NorthWestern Energy proposes another rate hike, even as the last increase has yet to be finalized.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

Today, we begin with unwelcome news as the mercury starts to rise — the state’s largest utility company wants to hike rates, but the Montana Public Service Commission hasn’t even signed off on the last increase proposal. Meanwhile, folks in Pondera County, including their county commissioners, want the EPA to scrap plans to inject dirty water deep into the Madison Aquifer. Finally, a district court judge said that a legal challenge to a trio of environmental laws can stay put in Helena/Broadwater County instead of testing a new legislative law that would have moved the trial across the state.

Columnist, historian and attorney Brenda Wahler writes that while a lot of people attribute the state’s historical political corruption to the three “Copper Kings” of the late 19th Century, that is a historical oversimplification and not entirely accurate. Wahler says today’s challenge is the same — the influence of corporations.

The Trump administration has proposed new rules on betting markets, especially as platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have moved away from traditional sports betting to betting on nearly everything. For example, one of the new sideboards includes not being able to bet on assassination attempts. Sounds reasonable, right?

Local officials are scrambling to understand the scope of President Donald Trump’s order prohibiting voting by mail. In addition to navigating the order’s specific details, others are trying to figure out how to inform voters, and what it will mean for states and election officials.

A new analysis by our colleagues at Stateline News shows that the surging stock market has helped people, but especially been favorable to one class of investors — the richest 1%.

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case centering on a question that has become more and more important in the ongoing topic of immigration. The Supreme Court will decide if those who have been placed in custody because they’re not in the United States without proper documentation can be held indefinitely.

Trump and his supporters have cheered on plans that would dismantle the United States Department of Education. As much as conservatives have seemed to favor that idea, courts have ruled that only Congress has the power to eliminate the federal department, and so far, has opted to keep it. But that has not stopped Trump administration officials from trying to move special education and civil rights from under the department’s purview.

While federal prosecutors have dismissed many of the charges against those who protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during their mass show of force in the Twin Cities, new federal prosecutors on Tuesday announce charges against 15 people.

Forecasters and officials note that it could be a more mild hurricane season for cities along the eastern Atlantic coast, despite warning from other climatologists who warn that a Super El Nino is on its way, which could bring a mix of very hot weather and torrential storms.

Republicans in the United States Senate said they were largely in the dark about the peace deal that has been brokered by the Trump administration, and they said they would like more details, since any agreement will ultimately take Congressional approval.

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

In an exclusive investigative report, The Washington Post digs into plans regarding the White House ballroom and finds that the total amount is now in the $600 million range, and more than half of that will rely upon taxpayer funds, despite earlier promises that no taxpayer funds will be used.

The Treasure State has caught the attention of the The New York Times, which notes that the state’s liberals, moderates and independents are divided about the choice for United States Senate and what that means for the make-up of the body, as well as a three-way race between Democrat Alani Bankhead, Republican Kurt Alme and independent Seth Bodnar.

The Daily Yonder tries to figure out what the best small towns are for gay residents. However, reporter Sarah Alexander Melotte said when the publication tried to answer the question, the data started falling apart.

We usually get more than one piece of email from various groups claiming to use data to reveal something about our state. Some of it is useful. For example, several have recently looked at crash rates and road safety — things that are perennial issues for a large state with a lot of roads, plenty of weather and lots of distance from one dot on the map to the other. Others claim to know things that can’t really be quantified. That means even if the data is provocative or intriguing, it’s likely too subjective or speculative to be interesting.

Today, we bring you one such “story pitch.” This one says that Montana is among the top three states least likely to survive an alien attack. There are so many problems with this, it’s hard to know where to begin. And that’s why I suggest you just play along with the premise.

And for the record: I think the conclusion that Montana would not do well if we were invaded by visitors from another planet is just bogus. Montanans are self-reliant, inventive and are used to figuring out how to trouble-shoot without the benefit of a cell-phone signal. Plus, we’re really well-armed.

But, here’s why the fine folks at Legend Media think Montana is ill-equipped to face extra-terrestrials.

Key Findings 

One of my friends and frequent eDJ on “The Hook,” Steve Paulson of Billings, wrote to share his frustration with music reviews. And the email couldn’t have come at a better time because I was looking back at Climax Blues Band and the lack of critical reviews on some of their music, which is quite impressive in retrospect.

As I have went back to review the reviews — so to speak — it’s really interesting how many groups or artists didn’t even get the courtesy of getting a review, being deemed too insignificant or not legitimate enough. For example, Climax Blues Band became a staple and had a number of great blues and pop hits, but to some contemporary reviews, including Rolling Stone, they don’t really exist. That’s one of the reason we started this feature because there is a lot of good music that deserves to be remembered — and some that should be forgotten.

Steve referenced the review of Toto’s “Africa” by Rolling Stone. For the record, the single was one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, but reviewers scoffed at the group and the “poppy” nature of this song. Apparently, it was too 1980s for the 1980s.

As we recently noted, Rolling Stone quipped, “It’s a song that’s ridiculous by definition — an Eighties ode to Africa by a bunch of L.A. rock dudes who’d never set foot in the place.”

Steve wrote: “So whoever wrote that sentence asserts that any artist has to have personally experienced the subject of his work.

“How much of The Beatles would survive the test? The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ certainly wouldn’t…. How about ‘Lord of the Rings’?”

To honor Steve’s thoughts and because we have featured Toto’s song previously (and for the record, I love the song so much that I once wore out my cassette as well as my Toto T-shirt), we will present Weezer’s cover version of the song, which follows the original closely as an homage to the impact of the song.

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],

Thanks for reading Treasure State Update. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.