The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) articles from February 2005

The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) archives from February 2005

Billings, Mont., trucking firm sees business return after post-9/11 slump.
February 6, 2005... Byline: Jan Falstad Feb. 6--Mike Wilson loves a challenge. However, the president and chief executive of Whitewood Transportation may not have needed one quite as big as the business meltdown that followed the September 2001 terrorist...

Counties at odds over mine taxes.
February 11, 2005... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Feb. 11--Stillwater and Sweet Grass Counties share a mutual boundary, but a dispute over Stillwater Mine's taxes has created a chasm that both sides want resolved. A hearing set for Feb. 22-23 in Livingston...

Sweetheart Bread cuts routes.
February 12, 2005... Byline: Jan Falstad Feb. 12--The Belfry Country Store has been selling groceries in this small town near the Wyoming border for about 80 years now, and Bob and Marcia Cichosz want to keep their town's lifeblood flowing. Twelve years...

Montana farmers prepare to plant sugar beet crop.
February 13, 2005... Byline: Jim Gransbery Feb. 13--Bill Michael's grandfather, Phillip, was in Russia when he signed a contract to "work beets" in the United States. It was 1906 and beets then were dug and loaded by hand. Halfway around the world, a sugar...

Pension fight shaping up with NorthWestern.
February 19, 2005... Byline: Jan Falstad Feb. 19--On the last day of January this year, NorthWestern Corp. filed bankruptcy papers explaining why it stopped supplemental pension payments to 110 retirees, offering them reduced settlements instead. At the...

Governor has 'grave concerns' about state building, owning power lines.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Gransbery Feb. 22--Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Monday expressed "grave concerns" about the state building, owning and operating electrical power lines, fearing that Montanans would lose their current cheap power and end up paying...

Coffee standoff resolved amicably.
February 27, 2005... Byline: Jan Falstad Feb. 27--What should have been the routine move of a coffee kiosk along Laurel's main drag earlier this month turned into a two-day battle of wills. The standoff between two rival Billings coffee brewers reportedly...

Businesses dispute trademarks.
February 27, 2005... Byline: Jan Falstad Feb. 27--The owners of Mountain Mudd launched trademark challenges against their rivals last October. That's when Mountain Mudd was asked to move its Laurel kiosk while rivals City Brew and Coffee Mill were...

Genetic counselor helps expectant parents face the unexpected.
February 27, 2005... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Feb. 27--Susan Landgren's job can be a roller coaster ride. On any given day, she could face tears of grief or tears of relief. Landgren is a genetic counselor at the Fetal Diagnostic Center in the...

Unique construction project goes up in downtown Billings, Mont.
February 27, 2005... Byline: Dana Moss Pulis Feb. 27--One of Billings' newest construction projects on Grand Avenue has got heads turning downtown. Construction of the Grand Park Homes on 18 Grand Ave. recently overtook a run-down old rental home and...