Ed Kemmick
![Eclipse 2017! Casper draws international crowd for Monday’s big celestial happening](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/casper-eclipse-photo.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Eclipse 2017! Casper draws international crowd for Monday’s big celestial happening
CASPER, Wyo. — Here on the front lines, things are running pretty smoothly. After reading all about the total eclipse for days on end, and hearing stories about how people from all over the world could be converging on Casper for front-row seats, we didn’t know what to expect. What if we came over the last hill and saw cars stacked up for miles at the exit ramp? What if the National Guard turned us back at Wyola?
![Jailed ex-legislator called dark-money prosecution ‘political game’](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/wesley-prouse.png?w=980&q=75)
Jailed ex-legislator called dark-money prosecution ‘political game’
Wesley Prouse, the former state legislator jailed this week for contempt of court, reportedly refused to cooperate with authorities investigating a political corruption scandal, calling the court case against him “a political game.”
![Prairie Lights: Voter fraud is just the tip of Stapleton’s iceberg](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/05/1Kemmick.mug-copy-2.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Prairie Lights: Voter fraud is just the tip of Stapleton’s iceberg
Corey Stapleton might be onto something when he rails about voter fraud. It's time we started worrying about fraud, corruption and willful ignorance in every nook and cranny government.
![Montana family’s deep roots draw historians to reunion at Bridger Creek homestead](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/homestead.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Montana family’s deep roots draw historians to reunion at Bridger Creek homestead
A family with deep roots in Montana met last Saturday on the land their ancestors homesteaded almost 140 years ago. “In Montana,” said Stan Stevens, at 93 the oldest of the clan at the family reunion, “we go back forever.”
![Border Patrol agents nab illegal Irishman on trail near Glacier National Park](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/border-patrol.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Border Patrol agents nab illegal Irishman on trail near Glacier National Park
Agents assigned to the St. Mary Border Patrol Station Horse Patrol Unit arrested a 47-year-old man from Ireland near the Chief Mountain Port of Entry on Saturday. The Irishman was “carrying a large backpack along the international border," the Border Patrol said.
![Crime-ridden or over-reported? Missoula writer overwhelmed by crime news](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/handcuffs.png?w=980&q=75)
Crime-ridden or over-reported? Missoula writer overwhelmed by crime news
A recently arrived resident of Missoula has noticed a curious thing: that exposure to Montana’s daily newspapers makes one keenly, alarmingly aware of local crime.
![Zortman-Landusky: Abandoned mines’ treatment ponds tapped for firefighting](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/Dipping-Water-from-Ponds.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Zortman-Landusky: Abandoned mines’ treatment ponds tapped for firefighting
During a firefighting operation in north-central Montana last month, helicopter crews hit the wildfire with water scooped from man-made ponds on the site of the abandoned Zortman-Landusky Mines.
![Billings lawyer John Heenan says he’ll run against Gianforte](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/John-Heenan.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Billings lawyer John Heenan says he’ll run against Gianforte
Billings lawyer John Heenan has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., in the 2018 election. Heenan, 40, is the first Democrat to file as a candidate for Montana’s only House seat.
![Prairie Lights: ‘Montana Noir’ captures state dead on](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/noir-map.png?w=980&q=75)
Prairie Lights: ‘Montana Noir’ captures state dead on
Who would have imagined that murder and mayhem could be so much fun? In “Montana Noir,” a new collection of hard-boiled short stories, 14 writers jump with evident joy into tales teeming with dead bodies, guns, strippers, booze, meth, weed and problematic stores of cash.
![Eat local in August: Montana Local Food Challenge begins Tuesday](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/07/market.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Eat local in August: Montana Local Food Challenge begins Tuesday
In a statewide program sponsored by the Northern Plains Resource Council, Montanans are encouraged to eat or buy at least one item of local food every day in the month of August.