By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief
“People in this community are embracing refugees coming in. I haven’t heard one person complain about refugees taking a job away from them.” – Valerie Hellermann, executive director, Helena Area Refugee Resettlement Team.
State investigation of Helena renews local control debate
by Jordan Hansen
A state investigation into a city of Helena resolution has renewed questions about the rights of municipalities, with the director of the League of Cities and Towns saying the state has made “constant and determined” efforts to undercut their power for six years. Additionally, advocates who work with refugees in Helena have questions about the state […]
State investigation of Helena renews local control debate
by Jordan Hansen
A state investigation into a city of Helena resolution has renewed questions about the rights of municipalities, with the director of the League of Cities and Towns saying the state has made “constant and determined” efforts to undercut their power for six years. Additionally, advocates who work with refugees in Helena have questions about the state […]
Governor’s energy task force to hold open houses
by Keila Szpaller
What if your power bill could start dropping? What if data centers’ generators could help provide energy to the public grid in an emergency? What about nuclear power in Montana? Those are some issues that have come up with the Governor’s Energy Task Force as the group prepares to embark on a series of open […]
COMMENTARY
Former Montana Supreme Court Justice Patricia Cotter says in a column that Gov. Greg Gianforte should be promoting other things than a group that tells high-school girls that the most important thing they can do is submit to their husbands and have babies.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The U.S. Department of Justice, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is investigating whether two members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement made misleading or false statements about a man they shot in North Minneapolis who was not killed. Federal authorities dismissed charges against the man.
Noted journalist Don Lemon and other protestors pleaded not guilty in federal court in the Twin Cities, and the federal judge who is overseeing the case was also the same one who refused to sign an arrest warrant for him originally.
GOOD READS
Note: some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall
You know something is off when the billionaire-owned, conservative leaning Wall Street Journal starts reporting about excess. But a deeply investigated article by its staff looked into how much money the Department of Homeland Security is spending to keep its leader, Kristi Noem, traveling in style, and how her leadership is affecting the department.
Meanwhile, scientists have discovered a different possible source of where the water on Earth came from. Our colleagues at Smithsonian magazine report that one of the most popular explanations came from scientists who believe that a very young earth was pelted by asteroids and other space bric-a-brac that had ice during its earliest days. That is a lot of asteroids. Now, scientists have found an abundant amount of hydrogen resting deep in the earth’s interior, which seems more likely.
As we first reported several weeks ago in the aftermath of the Minneapolis protests and shootings, U.S. Attorneys’ offices throughout the country are having a hard time recruiting lawyers. The New York Times reported that often those offices would have their pick of up-and-coming or top-level talent. But because of some of the political fallout, and because the U.S. Department of Justice has added political questions to the application, the department is struggling to find attorneys, especially ones with prosecutorial experience.
THE HOOK
What happens when you coat a protest song in high-octane funk and rock? Well, it turns out you get the tune “Everyday People.” That’s according to a new Substack post that several of you sent along to me, written by Dan Rather, a longtime television newsman.
When I read that, my mind flooded with examples of pop songs that have a great tune or you want to sing aloud, until you read the lyrics closely. The mismatch between the subject of a song and tone are often funny, clever or even bordering on ridiculous. I think of the Suzanne Vega song “Luka,” which was a real rocker … about domestic violence and abuse. And yet, it hit No. 3 on the Billboard Top 40 in 1987.
But if you know Sly and The Family Stone, you know that they had a sunshine that masked a certain amount of social subversion, and “Everyday People” was an anthem about accepting people for who they are, and dancing along to a diversity.
In this most recent version, referenced by Rather, he doesn’t play the Sly version, but rather one that may have captured the spirit and message of “Everyday People” even better — that is one that was done by the group Playing For Change. You probably are familiar with the organization if you’ve paid attention to “The Hook,” because its mission is to bring together people and musicians from around the world to make music together through the power of technology. There is something really addictive about watching people from diverse backgrounds perform the same music together.
Keep an eye out for Jack Johnson, Keb’ Mo’, and more….
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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