Citizens ask PSC to make sure all data centers go through the approval process.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

Today, we begin with the conversation that seems to be raging in all states — data centers (and their power-hungry demands). Montana wants to make sure that any data center brought online is scrutinized by the Montana Public Service Commission. However, the state’s largest utility, NorthWestern, has other ideas. These issues loom large as the commissioners also weigh a potential merger of NorthWestern and Black Hills Energy.

Also, members of Congress — sadly, none from Montana — are pushing to get Montana residents who were exposed to fallout from radioactive nuclear testing covered by a national compensation fund. Fifteen Montana counties are among the most exposed in the nation, but that stark and sobering fact hasn’t been enough to get those who have been sickened or died Congressional coverage.

Columnist and attorney Doug James writes that Montana’s United States Sens. Tim Sheehy and Steve Daines should not vote to confirm Todd Blanche as United States Attorney General because of his willingness to go along with the $1.7 billion slush-fund from the IRS.

Officials in Yellowstone National Park have moved the fire danger to high as the state, especially the central and eastern portions of Montana, bake with summer weather. Weather alerts and warnings continue through Wednesday, as officials ask the public to take extra care during this hot and dry period.

In one of the notably good things to come from Congress this year, the United States House of Representatives passes a measure that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. For many of us — including in Montana — it would mean not having to reset the clocks twice a year. However, the measure would still have to clear the United States Senate.

Darline Graham, the younger sister of former Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died this weekend, has been sworn in to replace and finish the work of her older brother. Her nomination was endorsed by President Donald Trump, while the status of fellow aging Sen. Mitch McConnell is still uncertain as his office says he’s rehabilitating after a fall.

Newly minted Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh vowed to fight the rising costs of goods and services and inflation, but the most recent report shows inflation jumping by 3.5% during his first period as the leader of the national banking system. Warsh was short on specifics, even as he was grilled by members of Congress.

Young lawmakers throughout the country say they may be in the best position to assess and regulate the growing threat of artificial intelligence. Gen Z and Millenial leaders say that since they know the technology best and will likely be the ones to have to deal with the consequences, they should be the ones to regulate it.

The courts (for now) have let Idaho’s transgender bathroom law become part of the laws of the state. However, lawmakers and especially those in law enforcement are not certain of what that means or how to enforce it.

Our neighbors to the west in the Gem State also have announced that they’ve collected enough signatures for a ballot initiative to overturn the state’s strict abortion law. Collecting enough signatures doesn’t mean that Idaho’s abortion law will fall; just that the voters there will get a chance to decide — as Montana did — whether to enshrine reproductive rights into the state’s constitution.

Speaking of constitutional initiatives, though reproductive rights and abortion will be in front of voters this election, Idaho voters will not have a chance this election cycle to weigh in on the idea of legalized marijuana. A signature-gathering drive fell short of the needed numbers.

Dr. Ryan Cole, who made headlines as an Idaho physician who appeared to be a vaccine skeptic as well as public health skeptic during the COVID-19 outbreak, will remain on the public health board of the largest county in Idaho. In addition to that, Cole is still a licensed physician in Montana.

Officials in Teton County, Wyoming, have officially announced an active measles outbreak there, and officials are also worried that the popular tourist destination of Jackson, which has become the center of the measles cluster, will mean the disease could spread to nearby states like Idaho and Montana.

After two people were shot as part of arrest sweeps by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Secretary Markwayne Mullin has ordered the practice of arresting people in their vehicles stop while authorities review the incidents and possibly develop new arrest standards.

Two United States Supreme Court Justices — Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett — appeared before Congress on Tuesday, saying the high court’s security detail is woefully inadequate as threats continue to mount against the nation’s highest court, regardless of ideology.

After multiple requests and months of waiting, Hennepin County prosecutors have finally received evidence and case materials stemming from the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good during Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

In a sad example of history repeating itself, Trump signed an order Monday that shrunk two Utah areas, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears. Trump cheered on the order, while environmental advocates felt like they were experiencing deja vu — Trump attempted a similar move during his first term. Meanwhile, no Native leaders said they were contacted for any input prior to the decision.

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

Of all the terrible trends of 2026, explosive diarrhea (we hope) is the worst. We’ve seen algae growing on landmark water features in Washington, D.C., and we’ve seen all sorts of problems in politics. However, public health officials are warning people to be careful of a growing number of clusters of this type of bowel distress, which is often not lethal, but causes several days of awful symptoms. Scientists through the Smithsonian magazine have tried to answer questions about the gross gut bug.

In Washington, the grocery store chain Albertson’s is being sued for how it handled opioid prescriptions. Authorities in the Evergreen State accuse the grocery giant of not checking prescription records carefully enough before filling the dangerous medicine, according to the Washington State Standard.

That publication is also reporting that Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson wants to make sure that all graduating high-school seniors fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or FAFSA). Educational leaders say not filling out the paperwork remains one of the most significant barriers, and this could help ensure that support is ready, if students choose to attend college.  

We’ve written a lot about housing. Since 2020 and the COVID-19 years (which would be a great musical anthology/collection for a band or artist), housing in Montana — as well as in other states — has taken a sharp turn toward the unaffordable. In many cases, large investment companies have bought single-family homes, leading to a shortage in affordable properties. In a story last week about the state of Montana’s budget, reporter Jordan Hansen helped drive home the real truth about the Montana economy: It runs off real estate — and high-priced real estate at that. Housing will likely remain an issue for years until supply and demand even out a bit, or home-ownership becomes more achievable.

This following chart prepared by Visual Capitalist (a favorite source for us) shows what percentage of housing is owner occupied. This helps demonstrate how affordable housing is in a country depending on whether most people can afford to live. Sadly, the United States has fallen to nearly 65%. That means 35% — or more than a third of the country — doesn’t own their home or rents. Compare that with Slovakia’s leading 94%. Even our neighbors, Canada (69%) and Mexico (70%), do better than the U.S.

Recently, we’ve talked a lot about crossover hits that seemed to span genres and mix elements from multiple musical styles. There are a lot of those songs that do this. And really are guitars, bass, piano and drums that different between genres? Probably not as much different as we think.

Some artists, for example, Jerry Lee Lewis, had a meteoric rise in rock-and-roll, only to later resurrect his cratered career in country. Other artists like Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich and Conway Twitty had similar career paths, going from rock to country. And maybe the most famous rock artist of all, Elvis Presley, began in country, charting multiple songs from his legendary run with Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, before becoming the “King of Rock and Roll” in 1956.

Of course other artists have drifted back and forth among genres. For example, I can remember growing up in the 1970s and having both country and pop music claim Anne Murray. Another one of those crossover artists was a woman who nearly almost went into a different genre — opera.

Jennifer Warnes was originally from Seattle. She worked in London, on Broadway, and with Leonard Cohen. She was remembered also for her duets including the No. 1 hits, “Up Where We Belong,” with Joe Cocker, and “I’ve Had (The Time of My Life),” which she sung with Righteous Brother Bill Medley in the blockbuster hit movie “Dirty Dancing.”

But the tune that I’d like to focus on was a 1979 song that was a crossover. Warnes had at least three hits that charted on both the rock-and-roll Top 40 as well as Billboard’s country music hits. “I Know A Heartache When I See One” was a great country song that cracked the country chart’s top 10. And as much as it’s a product of the time — you can hear a lot of artists like Linda Ronstadt, Crystal Gayle and Juice Newton in it — the song was an unassuming hit about something that happens often: Seeing the death of a relationship and knowing that it’s inevitable.

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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