We had discussed before the planned relocation of Universal Athletics from the Butte Plaza Mall to a brand new location at 3544 Harrison Avenue, as reported by the Standard’s Erin Nicholes.

Well, work is progressing and as of today the old Ponderosa building (closed and boarded up for years and years) is nothing more than a pile of rubble. I am not old enough to recall the Ponderosa in its heyday–if anyone else has any stories to share, though, I’d encourage you to do so in the comments.

According to the story, they plan on opening in their new (future) building by fall.

Tomorrow (May 31st) Water Utility Crews will be repairing a leak in the neighborhood directly east of the Bert Mooney Airport.

The repairs will affect residents of the following streets/areas:

• Earth Lane
• Milky Way
• Moon Lane
• Galaxy Lane
• Jupiter Lane
• Mars Lane
• Venus Lane
• Renz Drive
• Star Lane
• the Town and Country Apartments

Residents in this area will be without water for most of the day.

Today, Tuesday, May 30, 2006, marks the day that 35 Butte Central Catholic High School students will make the walk across a stage and into the next phase of their lives. Graduation ceremonies take place tonight at 7:00pm in the Maroon Activities Center.

Special congratulations to valedictorian Katilyn Payne and salutatorian Callan Driscoll.

According to the Montana Standard, 98% of the Butte Central graduates are headed off to college, with 91% recieving scholarships.

2006 Central Graduates:

Ashlea Anderwald, Nick Arcangeli, Nick Banks, Casey Boyle, David Boyle, Stephan Burns, Kim Burt, Russ Curry, Alexis DiGiovine, Callan Driscoll, Jeremy Dodge, Steven Ferriter, Alan Franklin, Elizabeth Gould, Mahli Hartmann, Mari Hovan, Brittni Hubbard, Steven Kambich, Stephanie Lally, Jung Joon Lee, Katelyn McCarthy, John Thomas McIntyre, Shaughn McKeon, Brianne McNabb, Megan Miller, Alexander Murphy, Katilyn Payne, Matthew Pokorny, Kiley Prendergast, Alyssa Reget, Billy Robinson, Elizabeth Sayler, Jake Stagnoli, Lindsay Vainio, and Anna Walsh.

As you spend your Monday, remember the true reason Memorial Day is a holiday in this country–to honor and remember those who have fallen in our nation’s defense and service.

There’s a website that will tell you anything you ever wanted to know about Memorial Day, located at USMemorialDay.org. Take a moment to learn more about the history of Memorial Day (originally called Decoration Day) and say thanks to those who’ve gone before us to pave the way.

The “Memorial” in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:

• By visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
• By visiting memorials.
• By flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.
• By flying the ‘POW/MIA Flag’ as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
• By participating in a “National Moment of Remembrance”: at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.
• By renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

Local Links & Info

• Montana Standard: Local veterans honor dead with flags
• Montana Standard: Memorial Day lineup for Butte and Anaconda

Welcome to Southwest Montana folks! 80+ degree weather for the past two weeks and then as soon as Memorial Day Weekend rolls around, the weather goes down the tubes. What’s better yet, is that the day most of us go back to work or school, the temperatures get back into the 60s and 70s. Typical, eh? Just wait until Labor Day! ;-)

The Copper King Express Excursion Train will take its inagural run today at 1 p.m.

It’s part of a weekend of events in Anaconda called Blast From the Past. It’s being done in conjunction with the grand opening of the Anaconda Railroad & Mining Museum.

In 2004, Rarus Railway Company (the successor to the B.A.&P.), purchased some passenger cars and created the “Copper King Express”. With the creation of the excursion train, passenger trains would once again operate over the former B.A.&P. line. It had been 50 years since the last regular passenger train service operated on the line.

The train will run every Friday and Saturday from this weekend until September.

Prices

• Adult: $25
• Students (ages 6-18): $17
• Seniors (ages 60 and over): $17

You can purchase tickets at the website, by calling (406) 563-7121, or by emailing rarusrailway@yahoo.com

Any of you who attends the Blast From the Past celebration, let us know your impressions. Leave us a comment with all the details. And if you take photos, we’d love for you to pass them along.

Related Links

• Gold West Country
• History of the Railroad
• Montana Standard’s news story

What’s up for this coming weekend? Do you have any plans? Are you going camping, fishing, hiking, or just doing some spring chores around the house? Let us know by commenting.

The Venus Rising Cafe & Arts Center is an undertaking of the Butte-Silver Bow Arts Foundation. Here you can drink coffee, eat a healthy breakfast or lunch, surf the web on the provided wifi, view a variety of art in the gallery, do a little shopping, or just hang out.

The building is quirky and apportioned with comfortable, mismatched furnishings great for lounging and spending some time with a book or your laptop or chatting with friends.

The coffee has been consistently delicious on every visit I’ve paid. Recently, a broken espresso machine put them out of the coffee business for a few days but they’re back with a new machine and the coffee is just as good as ever.

The prices aren’t bad either.

For between $3 and $5 you can get a sandwich made-to-order (you pick the bread, meat, cheese and other toppings). Sandwiches are served with chips are a good value for the money.

The environment is very relaxing and calming at the Venus Rising, and the staff takes a laid-back approach to preparing your order well so if you want a coffee in a hurry, I’d suggest going elsewhere. But if you’ve got some time to kill and are looking for a killer cuppa joe, I’d recommend you give the Venus a try. You may just discover your new hangout.

Check out all our photos from the Venus Rising.

You may have noticed that we were offline for the past few days. Our hosting service had to upgrade our sever and it took longer than expected. We’re back online now though and ready for a very exciting summer in the Mining City!

From the Program:

Mary McAleese was inagurated as the eighth President of Ireland on November 11, 1997. She is a barrister and former Professor of Law. Born on June 27, 1951 in Belfast, she is the first President to come from Northern Ireland. The theme of her Presidency is “Building Bridges.”

The eldest of nine children, President McAleese grew up in Northern Ireland through the violent times that have come to be known as “The Troubles.” Her family was one of many adversely affected by the conflict. She graduated in Law from the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974. In 1975, she was appointed Reid Professor of Ciminal Law, Criminology, and Penology at Trininity College Dublin, and in 1987 she returned to her AlmaMater, Queen’s, to become Director of the Institute of Prefessional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Queen’s University of Belfast.

Mary McAleese spoke to the citizens of Butte, Montana this evening at the Maroon Activities Center. President McAleese spoke about her country’s struggles and about Butte’s connection to those struggles. She discussed Butte’s part in Ireland’s current prosperity and outlook for the future.

For audio of President’s McAleese’s speech, ButteTalk has you covered. mp3 – 7.2M (Please right click and Save As)