Caliber opens new location in old Bugaboo space
EBS STAFF
The former home of the Bugaboo Cafe, which shuttered its doors in late spring, will be given new life in late July.
Caliber Coffee owner Stephanie Alexander, and her business partner Tom Newberry, plan to open Caliber Café and Spirits for breakfast and lunch, with a projected opening date of July 20. They had hoped to open earlier, but the remodeling necessary to get the space ready was more than expected, Alexander said.
The cuisine will be Tex-Mex comfort food, she said, and they already have two cooks and a couple of servers hired. Alexander noted that hiring and retaining employees will be the biggest challenge in this new business venture, given the affordable housing shortage. “That’s the hard part in this town, but I think we’ll be fine,” she said.
With the Bugaboo’s closure and the short-lived Buttr breakfast joint closing this winter, Alexander identified a niche that could be filled in the community. “We needed a breakfast place so [badly], I thought it would be a good opportunity,” she said.
Trump to visit Montana after promising Tester would ‘pay’
GREAT FALLS (AP) – President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign announced July 29 that he will hold a rally in Montana about two months after promising that Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester would “have a big price to pay” for his role in sinking Trump’s Veterans Affairs nominee.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement that the president will speak about tax cuts, illegal immigration and other topics at the rally at 4 p.m. on July 5 at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.
“The President will also remind Montanans of the importance of electing more Republicans to the Senate this fall to keep his America First policies and the momentum of our booming economy going strong,” Michael Glassner said, the chief operating officer for the Trump campaign.
The statement didn’t specifically mention Tester’s run for re-election against Republican candidate Matt Rosendale. Tester angered the president earlier this year by releasing allegations that derailed the nomination of Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, Trump’s first choice to run the Veterans Affairs Department.
“I think Jon Tester has to have a big price to pay in Montana because … [Jackson] is the kind of person that they respect and admire and they don’t like seeing what’s happened to him,” Trump said in an interview at the end of April.
Trump’s attention to the Montana Senate race unleashed millions of dollars in spending by outside groups attempting to influence the election and added pressure to Tester’s campaign for a third term.
Tester campaign spokesman Chris Meagher said Tester has invited Trump to the state several times to talk about issues important to its residents.
First Security Bank and Big Sky Western merger update
EBS STAFF
In March, the holding company for Big Sky Western Bank, Glacier Bancorp, Inc., officially acquired the holding company for First Security Bank.
First Security and Big Sky Western have now combined locations under the First Security Bank name. First Security patrons now have access to Glacier Bank branches and ATMs in Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado.
Signs at Big Sky Western’s Town Center branch have changed to reflect First Security Bank’s logo and, in August, the Meadow Village branch will close. Until that time, customers of either bank will be able to conduct banking business at both locations.
Employees from the former Big Sky Western locations in downtown Bozeman and Belgrade moved to nearby First Security Bank branches. Beginning Monday, July 7, combined banking services are available at 208 East Main St in Bozeman and 511 West Main St in Belgrade.
In August, the Valley Commons building in Bozeman will be dedicated to administrative operations while the Marketing and Community Engagement office is now at First Security’s Cottonwood branch location. First Security customers can also bank at the former Big Sky Western branch in Four Corners.
New pedestrian crossing flags in Town Center
BIG SKY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
The Big Sky Community Organization and the Ousel Falls Road Rural Improvement District have cooperated to install pedestrian crossing flags at crosswalks on Ousel Falls Road in Town Center.
Pedestrians can take the flags to make themselves more visible to vehicles, waving them if necessary, as they traverse the crosswalks. Flags and stands have been placed on both ends of the crosswalks, allowing pedestrians to pick up a flag on one side of the road and place it in the stand on the other side after crossing.
A simple slogan to remember to use the flags is “Take it to make it.” Communities such as Jackson, Wyoming, use similar flag programs to increase pedestrian safety.
Visit bscomt.org for more information.
