Gianforte says Molnar's behavior in any other circumstance would have gotten him fired.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

Today, we begin with the ongoing drama of embattled Montana Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar, whom Gov. Greg Gianforte suspended for year — a move for which there’s no real parallel. While Molnar has vowed to fight the decision in court, it also leaves a question as to who will be filling in for Molnar, the most experienced commissioner during the most consequential decision in recent history, the potential merger between NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp.

Billions in direct and indirect support will be heading to Great Falls as it recruits new business and awaits the next generation of land-based nuclear missiles. Gianforte has been busy using the promise of fewer regulations and a well-trained workforce as reasons for businesses to relocate to Montana and the Electric City.

Finally, two of the state’s largest counties, Yellowstone and Missoula, are demonstrating a much different approach to citizens who want to halt data centers from consuming land, power and water.

Temperatures across Montana during the weekend were expected to shatter many records, especially east of the Continental Divide. Billings was on pace to shatter its all-time record of 111 degrees. Meanwhile, temperatures in Missoula and others on the western side of the state would certainly be hot — with predictions in the 90s — but nothing like the eastern side of the state.

Because of the heat, officials in Yellowstone National Park as well as leaders from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks have put restrictions of fishing on rivers, mostly in the southern part of the state. Hot temperatures stress fish and lower water flows raise concerns about whether fish, especially Montana’s prized trout population, can withstand the intense heat.  

In a move that is worrying those watching elections, President Donald Trump eliminates all of the members of a federal election agency charged with helping states ensure secure elections. Trump even terminated the Republicans sitting on the commission, leading to concerns that he plans on trying to undermine or meddle with the midterm election results.

Americans are concerned about inflation and how hard it is to keep goods and services affordable. That has also meant a steady growth of those experiencing economic hardships due to medical debt. Increasingly, states are trying to figure out how to help residents out of medical debt.

In a new round of grants to states from the Department of Homeland Security, money and programs that have been designated for counterterrorism programs are worrying some states, especially Democratically led ones, because many of the grants make requirements of voting procedures, unrelated to the purpose of the grant funding.

The attorney general of New Mexico says the state is still investigating what exactly took place at the sprawling ranch of convicted child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, who was one of Trump’s closest friends. The attorney general’s office says its investigation is being hindered by federal authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security said that it would extend protections to those who lost temporary protected status several weeks ago when the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration does have the power to cancel the status.

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

Our first story comes to us from Montana Independent News, which reports that Peter Ticktin, a close ally of President Donald Trump, will now be taking over the legal fights for Lisa Bennett, who has led a case accusing Carbon County officials of voting machine irregularities — something the officials have denied. In the years-long suit, there have been a succession of attorneys, including current Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus. Ticktin was the attorney who has urged Trump to declare a national emergency and take over the voting process.

The Smithsonian magazine has a truly horrifying story about something I never thought could happen — and has been doubted for awhile. Europe’s largest species of bat can actually kill and eat birds mid-flight. Though this has been rumored to be the case for years, this is the first time it has been documented. Terrifying.

Like many people, we’re obsessed with the news of the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., and the dubious claims that vandals — not algae — have been to blame in the perennially troubled body of water becoming a thick, green pool of slimy water. Well, it turns out it’s not the only notable federal feature that the Trump administration has tried to “fix,” only to have it backfire, according to the Daily Beast.

Columnist Doug James has been traveling the world and found a statue of American President Harry Truman in an unexpected place. It was there that he learned a lesson about what America means through the eyes of another country.

A few days ago, I saw a meme on a channel for those of us who have achieved antique status even if we’re members of Generation X. It showed a picture of two trucks. The first truck was built in the 1930s and the caption said: “What Gen Xers think of when they picture a 50-year-old truck.” The next panel said: “What a 50-year-old-truck looks like today.” It was a picture of truck from around the time we were born.

As much as that stings, it’s also true. And, that’s the same with music. On a classic country station recently, I heard them playing the “oldie” Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places.” Then I realized that song is much older now than all The Beatles, Doors and Elvis Presley songs I grew up listening to, which, at that time, were only 20 to 30 years old.

So in my memory, I admit: I have a certain bias against artists that I grew up listening to, but have now been considered “classic.” I forget how much time has elapsed, and some of the songs that were popular, say in the 1970s and ‘80s, have all but been forgotten. That’s the case for today’s “The Hook.” I grew up hearing John Conlee on the AM country radio stations that played other outlaw country artists like the recently departed David Allan Coe as well as Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

Today’s song was Conlee’s first hit and his breakthrough into country music. For the next decade from 1978 on, he produced an impressive string of hits on the country music charts. I remember hearing “Rose Colored Glasses” a lot growing up, but it was like rummaging around in your basement and finding a long-lost momento or object. And this makes me think: Here’s a song that deserves more play. Enough time has passed, much to my chagrin, to make it “a classic.”

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