The Miles City Star reports that they have purchased the former Steadman's Ace Hardware (Coast to Coast) building on Main St. and they will relocate the Miles City Star, Star Printing & Supply, and KATL Radio Station into that location. The Star and KATL hope to be moved in to their new site by early 2002.

Apparently as part of the deal the Steadman's purchased the former Star building on Sixth Street. They have no plans for the building at this time but it sounds like they hope to resell it to a viable retail business.

The move also leaves the 17-acre KATL site on South Haynes Ave. up for grabs, and that is certainly a hot location. Apparently the existing KATL building will be "removed" and the land placed up for sale.

It's interesting to note that the Star also prints newspapers for Terry, Glendive, Broadus, Jordan, Circle, Forsyth/Colstrip, Wibaux, and Ekalaka. Their printing press is 30 feet long and weighs an estimated 14 tons! That will be a tough item to move.

- Dave

The KATL building does come with some valuable property. The building itself is a mess. The roof leaks. The backdoor is ground level and water runs in in heavy rain storms. Snakes like the building, too.

Years ago, when my mother first started working for the Star in the early fifties, KRJF, the predecessor to KATL, was in the same building as the newspaper. So this is a return to the good old days.

They hope to move the presses over a weekend and not miss a day of publishing. The date will depend on when special crews that move presses for a living will be available. The press in Livingston managed the move a few years ago.

The job shop in the basement are the happiest. The basement of the 1911 current building is a horror, dark, dank, no ventilation, a maze of little rooms. Having a window will thrill the job shop folks.

The "morgue" where the old newspapers are stored is a nasty little room and I'm looking forward to it being less creepy since I go down there to get the papers to do the Stardust column.

It should be fun, although I've been heading down to the Star since I was a kid and my feet may be confused.

--Amorette

The information about the katl building,s back door being level with the ground so when it rains water runs in is one of the many rumors that keep surfacing about KATL. The roof does have one area that leaks because of the style and heat that has pulled the tar paper away from the partition wall. In heavy wind driven rains we do get some leaking. It is not as bad as some portray the building to be. The snakes like a lot of buildings along Haynes avenue and Strevell avenue especially in the more rural areas. With the latest development in this area however the snakes have moved to other locations. They don't seem to like people. But the mice have come back instead. The large wolf spiders are also back. Some of us would rather deal with snakes than with the mice and spiders. Snakes don't seem to produce an oder. At any rate it will be good to move to a new location.
don

Amorette, my father and his brother used to perform live country and western music at KRJF in the mid-40s. I would be very interested in getting any information I could relating to Leo and Lyle Koffler known as the "Twilight Boys" in 1945. Newspaper clippings, photos, or even stories from people who knew about this would be wonderful.

This is really Miles City history. Please take a look at one of my family history websites for a short story of KRJF's Twilight Boys:

http://kofflerfamily.tripod.com/

I understand you are the historian preservation authority for Miles City and have written the "Stardust" column for the Miles City Star. Hope you can help me. Thank you.

[This message has been edited by Michael W. Koffler (edited 4/12/2002).]

I've been at a history conference out of town so haven't had a chance to get back to you. I'll try in the next few days and see if I can come across anything.

As for the spiders. . .my husband hates snakes. I can live with spiders and mice don't bother me if they are OUTSIDE. Inside, however. . .

The newspaper is supposed to move over the end of next week. Should be fun to watch them pack.

--Amorette