That's not Canadian smoke under the Big Sky.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

Today, our Montana news coverage leans heavily into the outdoors, where the air quality for much of Montana will remain bad for awhile. Because of persistently high temperatures and not much moisture, fires are beginning to spring up. What’s even worse? The forecast calls for much of the same — stubbornly high temperatures, with many highs approaching triple digits.

Meanwhile, groups and individuals are asking the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department to require hunters to carry bear spray in parts of the state. Most of the lethal (to grizzly bears) encounters are with hunters, and these groups hope that the lesser lethal means will help the recovering species. Also, the FWP needs your help because non-native brown trout have been caught in Flathead watershed — causing many to worry that they could be disrupting the delicate ecosystem there.

While all indicators say that the midterm elections could disrupt the power balance in Congress, more individuals and groups report that they’ll be on hand to watch and monitor polling places amid the concerns of violence or even intimidation by federal troops there.

Speaking of voting and the midterms, President Donald Trump is urging the United States Senate not to take its customary summer break and remain in session to pass the SAVE America Act — a relatively unpopular piece of legislation that could restrict citizens’ access to the ballot. During an election year when many politicians are battling to keep their jobs, it seems unlikely they won’t grant themselves a reprieve from the oppressive Washington, D.C., weather during summer.

Also, the Trump administration has asked the United States Supreme Court to weigh in on whether its directive to stop the United States Postal Service to halt vote-by-mail balloting is legal.

A federal judge has said that the Food and Drug Administration’s attempt to stop abortion drugs is unlawful. Pro-choice and medical advocates successfully argued that the Trump administration had based its decision purely on politics and rejected the scientific evidence that said repeated testing and evaluation showed the drug was safe enough to be administered remotely.

As America looks for the source of a horrible outbreak of “explosive diarrhea,” it is also battling another disease, measles. Federal health statistics show that the number of measles cases has hit a 35-year-high as health officials worry about declining herd immunity, which is essential to keep the highly contagious disease at bay.

Last week, our staff reported that Montana had severely overestimated its wolf population, leading to a number of possible changes for the hunting season. But Montana isn’t alone. Idaho is also reporting that it has overestimated the wolf population there, too.

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

So we all know and acknowledge that the internet’s highest and best use is for cat videos or cat-related content. Since we’ve agreed with that: Our colleagues at the Smithsonian magazine have reported that feline scientists have discovered that when cats groom each other — something that had been previously regarded as a friendly behavior — isn’t always so friendly. They are weird creatures: What other type of animal would groom each other as a sign of hostility?

Minot, North Dakota, may soon become home to an industrial business that will help turn former mining waste in Minnesota into pig iron there. Pig iron is essential to the steel-making process, and our colleagues at the North Dakota Monitor have said that Minot officials have welcomed the new economic development.

In Alaska, the Democrat in the race for the lone United States House of Representatives seat has dropped out, throwing his support behind the independent candidate. He said that he was not able to raise money for the campaign to remain competitive, according to the Alaska Beacon.

Back when I had the luxury of satellite radio (I had it because I had a longer commute to work), I loved one of the stations that was dedicated to “deep tracks.” Those are the hidden gems buried deep on vinyl albums during the classic era of rock, especially during the 1960s through 1980s. You know: Back in the days when albums weren’t slapped together several a year, and it seemed like every track could become the next anthem.

I swear that radio channel was created for bands like Led Zepplin or artists like Jackson Browne. Another one of those artists was Lynyrd Skynyrd, which seemed to have so many great songs. As I was listening to the 1975 “Nuthin’ Fancy” album (which I would highly recommend in its entirety), I was struck by how often Skynyrd has been pigeonholed. Owing in no small part to their southern bonafides and Neil Young, they were thought of as rock band that made money by hard rock anthems and audiences full of beer guzzlers clad in black leather. But listening to their music, there is an amazing variety and a thoughtful approach to lyrics that covered more than booze, cars and partying. That same album has a pretty credible railroad song called (unsurprisingly) “Railroad Song.”

Today’s “The Hook” gem is just a great sounding rock song. I probably have heard it somewhere, at some time. But it struck me again how good the whole album was. I will cherish seeing the band live, outdoors, a few years ago when they played the Magic City Blues Festival … back when that was still a thing (Shameless plug: Please bring it back). But the song, “Cheatin’ Woman” is the kind of song that lives on so many albums of the rock era. It’s a reminder that they don’t make albums like this any more.

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.