Daines champions bill to help backlog of projects at national parks.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

Even as we’ve reported that the Trump administration has diverted funding from national parks and the backlog of maintenance to the Washington, D.C., area, including the now green reflecting pool, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and other members of Congress have a plan to fund billions of projects — making them a priority.

Also, conservation groups say that the Trump administration is using terrible windstorms that happened in December and this spring as an excuse to log more than 5 million acres in Montana and Idaho.

Finally, all states except for Montana have approved the merger deal between NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp., even though regulators in South Dakota appeared to have some doubts about it.

For years, Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Montana has kept fees and use charges flat. However, it says that it will need to raise rates slightly to keep up with demand and inflation. The department is taking comment and feedback on the new fee schedule.

In the United States Senate, Montana’s senior Sen. Steve Daines sponsored legislation that commemorated the fourth anniversary of the “Dobbs decision,” which upended abortion law in America. The Dobbs decision returned the topic of abortion to individual states where the procedure has had a variety of restrictions placed on it, including some states that have outlawed the practice, while others, like Montana, has enshrined access in the state constitution.

As inflation and other costs continue to rise, despite the Trump administration’s promise of lowering prices and gasoline costs, data shows that more and more Americans are going hungry because the money is running out.

The United States Supreme Court had a number of important rulings drop on Thursday, including one in which it found that the large chemical and food giant Monsanto was not liable in state courts for any harm that its herbicide, Roundup, may done. Instead, the court ruled that because the manufacturer met federal labeling laws, that individual states were not free to pass their own requirements, making companies have to comply with 50 different sets of laws and regulations.

The U.S. Supreme Court also is allowing the Trump administration to cancel temporary protected status for more than 350,000 immigrants from Haiti and Syria. This comes as a substantial blow to human rights advocates who say the ruling will upend these peoples’ lives, and sends them back into a dangerous situation.

The United States Supreme Court also weighed in on a controversial immigration policy. The ruling gives the Trump administration another win. It says that the U.S. government doesn’t have to allow asylum seekers into the country. It can require that they stay-in-place outside of the country’s borders. Meanwhile, advocates say that enforcing this policy endangers already vulnerable people who have few resources and may face violence or death in their home country.

In addition to traveling to Medora, North Dakota, next week, which is right across the border from Montana, Trump also announces that he plans to take in the fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore on July 3.

A new investigation reveals that the Trump administration is spending big bucks on keeping one of the few remaining coal plants in the Northwest operational. Advocates argue the power is dirty and more expensive than other alternatives, but the plant itself has become a sort symbol for a renewed push for coal-fired power generation.

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Our colleagues at the South Dakota Searchlight report that a Republican state senator has been charged with two felonies for filling out election forms of another. According to the reporting, he tried to nominate several people for leadership positions, using forms that they didn’t fill out.

In North Dakota, utility regulators in that state have signed off on a new, large power line expansion. As more and more proposals for data centers and artificial intelligence pop up, be sure to watch how leaders plan to provide power to the energy-sucking centers.

Finally, we note a disturbing investigative report from The New York Times that says that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has either ordered or personally removed dozens of military officers who were in line for promotions. Most of those soldiers were either people of color or women, and several black women were passed over. Meanwhile, Hegseth has defended his approach by declaring that he was strictly enforcing “meritocracy.”

Columnist George Ochenski said that it’s a never-ending battle to keep up with ways that the Trump administration continues to try to skirt environmental rules. This time, he says, he’s tried to avoid any scrutiny on a project that spans Montana and Idaho and would allow logging on more than 5 million acres.

Few voices are unique or easy to spot in popular music than the David Clayton-Thomas who was the lead singer for Blood, Sweat and Tears. The Canadian-born vocalist died at the age of 84, according to multiple news outlets.

Here’s his obituary in Vanity.

His slightly gravelly voice sounded like it had been performing in the jazz world all along.

And with respect and just a tinge of humor, we select one of his most famous songs that seems perfectly suited for today, “And When I Die.”

The band that formed in New York wasn’t around in popular music for very long, but they defined the jazzy, pop sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s, especially when so much of the radio audience was transferring to the FM band, and with it, a more full, lush sound. Blood, Sweat and Tears fused pop lyrics with jazz-sounding songs and became a smash. Their first three singles all achieved platinum-status, but they began in March 1969, and by August 1971 they had placed six songs in the American Billboard Top 40 — and that would complete their time on the charts. Six singles, three of them in the Top 10, but then nothing more by 1972. However, I’d argue that it would be hard to find a bigger group during that period. They also have the painful distinction of this trivia fact: Their first three singles all went to No. 2 on the charts, but they never achieved a No. 1 hit. Those three singles were “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and our song today, which hit No. 2 late in 1969.

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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