The ButteCast with Bill Foley

Dr. Jim Barry was — and I suppose will always be — a “Muni Kid.” That means, like a lot of us, Jim grew up golfing at the Highland View Golf Course in the Jack Crowley days. He would get dropped off early in the morning and play golf at the Muni all day long. The 1989 Butte High graduate was a very good golfer, too, playing for legendary coach Ed Yoe on a Butte High golf team that specialized in h...

As a sportswriter, Senior Night was always annoying. I figured it was just a waste of time for everyone but the moms. Then I went through Senior Night with my son, and I realized I was wrong. Opening music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠timmontana.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Dan Lacey was an all-conference receiver for Butte High as a senior in 2002. He played for Butte High head football coaches Steve Schulte and Greg Salo before coaching under Arie Grey as a student teacher. He also played basketball for coach John Thatcher with the Bulldogs. Today, Lacey is on his way to writing his own legend as a high school coach in the Smelter City. Lacey is in his third year c...

The NFL needs to decriminalize the playing of football. We could do that be rolling back most of the new rules put in place since the 1980s and ban the type of officials who do party pumps to look good in the size smedium shirts. Too many of these NFL officials think I paid $400 plus for the NFL Sunday Ticket just so I could watch them make 47 calls into the camera every Sunday. Luckily, I have a...

Tom Mullen is a 1994 Helena Capital graduate and former sports editor and editor of The Montana Kaimin, the University of Montana student newspaper. Today, Tom lives in the Hollywood Hills, where he can look out his window and see part of the iconic Hollywood sign. Among other things, Tom is a screenwriter. He is known for the 2021 movie “Vacation Friends” and the 2023 sequel “Vacation Friends 2.”...

Michael Glatzmaier got his first name from Michael Jordan. While his parents named him after the greatest basketball player of all time, this Michael he says he does not have an athletic bone in his body. Instead, he is a musician and comedian who specializes in improv. He plays the guitar, and some of his act includes singing songs about topics suggested by the audience. He will bring that show t...

We could drain the water from the Berkeley Pit, fill in the hole, build a new version of Disney Land, and let everyone in for free, and a large percentage of people around the state still would not like us.  The true beauty of the people of Butte is that we never gave a rip about our reputation. We know who we are. We are hard-working, kind people who look out for each other. So why are we worried...

Kevin Barry is a well-known and highly-regarded name in Ireland, and beyond. The most famous Kevin Barry was a young Irish Republican Army soldier who was executed by the British government during the Irish War of Independence. His life and death inspired the Irish rebel song titled Kevin Barry.  Another martyr for old Ireland, another murder for the Crown. That, though, has nothing to do with tod...

Over the weekend, my mom’s oldest sister, Carol Kocher, passed away at the age of 85. Carol will be remembered for her love, caring and sense of humor. She made us laugh, even when she did not mean to make us laugh. She also worked for decades as a nurse, offering a comforting hand to so many when they needed it most. Carol will be missed by so many. Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by ...

You will look long and hard before you find a better ambassador for the Mining City than today’s guest. In these parts, Keith Sayers is the most-known motorcycle rider who doesn’t have the last name Knievel. Keith bought his first motorcycle from a friend for just $10 when he was 9 years old. He turned quite the profit on that investment. Keith is now in his 20th year making a living riding his di...

Losing an election last year was a liberating feeling. It has felt good to tell rude people on social media to get bent. Yes, they keep saying that we need to turn the temperature down on our political talk. Our nation is getting more divided every day, and made-up wedge issues are the main culprit. More than that, though, we need people to speak the truth. When somebody says something that is dea...

Brian Gilman is a 1988 graduate of Butte High School.  A black belt in Taekwondo, Brian played football at Butte High before walking on the football team at Montana Tech. He was part of the Bulldog squad that fell 14-12 to Helena Capital in the Class AA State championship game, and that loss still hurts today. After graduating with a degree in environmental engineering from Montana Tech, Brian joi...

Most guests of the ButteCast are from the Mining City or have some deep ties to Butte, America. However, today’s guest, Anthony Dyer, has never stepped foot in the state. He was born in the rugged Appalachian town of Sylva, North Carolina, and he spent more than a decade as a United States Air Force Combat Special Missions Aviator.  When I heard about Anthony’s story, and his recently-released boo...

If you celebrated when ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night television show after receiving pressure from the FCC, then you are missing the point. An attack by the government on anyone’s free speech rights is an attack on of all our rights. Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Park Street Liquors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Rob Cashell is a 1984 graduate of Butte High School. That year, he was a member of the boys’ basketball team that captured the Class AA State title in Missoula on St. Patrick’s Day. Rob was a Longfellow Bomber and a “Muni kid.” That means he was one of the thousands of kids who grew up playing golf at the Highland View Golf Course in the Jack Crowley days. After graduating from Western Montana Col...

Aaron Foster will be playing the Orphan Girl Theater in Butte on Friday, Oct. 3. He bills himself as the former host of an HGTV show you don’t remember. He says he has made and starred in movies you’ve never seen. He says he is a comedian you’ve never heard of. That, however, might be about to change. Aaron is currently on a self-created theatre tour with his show “Mostly Jokes” that received rave...

Tom Pomroy Sr. passed away last week at the age of 1991. He was a Butte Sports Hall of Famer and my Spanish teacher at Butte Central. I will remember Señor Pomroy as a very nice man who always seemed to see the best in everybody. He was always trying to lift people up. Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Today, we start Season 4 of the ButteCast with one of my childhood heroes, “Flyin’” Brian Vaughns. Vaughns was a superstar for the Montana Tech men’s basketball team in the mid 1980s. The 6-foot-7 center from Camden, New Jersey played on two Frontier Conference championship teams. He averaged nearly a double-double with points and rebounds in his time with the Orediggers. He also led the world in...

Butte Central beat Hardin 17-16 on a last-second field goal by Jack Nagle. It was the biggest 3-pointer for the Maroons since Dougie Peoples lifted BC to the Class A State basketball title in 2022. Unfortunately, it will be the last time this season that people who usually go to Butte High games will be able to watch the Maroons play. That is a shame. The solution, though, would be to play more ga...

Jim Larson is a Great Falls Russell graduate who made his way to the Mining City by way of Bozeman, Billings and Anaconda. He is a bit of a jack of all trades, especially in his role with ButteNews.net , which he serves as editor along with his wife, Diane. Jim is also a camera man, writer and advertisement salesman. Before starting up ButteNews.net, Jim worked at The Billings Outpost and The Butt...

Nobody on the planet has more fun living life than Mark Durham. Nobody is more positive, either. Durham grew up in Three Forks excelling at sports and idolizing his big brother, Mick. Mark still holds the pole vault record at Three Forks, where he describes his football days as being the “best non-tackling safety in the state.” While Mick played and coached at Montana State University, Mark played...

In a world of wannabe Adam Schefters, be a Mike Florio. The text-message journalists got it wrong when trying to be the first to report on Tommy Mellott’s status on the Las Vegas Raiders roster last week. While that was irritating and potentially hurtful to the former Montana State and Butte High star quarterback’s family, it also showed off how beloved Tommy is around these parts. Now, we can’t w...

Lt. Col. James McBride recently retired after a 25-year career in the Marine Corps. Of course, in Butte, we call him Jim or Jimmy. McBride is a 1992 graduate of Butte Central High School. He attended the Hawthorne and Hillcrest elementary schools in Butte before going to Butte Central Junior High and then Butte Central High School.  Six days after graduating from BC, he began boot camp in San Dieg...

Some 45 years after she broke my heart by moving away, Lisa was part of the St. Patrick Hospital team that fixed it. Today's bonus podcast is brought to you by  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Park Street Liquors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Brian Toone was a state champion with the Butte High Bulldogs and a national champion with the Montana Grizzlies. Toone moved to Butte in the middle of his junior year in high school, and he was a star linebacker on Coach Jon McElroy’s 1991 Butte High Class AA State championship squad. That Bulldog team outscored its opponents 396-112, giving up just 9.3 points per game on its way to a 12-0 record...