Quote for the Day…

Never underestimate the therapeutic power of driving and listening to very loud music. – Unknown

In today’s column, I take a quick look at these people/issues:

• Voting
• Jury Duty
• Brooklyn Public Library
• The Western Word Poll
• Reading Assignments

VOTING:

I have voted in every election for about 30 years, and I have voted by mail for many years. There are three registered/active voters at my address.

Last Tuesday, my wife received her ballot; my daughter and I did not.

I waited until the Saturday mail was delivered and since we still did not receive our ballots, I emailed the Cascade County Clerk and Recorder, Rina Fontana Moore, and told her the story.

On Monday morning, well before office hours, Moore responded to my email and let me know that we could come in and get new ballots. I was doing some other business in the downtown area and stopped by the Elections Office and filled out paperwork and received a new ballot. I went ahead and voted right there.

Thanks to Ms. Moore for her quick response and the professionalism shown by her office.

JURY DUTY:

Guess who got summoned for jury duty once again. This time it is for state district court. It may be with a judge I have written about several times here at The Western Word.

With all licensed drivers, and registered voters to pick from, one would think I would not get picked so often.

If I was only this lucky when I play the lottery…

BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY:

The Verge is reporting that the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is counteracting a ban on certain books by letting anyone in the US aged 13 to 21 apply for a digital library card. This gives teens and young adults, regardless of their location in the United States, access to the library’s entire ebook collection. The initiative, called Books Unbanned, is fighting what the BPL describes as an “increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books tackling a wide range of topics from library shelves.” According to the American Library Association (ALA), a total of 729 books were challenged in 2021, meaning a person or group attempted to ban these titles from public libraries.

Applause to the Brooklyn Public Library!

Read the complete story from The Verge by clicking HERE.

THE WESTERN WORD POLL:

This week the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving a high school football coach who was reprimanded for postgame prayers on the football field’s 50-yard line. The coach. starting in 2008, began kneeling on the football field after games and conducting a brief prayer. Eventually, many of his players joined him, as did members of opposing teams. This continued without formal complaint until 2015, when the school told Kennedy to stop. The case is Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. (More Background)

This week’s poll question asks, “Should the U.S. Supreme Court side with Kennedy or Bremerton?”

The results will be posted later this week.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Here are some articles you should read…

Billings Gazette – ‘It never ends’: Local election officials struggle to combat voter fraud theories
The Montana GOP should give donors tinfoil hats…

Daily Montanan – White Lives Matter: Small but visible in Montana
I think a lot more Montanans believe in this than we know…

AP – Judge finds Donald Trump in contempt in New York legal fight
He is being fined $10k a day…

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