A bizarre set of events unfolded in the hallowed halls of state government during the past week.

First came the word last week that Montana Department of Transportation Director Jim Lynch had resigned, ending a 6 1/2-year tenure at the helm of the department.

The next day we found out it was more like he was forced to resign. Turns out that Gov. Brian Schweitzer had asked Lynch to step down because Lynch’s daughter had been hired in the transportation department four years ago.

And now this week the department’s chief human resources officer (who ran the office where Lynch’s daughter worked) also resigned under pressure.

Curious and curiouser. 

Why after four years did this become such a contentious issue? Schweitzer claimed he had just found about it and said that the hiring of Lynch’s daughter amounted to nepotism. Lynch said it wasn’t and that he had nothing to do with the hiring.

For Schweitzer to suddenly decide to toe the line on purported nepotism is interesting if one remembers that at the outset of his administration, he was criticized for his brother’s unofficial role in state governance.

Lynch, from Kalispell, now gets the chance to either return to the private sector or perhaps launch a bid to succeed Schweitzer, who is term-limited as governor.

Whether Schweitzer’s showing him the door helps or hurts Lynch’s future remains to be seen.

However you figure it though, this whole affair smells like state-government politics, and that ain’t pretty.

NOW THAT the 2011 wildfire season is fully under way, it’s important for the public to be careful and vigilant to prevent forest fires.

Since July, there  have been scores of fires and most, of course, have been promptly dispatched by firefighters. Unfortunately, many have been caused by human carelessness, including the 700-acre South Fork Lost Creek Fire and possibly the Big Salmon Lake Fire that has burned well over 2,000 acres in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Forest users should take all precautions, and especially make sure that campfires are dead out before they are left behind.