Sheehy one of the first to call on Congress to approve Trump's White House ballroom.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"But make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the President of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was, and that intent was to bring down as many of the high-ranking Cabinet officials as he could," – Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., on charging Cole Tomas Allen.

Attorney and columnist Doug James wonders who does U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy belong to? You may be tempted to say voters, but a check of his large campaign donors calls into question who Montana’s junior Republican Senator is serving.

U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, said the accused shooter at the White House Correspondents Dinner will face charges of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump and she said that more charges are expected.

The United States Supreme Court hears arguments about whether a Missouri jury got it wrong when it awarded a man who got cancer likely as a result of exposure to Roundup, a potent weed killer manufactured by Bayer. The issue centers on whether the labeling was sufficient and whether the federal government or the states should be able to dictate what labels go on things like fertilizers and chemicals.

The nation’s highest court is also taking up the issue of cell phone location data and to what extent law enforcement agencies can use that information in criminal investigations. In other words, how private is the information contained on your phone?

Businesses in the Black Hills area of South Dakota report that the lack of seasonal snowfall has really hurt businesses there which rely on winter recreational sports. Meanwhile, businesses which often rely on tourists and warmer weather report that they’ve done better than expected due to the mild winter in the region.

The United States Supreme Court will also hear a challenge from lower courts who have stopped the Trump administration from cancelling the temporary protected status of Haitians and Syrians. The federal government says that as many as 350,000 people are protected by the program which Trump wants to end. However, lower appellate courts have said those protections can stay in place pending the outcome of the Supreme Court.

Former Congressman, Idaho governor and cabinet secretary Dirk Kempthorne died this weekend. He was 74 years old. The cause of death was colon cancer, according to his family.

A recent report celebrating the successes of Americans of Middle Eastern descent has been scrubbed from the White House without explanation. However, that has not stopped leaders from celebrating the gains made by Arab Americans.

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

Oh those kids grow up quickly. And, if you think human kids grow up fast, scientists now think Neanderthal kids grew up even more quickly. Smithsonian magazine reports that scientists have found remains of Neanderthal children which shows that their brains and bodies, especially when they were infants, may have grown twice as fast as humans.

In places like Montana, President Donald Trump still is popular, polling high. But, our next-door neighbors in North Dakota report that while support for the president is still at above 50%, that number has been slipping recently.

And one of our other neighbors has made it harder and harder to get an abortion. The Idaho Capital Sun has chronicled the exodus of doctors and medical professionals who have left the Gem State as lawmakers pass progressively more restrictive measures. However, the Capital Sun also reports that there’s a signature gathering effort underway that would ask voters to enshrine abortion in the state Constitution.

We have received good feedback during the times we’ve included tidbits and alleged scientific research on such topics ranging from the most popular Easter candy to the friendliest cities in Montana.

Now, let’s be very clear: We’re sharing this because we get at least a half dozen pitches daily from people purporting to know Montana’s favorite ice-cream flavor to those which track important things, like the cost of bacon. To be fair to many of these groups and public relations firms, they’re simply harnessing data that’s out there — from sales records to census data to determine some of these items.

Today’s feature comes to us from a national law firm that specializes in catastrophic automobile crashes. Today’s topic is the deadliest roads for teen drivers. We took a gander through the data, and most of it is publicly available. It turns out that Montana ranks No. 1 in the nation for the most dangerous roads (as defined by the most fatal crashes per capita).

There is a lot of data suggesting Montana roads are dangerous. Our neighboring state, Wyoming, also is in the Top 5. What the data didn’t show is the average number of miles per year Montana teens drive. We suspect that the long distances, the “road culture” of Montana where residents don’t think much about driving … say, 300 miles at a time, probably contribute to that statistic. And, in Montana, many teens get their driver’s license at 15.

Another group has officially passed into our memory and hopefully into a rock-and-roll heaven. Nedra Talley Ross was the last surviving member of The Ronettes, a legendary girl group of the 1960s which helped define the Barry Gordy “Wall of Sound.”

That was a phenomenon of having a big sound, squeezed from instruments, background singers and turning up the volume to create a soul sound that didn’t just capture your attention as much as it bowled you over.

The Ronettes were known for their smash hit, “Be My Baby,” but we’re not going to feature that today, even though it is as good of an example of the wall of sound as any piece. But, to be fair to Ross: She certainly performed the hit, but originally Ronnie Spector was the only one of the Ronettes to be featured singing on the studio version of the song (the backing vocals which most people thought were the other two, including Ross, were really just Spector’s voice being overdubbed as background singers).

Instead, they popularized many songs and helped contribute to the massive popular soul sound that helped define the 1960s. “Baby I Love You” was a hit for the Ronettes in 1964, reaching as high as No. 24 on the Billboard Top 40. And it was Andy Kim who remade the song five years later and turned it into a No. 1 song.

Still, for my money, you can beat Nedra, Ronnie and Estelle Bennett Vann, who was Ross’ cousin.

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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