Treasure State Weekend Update - Feb. 15

By Micah Drew, Darrell Ehrlick, Jordan Hansen and Keila Szpaller

"Mr. Carl, you have argued that feminism has led to a downfall in American society. You’ve written that the Civil Rights Act has warped our culture and that the United States should be a white, Christian nation.” – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, in a confirmation grilling of Jeremy Carl of Bozeman, in line for a United Nations appointment.

This week, the Daily Montanan published a follow-up story by Keila Szpaller about whether Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen had turned over some information on voter information to the Trump administration’s Department of Justice. After we did that, we had several people write to us, frustrated that we had still not answered the question: What information – specifically – did Jacobsen turn over?

We feel seen.

As much as the readers were frustrated with us, we feel your frustration. And really, that’s exactly the point. Neither the Daily Montanan nor other media (that we know of), understand exactly what she turned over. And because we’re not investigators with the power of subpoena, our options are limited, but mostly turn on whether we want to launch a lawsuit.

For the record, the Daily Montanan has been following this story for months. Literally. We asked the Secretary of State about the records request, including what the Trump administration was requesting, and what Jacobsen was turning over. The first email record was sent on Aug. 4.

Then on Aug. 12.

Then on Sept. 23. 

And again on Sept. 25.

And again and again in recent weeks.

The silence has continued for months.

~ Darrell Ehrlick

Until this week, I’d never had reason to be inside a Federal Courtroom, but then Roberto Orozco-Ramirez was arrested.

Orozco-Ramirez is a man who has lived in Froid, Montana, for around a decade and has become deeply ingrained in that community. Last month, Border Patrol agents came to his business, a locally known and trusted mechanic shop, before arresting him for reentering the United States illegally.

On Monday, he sat in the federal courtroom wearing prison garb for a short hearing, escorted by two U.S. Marshals — one who looked barely old enough to drink — and was sat in front of a screen. On that screen was a federal judge, appearing virtually from Butte. He told that judge he was not guilty.

Behind Orozco-Ramirez were three of his children, the oldest of whom, the Free Press reported, has taken over his dad’s shop. They, along with community members who have gone to bat for the Orozco family, had driven almost 400 miles, one-way, from Froid.

Prior to the last month, it had been a while since I’d thought about Froid. My main recollection was the 2018 Class C girls basketball tournament in Butte, where I was a reporter at the time.

That Froid-Lake basketball team was great, finishing third at state and downing a Twin Bridges team many thought would win the state title that year. Their fans were loud, proud and stayed that way throughout the weekend. Those basketball teams, and sports generally, are a point of pride in that community, and their school teams are a co-op between Froid and Medicine Lake, going as the RedHawks.

Outside that modern and imposing courthouse on the banks of the Missouri River, community members told me a lot of things, and one that stuck out had to do with sports. The Orozcos have multiple kids, and a lot of them played on the same teams as the the children of several of the people who had traveled for the short court hearing to be in support of Roberto.

One man added that at least one law enforcement officer in Roosevelt County also is a football referee and knew the Orozcos from that. That is one of the reasons, he added, that Roosevelt County put out a press release after Orozco-Ramirez was detained by border patrol and the county’s sheriff even even acted as an intermediary between Orozco’s attorney and federal immigration officials.

“It's important to note that the man and his family have been productive members of the community and have had no negative interactions with local law enforcement since they moved here over a decade ago,” that press release said. “The man posed no danger to the community at any point during this incident.”

And they knew that definitively, in part, because two men knew each other from the football field.

~ Jordan Hansen

Occasionally I find working out of a home office to be distracting, but not least of all when the resident neighborhood woodpecker decides to work on enlarging the entrance to its home — which is exactly in my line of sight — into the attic space of the apartment complex 20 feet away from  my window. 

Said northern flicker was particularly active on Thursday, going at the siding for a good 45 minutes in the morning, and returning sporadically throughout the afternoon. Here’s a quick snapshot I grabbed of him this week. 

~ Micah Drew

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is underway here in Missoula. The book? Well, I’m cheating this week. I’m recommending a bookLET I picked up at The Roxy Theater with a catalogue and schedule for this year’s films.

If you’re in western Montana or in the mood for a wee drive this way, dive in. If you’re far away, or hibernating, you can still screen some films at home.

I bought a ticket to see “Seized,” about the 2023 raid of a small town newsroom in Kansas. If you read Darrell’s piece above, you can see it’s not easy at times to get public information from public officials. Actually, it can be maddening. Maybe you even know this yourself from firsthand experience.

The story from Marion, Kansas, is a whole ‘nother pot of potatoes.

The Pulp has write-ups on some selections, and I’m looking forward to reading them and dog-earing my booklet. Happy weekend!

~ Keila Szpaller

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