I hope you had a relaxing long weekend! Here are a few items that caught my attention for this column:

• Voting in Great Falls
• Mayor & Commissioner Candidates
• Debt Ceiling Deal
• Memorial Day
• HBO Max is Max

VOTING IN GREAT FALLS:

On Saturday, The Electric posted a story about a second lawsuit being filed over the May 2 elections and about the first report from Lynn Deroche, former county elections staff, as the court-appointed monitor.

The information from the report filed by Deroche is in the second half of the story, but it contains some information that should make anyone who wants to see a fair election shake their head.

Some of the more interesting issues were there was no staff at the office during normal business hours to help voters. The Electric also reported that Deroche reported to the court that a voter came to the office to ask why she hadn’t yet received her absentee ballot. Deroche said she asked Biddick when that ballot was sent and Biddick told her it wasn’t mailed until May 18, a day after the legal and court ordered deadline.

There were other issues in the report too numerous to mention. Check out the story HERE.

MAYOR & COMMISSIONER CANDIDATES:

I think it would be a great public service if the Great Falls mayoral and commissioner candidates told voters how they will be voting in the Great Falls Public Library Levy election.

This is a hot-button issue in Great Falls. I request that they post how they will vote regarding the library levy on their Facebook page.

If you are a voter in Great Falls, you can pose the question to them on their Facebook page and urge them to provide an answer.

DEBT CEILING DEAL:

It looks like a deal has been struck between President Joe Biden and the Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt limit. Now it must be passed by Congress. From what I am hearing, it might not be a deal that all can support.

The Associated Press (AP) has an article that explains what is in and out of the deal. Check it out HERE.

MEMORIAL DAY:

I used to attend local Memorial Day ceremonies, sometimes it was for my job and sometimes it was because I wanted to. I served almost 12 years in the military and lost some colleagues during that time, so I always took some time to honor them no matter where I was.

I stopped attending the local events as it seems there are too many people acting like “Generals” leading up to, during, and after the ceremonies. Many of the service organizations have become politicized over the years. I dropped my memberships to veterans organizations years ago.

So, on Memorial Day for the past several years, I fly my flag and watch the Memorial Day events on C-SPAN at Arlington National Cemetery. Yes, I even watched it when Trump was President. This year President Biden spoke. His speech was pretty good. You can read it HERE.

God bless those who gave their lives in protecting our country – and God bless their families and friends.

HBO MAX IS MAX:

Big News – The streaming service HBO Max became just Max this past week and I don’t know if I can handle the change. I don’t know what I will do with the extra time I will have since I don’t have to call it “HBO Max” anymore.

I subscribe to Max, but I don’t really know why. I think it came with my HBO subscription or something like that. I streamed “Station Eleven” on HBO Max and it was very good. I also watched “The Last of Us” on HBO Max and it was very good.

I searched for why HBO made the change. I went to the source, HBO. Here is why they say they made the change:

Max is the enhanced service replacing HBO Max. The service will feature iconic programming, including all the HBO content you already love, like Game of Thrones. It will also be home to crave-worthy genres, plus some of the most anticipated premieres. (So prepare to find some new favorites.) Basically, it’s the one to watch.

They also say, “With Max, in addition to all your HBO Max content, you’ll get a wealth of real-world shows in a wide range of genres, including reality, lifestyle, food, true crime, and more.”

There are so many streaming services these days that I can’t keep up. By the way, I am starting “The Western Word Plus” blog in the near future. It will have premium content just for subscribers who will pay $4.99 a month.

Just kidding.

Technology is great, isn’t it?

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##