The smoke's got an expiration date

Morning. If you've spent the last few weeks squinting at a valley that used to have mountains in it, take heart: the smoke has an expiration date. Rain's coming later this week, which is the most exciting weather sentence southwest Montana has produced since June. Today, though, still hazy — read fast, breathe shallow.

Down in the Pioneer Mountains near Polaris, the fire reached Maverick Mountain on Monday night, burning an estimated two-thirds of the beloved little ski hill's runs. By Tuesday it had grown past 19,000 acres, damaged the chairlift overnight, and was closing on the lodge — with crews dropping retardant and water from planes and helicopters. Dry, warm weather and wind did the driving.

Evacuation orders were expanded north of Billings Creek, from Polaris to the Ma Barnes subdivision, and cabin owners watched from the road. Community meetings are set for Wednesday at Jackson Elementary and Thursday at the Wise River Community Center, both at 6 p.m. It's a couple hours from Bozeman, but the smoke in your driveway has a return address.

• MSU is trying to make wool matter again — the university launched a new Wool Lab aimed at reviving an old Montana industry, which is either agricultural science or the world's most productive knitting circle.
• Billings' data-center fight hit a wall: a Yellowstone County judge ruled the signature deadline had passed, likely killing the effort to put a ban on the November ballot. Opponents also told commissioners they were harassed collecting signatures at MontanaFair; the interim sheriff defended his deputies.
• The Montana Public Service Commission got an earful Tuesday over water problems at the 300-household North Star subdivision, where a state senator flagged a proposed 30% usage cut paired with a 300% price hike.
• Two lawsuits now challenge a federal ban on bison grazing in Montana, after BLM revoked permits for herds including American Prairie's 900-plus bison out east.

Still smoky and seasonably warm — highs in the 80s with isolated afternoon storms popping up. Thursday through Saturday bring the real rain chances, some of it locally heavy. Point being: the mountains come back this week.

Verge Theater opens Lauren Gunderson's The Book of Will at the Emerson — a witty run about Shakespeare's friends racing to save his plays from being lost forever. Shows run through Aug. 23, Thursday–Saturday at 7pm with Sunday matinees at 2pm; tickets $35. Air-conditioned, indoors, and refreshingly smoke-free.

Smoke doesn't wait for policy. Over in Big Sky, the Rotary Club built air cleaners out of box fans and furnace filters and handed them out as the AQI climbed — a low-tech fix worth copying if you've been meaning to make one for the bedroom.

Maverick Mountain isn't our ski hill, but a lot of us have skied it. When a fire takes a place like that, does southwest Montana owe it a rebuild? Reply with one sentence — add "print it" if we can share yours.