Montana considers prison ombudsman.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"This weekend, Trump worked up a plan to shake hands with himself in order to fund his insurrectionist army to the tune of billions," – U.S. Senate minority Leader Chuck Schumer on a fund set up by the Trump administration to aid “victims of lawfare.”

President Donald Trump and his two sons, Don, Jr., and Eric, who run most of his business empire, announced that they’ve agreed to permanently dismiss a long-running lawsuit with the Treasury Department. In what seems to be exchange for dropping the lawsuit, officials announce a $1.7 billion fund that will be used to help “victims” of “lawfare,” which could include those accused of and convicted in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.  

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Voters this weekend in Louisiana sent mixed messages about what may happen overall with the 2026 Election. Voters decimated all of the proposals that had been pitched by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, which included pay raises for teachers. On Monday, the Louisiana Illuminator reported Landry said that no state official would get paid before public school teachers. Also, sitting U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who had dared to vote for the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump was knocked out of a three-way primary, showing the long wrathful memory of president.

Leaders from both sides of the political aisles seem upset and shocked to learn that FBI Director Kash Patel went diving with a group of Navy escorts around the USS Arizona site, where American troops died during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Because it’s a site where fallen veterans have been buried, the only allowed divers and swimmers are those who are checking the site to ensure its safety and confirm that none of the artifacts have been disturbed, according to The New York Times.

I cannot imagine a world without potatoes, but according to scientists, there was a time when the tubers were unknown. In fact, new research shows that some South American indigenous people cultivated the roots and have an additional gene that helps breakdown the starchy potato, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

With nearly 60% of the Treasure State experiencing some sort of drought conditions, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte proclaimed Sunday, May 17, as a day of prayer for rain to helped the parched conditions. One doctor sent us an email, asking if it worked. And for the record, he stated at the beginning that he does not personally believe that prayer and science are at odds, just wondering if the prayers seemed to work.

Not one to let our readers down, we went searching for the answers. As to the question: Did the prayers work? Well, we’ll let you be the judge of that. We used official National Weather Service data and looked at the larger city areas in the state or where the offices were located.

Town (Amount of rain on May 17)

Billings (0.03”)
Bozeman (0.67”)
Glasgow (0.20”)
Great Falls (0.22”)
Helena (0.02”)
Kalispell (0.37”)
Missoula (0.00”)

Higher rainfall totals had been recorded in every location during the month of May with the exception of Bozeman where two-thirds of an inch of moisture set a May high (so far).

After seeing how much rain hit the state on Sunday, it led me to conclude that we need to keep up the prayers. While I was thinking about that, I remembered one of my favorite songs during my college days. The Why Store was an Indiana-based band that formed when several students at Ball State University got together, and named themselves after a men’s clothing store in Muncie.

Even though the band broke through in 1996 with today’s featured “The Hook” hit, “Lack of Water,” they were never able to recapture the success, which included a crunchy rock sound that borrowed heavily from blues. Since the band’s official break-up in 2005, they’ve had a rotating cast of personnel that would make Three Dog Night blush, but apparently still enjoy quite a following in the Midwest.

And then there’s the refrain: “All I need is the water.”

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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