Montana
Montana Senate Republican caucus still split, after rules vote
HELENA — Four days into the Montana Legislature’s 69th session, a split in the majority Republican party is lingering.
Senate leadership spent much of Thursday trying to get their caucus to unite behind a new rules package, but in the end, it was a group of nine Republicans voting alongside Democrats to keep temporary rules in place – just as they did on Monday.
John Riley
Just after the start of the session, 27 of 50 senators voted to change the proposed initial rules the session would operate under. The biggest changes dealt with senators’ assignments to committees – the smaller groups that hear and debate bills on specific topics.
The first rules proposal, recommended by the Senate Rules Committee last month, had created a new “Executive Branch Review Committee,” which leaders said would handle legislation from the governor’s office and other state agencies. However, Democrats and Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton – the Republican named to chair the committee – questioned whether it was necessary. The revised temporary rules greatly limited what the Executive Branch Review Committee would take on and reassigned its members to other influential committees.
On Wednesday, GOP-led committees sought to address the holdouts’ concerns. The Senate Rules Committee amended the permanent rules proposal to eliminate the Executive Review Committee entirely, and the Senate Committee on Committees – which recommends committee assignments – proposed new assignments similar, but not identical, to the ones in the temporary rules.
The Senate was scheduled to vote on the rules resolution at 1 p.m. Thursday. When the Senate convened, Republicans broke off into what became a highly charged caucus meeting.
Jonathon Ambarian
Senate President Sen. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and Majority Leader Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, urged their members to support the new rules proposal. They said they had heard what Regier called “angst” about the new committee, and that the changes should have addressed that issue.
“We gave you everything you asked for – what do you want?” said Sen. Barry Usher, R-Yellowstone County. “If we go out there again and we continue to fight over these rules, the Republican Party will be hurt.”
Sen. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, said the Republican split had distracted senators from their work.
“We have frittered away now four days dealing with this, when we should be serving the state of Montana and our voters,” she said. “This is not getting to the goal.”
Jonathon Ambarian
Holdout Republican senators said they felt some members hadn’t been treated fairly when committees were assigned. Sen. Wendy McKamey, R-Great Falls, was critical of the Executive Review Committee.
“It was, someone said, a parking place for people, to kind of keep them out of the way,” she said. “I don’t know whether it was or whether it wasn’t; what I do know is it was kind of an affront to the governor. I do not want to see us fighting the governor, I want to see us making good legislation, I want to see us getting to work, I want to see us getting stuff done.”
Conservative groups like the Montana Freedom Caucus sharply criticized the nine Republicans who broke with their party on the rules, accusing them of essentially handing power in the chamber to Democrats. Sen. Denley Loge, R-St. Regis, one of the holdouts, defended himself in the Thursday caucus, saying he had acted independently, not joined with Democrats.
“I’m the kind of person that if I got treated fairly, I still want to watch out for the ones that didn’t,” he said. “And so that’s why I’ve been in on this, as one of the ‘dirty nine,’ I guess you want to say, but I am a Republican.”
McGillvray responded to Loge.
“You’re not ‘dirty nine,’” he said. “You are a Republican.”
Regier ended the caucus meeting with a final appeal for unity.
“My resolve is to never stop fighting for the 32 of you,” he said. “I will not let the Democrat minority run the floor – that is my line.”
After the meeting, leaders delayed the vote, saying they planned to return to negotiations, including potentially further updating the committee assignments to satisfy the holdouts. However, the Committee on Committees was set to meet at 3 p.m., recessed until 5 p.m., and then chair Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, announced they would adjourn without considering new assignments.
The Senate then returned to the floor at 6 p.m. Without debate, they voted down the rules resolution – again on a 27-23 vote, including the same nine Republicans.
“I’m going to keep pushing forward with what Montanans have sent us here to do,” Regier told reporters after the vote. “I would love it if those nine would join the caucus that they ran on, that they won in and stop this procedure.”
John Riley
Regier said the Senate has to move forward with its work, and committee meetings will be getting underway. MTN asked him if the chamber’s business would be getting back to normal.
“We’re going to get back to business, but it won’t be as normal,” he said. “Fifteen minutes into the entire legislative session, to have a vote like we did on Monday, like I said, that really jars the confidence from the rest of your peers in your caucus.”
Friday will be the fifth day of the legislative session, with 85 still to go.
Montana
How one Montanan has tapped into the market of bison shearing — and turned it into a successful business
CLYDE PARK — You might be familiar with alpaca shearing, but did you know there’s a man right here in Montana who also shears bison? And has made it into a successful business?
“This bail right here, that is 500 pounds of bison fiber that is going to Italy,” said Peter Connelly.
WATCH: Montana man turns bison shearing into a business, calls it the last unexplored natural fiber
Montana man turns bison shearing into a business, calls it the last unexplored natural fiber
Connelly has been shearing for 21 years.
“About 13 years ago, I had an opportunity to start shearing bison hides,” said Connelly. “It was the most amazing thing. Like, they look rough and rugged, which they are… but when you get into their winter coat that they grow, it’s as soft as cashmere.”
As Connelly explains, he was first contracting for companies as a bison shearer. But, he noticed they would mostly use the bison fibers for beanies and socks. He saw more potential.
“Bison has been gate-kept essentially by the people that we were shearing for,” said Connelly. “There’s a lot of interest. It’s the last natural fiber that has not been explored.”
So, he decided to expand, partnering with various companies to do research and development with bison fiber.
“We know what we want to do with it, but we want to see what other people can do with it,” said Connelly.
In addition to selling bison fiber, Connelly founded a company last October called Ember Heritage to sell his own products, such as shirts and blankets.
“We’ve built this company vertically. So, at a point in our manufacturing chain, we can sell,” said Connelly.
Besides breaking into an untapped market, Connelly says bison shearing helps reduce waste, as it is a byproduct of the meat industry.
“If we don’t shear it, it goes to the tannery, and the tannery just uses chemicals to melt off the fiber to get to the leather,” he said.
End-to-end, Connelly says shearing bison benefits everyone involved.
“What we’re doing by basically renting the hide from them is adding value to the animal so the rancher gets more money when he brings the animal in on the hoof,” said Connelly.
“All the way around, everyone is doing better because we just added one more step,” he added.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ember Heritage, visit this link.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 13, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 13 drawing
03-13-44-50-53, Powerball: 02, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from June 13 drawing
06-13-31-35-48, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 05
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from June 13 drawing
05-11-14-31, Bonus: 03
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from June 13 drawing
24-55-56-57-67, Powerball: 15
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from June 13 drawing
08-28-40-43-44
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 13 drawing
03-05-11-13-49, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
LAUREL — Firefighters gathered shoulder-to-shoulder in Laurel to honor Ruben Romero.
Romero was a wildland firefighter from Oregon who died of a heart attack while fighting the Bivens Fire in the Tobacco Root Mountains.
The solemn ceremony took place at the Montana State Firefighters Memorial, where Romero’s name was added to a wall that now carries nearly 100 names.
Watch the full story below:
Montana State Firefighters Memorial honor fallen firefighters at ceremony
Jamie Swecker, board chair of the Montana State Firefighters Memorial, said every name on that wall represents more than the fallen — it represents the families left behind.
“Honoring their sacrifice, not only their sacrifices, we have almost 100 names on the wall and the families. Their sacrifices that they’ve gone through after they’ve lost their love to a fire,” Swecker said Saturday.
Swecker said even one name added is too many.
“One of these years we’re hoping that we have none to add,” Swecker said.
The ceremony drew people from across the state, including Missoula Fire Chief Lonnie Rash, who said the fire service does not let distance stand in the way of honoring its own.
“As the brotherhood, the sisterhood, the fire service, regardless, when one of our own is deceased, we drop everything and try to make sure that they, their family are comforted and that we can recognize the sacrifice that they made,” Rash said.
Rash said the ceremony also serves as a reminder to every firefighter still serving.
“The importance is to remind everybody else who continues to serve that there is a dangerous job, that they need to pay attention and make sure that they’re safe, that they’re taking care of their physical and their mental well-being so that they’re able to go out and help our community,” Rash said.
Romero was not from Montana. He was a contract firefighter from Keizer, Oregon.
Rash said that does not matter to the fire service.
“That it shows the resilience of firefighters across the nation that we’re all doing the same job. We’re doing the same (thing), have the same impacts. Regardless of where we’re from, we recognize the importance of the sacrifice that Ruben made here in Montana,” Rash said.
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