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A look at 2008 stories, photos
By Erica Yakawich - 12/27/2008
Thousands of people turned out in Butte Friday, July 11, 2008, for the opening of the 70th annual National Folk Festival.
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A bumper crop of news events marked 2008 in southwest Montana, some of which played to the national stage in a hard-fought election year. Other major stories focused on the economy, the good, bad and hopeful.
Here's a month-by-month recap: January
NorthWestern Energy proposes a $200 million gas-fired peaking plant on 60 acres near Anaconda's Mill Creek substation. It will employ 75 for construction and 11 for operations and add about $8 million annually to the county's tax base. The company has applied for an air quality permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality for the $206.1 million, 200-megawatt power generation plant.
February
The state settles with Arco on restoration and remediation of the Butte mine tailings. Butte stands to gain $28 million to spend on the work, but the entire drainage down to Missoula will receive a total of $168 million.
March
An independent wind turbine manufacturing firm, Fuhrlander AG of Germany, announces it is locating a $25 million plant in the TIFID and expects to hire 150 workers from mechanics, to electronics, welding, steel work, metal work, accounting and office and marketing people to locate west of town. It is all pending a recently completed feasibility study. The plant makes 2.5-megawatt wind turbines. It may also expand to manufacture the huge blades for the turbines, which could employ 300 more.
Montana Tech breaks ground on a $17.4 million Natural Resources Building, expected to be open next spring.
April
Butte was the center of the political universe for a few days. Both Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama attended the state Democratic convention dinner in Butte April 5. Bill Clinton also visited Anaconda and Butte. The stage was set as the two top contenders battled for the Democratic nomination come June.
In other news, Home Depot all but abandoned its plans for locating a store in Butte.
May
Horizon Airlines announced it is pulling service from Butte in August, blaming low ridership and jet fuel prices.
A favorite upscale restaurant and watering hole, the Acoma, also announced its closure, but will be remodeled and retooled to reopen in 2009.
Another, watering hole, the Party Palace at Park and Main, was damaged by fire in Uptown Butte. The owners rallied friends and family, gutted the interior and remodeled it just in time to open for the summer festivals.
June
The June primary kept everyone busy at the start of the month as Montana suddenly became a state of interest in the battle for the Democratic nomination. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and their campaigns visited the state right up until primary day.
However, it seemed like summer would never come as on June 4, the city received a few inches, yet again, of wet snow.
July
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama chose Butte to celebrate the Fourth of July and his daughter's 10th birthday. He spoke to a crowd of onlookers at the start of the parade and later held a picnic at Montana Tech for a couple thousand well-wishers.
The 70th annual National Folk Festival kicked off a three-year run in Butte, bringing an estimated 60,000 people to town over the course of the event. It was a well-organized, huge musical and artistic success.
Further, Evel Knievel Days marked the 7th annual event and first since the Butte native and international daredevil had died. It brought about 20,000 to town.
August
The economy dominated news in August in Butte, both good and bad. The local airport lost one flight per day as Horizon Airlines pulled out. The airport launched a community-wide effort to raise $150,000 to obtain a grant to supplement a third Delta Airlines flight. It fell short, but options remain.
On the upside AE Biofuels research plant that hopes to make ethanol opens in Butte's industrial park. AE Biofuels says it will perfect a process for producing cellulosic ethanol, which is made from fiber products such as wheat stocks or corn stalks. The $1.5 million Butte plant has a few employees focusing on the work.
And locals are conducting a feasibility study for a world-class mining heritage center that would be an educational, hands-on mining information center. As of December, however, plans are on hold to go forward.
September
Former Butte-Silver Bow facilities manager Gary Lean pleads guilty Sept. 15 to theft charges for bilking taxpayers and non-profit organizations out of nearly $40,000 while working for the county between June 6, 2003, and May 16, 2006. District Judge Ray Dayton sentenced Lean to a four-year suspended term for his crimes, and also ordered him to pay almost $38,000 in restitution. In October, Butte-Silver Bow filed a civil suit demanding Lean payback more than $158,000 to the county. That same month, Lean filed his own lawsuit claiming the county owes him about $92,000 in compensatory time, sick leave and other pay.
Butte native Levi Leipheimer wins a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in China for bicycle racing. Leipheimer may be a contender in 2009 in the Tour de France once again. And, Erin Popovich, formerly of Butte, won three gold medals at the Paralympics, also in China, for swimming.
National Teamster leader James P. Hoffa comes to town to politic door-to-door in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama.
October
Wade Petersen, 21, pleads guilty Oct. 2 in Butte district court to four felony charges in a deadly hit-and-run that killed 14-year-old Mariah McCarthy and severely injured two of her classmates. Petersen hit McCarthy, along with Kaitlyn Okrusch and Valarie Kilmer, both 14 at the time, in his pickup truck as the girls were walking along Blacktail Lane in early Oct. 28, 2007. Petersen, who was drunk at the time, drove away. In December, Judge Brad Newman rejected the plea agreement and sentencing has been delayed until at least January.
The one-year anniversary of Mariah's Challenge is marked. Teenager Mariah McCarthy was killed in a hit-an-run accident and two of her friends were injured. The challenge seeks to keep people from drinking and driving.
Barrett Memorial Hospital in Dillon ponders building a new $27 million hospital. The Deer Lodge mill lays off 64 and the Copper King Hotel closes, putting 200 people out of work.
November
Butte backs financing for a $2 million supercomputer to be located in the Thornton Building in Uptown Butte. It is expected to create 150 jobs by renting use for the equipment to do complex calculations. The Air Force is reportedly interested in using the equipment for virtual medical emergency training.
Also, the Yellowstone Club, a Big Sky-area ski resort and playground for the wealthy, files for bankruptcy protection in Butte federal court.
Butte turns out a host of volunteers to care for more than 200 dogs confiscated from a Colorado man who broke down in his school bus loaded with huskies at Rocker. He later pleaded guilty to abuse of the animals and was allowed to leave, taking six dogs with him. Meanwhile, the dogs are being adopted in Butte and Missoula.
December
The Montana National Guard and Army Reserve plan to build a $6.8 million, 22,000-square-foot training center in Butte's Industrial Park, south of town. The first step toward building the center was taken in December when the Army purchased 7.5 acres on South Parkmont Street from the Butte Local Development Corp. The acreage, purchased for $279,000, is located between the CCCS maintenance facility and the old Montana Tech research center.
State legislator and local musician George Groesbeck dies suddenly Dec. 7 of a blood clot in his lung. He had recently undergone knee surgery. Democrat Art Noonan was named as a replacement for the House District 74 seat.
Top videos of 2008 Here's a list of the most viewed videos of 2008 from The Montana Standard's Web site, www.mtstandard.com.
1. Chief executive primary debate (May 5) 2. Party Palace fire (May 2) 3. Bill Clinton in Butte (April 1-2) 4. Tim Montana music video (May 26) 5. Barack Obama during Mansfield Metcalf dinner (April 5) 6. Hillary Clinton during Mansfield Metcalf dinner (April 5) 7. Obama at Fourth of July parade (July 4) 8. Mariah's Challenge launch at Civic Center (Feb. 9) 9. Spanky Spangler's jump during Evel Knievel Days (July 26) 10. Ben Thielen responds to felony charges (Oct. 24) 11. Obama speaks at Fourth of July picnic (July 7) 12. Walkerville building demolition (Dec. 3) 13. Tour of Ristene Hall's house after the fire (Sept. 9) 14. Christmas stroll highlights (Dec. 6) 15. 70th annual National Folk Festival highlights (July 13) — Erica Yakawich, The Montana Standard
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