Happy Friday! Here are the topics that caught my eye this week:

• CI-128 Signature Gathering
• Randy Pinocci’s Sweet Deal
• Trump Trial
• One More Thing

CI-128 SIGNATURE GATHERING:

Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights (MSRR) has started the process of gathering signatures to get CI-128 on the ballot in Montana this November.

According to the MSRR website:

Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights (MSRR) is a citizen-led initiative working to secure reproductive rights, including the right to an abortion, for Montanans in our state constitution.
We are your parents, friends, doctors, advocates, students, neighbors and more who know what is best for our own bodies and families. In the 2024 election, a yes vote on CI-128 will keep the government out of our personal lives. This is an exciting opportunity to secure our rights for generations to come. Now is the time to ensure power remains in the hands of the people of Montana, so everyone has the freedom to prevent, continue, or end a pregnancy should they choose.
Politicians have no business controlling our bodies and our futures. We know that Montanans will show up for their right to control their own bodies, access the health care they need, and secure their right to abortion.

CI-128 is the proper way for voters to decide about reproductive rights. The Republicans who are against CI-128 probably realize that if CI-128 makes it to the ballot it will be approved. Montanans like their freedom.

Visit the MSRR website HERE.

RANDY PINOCCI’S SWEET DEAL:

The Daily Montanan is reporting that Randy Pinocci is off the hook for a couple of felony charges in Cascade County — at least for now — but he’s out $200.

As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Pinocci pled no contest to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor with a $100 fine, and he admits there was probable cause to charge him for the felonies.

Pinocci, a Montana Public Service Commissioner, is a Republican running to be lieutenant governor as part of Tanner Smith’s longshot bid for governor.

Wow. Just Wow.

The most ironic part of the article was Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki defending what sounds to me like a very sweet deal:

But he (Racki) said prosecutors must treat the more prominent suspects the same way they would treat an ordinary citizen.
“You don’t want to go for blood or go for broke because it’s a high-profile case,” Racki said.
At the same time, he said, prosecutors can’t just sweep an incident under the rug.
“You want to treat them just like you would any citizen off the street who did the same thing,” Racki said. “And that’s what we did in this case.”

He also said the judge approved the deal.

That is one of the reasons I don’t trust the county attorney’s office and hardly any of the judges in the Cascade District Court.

You can read the full article from The Daily Montanan HERE.

TRUMP TRIAL:

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that a jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial, propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony. The court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors, with the process on track to wrap up by the end of the week. Prosecutors could begin presenting their case early next week.

In case you wonder what this trial is about, the AP has a brief synopsis about it here:

The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.

Trump with a hooker/porn star reminds me of the movie, “Arthur.” “Arthur” is a 1981 American romantic comedy starring Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress but ends up falling for a common working-class young woman from Queens.

My favorite line is when Arthur is drunk having dinner with a hooker and says, “You’re a hooker? Jesus, I forgot! I just thought I was doing GREAT with you!”

Check out the clip HERE for a chuckle.

ONE MORE THING:

This song is stuck in my head this week! One of my favorites…

Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night’s busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven’s waiting down on the tracks
-Thunder Road (Springsteen) (Video)

## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##