The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) articles from April 2007

The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) archives from April 2007

Earth day event aims to clean up the North Side of Billings.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Ed Kemmick Apr. 2--An event that started last year as a fundraiser for the North Park Task Force has blossomed into an Earth Day cleanup that organizers hope will be a model for the whole city. The year's event, set for Sunday,...

Lighting up Montana with wind power is easier said than done.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 2--Stand under the towering turbines at Montana's largest wind farm, south of Judith Gap, and the near-silent rotating blades give the illusion the earth is moving. That is just one impression of the size and...

Microsoft files lawsuit over alleged software piracy.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 5--Nonstudents were able to buy Microsoft software at student discounts. Customers looking for killer deals on Internet software got illegal programs. And three Canadians using a Billings post box drop...

Energy security requires acknowledgement of interdependence.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 6--Politicians who call for U.S. energy independence are engaging in rhetoric and poor leadership, says the vice chairman of the second largest oil company in the United States. "It is not going to happen,"...

Billings ConocoPhillips Refinery gets EPA's energy efficiency award.
April 12, 2007... Byline: Clair Johnson Apr. 12--The Environmental Protection Agency recognized the ConocoPhillips Billings Refinery Wednesday for its energy efficiency by honoring the plant with its Energy Star award. The oil refinery is the nation's first...

The Wilderness Tax: Montanans don't think it would be worth living elsewhere.
April 15, 2007... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 15--It has been called the Wilderness or Mountain Tax, the price paid for living in a wild and beautiful place like Montana when moving elsewhere could mean higher pay or a more glamorous or high-powered job. ...

Local co-ops poised to take major step with Great Falls power plant.
April 15, 2007... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Apr. 15--If the proposed Highwood Generating Station gets the go-ahead -- and that could be soon -- the coal-fired power plant would be built on the outskirts of Great Falls. Its financial impacts,...

Workplace clashes between different generations increasing, expert claims.
April 22, 2007... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 22--Sue Dow, a self-described "hippie" turned workaholic, said conflicting work ethics are the main friction among the different generations she manages. Her group, the Billings-based Support and Techniques for...

Veterinarian finds that alternative medicine can cure problem pets.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Laura Tode Apr. 23--Problem pets are easy to spot. They are anti-social and nip, scratch, cringe and hiss or growl when strangers approach. Even with their owners they can be aloof, touchy and reserved. It's easier to...

JTL workers on strike.
April 26, 2007... Apr. 26--Most employees of JTL Group in Billings went on strike at 6 a.m. today, setting up pickets at job sites and the business' Billings facilities from Laurel to the Heights. Drivers in the Heights reported seeing pickets at Wicks Lane...

4B's eatery in prime location to close.
April 26, 2007... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 26--The Billings 4B's Restaurant and Prime Time Casino sitting on the rock-hot real estate at the corner of Grand Avenue and 24th Street West will stay open until its liquor license is sold and then close this...

Cabela's front company lines up property.
April 26, 2007... Byline: Jan Falstad Apr. 26--The California company that acts as the property-hunting guide for Cabela's stores around the country has drawn a bead on 44 acres off South Billings Boulevard. Foursquare Properties Inc. has asked the city...

Couple carves out a 'homestead' with rare dairy goats.
April 29, 2007... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 29--IN THE BULL MOUNTAINS -- In 1995, Tom and Paulette Buckner found their "homestead" in the draws and breaks of the Bull Mountains. Life was just too crowded back in Michigan, and 160 acres in Montana pulled...

Alternatives program gives recovering alcoholic a fresh start.
April 29, 2007... Byline: Jim Gransbery Apr. 29--Maurice Mountain Sheep Jr. likes to be at work early in the morning. It is a habit instilled by his stepfather. "It is quiet, nothing is being disturbed," Mountain Sheep said on a recent morning, cool and...