The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) articles from March 2006

The Billings Gazette (Billings, MT) archives from March 2006

Bank fees anger Billings, Mont., business owner.
March 4, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 4--Both sides in this bad check dispute in Billings agree on one thing: Dick Skewis, owner of the Village Mart in Billings Heights, was abusive when he protested a $3 fee to collect on a customer's bad check. ...

What $1.75 million gets you.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Mar. 5--Viewed from the front entrance, the home's size is deceiving. Once inside, visitors are wowed by the 10-foot waterfall and the 17-foot window opening out to a pine-studded coulee. Last fall,...

Seven-figure homes rare in Billings, but the inventory's growing.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Mar. 5--Some are tucked up against the Rims. Another stands stately downtown on a tree-lined street. A few come with acreage, and maybe a shop or a barn. There are million-dollar homes in the Billings...

Yellowstone County, Mont., housing prices are jumping.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Tom Howard Mar. 5--Whenever he sees television's talking heads lecturing about the pending collapse of a "speculative real estate bubble," Dan Wagner takes their dire warnings with a grain of salt. The nation's hottest real estate...

Affordable housing strictly a relative term.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Mar. 5--When real estate agent Howard Sumner purchased his first home 30 years ago, he wondered how he was going to make the $185 monthly payments. He can laugh now, but mortgages of that era represented...

Real-estate career requires attention to detail.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Tom Howard Mar. 5--As a high school guidance counselor, Carol Korizek-McKenzie helped thousands of students navigate one of life's most daunting journeys: choosing a career and preparing to join the work force. In her newest...

Billings Gazette, Mont., Jan Falstad column.
March 5, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 5--BILLINGS -- TOUCH AMERICA IS A WRITE-OFF: Each time tax season rolls around, investors wonder what they should do with their stock in Montana Power and its bankrupt telecommunications stepchild, Touch America....

Billings Gazette, Mont., entrepreneurs column.
March 6, 2006... Mar. 6--Some of Angela Babby's finest artwork is hanging on the walls of posh homes all over the country. And, some of her finest artwork is the walls. Babby is a Billings artist whose latest creations are framed stained-glass...

KILL: Butte loses bid.
March 7, 2006

Builder plans riverside subdivision with range of affordable options.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Ed Kemmick Mar. 7--Members of the McCall family have a lot of experience building houses. Sometime this summer, they hope to start building a community. The project they have on the drawing board is the Josephine Crossing...

Butte loses bid.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Erin Nicholes Mar. 7--Sikorsky Aircraft's decision to build a design center in Bozeman is a loss for Butte, but a win for Montana as a whole, a local business official said Monday. "I'm disappointed that it isn't in Butte...

Business bureau releases data.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 8--Last year, Montana consumers made nearly 25,000 inquiries about business practices to the Local Better Business Bureau in Spokane, Wash. The bureau processed 956 complaints, resolving 81 percent of them. ...

Miles City hospital receives latest in CT scanning technology.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Suzanne Kydland Ady Mar. 8--As far as computed tomography scanning technology goes, Holy Rosary Healthcare in Miles City has a leg up on most of the state. Last fall, the hospital's new 64-slice CT scanner was up and running --...

Lockwood's fire board cuts budget.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Tom Howard Mar. 9--There was plenty of pain to go around Tuesday as the Lockwood Rural Fire District Board of Trustees agreed to $150,000 in cuts to bring its 2005-06 budget into balance. Some of the budget items eliminated on...

Couple opens Great Harvest Bread store in Billings, Mont.
March 12, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 12--Partners Bryan and Susie Layton are handling the stress of setting up their Billings business with a smile. With the smells of raspberry/blueberry bread wafting through the store, the Laytons talked about...

Oil producers wonder whether downturn is only temporary.
March 12, 2006... Byline: Jim Gransbery Mar. 12--A sudden decompression of oil prices at the wellhead in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming in recent weeks has caught independent producers off guard. Whether it is a short-term blip in the crude market or...

Online universities put 'learning resources' on the Web.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Linda Halstead-Acharya Mar. 13--Talk about flexible, Connie Keogh can work just about anywhere she can carry her laptop. She's logged hours in coffee shops, airports and even while sitting on the beach. "Pretty much, when...

Board decides on local MetraPark management.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Tom Howard Mar. 15--Yellowstone County commissioners voted Tuesday to keep MetraPark's management in the hands of county employees rather than hiring a private management firm. While the commission's unanimous vote represents a...

Billings Gazette, Mont., Jan Falstad column.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 15--TWO LAWSUITS TARGET TOUCH AMERICA: Kalispell attorney Allan McGarvey agrees with a recent article that two key lawsuits remain in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of Montana Power/Touch America. However,...

Billings, Mont., unites medical residency program with community health centers.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Diane Cochran Mar. 16--When researchers studying physician vacancies in community health centers across the country called Deering Community Health Center recently, they found an aberration. All seven of the Billings health...

Long-empty Billings shopping center to become classy antique mall.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 19--In what promises to be one of the five most expensive commercial deals this year in Billings, the long-vacant Gibson's Discount Center is being sold to a Seattle antique dealer. Larry Li is paying an...

Billings, Mont., corporation buys downtown building.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 19--The downtown building whose chief tenant is Wells Fargo has been sold to a corporation controlled by a Billings family. The seller was the nonprofit Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research of...

Ownership may change of Billings, Mont., mall.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 19--Ownership of the city's first mall, West Park Plaza, may change again. American Capital Group LLC, which purchased West Park Plaza eight years ago, is trying to negotiate a more favorable loan from its Wall...

Snack bar provides training.
March 21, 2006... Byline: Cathy Ulrich Mar. 21--The new coffee kiosk on the block is in an unexpected place. Job Connection Inc., a nonprofit organization that works with people with disabilities, has taken over the snack bar at the YMCA. A new twist on the...

Walgreens plans Heights pharmacy.
March 21, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 21--Walgreens, one of the nation's largest drugstore chains, plans to buy the Heights Home Center at the corner of Main Street and Wicks Lane to construct its first neighborhood pharmacy in Billings. The...

School Board agrees to send voters mill levy.
March 22, 2006... Byline: Laura Tode Mar. 22--Area voters will see a mill levy question on the school election ballot in May, but how much the Billings School Board will ask from voters won't be decided until later. The board can ask voters for up to...

Revised trails map gets better response.
March 22, 2006... Byline: Lance Benzel Mar. 22--City/county planners heard few objections Tuesday night after unveiling revisions to a controversial planning map for proposed recreational trails in and around Billings. For months, the Heritage Trails...

Experts: Baby Boomers appear clueless about retirement needs.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 23--Social Security needs fixing now, and Baby Boomers appear to be in denial about their pending retirements that start in 2008. Those were two of the messages delivered Wednesday to about 20 Billings area...

Billings Gazette, Mont., Jan Falstad column.
March 25, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 25--Have you heard? The financial woes of Robert Van Riper and his wife, Susan, who purchased the Northern Hotel four years ago, are taking on new urgency with a lawsuit over delinquent taxes and a sheriff's...

No-parking signs continue battle between Billings, Mont., mall, casino.
March 30, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 30--Signs warning patrons of the futuristic 12th Planet not to park on Rimrock Mall land or they will be towed have generated heated public comments so far. Wait until the signs become permanent. After the...

Billings Gazette, Mont., Jan Falstad column.
March 30, 2006... Byline: Jan Falstad Mar. 30--Energy bills for the small business and residential customers once served by Montana Power Co. have jumped 55 percent since the state approved deregulation in 1997. A contract between PPL Montana and...