Outstanding carbs

By Micah Drew, Jordan Hansen and Keila Szpaller

“It would be nice if instead of juvenile behavior, there was professional behavior.” — U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, at a hearing about the Montana Public Service Commission.

If you live in Bozeman — or find yourself traveling through soon — consider yourself lucky, as the second-best college town in Montana (Go Griz) is home to a James Beard Award winner.

Wild Crumb has earned the distinction of Outstanding Bakery in the 2026 James Beard Awards, the restaurant industry's annual awards, which were announced on Monday in Chicago.

The bakery, owned by twin sisters Lauren Heemstra and Caroline Schweitzer, is tucked on the corner of Peach Street and Wallace Avenue and has been scrumptiously serving locals and visitors alike for more than a decade. Here's a great profile of the bakery from Edible Bozeman.

~ Micah Drew

Last week I got to spend a Thursday in Anaconda, working on a story about its newspaper, the Anaconda Leader, closing down. One of the best parts of my job is visiting communities I’ve worked with during my previous life as a sports reporter, and this was certainly not an exception.

I have and always will deeply appreciate Anaconda, both its town and its people. One of my favorite memories from this reporting trip was going into the Hearst Free Library and seeing an old newspaper with the header saying it was “Serving the Friendliest City Under the Big Sky,” and it could hardly be more true.

The second story I ever wrote in Montana was about an Anaconda American Legion baseball team, the A’s, which is what happened when you joined a small local paper in the middle of the summer.

I also remember the first time I saw the city’s main athletic facility, Mitchell Stadium, which belongs in another time. Yet, it remains, much like the stack, and I think is an important reminder about the city’s past.

I was also just happy to see Anaconda busy with people, and it really does seem to be on an upswing, which is great for a community that has lost a lot economically over the past five decades.

~ Jordan Hansen

ICYMI, Helena’s “Suga” Sean O’Malley won a bout last week at the UFC fight on the White House South Lawn.

Montana Sports has a play-by-play and comments from O’Malley, who talked about the power of manifestation.

"Manifestation is a real thing. I've seen this before. It's wild what your mind can do when you use it," O’Malley told Paramount+ as quoted in the MTN Sports story.

O’Malley isn’t political, according to his dad, Dan O’Malley, in this interview with the Montana Free Press.

Dan recalled to the Free Press his amusement when he first heard his son wanted to box.

“He said, ‘Dad, I wanna do a sport one-on-one where I can show my own talent rather than being on a team.’  So I told him, ‘Yeah, what do you wanna do?’ And he said he wants to box, which I thought was hilarious ’cause out of the three boys, he is the most timid, non-confrontational kid of all of them.”

~ Keila Szpaller

Last week, I showed you Kirk and Fern, the sheep in my neighborhood. Well, last night, I saw a bear.

I was walking my little pup, and all of a sudden, there it was, crossing the street toward “our” side.

Since a bear gets the right-of-way, no questions asked, we made our way to the other side without hesitation.

A couple of neighbors were watching from a driveway, so my pup and I joined them and made bear buddies.

I wanted to pass on an observation.

The bear walked over to another neighbor’s driveway, and it turned a trash can over.

Well, this bear “resistant” garbage can resisted as much as my family resists my mom’s potato salad, which is to say not at all. At least this particular trash can, against this one bear.

It was a black bear, and it didn’t look huge or small to me. But definitely it had no trouble popping open that can.

I’ve drawn a conclusion, pending other evidence.

This neighborhood is on the north end of Missoula, and my bear buddies, a mom and daughter, told me a couple of grizzly bears had been in a nearby winery a couple of years ago.

All of this made me think it would make sense to recommend Rob Chaney’s “The Grizzly in the Driveway” to you this week.

Please don’t take my word for it. Douglas Chadwick, who wrote “The Wolverine Way,” an inspiration, praised Chaney’s book.

“What kind of future is there for supremely wild bears amid western landscapes increasingly filling with people?” Chadwick writes. “I heartily recommend joining Robert Chaney on his comprehensive and refreshingly fair-minded quest for answers.”

~ Keila Szpaller

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