No redistricting for Montana.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

Well, that was short-lived. Just days after the United States Supreme Court made its controversial “Callais” decision, which allowed states to start redrawing Congressional maps without concern for minorities, Montana lawmakers started musing about whether to redraw Montana’s legislative maps, especially as it pertains to Native American areas. That idea was quickly stopped last week, when legislative analysts told Reps. Braxton Mitchell and Lukas Schubert that the state’s constitution was clear: You can’t do that mid-cycle.

Meanwhile, residents learned new details about how former Montana Senate President Jason Ellsworth rushed through a contract to allegedly help a close associate with going through the normal bidding process. And a state judge has narrowed his injunction against the Montana Republican Party and its bylaw changes that would allow leaders to decide when to boot a party member if they don’t conform to party beliefs.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued a stern warning after a national address by President Donald Trump on voting security and baseless claims about stolen elections. Mullin said that statewide leaders who wouldn’t cooperate with the federal government with things like voter rolls risk being personally charged in voter fraud cases, and could be imprisoned if convicted.

Speaking of Homeland Security, even though statistics show that violent confrontations and the chances of injury increase when agents pull people from vehicles, statistics show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement are still using the controversial technique.

Fast-good giant Taco Bell has said that it has ordered the recall of lettuce from its restaurants across multiple states. The gut bug, cyclosporiasas, which has caused watery and explosive diarrhea has been linked to a lettuce farm and vendor that is used by Taco Bell. Honestly, we’ll leave it up to the remaining late-night talk show hosts to do what they do best: Write jokes that have Taco Bell and diarrhea as subjects. We simply can’t compete with the big dogs on this one — and we’re fighting the temptation to try.

Both Democrats and Republicans on a nationwide scale are flush with cash, even though voters on all sides of the political spectrum seem exhausted by long election cycles filled with television and mailbox clogging ads. But money flowing to political parties has been made even easier thanks to recent rulings by the United States Supreme Court, which continues to link free speech with unlimited political donations.

When President Donald Trump spoke to a national audience on primetime television Thursday evening, he warned of interference in elections by China and other American adversaries. He made many unfounded claims about stolen elections, offering no evidence, but the speech seemed to be more of a pitch to soften Americans’ feelings about the SAVE America Act, a stalled piece of legislation that would federalize some elections process. Despite his speech, by the weekend, public opinion polls showed the president’s address did little to move public sentiment.

As many Montanans have been feeling the pinch of rising electricity rates (there are two pending rate increases from the state’s largest utility pending at the Montana Public Service Commission), a new report indicates that water rates could be the next utility to take off, with predictions in some places doubling soon.

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

Today, we begin with two stories from The Washington Post. The first is a really handy-dandy interactive map that helps you understand what a permanent daylight saving time switch will look like in your specific locale, now that there’s a chance that Congress will make no more season clock-shift changes.

Finally, it appears that the U.S. Mint will produce $1 gold coins for the 250th anniversary of America with President Trump’s image on the face. It would mark the first time that a living, sitting U.S. president would be placed on currency, a tradition that has been carried on for … about 250 years. The loophole is that Congress authorized a special commemorative coin years ago, and didn’t specifically say the sitting president couldn’t be featured. The coin will be in Trump’s favorite color, gold — which he’s used to remodel the White House to look more like his personal residences. However, the coin itself will contain no gold.

And the magazine The New Republic covers the United States Senate race that those of us in Montana are plenty familiar with: The independent Seth Bodnar who has been garnering the support of Democrats, while the party itself says that Bodnar’s campaign could continue to set the beleaguered political party even farther back.

One of the things that I really appreciate about all you kind, smart and attractive “Hooksters” is that you often disabuse me of my wrong-headedness, but — wait — you also cheer me on if I present an idea that you like. Recently, I opined that Paul Simon, while incredibly well known, was probably still underrated as a musician and songwriter. That particularly opinion resonated with many of you, and I sincerely appreciate the plaudits.  Thora Hanson wrote:

“I think Paul Simon rises above the two mentioned (Dylan and Springsteen) because of his ability to mix his style with other cultures. While I was living in Brazil, he came to perform there and it wasn’t just a one performance thing. He stayed and worked with some interesting groups then performed with them! He did the same thing in Africa. He produced albums with these diverse groups and was well-received by all. Stunning musician and wonderfully talented.”

I agree with her. We’ve featured some of those songs where Simon seems to absorb and merge rock songs with the rhythms of Africa or South America, I also think back to one of the songs that we haven’t featured here. It was the song that launched his solo career. When Simon recorded “Mother and Child Reunion,” it wasn’t that it sounded so much different than the diverse catalog of music that he amassed during his rocky relationship with partner Art Garfunkel, but it was that the album and the music on it sounded a lot different than so many of the other songs that were popular circa 1971 and 1972. I’ve often thought that the opening line to that song, “I would not give you false hope on this strange and mournful day,” could be a mantra for any news publication. People have argued about the meaning of the song, although Simon said that his original idea for the song was a Chinese restaurant that featured a dish with both chicken and an egg — the so-called mother and child reunion.

The other oft-told story was that Simon wrote after the death of his beloved dog, which had been hit and killed by a car.

Kind of brings the song back down to earth, doesn’t it?

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