Rocky Mountain College

Rocky Mountain College President Michael R. Mace announced his retirement, effective June 30, at the Board of Trustees meeting on Friday, Sept. 21.

“We thanked Mike for his dedicated service and with best wishes to him in his retirement,” said Carl Hansen, chairman of the Rocky Mountain College Board of Trustees. “We hired him for one year and we were fortunate to keep him for five more years. He leaves a solid record of growth with stability.”

Mace, who was named interim president on Oct. 12, 2005, when Thomas R. Oates resigned, was deemed “the right man at the right time,” by William Ballard, a member of the RMC Board.

Mace said he intends to enjoy “spending time with family, traveling, fishing, and relaxing” when he finishes his career at RMC.

Continue reading: President Mace says he’ll retire at Rocky

The Static-X concert on Wednesday has moved from the Babcock Theater to Manny's Sports and Entertainment. Refunds for previously purchased tickets can be made at their point of purchase. Questions on tickets can be directed to Tickets300 at (866) 300-8300.

The lineup also has changed. Playing are 9 Electric and the Farthest Edge.

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES

A year after the Billings community dedicated a memorial to honor those who died and served in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy, a commemoration ceremony will be held at its site at City College at Montana State University Billings.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept., 11 at the site of Montana’s 9/11 Memorial at City College (formerly the College of Technology). The ceremony will involve administrators, faculty, staff and students from MSU Billings as well as representatives from the Billings Police Department, Billings Fire Department and local Boy Scouts.

Here is a look at the schedule for the event:

Continue reading: 9-11 ceremony on Tuesday

HELENA – The Montana Department of Revenue is publishing the availability of additional liquor licenses and accepting applications in three Montana communities.

After reviewing this year’s population estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Census, DOR is adding one Floater All-Alcoholic Beverages License for Billings and new All-Alcoholic Beverages Licenses for Broadwater and Liberty counties.

Every year about this time, DOR adjusts the number of licenses available in each quota area based on the population estimates and advertises for lottery applications.

“The population in Billings increased enough to allow one license to be floated into that quota area, and the populations of Broadwater and Liberty counties grew, which increased the license quota,” said John Flynn, DOR Liquor Licensing Bureau Chief.

The notices began this week and continue for four consecutive weeks in the Billings Gazette, Townsend Star and Liberty County News. DOR will accept lottery applications for the available liquor licenses until 5 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2012. To apply, visit http://revenue.mt.gov/content/formsandresources/current_year_downloadable_forms/Other_Forms_Not_Yearly/Liquor_Licensing_Forms/lotapp.pdf.

By ADRIAN JAWORT - For The Outpost

Bethany Yellowtail, 23, a Northern Cheyenne Tribal Member also with Crow descent, has come a long way from the tiny town of Wyola (population 215) on the Crow Indian Reservation to where she now resides in Los Angeles and holds the title of first patternmaker on the design team of hip-hop mogul Russell Simon’s popular urban clothing line Baby Phat.

Yellowtail was exactly the type of person Mary White, a Crow Indian who grew up in Pryor, was looking for to represent the debut of the Native Strong Magazine launch that took place Aug. 17 during this year’s Crow Fair.

White said the magazine is the culmination of ideas from American Indian tribes from Montana, California, Oklahoma and other western states that aim to inspire American Indians from ages 15 to 30 “to be proud of who they are and to live healthy, productive and positive lifestyles.”

“Inspiration” was the theme of the model casting call contest and follow-up concert accommodating the magazine’s kickoff.

It will cover everything from Native American pop culture, current events and native humor to serious social issues like high suicide and poverty rates plaguing reservations.

Continue reading: New magazine to focus on native life, issues

RiverStone Health, in collaboration with the Missoula City-County Health has launched the Nurse-Family Partnership, an evidence-based community health program that aims to help transform the lives of vulnerable mothers pregnant with their first child.

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a voluntary prevention program that provides nurse home visitation services to low-income, first-time mothers. Nurses begin home visits early in the mother’s pregnancy and continue visitation until the child’s second birthday. Nurses provide support, education and counseling on health, behavioral and self-sufficiency issues.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a nationwide law enforcement organization of more than 5,000 members that include police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and attorneys general, identified NFP as a proven investment to cut crime and violence. Providing voluntary parent coaching to at-risk parents of young children through NFP, a research study showed that the children served were half as likely to be abused and neglected.

Groundbreaking was scheduled for Wednesday this week on a new gazebo to replace the one that had been in South Park.

According to a news release, the city of Billings in 2010 demolished and removed the gazebo, which was constructed around 1914. The structure had become unsafe from, time, wear and weather.

The South Side Neighborhood Task Force has been requesting funds for the construction of a new gazebo. Plans are to construct a 40 foot facility that will provide a place for musical performances, festivals, family and group events, weddings and many other programs and events.

With the final plans being decided by the end of July, additional upgrades still needed funding. Within one week, the task force secured $25,000 from two donations: First Interstate Bank and the Billings Downtown Exchange Club.

On Monday, July 30, South Side Task Force officers received the checks at South Park from First Interstate’s Keith Cook and the Exchange Club’s Lisa Von Laven. Some words by our Ward I Councilman Jim Ronquillo, Councilman Brent Cromley and Task Force Chair Mike Yakawich will be given in an expression of gratitude to all those who have contributed to this amazing project not only for the South Side but for the entire city of Billings.

Continue reading: Gazebo to be built

The City of Billings Park and Recreation Department would like to invite Billings residents to attend a ground breaking ceremony at South Park for the new South Park Gazebo at noon Tuesday, Aug. 21.

Please call City Parks and Recreation at 657-8371 or 657-8372 if you have any questions.

By JIM LARSON - The Billings Outpost

Before he returned from the East, celebrity counterman Daniel McCormack sent me a letter. He thought, he wrote, that we should get together for lunch.

This began a series of midday encounters that I shall always count as some of my life’s best moments.

I can’t remember where we went first, but our last was at the McCormick Café, where we had first met.

As usual, lunch was an epic tour of the cosmos, an analysis of our respective psyches, a review of the state of our personal illnesses, and an expert critique of the food, all with relevant references from literature, modern physics and eastern and western religious traditions.

The conversation throughout was peppered with his sly wit, and the darker the subject, the harder he made me laugh.

Continue reading: Lunch with Daniel