City Desk
- Details
- Category: City Desk
Story and picture by Jim Larson
Irish Johnny sits across from me in Butte’s rapidly forming new Shawn O’Donnell’s location.
Tradesmen take a lunch break to give us room for our interview, but just as they leave another comes in, anxious to complete an installation.
In addition to being Shawn O’Donnell’s point man in Butte, Johnny is one of the company’s corporate officers. He believes the new location will be open by “the eighth, ninth, or tenth of March.”
Noting that no plan survives contact with the enemy, I asked Johnny if any unforeseen obstacles appeared as the company moved to open their new location.
He says that the building is one of the oldest in Butte, built-in 1884. “It comes with great beauty. It comes with great history and many stories and a lot of secrets, but it comes with its challenges.” The location had a couple of plumbing “hiccups,” but he notes that “for any challenge that we ran into, the people of Butte had a solution.”
Pointing to community support for the endeavor, Johnny says that he was able to work with the city, and he worked with “local tradespeople who dropped everything to help.” There was nothing that slowed down the effort too much, he says.
When I ask if there would be anything “uniquely Butte” about the new location, Johnny says “We have a lot of memorabilia in particular that’s going to be unique to Butte. He said that he had acquired Butte police and fire memorabilia, and they also had some wonderful photos of Butte boxers. The boxing photos will go in the men’s room. Photos of prominent women from Butte will adorn the ladies’ room. The Butte America foundation donated a Columbia Gardens roller coaster car, and that will be prominently featured in the restaurant, he says.
The restaurant will serve top-of-the-line authentic Irish Pub food, and corned beef and cabbage will be on the menu daily, Johnny says. The corned beef will come with colcannon mashed potatoes, and a little side of soda bread. The bread is made there and is an old family recipe. The menu will also include fish and chips, a Butte favorite, and the shepherd’s pie is made “the traditional way, with lamb,” he says. Another menu item that Johnny predicts will be a hit, is Guinness beef stew. “I think the people of Butte will enjoy that a lot," he says.
Summing up, Johnny says, “I think what people need to know about Shawn O’Donnell’s is that we’re a family-owned and operated little Irish restaurant here in the heart of Uptown Butte, in the Ireland of the Rockies. We’ve got a couple of focus points, and the big one is great food and a family-friendly atmosphere. And you know, we’re traditional in our Irish values and how we operate. I think we’re going to have a good time here. We’re good people, good to work for, and we’re here for a good time.”
- Details
- Category: City Desk
By Mark Moran - Producer-Editor, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - A federal court will rule on a discrimination case filed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development against Yellowstone Apartments in Livingston. Housing officials say discrimination claims are on the rise in Montana, but call this one especially unusual. Comments from Pam Bean, executive director, of Montana Fair Housing.
Mark Moran
March 7, 2024 - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has charged a Livingston landlord with discrimination after investigating a complaint filed by a former tenant.
State housing officials said the nature of the case is unusual and housing discrimination is on the rise. The HUD complaint charged Livingston-based Yellowstone Apartments and owner Dana Christian with discriminating against a longtime renter for retaliating after the resident's daughter, visiting from Russia, allegedly rebuffed Christian's advances.
Pam Bean, executive director of Montana Fair Housing, said the renter, a Russian immigrant and U.S. citizen, had never had a problem until she asked the property owner not to approach her daughter.
"She had lived there for four years without any notices or violations," Bean explained. "And all of a sudden received multiple violations in a few-week period, and ultimately moving to evict the complainant."
Bean noted the case will be assigned to federal court soon, and the U.S. Department of Justice will represent the renter. Christian did not respond to a request for comment.
While cases of housing discrimination are on the increase in Montana as the population grows and property owners are more selective in choosing tenants, Bean pointed out the Yellowstone case is unusual.
"The defendant seemed to just so openly retaliate against the household," Bean observed. "Because it was made clear any type of relationship outside of a business relationship was not something they were interested in."
The HUD charge cites a violation of the Fair Housing Act by "unlawfully coercing, intimidating, threatening, or interfering with" the tenant's right to complain about unwanted advances made toward her daughter.
| Best Practices | Disclosure |
- Details
- Category: City Desk
Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Kentucky environmentalists tackle 'zombie' mines, stereotypes of rural voters are debunked, and despite a messy start, some say rural students bound for college should benefit from the simplified FAFSA.
