Sheehy's house powered by 'green energy crap'

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

“We would be basically saying, ‘It’s okay for a federal leader … and their agency, Homeland Security, to mess around and determine who’s eligible to vote.’ The reason the separation of powers exist is … so that you didn’t have that federal control, so that people did have faith that they weren’t being manipulated by the federal power.” – Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington, talking about the Trump administration’s desire to federalize elections.

Incumbent Republican Congressman Troy Downing, who represents central and eastern Montana, already will face at least one Democratic challenger. On Tuesday, the dean of the Montana Senate and longtime legislator Jonathan Windy Boy announced he’ll challenge Downing for a seat in Congress, ensuring a Democratic primary.

Well, if you don’t have another couple of hours to spare, our fantastic (and still slightly tired) Washington, D.C., bureau staff have you covered. They covered the longest State of the Union Speech in U.S. history as President Donald J. Trump hit on several themes, including immigration and the economy, while painting Democrats as “crazy.”

Speaking of immigration, many people were listening closely to see if Trump's stance on immigration had softened or evolved since the turbulence and shootings in Minnesota. However, saying that not a single “illegal immigrant” had crossed the border since he took office last year, he painted the community as criminals and violent offenders.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, is sounding the alarm bells that Trump plans to pressure the leadership in the United States Senate to kill the filibuster so that it can pass the SAVE America Act and federalize the elections.

United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the agency’s large footprint in downtown Washington, D.C., will be shrinking because of an aging building that is estimated to need more than $1 billion in repairs. However, others worry that this will continue to send federal workers farther away to regional locations.

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Pharamacy and retail giant CVS is threatening that action by the Tennessee Legislature could cost the Volunteer State thousands of jobs as the lawmakers want to stop pharmacies from also being pharmacy benefits managers, which can sometimes give certain drug makers rebates.

In another example of intra-party fighting among Republican lawmakers, our colleagues at the South Dakota Searchlight report that there’s a recent trend of GOP lawmakers disappearing during key votes. In one case, Republican leadership reviewed security footage and even had the governor try to call the lawmaker who was missing leave on a vote concerning tax breaks for data centers.

Finally, if politics aren’t holding your interest, how about sharks? Our friends at the Smithsonian magazine are reporting that for the first time, a Southern Sleeper Shark has been spotted closer to Antarctica than had been believed possible, and the shark swims in nearly freezing water — making the creatures, who can live to be more than 400 years old, rarely seen.

Columnist Doug James watched the State of the Union. Despite the marathon address to Congress, what wasn’t said was just as important as the words. And what James noticed was the silence that came from Montana’s delegation as they failed to push back on any of the lies, misinformation and stereotypes.

Remember the stir that happened when R&B and pop icon Beyonce released her “Cowboy Carter” album? I mean: People were cynical that she could simply cross genres that easily. Despite that switch-over, she took the negative comments and the haters disappeared quickly as the album made history in 2024. She became the first Black female artist to hit the top of charts on The Billboard Country charts. It also became the grammy’s most nominated album ever with 11 nominations. It won "best album” as well as best "country album.”

Country has a great tradition of crossover hits. There was a sustained crossover period in the late 1960s and early 1970s of country-soul where many “Muscle Shoals" artists performed reimagined country hits or R&B songs. While the blending surprised many at the time, a good old-fashioned country heartbreak isn’t so different than the kind of soulful angst you’d hear in a Sam Cooke or Otis Redding song.

But none of that would have been possible without the pioneering genius of Ray Charles. In 1961, he released his groundbreaking album, “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.” Charles takes many very traditional country songs and totally refashions them. This may have been the original concept album.

And that's where our friend and eDJ Dave Krueger comes in. He reminds us that another great “B” side was the flip side of “I Can’t Stop Loving You," which was taken to the top of the pop charts. But the “B" side also became a hit in its own right, as he remade the amazing “Born To Lose.” Both are included on that album, which belongs in any music lover’s collection.

By the time Charles made his version, the song was already 20 years old, having been originally made popular by Ted Daffan’s Texans. There’s a name you don’t hear often.

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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