The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) articles from April 2004

The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) archives from April 2004

Billings Gazette, Mont., Business Profile Column.
April 3, 2004... Apr. 3--AUCTIONEER KEEPS BUSINESS GOING, GOING: As a kid, Rick Young of Fishtail was fascinated by the lightning pace of auctions and the fast talking of auctioneers. Later, when his brother agreed to help him pay for college, he attended...

Coffee Establishment in Billings, Mont., Takes Pride in Making Perfect Cup.
April 3, 2004... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 3--Making the perfect cup of coffee is an art form not totally appreciated in this country. In Italy, the average age of the coffee artiste is 48 -- it takes years to perfect the espresso skill. While the...

Billings, Mont., Conference Is Aimed at Stopping Predatory Lending.
April 3, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 3--After a bankruptcy and a divorce last year, 50-year-old "Tonya" needed some cash for a long weekend trip to Wyoming. Unwelcome at the banks, the Billings woman decided to go to a payday lender because she'd...

Friends of Martinsdale, Mont., Museum Seek Intervention in Reopening Facility.
April 3, 2004... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 3--Several residents of the Musselshell Valley have asked a Billings District Court to allow them to intervene in a court action over operation of the Bair Family Museum at Martinsdale. The group also wants...

Billings Gazette, Mont., Jan Falstad Column.
April 4, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 4--The April issue of Harper's magazine includes an article called "The Oligarchs' Ball" offering details about the roles President George W. Bush, along with his father and Vice President Dick Cheney, played in...

Sulfur Dioxide Pollution in Yellowstone Valley of Montana Drops in 2003.
April 6, 2004... Byline: Clair Johnson Apr. 6--Sulfur dioxide pollution from Yellowstone Valley's major industries dropped 10 percent last year to a near-record low. Jim Hughes, an environmental specialist with the Montana Department of Environmental...

Butte, Mont., Newspaper Gets New Publisher from Billings Paper's Ad Staff.
April 6, 2004... Apr. 6--Rona Rahlf, a veteran advertising and human resources newspaper executive for Billings Gazette Communications, has been named publisher of The Montana Standard in Butte. The announcement was made Monday by Mike Gulledge, Gazette...

Developer Shows Interest in Project near Library in Billings, Mont.
April 8, 2004... Byline: Tom Howard Apr. 8--Over the past five years, a two-block area surrounding Parmly Billings Library has been the focus of intense interest from real estate developers hoping to spur a downtown renaissance. The latest in a string...

Montana Snowpack Dwindles in Early Spring Warmth; Drought Enters 6th Year.
April 8, 2004... Byline: Lorna Thackeray Apr. 8--Snowmelt in Montana's mountains started about a month early this year, and very little of the water is cascading into rivers and streams. A sixth consecutive year of drought seems inevitable for much of...

Billings, Mont., Voters to Vote on Proposed Tax Increase for Education.
April 8, 2004... Byline: John Fitzgerald Apr. 8--When a consumer wants to buy something, there are two questions: What will it cost me, and what do I get for my money? When School District 2 voters go to the polls May 4, they will be asked to approve...

Montana Experts Say Climate Change Underway in Much of Western U.S.
April 8, 2004... Byline: Lorna Thackeray Apr. 8--Early snowmelt has become a hallmark of Montana's prolonged drought. Some scientists are beginning to think that it may be much more than that. Full-fledged climate change, which could mean shorter...

Billings, Mont., Council to Consider Junk-Cleanup Ordinance.
April 8, 2004... Byline: Ed Kemmick Apr. 8--An ordinance that would give city code-enforcement officers more power to force the cleanup of dangerous or offensive collections of junk and debris will be considered by the Billings City Council later this...

Construction of Air Traffic Control Tower in Billings, Mont., Nears Completion.
April 13, 2004... Byline: Becky Shay Apr. 13--When contractors asked the Federal Aviation Administration for a 12-month schedule to build a new air traffic control tower at the Billings airport, officials thought it was a pretty aggressive schedule. ...

Farmers, Truckers in Montana Trying to Adapt to Surging Fuel Costs.
April 13, 2004... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 13--On a recent run from Laredo, Texas, to Billings, Dave Zernechel was shopping for fuel on his CB radio. "We'd be talking to everyone as to where was the cheapest," Zernechel said as he climbed down from...

Billings, Mont., Company Bags National Award for Luggage.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 15--Outside Buyer's Guide has selected a bag made by Red Oxx Manufacturing of Billings as one of this year's 15 best outdoors products. The competition wasn't a beauty contest either. James Glave, who edits...

Montana Businesses Cope with Naming Rights Conflicts.
April 17, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 17--In 1997, Parisian fashion designer Claude Montana legally threatened Montana Knits, a family business making sweaters and caps out of cashmere goat hair, because he claimed exclusive trademark rights to the...

Montana Researchers Study Patterns of Revegetation after Fires.
April 17, 2004... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 17--When wildland fire runs through timber or across the prairie, some of its effects are delayed. The types of vegetation that reappear can have a detrimental effect beyond the initial damage from the...

Western Water Wars Is Theme of Film to Be Shot in Wyoming.
April 20, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 20--As a kid, Bill Dahlin used to deliver the local newspaper by horseback. Now the Sheridan, Wyo., businessman is bankrolling and producing the first Western movie to be shot in Wyoming in many years. Casting...

Power from Coal-Fired Hardin, Mont., Plant Is Sold to British Columbia Utility.
April 21, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 21--MDU Resources Group has signed an agreement to sell all the power from a coal-fired plant being built near Hardin to a Canadian company. MDU signed a three-year contract with the option of a two-year...

Restaurant, Bar Thrives in Custer, Mont., Community Spirit.
April 24, 2004... Apr. 24--For fun, James Walker donates his time as the public address announcer for Custer High School's football games. Around Custer, he's knows as the "Golden Voice of the Cougars." His only compensation, besides being something of a...

Jump In Milk Prices Not Soon Enough for Some Dairy Farmers in Montana.
April 24, 2004... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Apr. 24--Mike Bernhardt can hardly figure out what to do with his freedom. Until just a month ago, the Park City farmer was tied to his dairy operation. "I've been around cows almost 50 years now. The...

Rising Cost of Milk in Billings, Mont., Area Causes Ripple Effect.
April 24, 2004... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Apr. 24--Gasoline isn't the only liquid spiking in price this spring. The cost of milk is also climbing and expected to jump as much as 50 cents a gallon in the next month, according to the National Milk...

Billings Gazette, Mont., Jan Falstad Column.
April 25, 2004... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 25--Prom-goers mad at The Granary Prom is stressful enough for some students, their parents and even their grandparents. So the West High School students who made dinner reservations at The Granary for prom...

Montana-Based Junk Broker Scours the West for Surplus Goods, Castoffs.
April 27, 2004... Byline: Ed Kemmick Apr. 27--Fred Cleveland went into sales when he was a 10-year-old growing up in the Billings Heights. An uncle in California would send him bundles of polishing cloths and Cleveland would knock on doors until he sold...

Billings, Mont., Voters to Decide between Stadium, Aquatic Center.
April 29, 2004... Byline: Ed Kemmick Apr. 29--Two backers of the Cobb Field-Heights aquatic center bond issue went to bat for the $17 million proposal Wednesday, and a friendly crowd mostly pitched them softball questions. Mayor Chuck Tooley and Jeff...

Environmental Group Sues Montana's Oil and Gas Board.
April 29, 2004... Byline: Clair Johnson Apr. 29--State approval this month of a plan to drill more than 200 coalbed methane wells in southeastern Montana near the Wyoming border was illegal because the permitting board did not first do an environmental...