The number of uninsured Montanans is growing

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"Another reckless political stunt designed to distract Americans from Democrats’ dangerous plan to shut down the Department of Homeland Security.” – U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming on why he blocked a Democratic motion to release the remainder of the Epstein files. 

As predicted, when the healthcare tax credits expired, it led to more people dropping off the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace. In Montana, that has meant that around 5% of the people who had care last year through the exchange no longer are utilizing it. And, a check of the rates shows that some have increased by more than 40%.

As President Donald J. Trump renews his call for the federal government to take over elections, something that a White House spokesperson at first insisted was just a “joke,” Montana’s entire federal Congressional delegation remains tight-lipped about what they think of the president’s latest push.

After being rejected by a Deer Lodge County judge, a coalition of media organizations, including the Daily Montanan, have taken their case to the Montana Supreme Court, asking it to help open court filings related to a mass shooting in Anaconda last year.

Republicans in The United States Senate have blocked an effort by Democrats there to force the United States Department of Justice into releasing more of the Epstein files. While more than 3 million records have been released, estimates say that’s just about half of what the federal government still has. Republican U.S. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming called the effort just a political stunt.

After the FBI raided a Fulton County (Georgia) election center and seized voting machines and ballots related to the 2020 election, county officials in Atlanta have sued demanding their equipment and ballots back.

In a silent but definite rebuke of the Trump administration, Congress has passed the budget for this year, including funding the U.S. Department of Education even though the President and others, including Montana’s U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, have called to have it dismantled.

Near Montana’s eastern border, North Dakota public health officials announced the first case of measles, as states begin to track the rise of this once mostly eradicated disease.

Note: some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall

We have three selections from our friends at Smithsonian magazine and none of them – thankfully – have much to do with our current political turmoil and upheaval. The first two articles involve galaxies far, far away. In fact, scientists have now found huge galaxy clusters that shouldn’t exist; that is, they’re farther away than models and our understanding have predicted.

Modern technology, a particle accelerator, has helped “find” one of the works of Hipparchus, the father of astronomy, by peering deeply into medieval manuscripts that have been overwritten by monks who decided that the world needed more religious texts and fewer books about the stars. However, what the science reveals is what is believed to be the first “star catalogue,” which documented the position of the stars.

Finally, since we all know (and gratefully accept) that the Internet was created to share cat videos, scientists have often thought that domesticated cats may have developed meowing and sounds as a form of communication with humans, noting that large cats don’t make the same vocalizations. But new research shows that jaguars meow and call their kittens using an intricate system of voicings that haven’t been documented until now.

Of all the things that a person can find on social media, this caught our attention from the "X" (formerly Twitter) account of Montana's junior U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy:

As more and more protest songs start to emerge, and as we have spoken about in “The Hook,” turbulent times seem to spin off a lot of poignant and pointed songs. Even Woody Guthrie gets his start singing about the hard times of the Dustbowl era and wandering workers, and the grandfather of country, Jimmie Rodgers talks about hobos and tramps riding the rails, looking for food and work.

Well, several of you, including our friend and eDJ Mary Catherine Dunphy suggested the song that was written after Renee Good was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Although we’ve had at least a half-dozen suggestions to play this one. And, it’s always a good thing when there are more requests than newsletter editions.

Here’s the song “Her Name Was Renee,” by the one-man band, Out of Tune. The artist’s YouTube has been played nearly 90,000 times. Here’s what he said:

Her Name Was Renee is a rock protest song inspired by a real case.

This is not just music. It is a memorial, a protest, and a demand for justice.

It’s a memory, a protest, and a demand for justice.

This rock song was written in honor of Renee — to remember her as a person, not a headline.

To say her name.

To refuse silence.

🎸 This is a song about loss.

🔥 About anger.

🕯️ About memory.

Because you don’t bury the truth by burying the dead.

If you have a song that you’d like to share, or would like to get in touch with us, please send us a note at [email protected]

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