Co. and the U.S. Forest Service that would allow the timber giant to use Forest Service logging roads for real estate development. "At a time when Montana's sportsmen ...
New Montana group jumps into debate on reform of health care
Jul 09, 2008; ... HELENA - If America's broken health care system is going to be fixed, now is the time - and the solution can and must include coverage for all at affordable prices, a new reform coalition said Tuesday. But those reforms can't occur without congressional action, and Montanans for Health ...
East Boulder miners, staff OK contract
Jul 10, 2008; ... EAST BOULDER - Miners and support staffers at the East Boulder mine south of Big Timber have voted to approve a new four-year contract with Stillwater Mining Co. Jim Williams, president of the Steelworkers International 11-001, said the vote tally was completed minutes after midnight ...
Bank plans operations center near North Park
Jul 10, 2008; ... First Interstate Bank is building a 65,000-square-foot operations center in the North Park area. Supporters say the project reinforces the bank's commitment to downtown and provides an anchor that will jump-start extensive development in the corridor between downtown and ...
THE WIND GRAB
Jul 11, 2008; ... A century ago, homesteaders Elbert and Alice Phipps no doubt cursed the relentless winds that raked their wide-open spaces. But today's inhabitants, great-grandson Clarence Phipps and his wife, Lynn, and 8-year-old daughter, Emma, value the nonstop gale. "We've got something to sell, and ...
Outdoor store ahead of plan
Jul 12, 2008; ... Sportsman's Warehouse is scheduled to open sooner than expected in Billings, according to the corporate office in Utah and the local store manager. The anticipated opening date was previously reported to be Aug. 30, but corporate officials said the grand opening will be Aug. 27. Manager ...
PERS ordered to give info to union
Jul 12, 2008; ... HELENA - A judge says the state Public Employees Retirement Board cannot withhold police retirement fund data from a police officers' group, which wants to analyze the information. In an order signed late Thursday, state District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena told the board to provide ...
Worm herders
Jul 14, 2008; ... LAUREL - Michael Herman got his start with night crawlers as a kid tromping around the back yard with a flashlight after a rainstorm. Now he spends just about every day sorting, counting or delivering the big, juicy worms. "Never did I know I'd be doing it on this scale," Herman ...
Decorator gives homes an exotic touch
Jul 14, 2008; ... During Allyson Gierke's many travels throughout Europe and Asia and all over the United States, she has stumbled upon numerous locally owned boutiques selling unique home decor items. That got her thinking: Why wouldn't a shop like that work in Billings? "I appreciate art and ...
Honda Gold Wing rally to draw 100s
Jul 14, 2008; ... They're no Hells Angels - they're too sweet. When a massive gang of Honda Gold Wing riders arrive in Billings this week, it's all good, clean family fun. "The great thing about these guys is they're not whiskey shots. They're ice cream. I hear they'll buy you out of ice cream," said Alex ...
AFFINITY FOR ANIMALS
Jul 14, 2008; ... Since she was a little girl growing up on an Ohio farm, Ruth Brown has had a soft spot for animals. She milked cows, raised horses and barrel raced at fairs. "I've always had a love of animals," she said. "It just developed from there." Brown's affinity for animals led ...
Wellness center nearly done
Jul 15, 2008; ... A decade after Ethel and Clyde Fleming moved into a new independent-living center called Mission Ridge and began inviting neighbors to start each day with coffee in the lobby, the West End community for senior citizens has institutionalized their morning tradition. Clyde's Corner, a ...
Dispute over, Rimrock pushes ahead with plan
Jul 16, 2008; ... A two-year dispute between the city of Billings and the Rimrock Foundation officially came to an end Monday, when a federal lawsuit filed by the foundation was dismissed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby. The dismissal order was issued two weeks after representatives of the city and ...
Yellowstone facilities going up, coming down
Jul 18, 2008; ... While construction has slowed across the United States amid a weakening economy and mortgage crisis, Yellowstone National Park has benefited. The slowdown has resulted in more bidders for park projects and, in some cases, lower costs for materials. "It's a better market," said ...
MetraPark getting upgrades of barns, seating
Jul 18, 2008; ... Visitors to this year's MontanaFair will notice more than a few changes at MetraPark. The county-owned facility that hosts Montana's largest fair is in the midst of upgrades that will renovate livestock barns, improve the interior of the big arena and make it easier for visitors to buy tickets ...
Athletes welcome
Jul 18, 2008; ... More than 10,000 athletes will compete in the Big Sky State Games this weekend with hopes of taking home the gold. Area businesses are focused on the silver they will leave behind. The State Games pump money into Billings, said John Brewer, president of the Billings Chamber of ...
Barley growers get beer update from Coors
Jul 19, 2008; ... Peter "PJ" Coors of the Coors brewing family told Montana barley growers Friday that this has been a record year in what has been a stable business, with rapidly escalating fuel and fertilizer costs, rising grain prices and megamergers among brewers. "The world's changed from this time ...
Big gift for Big Timber
Jul 21, 2008; ... BIG TIMBER - Now reduced to pieces and parts, Big Timber's big gift is neatly stacked at the Sweet Grass County Fairgrounds. But once reconstructed, the voluminous steel-sided building is expected to draw visitors from across the state and beyond. The former Carriage House Arena ...
Surprising opportunity proved to be cat's meow
Jul 21, 2008; ... LauraLee Malliot didn't know what to expect when she answered a newspaper ad for a job at a cat-grooming business. "I had been looking for a job for a long time and I thought I might be taking care of litter boxes or whatever," she said. "But, the owner said, 'Oh no, you're going to be ...
Colon exams made simpler
Jul 22, 2008; ... It's a procedure people don't even want to talk about, let alone have done, but there might finally be a way to make getting a colonoscopy more tolerable. Virtual colonoscopy uses a CT scanner to examine the colon, from outside the body, after the body has been filled with carbon ...
Sale of Northern Hotel postponed
Jul 22, 2008; ... The planned sale on Monday of the Northern Hotel to pay off a delinquent loan has been postponed, apparently until January. And some attorneys have shuffled around in the legal proceedings. Bruce Becker, a private-practice attorney in Livingston who is also the city attorney, has ...
Big Sky EDA picks new director from Colorado
Jul 22, 2008; ... Steve Arveschoug, director of the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo, Colo., was named Monday as the new executive director of the Big Sky Economic Development Authority. Arveschoug, 49, will replace Joe McClure, who resigned last fall from Big Sky EDA, Yellowstone County's economic ...
NWE's electric rates highest among region's big utilities
Jul 13, 2008; ... HELENA - NorthWestern Energy, whose latest rate increase was confirmed last month by state regulators, now has electric rates 20 percent higher than those of any other major utility in the region, an analysis by the Gazette State Bureau shows. Residential customers of NorthWestern are ...
TREATMENT PIONEER
Jul 13, 2008; ... The Rimrock Foundation, a nationally known addiction-treatment business, came by its 130 employees and $7 million budget the hard way, by "pushing a boulder up a mountain for 40 years." That's the analogy used by Mona Sumner, a Billings native who has been with the foundation since its ...
Running on fumes
Jul 13, 2008; ... It would seem like the record gas prices pulling additional billions out of the pocket of American consumers should be making fuel suppliers rich Yet, U.S. refineries and local wholesale distributors complain about making less money now than ever. And many Billings-area gas station ...
Gimme shelter
Jul 20, 2008; ... Unless you're an active outfitter, tents and tepees aren't exactly must-haves in a tough economy. So, you'd think a Billings company specializing in those products would be sweating a sales drop. Instead, revenues are up 5 percent over last year at Reliable Tent & Awning, a business ...
Getting Bakken oil out a big, complicated operation
Jul 20, 2008; ... At the site of the Hartland 14X-26 oil well about five miles southwest of Sidney, a whole lot of activity is packed into the 430-by-300-foot patch of prairie. There are seven semitrucks, each mounted with a 2,200-horsepower ergine, 56 tanks of water containing nearly 17,000 gallons of ...
Farmers' Market returns downtown
Jul 20, 2008; ... Dan and Marcey Schwarz walked along North Broadway in downtown Billings on Saturday morning, carrying plastic bags filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables. At the first Farmers' Market of the season, they bought apricots and cherries, beets and onions, radishes and a ...
Zpizza features Montana wheat, distinctive varieties
Jul 20, 2008; ... If pizza were healthier, would you eat it every day? Here's your chance. Zpizza, a California-based franchise, opened July 1 at 1430 Country Manor Blvd., not too far from where Grand Avenue meets Shiloh Road Featuring healthful ingredients, including organic tomato sauce and ...
Lambert School getting an overhaul
Jul 20, 2008; ... LAMBERT - No matter how long the oil boom lasts, the lambert school district plans to have something to show for it. School Superintendent Steven Schwarz fairly beamed as he gave a tour of the Lambert School, where the enrollment this year was 84 students in kindergarten through 12th ...
The new Boom
Jul 20, 2008; ... SIDNEY - The sound of seven 2,200-horsepower generators running full blast is a deafening, teeth-rattling roar. It is also the sound of the oil boom playing out on the rolling prairie near Sidney. The generators, mounted on semitrailers, power pumps that force sand and a watery gel into ...
Patient participation
Jul 23, 2008; ... Jennifer Graves, a registered nurse and clinical director of practice administration at St. Vincent Healthcare, is extending an offer to all patients. "We are basically inviting people to participate in their own health care," Graves said. As part of its accreditation with the ...
Gas prices slow tourism
Jul 23, 2008; ... Gas prices tripping over $4 a gallon haven't proved catastrophic for Montana's $3 billion tourism industry, but 2008 probably won't be a banner year. "We're doing good," John Brewer, executive director of the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday. "I wish we were doing ...
Student program means business
Jul 25, 2008; ... Who says business camp has to be boring? Business, after all, is not just about crunching numbers and making a buck, but also about the benefit - and fun - of developing relationships while identifying and producing a product. That's the type of teamwork enjoyed by about 15 kids ...
Lowest wage up 2nd time in '08, to $6.55 an hour
Jul 24, 2008; ... HELENA - About 15,500 Montana workers will see their wages rise by 30 cents an hour starting today because of an increase in the state minimum wage, the state Department of Labor and Industry estimates. Thanks to a boost in the federal minimum wage, Montana's minimum wage will go to ...
Company fined for old waste barrels
Jul 26, 2008; ... When Gene "Corky" Staudinger bought a piece of equipment for his machine business for $5 in 1995, the sale included at least 14 drums of used caustic waste. The 55-gallon drums were delivered to Staudinger's business, D&H Spring Machine and Welding at 3919 Montana Ave. The unmarked ...
Deadline near that affects Cabela's
Jul 26, 2008; ... People watching for progress on Montana's first Cabela's store off of Interstate 90 and South Billings Boulevard haven't had much to gawk at lately. COP Construction resumed construction briefly in May, but stopped on May 16 because documents from. the developer, Foursquare Properties of ...
A mom away from Mom
Jul 28, 2008; ... For most parents, the thought of caring for 11 babies is downright paralyzing. But, for Wendy Krenelka, it's as easy as an afternoon daydream. Krenelka works with three other women in the infant room at the Center for Generations child care program at St. John's Lutheran Ministries in ...
Gravel mining pits neighbor against company
Jul 28, 2008; ... HELENA - Missoula developer Ken Allen bought 100 grassy acres north of Lola in the fall of 2000, planning to subdivide the one-time ranch into about 70 residential lots. After the Missoula County Commission rebuffed the plan, Allen hatched a new idea: put a temporary gravel pit on the ...
Solar flair
Jul 27, 2008; ... The Solar Bug, a tiny car powered by batteries that can be recharged by solar panels on the roof, drives like a four-wheeler with moxie. Imagine sitting on a motorcycle seat, perhaps with a passenger behind, and steering an ATV chassis to the store or to work and never, ever, having to ...
2 casinos approved by city
Jul 29, 2008; ... Two new casinos may open soon after receiving approval from the City Council on Monday night. Once they're open, Billings will have 137 casinos, or about one for every 730 city residents. Council members were reluctant to approve the casinos but did so after being told by city staff that ...
EAS flights still to resume Sept. 3
Jul 29, 2008; ... Great Lakes Aviation of Wyoming reassured Montana aviation officials Monday that it will start flying Essential Air Service routes to Lewistown and Sidney on Sept 3. Great Lakes' founder and president, Doug Voss, confirmed the start date that was announced three weeks ago in a ...
Drug companies set to pay Montana to settle lawsuit
Jul 30, 2008; ... HELENA - The state of Montana has received about $295,000 as part of a national settlement with a pharmaceutical company and its former subsidiary to resolve complaints of illegal drug marketing and pricing of prescription drugs paid by state Medicaid programs. It is a part of a $389 ...
Council to consider zone changes
Jul 28, 2008; ... The City Council will consider several special reviews and zone changes at its meeting today and will award a bid for construction of the downtown MET Transit transfer center. The council meeting begins at 630 p.m. in City Council chambers, 210 N. 27th St. The zone changes will allow for ...
Doctor enjoys making fences look better
Jul 28, 2008; ... There's a certain satisfaction that comes from being able to stand back and look at what you've done in a day. In downtown Billings, there's a 200-foot fence Pat Doolin can't take his eyes off. He stained the long wood fence that separates Billings Clinic from Prill Dental Associates ...
Coalbed report due in few months
Jul 31, 2008; ... The final version of an environmental study on coalbed methane development in southeastern Montana is due for release by fall, with a decision expected in early 2009, Bureau of Land Management officials said. The report, known as the supplemental environmental-impact study, will include ...
BIA bison roundup leads to lawsuit
Jul 31, 2008; ... A Fort Smith couple has filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs after the agency rounded up more than 150 of their buffalo from land they thought they had leased. George and Nelvette Siemion, who have operated White Buffalo Ranch on the Crow Reservation for almost 40 years, ...