Court tosses Ellsworth's conviction because of mishap with jury.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

If we were to have been able to sneak a peek at the headlines today, we could not have guessed that a bunch of documents that accidentally went to the jury in the Jason Ellsworth case would be cause to toss his conviction, but like so many things about the news: Here we are. Attorneys with the Montana Department of Justice say they’ll retry the Ellsworth case because it involves allegations of misusing state funds.

Meanwhile, a national law firm has joined a lawsuit in Montana that tests whether the Legislature has the right to ban AI deep fake advertising during certain election periods. The case boils down to whether the First Amendment allows a political opponent to use AI to create a blatantly false, misleading, but photo-perfect images of a political rival.

As it comes time for United States senators, including our own Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, to decide on the nomination of former personal presidential lawyer Todd Blanche to become the top attorney for the United States, former staff members of the United States Department of Justice are urging Senators not to vote for Blanche.

As the Trump administration has continued to cut spending on some domestic programs, one of the largest areas to be hit was support for Indigenous women and those who are suffering from violence in Indian Country.

The United States House of Representatives has narrowly passed a stop-gap budget resolution that would avoid another federal government shutdown in anticipation of an Oct. 1 deadline. While that date may seem distant, with the Congress’ recess and election break, officials warn that we could very quickly be in another shutdown situation.

Cameron Hamilton, who was once fired as the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is on the cusp of being hired as its permanent director after President Donald Trump nominated him to that position.

Farmers and agricultural leaders are cheering on a decision by the Trump administration that limited coverage for crop insurance. After much backlash, the administration has reversed course and allowed farmers to buy insurance against the chance that they’re not even able to put crops into the ground.

As Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin appears on Captiol Hill on Wednesday, he was grilled about recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Maine and the practice of pulling people from vehicles. Democrats urged Mullin to have the agency adopt body cameras.

Advocates for public food assistance are begging Congress to come up with a different plan than what it passed in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which cut funding for programs such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, while shifting more of the financial burden to the states. Those advocates worry that states won’t have the money and food insecurity will continue to rise.

Republican members of the U.S. House push through a combination bill that would fund the war effort in Iran and also fund more priorities in the farming and agricultural sectors. The bill passed without any Democratic support and is the third time Congress has used the “reconciliation” process to work around opposition.

Republicans and a few Democrats voted for two unrelated bills that were combined: The legislation would implement new rules about stock trading for members of Congress. It was also paired with unpopular elements of voter identification. That alone means the chances of getting 60 votes in the U.S. Senate are slim.

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

As a growing number of documents have been released that pertain to unidentified flying objects, more and more space scientists have tried to zero in on whether life (as we know) it could exist somewhere closer in our cosmic neighborhood. Smithsonian magazine reports that scientists have just discovered a planet that has all the elements needed for life … but still no signs of inhabitants. Yet.

Kelly Armstrong, the governor of North Dakota, told citizens that he will not be supporting a constitutional measure that would require free school meals in all public schools for kids. This follows a number of states that have opted to provide some food to all students as a means of boosting health and even improving school testing. However, Armstrong said he doesn’t oppose the bill because of hungry children, but opposes that the measure requires money to be spent outside the control of the Legislature.

In Tennessee, the prosecutor in Memphis has declined to press charges against ICE agents there who recently shot a worker at a Burger King eight times in front of other employees, according to the Tennessee Lookout.

I have so many friends who are great musicians (and I thank them often and profusely for letting me hang out with them). Many of these folks teach music and instruments on the college level. A few make their full-time living off music. I have seen them wax eloquent about Bach or Rachmaninoff, only to watch them love to play heavy metal. To my untrained ear, it seemed like an odd — but common — juxtaposition. So I began asking them what spurred their love of say, Black Sabbath or Metallica?

To a person, they all say if the masters of “classical” music were to come back, they think they’d play metal. The reasons varied slightly but mostly follow a similar logic: Most people hear loud, distorted and uptempo, nearly impossible rhythm while listening to metal. But what musicians hear is a dizzying array of sounds, complex chord progressions and instrumental performance that requires a player to be near virtuoso-level. Those powdered-wig composers were the rock stars of their day, and they’d be looking to rattle the sensibilities of whatever period of music they were born into.

As much as I had a hard time hearing it (and still do, sometimes), I’ve come to accept that there must be something to it. I can think of the all-cello band, Apocalyptica, which featured four cellos playing instrumental adaptations of Metallica’s song.

Then yesterday, I saw this Facebook video of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra playing Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” Here’s a clip of that performance.

And, of course: Here’s the real thing.

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]

Thanks for reading Treasure State Update. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.