Joliet Business Owners Defend Town

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By Jared Bray

Story Published: Mar 5, 2010 at 7:40 PM MDT

Story Updated: Mar 24, 2010 at 11:05 AM MDT

JOLIET – When the owners of the Homestead Café closed their doors last week, it sparked a lot of talk as to why the business shut down.

Robert and Bettina Best say they were forced to close their restaurant because they are outsiders, but Joliet residents disagree.

"I feel that the town has been more than supportive and to say Joliet runs businesses out isn't true. We try to support each other," said Christie Krook.

"We're not from the Joliet area, we had a business opportunity to come down here and run the grocery store and we came down and moved into this community and we were welcomed with open arms," said Barry Rowlison.

The Bests contend there are people who simply don't want them around and say they've faced several acts of intimidation.

"I don't know what we've done wrong, there's been hate crimes against us non-stop," said Bettina Best.

But Joliet Police Chief Bob Reed isn't ready to call these hate crimes. He said there are complaints of alleged vandalism which remain under investigation.

"There were two fires that were there, they both involved planters or flower pot type things," he said.

But Krook and Rowlison said Joliet is a good place to do business and a great place to live.

The Bests operated the café for three years before shutting its doors last week. They said they'll now focus on their restaurant in Red Lodge.

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JolietIsHellOnEarth said on Wednesday, Apr 21 at 6:21 PM

Joliet is a terrible place with very few nice people. They're schools are the worse, I personally can't wait to leave after being threatened and harassed by the faculty.

joliet resident said on Tuesday, Mar 30 at 8:30 PM

you outsiders dont know anything. how would you like to work for a place that when you deposited your check it bounced.these people have families to support and they need to survive themselves. i never saw them in the bar or grocery store suppoting us so then why are the bad people.maybe you should get to know us before you judge us

Cowboy! said on Friday, Mar 12 at 4:58 AM

I Love going through Joliet, I have never met an unfriendly person and I love there little Grocery Store and going to the Frontier Bar and tipping a few, the only place I had issues was the Homestead Cafe, they were out of what I ordered and I waited a good hour after I finally did find something that they had. The prices were unreasonable. These wannabe Elvis and Marylin people, I have heard and seen first hand from the begining obviously are not buisness savy. Their Story is Fabricated as none of the things they accused people of really happened. But they sure are doing a great job of giving Joliet a Black eye for their failures. Then you got a bunch of SHEEP on here believing every word these two insane people have to say and are bad mouthing Joliet! I love how people assume without knowing the facts!

Billings Buyer said on Thursday, Mar 11 at 9:58 PM

We need a good hemp store along highway 212. When I ski my back pain flairs up and a good "drag" on a well lit joint takes all my pain away instantly, and for you older folks it helps with constipation prolems, trust me. Please get that hemp store open ASAP as I will bring a lot of friends in tow. "Grass makes the world a better place to live".

Anonymous said on Wednesday, Mar 10 at 4:07 PM

I don't believe anything the Best's have said (by the way what is there real name as they have about 6 AKA's) I'm hearing that they have very serious money problems, law suits being filed and the Carbon County Sheriff's office knows this. Joliet has problems but not as claimed by the Homestead owners. Everything said is a pure fabrication. Robert & Battina are broke and they would rather blame somebody else other than themselves. As for a drug operations going in I will only believe it when I see it and when I see it I will shut it down. We should be more concerned over all the people that have been ripped off in our community by these Las Vegas phonies and there are several.

See ya said on Wednesday, Mar 10 at 12:31 PM

BYE, You won't be missed.

db1989 said on Tuesday, Mar 9 at 7:02 PM

I love the postings on this blog as they all are accurate. This place is no fun to live, the school trys but after hours at school the only thing we want to do is go home. If I wanted to work there is no place to go as I think everybody in town is broke. We now have no place to go and have a pop or ice cream unless we travel to Quick Stop but what if you don't drive. We now have no restaurant its terrible. I want to move and it will happen one day as do all my friends.

RSVP said on Tuesday, Mar 9 at 6:48 PM

For me, the best thing about Joliet is the 70 mile per hour speed limit signs one sees as you enter and when you exit Joliet. I'm hoping for an overpass so I don't even have to touch my brake lights as I fly over the top of the town.

Anonymous said on Tuesday, Mar 9 at 11:59 AM

Oldtimer Joliet - the town had a self appointed mayor. If you ever attended a "town meeting" and watched the interaction between the Mayor and the Town Council it was like watching the movie Dumb and Dumber in slow motion. Like a previous poster noted the community leadership isn't corrupt they were just plain stupid and in many cases reckless and very dishonest and that is why the community has a bad reputation, lack of intergrity or any character. I agree you're right more people need to stand up and fill positions within the City of Joliet otherwise its going to collapes upon itself. The town is dying, it has no future, no dreams. People raised in Joliet leave Joliet and the voids are filled by old people on fixed incomes that only care about themselves. I hope for better and so should you otherwise we will always be the equivalent of the worst of the Billings southside - thats the current Joliet.

CCtreehugger said on Tuesday, Mar 9 at 11:45 AM

I don't like all the name calling it is unnecessary and uncalled for. Joliet as a whole is a nice place we know who the old farts are that have small minds, time to waste, nothing to do, and those are the very few that are trouble makers. The little town itself is great, they try hard and don't have the resources of larger cities or communities. The older people need to understand that not all change is bad, matter of fact if done properly it can be very good. As for the Homestead we say prove your allegations and we will help you to proscute and will hold those responsible for there crimes. The Homestead was not a viable business, it had all the tools but poor management skills and debt was its downfall under the current market conditions. Good Luck in Red Lodge but I bet the outcome is the same. As for Joliet you need to clean up your act a bit and I think the change is already happening. Happy Sucessful 2010 to all.

Oldtimer Joliet said on Monday, Mar 8 at 11:24 PM

It is obvious that many of you feel that the council members, mayor and previous members and mayors over the years have led the town to disaster. It is interesting that there were not more people running for those positions. I sure didn't see your names signed up on the election ballots.

schoolbusJockey said on Monday, Mar 8 at 10:52 PM

Have you ever notice when your at Wal-Mart in Laurel that all the beat up, dented, unwashed cars & trucks with #10 license plates all seemed to be parked in fonr of homes in the town of Joliet. Just an observation by a high school freshman. PS: my cat is in her cage & locked down.

LivinginTown said on Monday, Mar 8 at 9:47 PM

Last one out please flush the john. Our mayor is an idiot, not smart enought to simple say "no comment". Again she showed her stupidity, then again this is Joliet.

RLWelcomeWagon said on Monday, Mar 8 at 9:39 PM

Robert & Bettina welcome to Red Lodge here you will prosper. After reading all the opinions I'm fearful that as I drive through Joliet tomorrow (I work in Billings) I won't find any "Children Playing" signs but instead "Pedophiles Playing" signs. By just reading the opinions one comes to the conclusion that Joliet has serious problems which hasn't been much of a big secret in Carbon County for decades.

JolietObserver said on Monday, Mar 8 at 8:19 PM

I find "Anonymous" comments so interesting as we know who she is as she endures a life of pure misery and is very troubled. Since you have all the answer why don't you open up a nice clean cafe for all the 10 cent coffee drinkers in the town. As I understand it you don't have the credit score to charge a soda drink at the town gas station. Anonymmous you are part of the problem you two-faced, mule butt welfare hag.

Justice said on Monday, Mar 8 at 6:06 PM

This webpage has been called to my attention and I have read all the various comments very carefully. Robert & Bettina if what is alledged can be proven you have a very significant lawsuit against the City of Joliet and others. There are very reliable law firms in Billings with in house investigative talent that are very capable of looking into this matter on your behalf. I suggest to you that you seek a legal remedy to the issue addressed herein. Good Luck

MSUBillings said on Monday, Mar 8 at 5:02 PM

I live in Joliet for 14 years and attend all my school years there. As soon as I could leave Joliet I did as I hated the town and the people. I now live in Billings and couldn't be happier. I can tell you the town is sick and obvioulsy has gotten sicker. It wouldn't bother me if the town fell to the ground.

Love2Ski said on Monday, Mar 8 at 4:29 PM

Joliet is a town that makes its money writing trumpted up speeding tickets. I hate Joliet and have never heard a good word about it, it sucks ! I think the town is full of loonies, with grey hair, no teeth and bad breath. The rumor has it the town is full of pedophiles !

DisgustedinCarbonCounty said on Monday, Mar 8 at 3:37 PM

Joliet is a sick community ! Its leaders are not corrupt there just flat stupid. The owners of the Homestead Cafe are wonderful people, without exception. The town has an ex-sheriff that has mental issues that caused Robert & Battina much heartache. The town's mayor and city counsel committed many illegal acts against these business owners. I hope Robert & Battina retain a good lawyer and sue the City of Joliet, its mayor(s) and the whole town council as they do have serious liability exposure for what they have done. Yes, Joliet has lots of wonderful & nice people living there as I know of many. But it only take a few and they can make life miserable for good descent hardworking business folks. IF ANYBODY IS THINKING OF OPERATING A BUSINESS IN JOLIET MONTANA DON'T ! I suggest that if Robert & Battina get no satisfaction from local law enforcement they should contact the Attorney Generals Office in Helena, Montana.

Ding Dong the Witch is dead! said on Monday, Mar 8 at 5:11 AM

I'm happy they're gone they were weird people, their restraunt was never open when it said, and they were always out of one thing or another when you tried to order. They tried to pay off employee's with gift certificates because they never had the money to pay them. They also went to a town meeting and accused the town of being full of drunks and druggies. That's no way to be accepted. And Call me X are you Elvis or Marilyn pretending to be a former employee? Because all the employees I know have nothing but complaints!

outsider said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 2:44 PM

Sounds to me like all of you joilet residences who follow and listen to your leaders are nothing but two faced back stabbers. You really should think about what you have done to these people behind there backs and asked if you would like to be treated in the same manner. You are a small minded clicky group

call me x said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 10:11 AM

They even opened their home up to certain people, and all people do is gossip about them like they are dogs. Well they are actually nice people. And the treated me better then any of the other places that I worked. On several occasion they even drove to fromberg to pick up the cook because the gentleman had no way to get to work. And I never herd them say that everything that was going on was the whole towns fault, many times Robert and Bettina said that that they’ve meet a lot of nice people here.

call me x said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 10:11 AM

On the holidays that I spent at the Homestead. If their was food left over they said that we could eat free and sometimes when are families were there they even ate free to. Bettina and even bought lottery tickets for all of us on several occasion from the local grocery store and hand them out to us, Bettina would take the lottery tickets turn them over so that you could not see the numbers and tell us to pick one. People complain that they never let them eat and charged them. Well here we go again. You would start charging people to if they started taking advantage of your kindness, eating pizzas loaded with as much topping as you can put on them, we were told no fish or steak, however, some of them who work at the Homestead started eating steaks when no one was around along with shrimp and many other things. Two to three times a shift, taking food and beer and placing them out side the back door until they got off work. Drinking as much soda as they could possible down in one shift.

call me X said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 10:09 AM

Just call me X and I will explain to you why, I live in Joliet and I’ve been approached by other people who last work at the homestead and all she does is complain about them, {it gets so old here about this} to write in this blog and express how bad the Homestead was to work for, and how evil and mean Robert and Bettina are. Here are some truths. When I was hungry and I wanted to eat They feed me free of charge while I was at work. And some times they even ask me if I wanted to take food home for myself and my Family, when I attained the Christmas Party I along with everyone else was treat to a gourmet meal. Prime Rib, Potatoes and all the fixings, shrimp, and soda, they never asked me or anyone for any thing in return other then to do what was ask of us to do. They even bought us gifts, and gave us gift certificates that we could use on another day and eat. On the holidays that I spent at the Homestead. If their was food left over they said that we could eat free and sometime

Anonymous said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 12:19 AM

i dont think any joliet resident has herast the cafa oners. i think they made it up.

joliet girl said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 12:16 AM

i dont think that any joliet residense heast the cafa oners i think they just mad it up.

Montana Girl said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 12:08 AM

(Continued)I don’t believe that we saw Bettina or Robert at ANY of these events. People who want to become a part of the community are at many if not all of these events and more. No, it is not right nor acceptable that someone is harassed or bullied. But in order for something to be taken care of you must come forth with the difficulties. To simply say that no one will help you because you believe you are not liked by the people in the town doesn’t allow us to come forth with the help that we are known for.

Montana Girl said on Sunday, Mar 7 at 12:08 AM

The town of Joliet stands behind those who live here. Ask anyone that showed up for the benefit that over 500 people attended to support a family with a very sick child. The people in this forum that feel that the people of Joliet do not support their community have NOT attended the many activities and fundraisers that take place in Joliet. Just to name a few: the Lion's club, our amazing Volunteer Fire department, the 4 H BINGOs bake sales & fundraisers, the Senior Citizens lunches, the Plays that are put on at the community center (people have been turned away because all the seats were sold), the library fundraisers or any of the many, many other football games, basketball games, volleyball games (need I go on)

local restraunt worker said on Saturday, Mar 6 at 9:42 PM

I have lived here my whole life and my family has a business in Joliet and I have never seen or heard of anything like this until they moved here and made these allegations now we will wait for the police chief and sheriff's office to investigate.

Mike J from SK Canada said on Saturday, Mar 6 at 3:23 PM

Hello my name is Mike from Canada, and I think it is a shame that this all had to take place. Acceptance seems to be the key. I have traveled from my home through Joliet and stopped several times at the Homestead on my way with my family heading to the park via red lodge and the bear tooth mountains pass. Which is extremely Beautiful. I had a chance to talk to the owners of the café and my family and I found it quite comfortable to talk to them. They seemed down to earth. They where so excited about building there new place, they said that there was a lot that they would like to do to help the town with some of the money they would make from the new business. But you the town have to ask yourselves did you try your very best? I believe they did. All though I wondered sometimes what was going on, sometimes this lady in the front short with kind of thin long hair seemed to always hang out in a certain area of the restaurant with what appeared to be certain people. I remember making a com

who really cares????? said on Saturday, Mar 6 at 2:45 PM

Some one need to look into the actions of the police chief and baptist church leader Bob Reed. He seems to have some major conficts of interst and possible corruption.

Cheryl D. said on Saturday, Mar 6 at 1:17 AM

I live across the street from the cafe in Joliet. I have NEVER treated them in anyway that could be considered badly. I do know that the Baptist church is next door to the casino that was built, and that many members of the baptist church were against it being built. For the most part Robert & Bettina kept to themselves the past two years,and did not extend themselves into the community like they told me and my husband they were going to try and do. I'm sorry to see them go, but you can't blame all of the vandalism on hte church members next door one day and then tellthe news media it is "the whole town" the next! Have they ever considered it was random acts of vandalism from local teenagers? Probably not. Business was low. Restaurants fail, and it isn't the town's fault! Good Luck in Red Lodge, I really hope you find what it is you are looking for. Apparently you can't tolerate a small town not liking change!

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