The Bozeman Daily Bee

Ladies' Hockey Night Draws Unprecedented Turnout of Nine

The MT64 Hockey Association’s inaugural Ladies’ Hockey Night at the Marty Pavelich Ice Rink drew nine participants Sunday evening, a number that organizers described as “exceeding expectations” and participants described as “the perfect number for a sport that requires six per side if you don’t count the goalie, which we did not have.”

The weekly sessions, open to women of all ages and skill levels, were launched with the goal of expanding access to a sport that has historically been dominated in southwest Montana by men, boys, and one very aggressive 11-year-old who plays in three different leagues.

Peace Park Naming Process Sparks Surprisingly Little Peace

The process of naming Downtown Bozeman’s new Peace Park has, ironically, generated what attendees describe as “the opposite of peace” at three consecutive city meetings.

The park, intended to honor local restaurant owner I-Ho Pomeroy’s “spirit of community,” became a flashpoint after fourteen residents submitted competing naming proposals, including “Unity Garden,” “Harmony Square,” “Serenity Plaza,” and one anonymous suggestion simply reading “Stop Fighting About The Park Name Park.”

“I think we can all agree this park should represent togetherness,” said resident Carol Dietrich, before turning to another attendee and saying, “Not like YOUR suggestion, which was frankly offensive.”

Park City Gym Still Roofless; Neighboring Schools Open Doors Without Being Asked

Six weeks after a December windstorm ripped sections of roof off the Park City school gymnasium, the Panthers’ basketball and volleyball teams still have nowhere to play home games. So neighboring schools did what neighboring schools do in small-town Montana: they showed up.

Coaches from Fromberg, Reed Point, and Joliet each offered their gyms for Park City’s home games, and did so without a formal request, a committee, or a single email chain longer than three messages.

Broadview Residents Confront Data Center Proposal Armed With Casseroles and Fury

BROADVIEW — Approximately 130 residents packed the Broadview Senior Center on Monday night to voice concerns about a proposed data center, in what may be the most people inside that building since the Lions Club chili cook-off of 2009.

The mood was tense. The casserole table was fully stocked. The folding chairs were at capacity.

“They want to put a WHAT in my backyard?” demanded longtime rancher Dottie Prewitt, 74, who arrived at the meeting 45 minutes early to secure a front-row seat and what she described as “a tactical sightline to the microphone.”

The Shopping Cart Situation

The WinCo parking lot has become a lawless frontier. Not because of crime — because of shopping carts. Abandoned shopping carts rolling freely across the asphalt like tumbleweeds in a western nobody asked for.

There is a corral. It is painted yellow. It asks nothing of you except an additional fifteen to forty feet of walking after loading your groceries.

Last Tuesday I watched a grown man in a Carhartt jacket park his cart directly behind someone else’s Subaru and walk away. He did not look back. He did not hesitate. He simply decided the cart’s journey was over and the next chapter was someone else’s problem.