Mike England handed me a shotgun as we prepared to hunt on a piece of land in a redacted location I swore I’d never share, partially out of fear but mostly respect. I’ve never hunted, instead spending much of my time behind a screen, typing away, busily compiling words that would lead to eventual stories, some more read than others. England can relate to that, I’m sure of it. When I loaded the shells and cocked the 12-gauge, ready to take aim at pheasant, I briefly wondered what I was doing out in a wheat field near Belgrade. At the time, it had made more sense, justified as an experience I shouldn’t miss, especially because he had suggested it. And it wasn’t that I was unprepared. I had taken my hunter-safety course, bought my license and tags, wore my orange, and had some shooting experience. I was ready to learn. Still, having approached him only a few days earlier as a nagging reporter, I was suddenly thrust into the wild with the founder of Outside Bozeman and his business partner, Chris McCarthy, at their suggestion, walking the perimeter of a field as their two dogs sniffed out our prey. Looking back, from behind my screen as I try to write this, it was an odd way to get a story out of England, though ultimately, it’s one that suits him and is perhaps a fitting way to share that his magazine and media company are for sale. “Chris and I realized we had been doing this a long time, longer than anything else we’d ever done ... because we enjoy it,” England said that day. “We didn’t want to get burned out and we started thinking about passing it off to some younger, fresher blood that can infuse some new energy into it before we started to get old and cranky,” he added. “That ship may have sailed.” Old might be relative for a 54-year-old veteran who exudes a physical appearance contrasting that of a stereotypical writer. Not until he opens his mouth does his quick-witted intelligence begin to pour out, often faster than I can keep up with. But maybe cranky is more accurate, although only when it comes to certain topics, namely public lands and the seemingly increasing limitations on access. Overall, England appears to be in good spirits, in awe of blue skies and bulbous roosters, while remaining well-entrenched in the daily happenings of a quarterly publication. That publication, however, is listed for $925,000, and although I thought it to be a timely story, England and McCarthy have been trying to sell Outside Bozeman for over a year. It’s just that now, after a little nudge and a couple of phone calls, they were ready to share why. “We kept it under wraps for a while and in the past six months we told the staff, and decided it was time to let the cat out of the bag,” England said. In 1999, England was doing OK in the journalism world, but some pitches were rejected, and emails went unanswered, making him yearn to be in charge. So, he did the only logical thing and launched a magazine. “When you’re a freelancer you’re going to face some disappointments, and I was having gradual success,” England said. “It wasn’t that I felt like I couldn’t make it, but I got excited about writing whatever the hell I wanted to write, and I got excited about celebrating this town that I love so much.” Having come up with an idea for it, he chipped away at his plans, drawing up a mock sketch of a first issue , what it would cover, and what it would be called. Working as a bartender at the time, he met Jim Harris, a local photographer. “After about his fourth beer Jim said, ‘You know, I got this idea for a magazine for Bozeman,” England said. “Go on,” he told Jim at the time. “I played dumb, and I just let him tell me everything about it,” England continued. “And it was exactly like my idea, down to the name. He had the same name!” The two shook hands that night and started the magazine the next day, and over a few months, the first issue was erected from the depths of their dynamic minds and published in the early summer of 2000. “It looked like a high school project,” England said. “We both put in a couple of grand and we bought a computer, some software and I sold ads. I wrote every article in that first issue. Jim produced every photo.” In their office on East Mendenhall Street, shelves of issues line a wall — the summation of what Outside Bozeman has produced over the years, slowly shifting and morphing from a biannual. “I foolishly thought that we would make a bunch of money and we’d sell it in five years,” England said. “We never made a bunch of money, but it took probably 10 years before we were making decent money.” Today, Outside Bozeman has four issues a year, filled with tongue-in-cheek writing and articles that run the gamut of outdoor-related content, fueled and altered by those feeding the publication. “We worked hard, we threw it together, and it always came out,” England said. “As the years passed, we developed processes and systems so that we didn’t have to pull all-nighters while still maintaining the energy of it and preserving the spirit. Things normalized.” Regarding style and content, and their occasional divergence into the satirical as their most devoted readers likely know, England says, “We’re smart asses and we like to joke around, have fun and poke fun. It naturally flows from our senses of humor.” “Nothing is sacred,” England said. “We get praise, but we rarely publish it, we always publish the hate mail.” Although he says Outside Bozeman prides itself on giving voice to locals, he said it’s important that his team never took themselves too seriously and attempted to stay true to something greater. “Everybody takes themselves too damn seriously and nobody wants to joke, nobody wants to offend anyone,” he said. “I think we deprive ourselves of an important aspect of life when we get too sensitive and too worried about saying the wrong thing.” Although England said they’ve “tempered ourselves a little bit — we don’t really want to deliberately offend people unless they deserve it,” he still believes the publication should “just say whatever the hell we want.” Even with politics, and getting sucked in by a partisan world, he essentially said Outside Bozeman uses its middle finger to bypass societal rules and restrictions, to “Call out the bastards and praise the heroes,” he said. So, they write what they want, when they want, not straying far from an outdoor-focused agenda while remembering to always blaming those they believe are to blame, regardless of party affiliation. “We care about this land, the landscape, and its wild creatures and habitat and nature so we fight for that,” England said. “We call out people who work against it and oftentimes it means we’re calling out Republicans but that doesn’t mean we’re Democrats, right?” I nod, waiting for more. “It just means we care about nature.” By the time I fired the shotgun for the first time, McCarthy and England were likely starting to wonder what was taking me so long. We’d traversed the field, multiple roosters had popped, and they each had a kill, but I was too fixated on taking the wrong shot, carefully watching the muzzle of the gun, mindfully aware of where my trigger finger rested, and tracking their bright orange. Still, they kept us going, only stopping by McCarthy’s truck for a quick break before crossing the road into another field, where we made our way through and around a stretch of brush. Soon enough, more pheasant roosters began to pop, to their amazement, both being seasoned hunters. In the end, I missed five shots, but England bagged his three and McCarthy one. Tired and dehydrated, I unloaded the shotgun, got back into the truck and we headed for Belgrade. McCarthy was driving and England pointed out a flock of turkeys out of legal range of our shotguns. When I asked them why they brought a reporter along for a hunting trip, they both got quiet, while I quickly realized that only Chronicle photographer Lauren Miller and I were getting paid to be there. They noted that at least one issue every year features a firearm for hunting on the cover. It all seemed fitting. “You said you would like to start hunting,” McCarthy eventually said. “And I said, ‘Well, I think I’m going out Friday,’ and Mike invited you.” “Chris looked at me and said, ‘Really? You think we want to take a reporter hunting?” England added, laughing. I stared out the window as we drove onto Interstate 90 heading east. I saw the day’s last light shine over the Spanish Peaks as McCarthy’s German shorthair pointer began to fall asleep beside me. We’d share bouts of silence before one of us would talk again. McCarthy and England continued to tell me about their journey. About how McCarthy joined in 2010 and bought into the publication around 2012. How they’d rather be hunting or somewhere deep in the wilderness or how England wonders if he’s too old to be a game warden. They told me about all the articles they’d written and how they’d done just about everything they’d wanted to do. About the advertisements, McCarthy sold over the years. How the magazine grew to a quarterly and that each year there’s an issue with a gun on the cover. “I’m surprised that we’ve made it this far. It’s a lot of work,” England said. “We’re not getting rich, so we’re not in it for the money, and I’m surprised we’ve stuck it out this long, that we haven’t gone into something else.” They told me about the writers that have made their way through Outside Bozeman. Some just briefly, and some for years — how they leave their mark and how the magazine changes with each issue. “Outside Bozeman is a living thing, it’s not just mine or Chris’ or ours,” England said. “It’s a living thing that is a reflection of the people and of Bozeman.” And although I first called them with what I thought was a scoop, I quickly began to see it all differently. Outside Bozeman is for sale, sure, and for $925,000 a buyer will get all its intellectual property rights, branding, advertising accounts, access to staffing, and 25 years of content, but that doesn’t begin to breach the whole truth. Rather, it simplifies what Outside Bozeman represents and the place it holds in Gallatin Valley. It strips away some of the magic that England and McCarthy hope continues with a new owner, when they get the boot — and a lucrative paycheck. “I learned a while ago that nobody is that important, that if they’re gone things don’t continue to move forward,” McCarthy said. “If I’m gone, sales will continue, if Mike’s gone, editorial is going to continue.” “It’s bigger than us,” England added. “It exists beyond us; anybody can pick it up. We’re a big part of it but we’re not a necessary part of it anymore.” Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.
(The Center Square) – The majority of Americans generally support the idea of cutting back on the federal government, polling finds. The Pew Research poll from this summer found that 56% of Americans say the government is “almost always wasteful and inefficient.” Gallup’s recent polling data shows that 55% of Americans say the government is doing “too much” while only 41% say it should do more. Americans are more evenly split how big the government should be, but increasing government efficiency has more broad support. “Gallup polling earlier this year showed that 58% of Americans are dissatisfied with the size and power of the federal government,” Gallup said. “A slight majority of Americans say the government has too much power. Seven in 10 Americans in 2019 agreed that businesses can do things more efficiently than the federal government.” The survey comes after President-elect Donald Trump won the White House and issued broad, sweeping plans to decrease the scope of the federal government. To accomplish this task, Trump appointed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and billionaire Elon Musk to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency. “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,’” Trump said in his announcement. Both Ramaswamy and Musk have publicly issued scathing remarks about the waste of federal resources currently occurring in Washington, D.C. Ramaswamy, for instance, has laid out a specific plan on how thousands of federal workers could be fired. The pair of businessmen have said publicly DOGE could cut $2 trillion in federal spending. Ramaswamy and Musk visited Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with lawmakers to discuss the potential cuts, which could even include ideas as drastic as eliminating the Department of Education and returning that responsibility to the states. Trump's allies have also discussed cutting spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which are seen by Trump's camp as taxpayer-funded investment in woke ideology. Whether such stark actions would be supported by Americans remains unclear, but for now the latest polling shows Americans want something to be done. On top of that, Americans’ desire for smaller government seems to be more than a momentary political phase. “Gallup has asked this question annually over the past 24 years. On average, 52% of Americans have said the government is doing too much, compared with 42% saying the government should do more...” Gallup said. “Only twice have more Americans chosen the ‘government should do more’ alternative over the ‘government doing too much’ alternative -- in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19.”ST Picks: What’s worrying about Prabowo’s foray into South China Sea claimsBlake Lively may walk out with ‘$10m’ & ‘saved’ reputation after lawsuit while Justin Baldoni’s career is ‘dead’
Israel does world a service by hitting Assad’s chemical weapons cachesThe meeting with Collins was closely watched as she is seen as more likely than most of her Republican Senate colleagues to vote against some of Trump’s Cabinet picks.According to the Cooperativa de Porcicultores, around 230 million pounds of pork are consumed on the island, of which only 5% is produced locally, the rest comes from abroad December 28, 2024 - 5:33 PM Whether it’s a la vara , chops or other types of cuts, Puerto Ricans like to eat lechón both during the Christmas season and throughout the year. But in order to prepare these traditional dishes, how many lechones are slaughtered in Puerto Rico during the year?. Discover the trendiest destinations to visit in 2025 Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve from the T-Mobile District “changed the game for Puerto Rico” 2024 could end up as another record year for hotels and short-term rentals
YouTuber streams toilet world record attempt after a month of solitary confinementVictor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. And this wasn't on a whim: He knows how to play and even brought his own chess set. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. People began showing up almost immediately. Washington Square Park is a known spot for chess in New York — Bobby Fischer among others have famously played there, and it's been used for multiple movie scenes featuring the game. Wembanyama was there for an hour in the rain, from about 10-11 a.m. He played four games, winning two and losing two — he told Bleacher Report afterward that both of the losses were to professional chess players — before departing to catch the Spurs' flight. Wembanyama had been trying to get somewhere to play chess for the bulk of the team's time in New York — the Spurs played the Knicks on Christmas and won at Brooklyn on Friday night. The schedule never aligned, until Saturday morning. And even with bad weather, he bundled up to make it happen. He posed for photos with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA's biggest stars. “We need an NBA players only Chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner,” he wrote on social media after his chess trip was over. Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning rookie of the year last season. The Spurs play at Minnesota on Sunday.PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley wanted to be a student in team history before he had a chance to make some with the Eagles. The running back who had just signed with Philadelphia for $26 million guaranteed took a deep dive on some of the franchise’s greats out of the backfield. He learned about Wilbert Montgomery. Brushed up on LeSean McCoy. Barkley then put them in his sights — and this week against Carolina, he could become the top single-season rusher in Eagles history. Get past those two Eagles Hall of Famers and the target narrows: McCoy has a chance to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards, set in 1984. “That’s your goal,” Barkley said. “You want to come in here, you want to leave a legacy on a place, on a franchise.” Here’s where things stand with Barkley in his pursuit of records: — Barkley has an NFL-best 1,499 yards rushing through 12 games, an average of 124.9 yards per game. At that pace and with one more game to play than Dickerson, he would surpass the NFL mark that’s stood for 40 years. — Barkley needs to run for 108 yards against the Panthers to break McCoy’s Eagles record of 1,607 yards set in 2013. Montgomery ran for 1,512 yards in 1978. RELATED COVERAGE Steelers QB Russell Wilson is spreading the wealth on offense Bills’ push for AFC top seed continues with visit to Rams, who need to keep pace in NFC West Surging Bucs look for 3rd straight win, while reeling Raiders aim to end 8-game skid “I’m aware of the things I can accomplish,” Barkley said. “The way I accomplish that is sticking to the script.” The Eagles (10-2) have won eight straight to take control of the NFC East and remain in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Barkley — with a little help from Jalen Hurts — has largely led the way and moved into MVP consideration. The former New York Giant also ranks third in the league with 11 rushing touchdowns. It’s reasonable to expect Barkley to pile on the yards against Carolina (3-9). The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . The Panthers are 32nd in the league against the run and just allowed Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving to run for a career-high 152 yards last week (he had never broken 100). “It’s incredible what he is doing. The record has stood up for a while. I mean 17 games or 14 games, it’s ridiculous,” Panthers defensive lineman Shy Tuttle said. “It’s a record that has been held for a long time and whoever breaks it, Saquon or someone else, it’s an incredible achievement.” Barkley leads the NFL with four rushing touchdowns of 25-plus yards this season and tied Montgomery for the most 100-yards games in an Eagles season with eight. “You get to see the player on Sundays. We get to see the person every other day during the week,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “He’s special. At the end of the day, he’s a special teammate, special person. The way he connects with everyone, rallies everyone together. He’s one of the best.” Putting last week behind him Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard is eager to get back on the field and put last week behind him. Carolina’s leading rusher had a costly fumble in overtime last Sunday against Tampa Bay as the Panthers were driving for a potential game-winning field goal, resulting in a 26-23 loss to division rival Tampa Bay. A dejected Hubbard remained on the bench for several minutes after the loss. “You definitely use it as motivation,” Hubbard said. “I have come a long way and I know what it’s like to play great football. That was a big mistake on my end, but I don’t just lose all of the work I have put in because of that one mistake.” Get down, Young man Bryce Young is beginning to show he can be a factor with his legs, scoring on a 10-yard run last week against the Buccaneers. However, Young still receives plenty of good-natured ribbing from his teammates when it comes to his sliding ability, which the QB has previously admitted is limited because he wasn’t much of a baseball player. “He definitely has to work on his slide,” Hubbard said. “He has been making people miss so he hasn’t had to slide like that a lot. I mean I’m not trying to hate on my dog’s slide but it’s just a work in progress. He will be all right.” Oh, those Philly fans Panthers guard Robert Hunt said it’s always interesting playing in Philadelphia because of the team’s passionate fan base. Last year, while Hunt was playing for the Dolphins, he said an Eagles fan attempted to board the Miami team bus. “They have some characters there — some people who don’t really give a damn,” Hunt said. “He was trying to trash-talk us. But he was confident and that is what makes them them.” Hunt said the fan never made it on the bus. “Aw hell no, we would have stomped that boy,” Hunt said with a laugh. “He tried. He was talking his noise. Good for him. I don’t want to say you want a fan base like that, but you want a fan base that cares about the team.” ___ AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFLForrest's 30 lead N.C. A&T past North Carolina Central 85-72
Hegseth meets with moderate Sen. Collins as he lobbies for key votes in the SenateIs Secret Santa stressing you out? Here’s your holiday gift-exchange survival guide
A new bill that would allow companies experiencing financial losses to avoid paying a minimum income tax has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives. The bill aims to modify the Companies Income Tax Act to provide better protection for businesses and companies that are not making a profit in a given year. Sponsored by Oboku Oforji from Bayelsa, the bill successfully passed its second reading during a legislative session on Thursday. Currently, existing law requires that companies with no taxable profits must still pay a minimum tax. This minimum tax is 0.5 per cent of the company’s total revenue, excluding certain investment income. The proposed legislation would change this rule. It seeks to create a new exception that would allow companies reporting financial losses to skip paying the minimum tax for that year. Read Also: Senate won’t be intimidated, tax bills on course, says Akpabio During the debate, Oforji explained the bill’s purpose. He argued that the amendment would bring fairness to businesses, especially given the current economic challenges that have caused many companies to struggle and lose money. “This amendment primarily proposes to exempt certain companies from paying minimum tax in years when they are experiencing financial losses,” Oforji stated. James Faleke, who leads the finance committee, supported the bill. He noted that this amendment is part of the tax reform initiatives proposed by President Bola Tinubu. The bill was approved when the house speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, called for a voice vote, with lawmakers vocally supporting the proposed change.10 Cult Classic Movies Of The 2000sBBC radio icon Tony Blackburn , who clinched the title in the inaugural series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2002, graced The One Show alongside Loose Women panellist Judi Love tonight. Chatting with hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp, Tony reminisced about his jungle stint two decades after triumphing in the ITV contest. While Tony offered some fascinating anecdotes from his time on the show, he left the presenters momentarily lost for words with a particularly candid comment in response to Alex's query. "Tony, you won it, you were the first king of the jungle," Alex remarked. "What advice would you give to the campmates?" In a deadpan tone, Tony retorted: "Don't do it." The unexpected quip had Roman and Alex in fits of laughter, clearly taken aback by the frankness of his advice, reports Wales Online . "Get out of there," chimed in Alex, before Tony explained he was "making a joke". Delving into his jungle days, Tony shared: "It's a hard show to do. I'm a vegetarian and I didn't have to eat all that stuff. "I couldn't do it now - it's horrible, the stuff they have to eat," he said, visibly cringing. "But I think you've just got to be yourself on, it because that's all you can do." I'm A Celebrity 2024 boasts one of the most glittering line-ups yet, featuring fan favourites such as Love Island's Maura Higgins, McFly's Danny Jones, and Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse, all competing for the coveted jungle crown. Tonight, the campmates on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! will be seen competing fiercely for a golden ticket that ensures their safety from the next two eliminations by granting them immunity. This shake-up to the classic Celebrity Cyclone challenge has not sat well with some fans, prompting accusations against ITV for "ruining" the beloved series and sparking a flurry of dissatisfaction across social media. On X, the platform once known as Twitter, a disgruntled viewer expressed: "Nah, not up for this at all. Taking part in the cyclone is a privilege bestowed by the viewers. You've actually ruined a great series by doing this. And we all know it'll be Colleen." (sic) Another added their voice to the criticism, stating: "If this is an immunity thing, please don't. It skews the order in which the public vote them out. I'm always suspicious of this. You know who is likely to be up next and are trying to save them unfairly." Nevertheless, there are those who revel in the excitement of the contest; one enthused fan said: "Soooo good! Love it." (sic) The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! airs every night at 9pm on ITV and ITVX.