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Boston News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME XIII NUMBER 1 JUNE 1, 2026
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, a science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
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* Congressional News Briefs … Boston Congressman Stephen Lynch, a member of the House Democratic Litigation Task Force, joins these Members of Congress in challenging, through court action, President Donald Trump’s Executive Order severely limiting mail-in voting, which they contend is unconstitutional, for usurping state authority to regulate elections. Saying that the Executive Order (14399) threatens to disenfranchise veterans, overseas service members, the disabled, and, among others, senior citizens and to authorize the Postal Service to deny delivery of eligible voters’ mail-in ballots on the pretext that the individuals are not listed in newly-compiled federal voter rolls, Lynch has introduced the Vote by Mail Protection Bill (House Bill 8666), supported by the organization, Public Citizen, to void the Executive Order and to preserve the option of mail-in voting, an option the President himself exercises, Congressman Lynch says. Referencing a Senate hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren asserted, “DoD cannot continue to ignore this conflict of interest,” meaning TRICARE pharmacy contractor, Express Scripts, according to reporting, overcharging military families for prescription medicine. Compared to other pharmacies, the Senator emphasized, the largest pharmacy-benefit manager in the country, over the course of time, has charged the Department of Defense $484 more, on average, for generic drugs through Express Scripts mail-order pharmacies. While Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Keith Bass pledged to conduct annual audits of the TRICARE contract and to report findings to Congress, the Senator noted that, coupled with regular audits and enhanced transparency, expiration of the Express Scripts contract in 2029 offers opportunity to negotiate better terms for service members and their families. Besides, the Senator has requested an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the impact of the Trump Administration’s controversial dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, particularly in terms of the ability of the Office of Federal Student Aid to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in Title IV funding, which includes Pell Grants and Direct Loans. Operating on information that the Office lost approximately 46 percent of its staff, personnel used to monitor colleges and universities for Title IV compliance, to perform audits, to conduct program reviews for educational institutions at risk of noncompliance, and to probe for possible misconduct, Senator Warren observed, “This allowed ED [Education Department] to penalize colleges for violations such as failing to return credit balances they owe to students, miscalculating students’ Pell grant amounts, or lying to students about their degree programs’ employment outcomes or costs.” And “anti-fraud efforts are needed to safeguard taxpayer dollars: they … combat deceptive practices that steer students towards predatory programs, and deter bad actors from compromising the affordability and accessibility of higher education.” Senator Edward J. Markey, in turn, recounting that, in 2024, he and then-Senator JD Vance collaborated in securing passage of Section 516 of the FAA Reauthorization Act, for family-friendly seating on airline flights, has urged U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to finalize a draft Rule within 60 days to ban family-seating fees on airlines. The Senator stated, “Seating a young child far from their parent is an obvious safety risk, and many families feel they have no choice but to pay the seating fees, raising the already-high cost of plane travel. Given DOT’s interest in making ‘travel family-friendly again,’ it is strange that the Department has taken no action to ban this predatory practice that drives up costs for families.” Senator Markey went further, calling attention to the discrepancy between “failure to advance this common-sense, family-friendly protection” and “the Department’s own campaign to ‘Make Travel Family-Friendly Again.’” Ultimately, Markey wrote that this showed that the Administration’s “true favored constituency is the airline industry” and their financial “bottom lines.”
* State Government News Briefs … Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, along with the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut, has contacted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, insisting, “Every dollar that goes to transmission companies should support the development of cost-effective infrastructure, not excess returns to investors.” Responding to New England Transmission Owners’ proposal to increase their profit margins—return on equity—to 11.39 percent, Governor Healey and fellow New England governors charge that this is “especially egregious after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) lowered the NETOs’ authorized ROE to 9.57 percent in March, finding that the NETOs have been overcharging New England ratepayers since 2012.” Adding that “(t)ransmission rates in New England are more than double the average in other organized markets,” the governors argue, “We fear this unreasonable increase in transmission rates will needlessly burden the region’s households and businesses, impair our economic competitiveness, and undermine our efforts to deploy transmission investment that is needed to maintain reliability, improve affordability, and access additional electricity supplies.” Noting that other states
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likewise favor transmission investment geared to enhancing system reliability and lowering costs, Governor Healey and associated governors urge rejection of transmission owners’ request, given its tendency to “exacerbate [regional households’ and businesses’] financial strain.” In addition, Governor Healey has announced approval of $24.5 million in CommonWealth Builder awards for creation of 123 affordable homes for first-time homebuyers in Boston’s Beacon Hill, Mission Hill and Roxbury neighborhoods, and in Brockton. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu credits the program with serving “to tackle the Greater Boston region’s housing shortage,” and the Healey-Driscoll Administration assures that increased home-buyer assistance, together with the CommonWealth Builder awards administered by MassHousing, will work to lower costs. Present at the Beacon Hill site to be redeveloped by the non-profit community developer, Fenway Forward, for 15 new homes, the Governor explains, “These projects will help turn under-used properties into new homeownership opportunities.” By way of background, the Governor reminds that passage of the Affordable Homes Act delivered $100 million in new capital authorization for the CommonWealth Builder Program and established the Massachusetts Homeownership Tax Credit, to provide up to $10 million annually, through 2029, for development of affordable homes.
* City Government News Briefs … Mayor Michelle Wu, together with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has announced new funding ensuring access to early-cancer detection services for 500 fire fighters across Boston. To compensate for the loss of federal grant money for cancer health screenings, the Mayor says that a $150,000 contribution from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will dovetail with the City’s health and wellness initiatives for fire fighters by funding specialized screening protocols for identifying cancer earlier. Crediting fire fighters with ongoing improvements to training that “use the most innovative technology and tools to save lives,” Mayor Wu observes, “We’re using that same determination to find every new innovation and opportunity to save our fire fighters’ lives by tackling occupational cancer.” Boston Fire Commissioner Rodney Marshall explains, “Personal-protective equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus provide critical protection, but don’t eliminate all exposure to harmful substances, especially as modern fires burn hotter and produce more toxic fumes.” Just days ago, both the Mayor and the Fire Commissioner marked, with sadness, the City’s, and the Fire Department’s, loss of Robert (“Bobby”) Kilduff, Jr., a former U.S. Marine and a 24-year veteran of the Department, the Mayor and the Fire Commissioner noting that he hailed from a “family of fire fighters.” Also, the Mayor has announced the Fifth Annual car-free, pedestrian-only 2026 Open Streets event series. The summer and fall program starts August 2 in Jamaica Plain and allows local businesses to spread safely into the street, providing space for family-oriented music, games, bicycling, and community tabling. Corinth and Poplar Streets in Roslindale are due to be included this year on October 18. The Mayor has announced, as well, the appointment of Joseph Henry as the new Chief of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture. Formerly the City’s Director of Cultural Planning, Henry has molded the City’s cultural economy through leadership in such capital projects as revitalization of the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End. When the City Council as a whole last met on May 20, Councilor Ed Flynn informed the Mayor that the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board had fined the Boston Housing Authority for elevator failures in the South End’s Ruth Barkley Apartments, adding, “It is well known that elevator failures have been reported across the entire BHA system in Boston. We cannot turn our back on seniors, persons with disabilities, communities of color, immigrant neighbors and low-income residents. This is a civil-rights issue.” Also, the Boston School Committee having agreed to the request, the Mayor asked the Council to authorize funding of $22,845,672 for the Boston Public Schools to cover both projected deficits in health insurance and utility spending. During the course of the Council meeting, Councilors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell also explained that they refused to participate in the Blue Hill Avenue Bus Ride-Along because Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary Philip Eng, they wrote, “personally agreed to meet with community leaders who have alternative designs for Blue Hill Avenue. That meeting never happened.” Then, too, they did not wish to “signal acceptance of a process that has failed this community, a plan with serious unresolved technical flaws, and a negotiating posture that treats community leaders as a public-relations problem rather than a legitimate voice.”
* School District News Briefs … At its last meeting on May 20, the Boston School Committee discussed “monitoring priorities through meaningful evidence, data, and indicators of progress.” The next meeting of the Boston School Committee is set for June 10 at 5 PM.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions at Boston Logan International Airport, as of 3:54 AM on May 28, are partly cloudy, with a temperature of 62 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 73 percent, wind out of the north at 7 miles per hour, barometric pressure of 29.75 inches, a dewpoint of 53 degrees, and visibility of 10 miles. Look for a 40-percent chance of showers on May 28, a 90-percent chance of showers on the night of May 29, an 80-percent chance of showers the following day on May 30, and a 30-percent chance of showers on the night of May 31, with daily high temperatures of 70 or 71 degrees, except on May 30, when a temperature of 56 degrees is forecast. Mostly-sunny skies are expected on May 29 and May 31. Over-night low temperatures are expected to fluctuate between 46 and 55 degrees. On June 1, a daily high temperature of 69 degrees is anticipated, along with a 60-percent chance of showers. The return of partly-sunny skies is forecast for June 2 and 3.
* Sports … The Red Sox return to action on June 2 when they visit the Orioles for a 3:45 PM game. The Patriots are due to play their first preseason game of the 2026 NFL season on August 13 when they host the Colts, and they open the regular season in Seattle on September 9, when they play their Super Bowl LX opponents, the Seahawks. Meanwhile, the New England Revolution’s season begins on July 22 when they visit Toronto for a 7:30 PM match.
For a copy of Cartoonist Greg Panneitz’s newspaper feature “Fusebox,” E-mail info@continentalnewsservice.com
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One of the questions Ralph Nader is yet to answer about his book, “Let’s Start the Revolution”:
“Can that ‘left/right coalition’ you mention hang together once formed on certain issues when one side fails to rein in its desire to initiate new spending programs and the other side objects that it’s their money that is to be spent?”
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* Proverbs (chapter 28/verse 22): “He that hastes to be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.” hastes=hurries.
[A timely warning against get-rich-quick schemes]
A free copy of the Etna, California News Edition of Continental Newstime [dated August 14, 2020] containing the newspaper feature of outdoor writer Lee Snyder is also available by
E-mail request to info@continentalnewsservice.com
*Free
Marion, Montana News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME I NUMBER 1 AUGUST 17, 2022
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Marion, Montana News Edition of Continental Newstime
Editor-in-Chief: Gary P. Salamone
Continental Features/Continental News Service
501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265
San Diego, CA 92101
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E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com
* Congressional News Briefs … Marion’s agent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Matt Rosendale, decided he was not going to sugar-coat House Bill 5376. While House Democrats said they were acting to pass the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the Congressman contended that legislation increasing the size of government, raising taxes on hard-working Americans and spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the Left’s Green New Deal was actually an “Inflation Acceleration Act” and he cast a vote against the bill. Warning that the spending would “cripple our nation’s budget,” he noted that the legislation “will also raise an army of 87,000 IRS agents to squeeze more taxes out of already-hurting American families. With frivolous spending and an enlarged, aggressive IRS, the only climate that will be changing over the next year will be the economic climate, and it will get worse.” He offered this solution: “To reduce inflation, Congress must freeze spending, a concept the Left does not understand. Reining in federal spending and reducing taxes to lower inflation will reaffirm confidence in those investing in our economy.” On his part, Senator Steve Daines, commenting on the $739-billion, so-called Inflation Reduction Act of President Joseph Biden and Senate Democrats that he opposed, asserted that Senate Democrats voted against Daines’ amendment to eliminate policies that would increase costs on Made in Montana energy and other amendments that would render the bill “less painful for Montanans.” He characterized, as “supersizing the IRS,’ the plan to hire more than 80,000 Internal Revenue Service agents “to audit small and medium-size businesses and assert control over the lives and finances of Montanans.” He termed a subsidy for “rich people” the provision to offer $7,500 tax credits to individuals making up to $150,000, so they can purchase expensive electric vehicles. Considering the bill “a slap in the face of Montana families,” the Senator added, “The Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill is bad for Montana families, bad for Montana energy jobs and bad for Montanans’ pocketbooks.” Working with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, Senator Daines has introduced bipartisan legislation, known as the BABES (Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening) Enhancement Act, to require the Transportation Security Administration to clarify and update guidance, every five years, on handling breast milk, baby formula, and other related nutrition products based on consultation with leading maternal-health experts. Calling the legislation a “Bill to Support Montana Moms,” Daines informs that companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives, and the measure is endorsed by such organizations as the March of Dimes and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Senator Jon Tester, in turn, as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announces that the $792.1-billion Defense Appropriations Bill earmarks almost $182 million for Montana priorities, saying, “This legislation will keep America safe by investing in Malmstrom Air Force Base, giving our troops a well-deserved pay raise [4.6 percent], ensuring our servicemen and women are well-equipped with the most up-to-date technology, and shifting resources towards programs that’ll maintain our fighting edge over adversaries like China and Russia.” For example, over in Columbia Falls, uAvionix is due to receive $7 million to develop Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System communications. In addition, he reports that, for Montana, the American Rescue Plan Act means $266 million to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas of the state, something that is “one of the biggest keys to success for Montana’s students, families, and small businesses.”
* State Government News Briefs … Governor Greg Gianforte has expressed the view that the Montana Supreme Court, after upholding a district-court order temporarily blocking three pro-life bills he signed into law—the Court should not delay bringing into line its 1999 ruling in Armstrong v. State with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision finding that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that the states are entitled to restrict abortion. In other developments, the state legislature has highlighted a recent report by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that acknowledges findings of the Department of Environmental Quality that the ingestion of too much manganese through drinking water may be harmful, at the same time the Bureau notes that the mineral, naturally present in many common foods, is essential for proper nutrition and that too little may be harmful, as well. Some research shows that adults and children drinking water with high manganese concentrations for sustained periods may suffer from memory and attention problems and motor-skill deficits. But, since most Montanans tap groundwater supplies for their drinking water, they mainly avoid high levels of manganese. Those that do not? The Bureau’s Ground Water Assessment Program reports that 7 percent of the water samples it tested exceeded the recommended health-standard limit for
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adults and children older than 6 years of age. Checking 3,858 water samples from across the state, the Bureau gives assurance that manganese concentrations were low and safe for 85 percent of the well samples it analyzed and that lower concentrations were recorded in samples from western Montana aquifers; higher concentrations, in the eastern part of the state. Specifically, certain aquifers near Flathead Lake, north and west of Great Falls, and in the Missouri River Valley yielded more samples with elevated manganese concentrations. The Safe Drinking Water Act categorizes manganese as a secondary water contaminant, like iron, pH and sulfate, meaning it is safe to drink, but may damage water equipment and transmit an unpleasant odor and taste. The state legislature reports that 380 Montana schools, to date, have tested water fixtures for the primary water contaminant, lead and are implementing remedies for contaminated fixtures.
* County Government News Briefs … The Flathead County Board of Commissioners [Brad W. Abell, Pamela Holmquist, and Randy Brodehl], at its last meeting on August 11, considered six different lakeshore permits, including one at McGregor Lake, one at Flathead Lake, and another at Whitefish Lake; conferred with Erik Mack, of the Planning & Zoning Office, who reported an uptick in zoning violations; discussed giving authorization to publish a Notice of Public Hearing on Road Abandonment concerning an unnamed portion of road off Highway 93 West; took up the matter of authorization to publish a Call for Bids for the estimated $120,000 Fall, 2022 Pavement Striping Project; was due to hear from Liz Wood, of Mountain Climber Transit, on ridership increases, and from Ashley Cummins, Director of the County Library, who reported approximately 1,000 daily patron visits system-wide and who provided an update on the Library Board vacancy; planned to meet with Sheriff Brian Heino; and, among other County business, was tasked to sign a Behavioral Health Hospital Provider Agreement with Logan Health.
* School District News Briefs … The Marion Elementary School District, with the library closed during the summer due to remodeling, plans a Back to School Kick Off Event on September 1, with school starting on September 6. Earlier this month, the District posted a notice that it was hiring for full-time teaching positions in physical education and in the sixth-grade classroom. The School Board is scheduled to meet again on September 12. Meantime, in the Kalispell Public Schools District, Flathead High School announces that classes resume either on August 31 or September 1, depending on the grade level.
* Sports … The Flathead High School Boys Varsity Football Team is set to play Skyview on August 27 at 7 PM and is due to visit Gallatin on September 2 for a 7 PM kickoff.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions 17 miles west-southwest of Kalispell, as of 3:15 PM on August 17, are sunny, with a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 15 percent, barometric pressure of 29.95 inches, visibility of 10 miles, wind out of the south-southeast at 3 miles per hour, and a dewpoint of 36 degrees. The over-night forecast calls for clear skies, northeast wind of 3 to 5 miles per hour and a low temperature of about 55 degrees. Tomorrow, look for sunny skies, with a daily high temperature of about 91 degrees, calm wind becoming east-northeast wind of about 6 miles per hour in the morning. Thursday night, expect mostly-clear skies, with a low temperature of about 56 degrees and northeast wind of 3 to 6 miles per hour.
* Community Calendar … August 19—Pachyderm Meeting of Flathead County Republicans (12 Noon-1 PM) at the Eagles (37 First Street W, Kalispell); August 27—Pheasants Forever Chapter #138 Banquet (5 PM-9 PM), at the Fairgrounds; September 16/17—Quilt Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 17—Glacier Rabbit Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 30—Kalispell Ski Swap, at the Fairgrounds.
Dry Tortugas [Reprinted and Updated] by Lee Snyder
Named “Las Tortugas” (the turtles) by 16th-century Spanish explorers who found the harmless reptiles nesting on its shores, the Dry Tortugas is a collection of several sandy spits and tree-dotted islands. Fort Jefferson, once famous as a 19th-century “American Devil’s Island,” remains one of the world’s largest brick structures. The red brick fort is most famous as the jail where Dr. Mudd was held after treating Lincoln’s assassin for a broken leg.
Fort Jeff, past National Monument, is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, which, together with the water and island reefs, is one of this nation’s most remote and unique units of our National Park system. While sharks are still occasionally found swimming in the moat, tourists are more likely seen snorkeling around the fort’s outer boundary viewing a dazzling array of fish, coral and sponges. Today, the Coast Guard’s close scrutiny of increasing public pressure allows visitors to see what underwater Florida is supposed to be. Divers claim the park waters are the liveliest anywhere in the state. “Little Africa,” an unspoiled section of coral reef near Loggerhead Key, the largest island in the chain, boasts expanses of staghorn and elkhorn coral more like those found in Caribbean than in Florida waters.
Nearly 27,000 people—mostly fishermen, yachtsmen, and divers—visit the park by boat each year.
But, for a six-week period, the bulk of the visitors attend for another reason. Spring in the Tortugas is definitely a birdwatcher’s delight. Florida’s peninsular shape is like an appendage reaching out into the ocean. Its islands are the first safety offered travelers crossing the Gulf of Mexico…. The “funneling effect” allows for close inspections of the birds in their most colorful breeding plumage—an opportunity that draws enthusiastic birders from all over the world….On any given spring day in the Tortugas, birders with four, five and six hundred birds on their lists are found. Listers with seven and eight hundred on their lists are usually there as guides, having visited the islands years before. But, even so, an errant species from South America, the Bahamas or Cuba could fly by adding to all lists.
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