Montana
Montana Bar Fairies seek to stem drunk driving by rewarding those who get a sober ride
The mother-daughter team of Carli Dewbre and Beth McBride spend their weekends prowling the streets of Flathead Valley long before the sun comes up.
Last weekend was no different. Shortly before 6 a.m. on Feb. 4 snow fell on Whitefish’s quieted streets, which the day before were home to the revelry, excitement and chaos of Winter Carnival. The bars and restaurants lining Central Avenue, which served last call just hours prior, sat silent.
Though the formerly packed streets were largely empty, a few cars remained. That is why Dewbre and McBride were there, working as the Montana Bar Fairies, a local grassroots organization raising awareness about drunk driving in the Flathead Valley and incentivizing drivers to find a safe ride home — one $5 coffee card at a time.
“It’s a way to honor the memories of the people we have lost, but ultimately our goal is to reduce fatalities due to drunk drivers in our area, and hopefully, eventually, in the state of Montana,” Dewbre said.
In March 2023, Bobby Dewbre, Carli Dewbre’s brother and the son of Beth McBride, was celebrating his 21st birthday at the Blue Moon near the intersection of U.S. 2 and Montana 40. While crossing the street to get to his sober ride home, Bobby was struck and killed by a drunk driver.
The motorist, John Lee Wilson, was convicted in Flathead County Justice Court on counts of operating a vehicle without liability insurance in effect, careless driving involving death or serious bodily injury and aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs last year. He was sentenced to 18 months in the county jail in November.
The state of Montana is above the national average for alcohol impaired driving deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Around 66% of all fatalities on the road in Montana were the result of impaired driving in 2020, marking one of the highest drunk driving fatality rates in the nation.
Montana also boasts some of the most relaxed drunk driving laws in the country. In a way, Carli Dewbre and McBride said, the Montana Bar Fairies exists to reward positive choices while also encouraging and educating the community about the harms of drunk driving.
“The current consequences [for drunk driving] are not a deterrent for people,” McBride said.
The Montana Bar Fairies launched on New Year’s Day. Dreamt up by Carli Dewbre, the organization places $5 coffee cards on cars left overnight at popular bars across the valley. Each card includes a picture of a drunk driving victim, including Bobby Dewbre, a note and a $5 coffee card to various locations across the area.
“I thought of the idea when I was in peak grief,” Dewbre said. “I was driving past the Scoreboard early in the morning and saw cars that were left behind. I wished there was some way I could thank them for not driving home.”
There are currently two victims on the cards, but McBride and Dewbre encourage anyone who wants to get involved to reach out. Alongside Bobby, the other coffee card showcases a photo of Brooke Hanson, a 15-year-old Columbia Falls resident who was struck and killed by a drunk driver on her way to go fishing with friends in May 2021.
They can’t know for sure what cars were left behind because a drunk individual opted against getting behind the wheel. However, the cards do more than reward behavior — they help open up a conversation that, according to McBride and Dewbre, needs to be had.
Sheriff Brian Heino told the Inter Lake last summer that he has observed an increase in drunk driving arrests over his more than 20-year career. Flathead County has one of the highest DUI fatality rates in the state, according to statistics compiled by the Montana Department of Transportation.
From 2011 to 2020, the county saw the highest percentage of impaired drivers involved in crashes in the state. Around 12.5% of all crashes involve impaired drivers in Flathead County. Gallatin County boasts the second highest rate; 9.7% of all crashes there involved an impaired motorist.
For fatal and serious injury crashes, 9.2% involved drunk drivers in Flathead County, followed by 6.2% in Yellowstone County.
The Montana Bar Fairies, through social media and the group’s website, track various statistics in Flathead County to make them easily available for residents. As the organization grows, Dewbre said, they hope to morph into an educational and informational service as much as an outreach one.
“It’s also really, really important to us that this is not about judgment,” McBride said. “The point of this is to change the culture, it’s changing the conversation.”
Hopefully, McBride said, it incentivizes people to think twice before drunk driving in the future.
Between Jan. 29 and Feb. 4, there were 14 impaired driving arrests in Flathead County, the Montana Bar Fairies posted on their social media accounts. Three of those were aggravated, meaning that the drivers sported a blood alcohol content above 0.16. Five of the arrests were made on Feb. 4, a Sunday, alone.
There are 80 estimated trips taken by a drunk driver for every one DUI, Dennis Maughan, the Pacific Northwest regional executive director of Moms Against Drunk Driving, a national advocacy group, told the Inter Lake in July. Nationwide, there has been a double-digit increase in DUI arrests since 2019, he said.
For Dewbre and McBride, acknowledging and talking about those statistics is essential to mitigating the problem.
Losing someone you love at the hands of somebody else is another sort of grief, McBride said, and launching the Montana Bar Fairies was a way to turn that grief into action.
McBride anticipates working with local lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session to strengthen laws regarding impaired driving in the state in Bobby’s memory. This is only the beginning, both Dewbre and McBride said.
“This will make people think twice. This will help save lives,” McBride said.
To learn more or get involved, visit the Montana Bar Fairies at https://www.montanabarfairies.org/.
Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.
Montana
Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Big Sky Bonus results for March 27, 2026
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 27, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 27 drawing
13-27-28-41-62, Mega Ball: 16
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 27 drawing
04-05-15-16, Bonus: 14
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 27 drawing
06-09-28-33-46, Bonus: 04
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.
Montana
REAL Montana participants gain global perspective on agriculture during Morocco trip
GREAT FALLS — REAL Montana, short for Resource Education & Agriculture Leadership, is a two-year leadership development program through Montana State University Extension designed to strengthen the future of the state’s natural resource industries. The program combines in-state seminars, national travel, and an international study tour to expose participants to a wide range of perspectives.
Madison Collier reports – watch the video here:
Montana Ag Network: REAL group highlights international industry
The mission is simple: build a network of informed leaders who can help advance Montana agriculture and natural resource industries in a rapidly changing world.
A global classroom
This year, participants traveled across Morocco, visiting farms, research centers, and food production facilities to better understand how agriculture operates on a global scale.
According to REAL Montana Co-Director Tara Becken, the trip is about more than just travel, it’s about perspective.
“We were able to see how Montana commodities fit into the global picture,” said Becken, who also attended the trip. “Wheat from Montana’s Golden Triangle ends up on a plate on the other side of the world.”
Participants explored everything from citrus production to international trade, gaining firsthand insight into how food systems connect across continents.
Similar challenges, different landscapes
While Morocco’s environment and crops differ from those in Montana, participants said the challenges facing producers still felt familiar.
“Even though we’re worlds away, our challenges are very, very similar,” Becken said, pointing to issues like drought, labor shortages, and market pressures.
For Alice Miller, a participant in the program, those similarities stood out immediately.
“They’ve been dealing with drought. They’re working through input costs and labor… those are the same conversations we’re having here,” Miller said.
From farm to global table
One of the most impactful moments for participants came from seeing food production up close and realizing how connected it is to back home.
“Eating oranges right off the trees and then thinking about how that food ends up on our grocery store shelves… it just hits different when you’re there,” Miller said.
The experience reinforced a broader takeaway: Montana agriculture plays a role far beyond state lines.
“Montana really is feeding the world. That’s not just a phrase, that’s a reality,” Miller said.
Building the next generation of leaders
The international trip is just one part of the REAL Montana program, which includes eight in-state seminars and a national policy-focused trip to Washington, D.C.
Participants are selected from across Montana’s natural resource industries, including agriculture, energy, and forestry, with the goal of building a diverse network of future leaders.
Program leaders say those experiences are critical as the industry faces ongoing challenges, from global trade to shifting consumer demands.
“Unless we can understand the world around us, it’s really hard to tackle our own problems,” Becken said.
As the current class prepares to graduate, the focus now shifts to applying those lessons back home.
“We hope they go out and make a difference for the state of Montana and their communities,” Becken said.
Looking ahead
Applications for the next REAL Montana class are open through March 31. The program targets individuals working in Montana’s natural resource industries who are interested in growing as leaders and making an impact in their communities.
For Miller, the experience is one she encourages others to pursue.
“It’s an investment you won’t regret making, in yourself and in your industry,” she said.
The Montana Farmers Union is now offering a scholarship to help offset the cost of participation for eligible members accepted into the program. The support is designed to make leadership development more accessible to those working in agriculture and natural resource industries.
More information on scholarship opportunities and the application process can be found on the REAL Montana website.
Montana
Montana’s measures to tackle housing crunch offer hope for Michigan
State House considers reforms that allowed greater variety of construction in Big Sky State
Michigan could follow Montana’s lead after state House members introduced a bipartisan package of bills aimed at making housing less costly.
“The bipartisan Housing Readiness Package modernizes our development processes to reduce unnecessary costs and delays, making housing more affordable and available across the state,” according to a press release from the House Republican caucus. “This is about ensuring Michigan is prepared for growth and that more residents have access to safe, stable homes.”
The package draws on ideas Montana successfully enacted in 2023 and 2025 to ease the state’s housing shortage. It includes Michigan House bills 5529, 5530, 5531, 5532, 5581, 5582, 5583, 5584 and 5585. The package is intended to restrain cities and counties from restricting accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and other non-single-family units; to limit protests and impact studies on developments; and to reduce local red tape.
Housing costs in Michigan have almost doubled in recent years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Michigan has exceeded the pace of housing inflation found in other states.
The average price of homes in the state was about 75% of the national average in 2012, but it is roughly 82% of the average today, according to Jarrett Skorup, vice president of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Inflation, interest rates, and rising construction costs have increased housing prices, Skorup told Michigan Capitol Confidential, but local government red tape is still making things worse.
“A lot of this is because of dumb, unnecessary, big-government policies at the local level,” Skorup told CapCon in an email. “This bill package protects the private property rights of citizens in a way similar to what Montana and many other states have done. It is good policy that will help people afford to live where they want.”
Montana made changes to legalize duplexes, allow accessory dwelling units, open commercial zones to housing, and permit taller buildings that can accommodate more housing units.
The laws faced a legal challenge, but the Montana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the bipartisan legislation.
“There are a lot of similarities between what is being proposed in Michigan and what we accomplished in Montana,” Forrest Mandeville, a Republican state senator from Stillwater County, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.
Montana enacted laws that call for freedom to build duplexes and accessory dwelling units by right (with no need for extra approvals) in many cities. The Big Sky State also streamlined review processes and simplified public participation.
“These reforms were necessitated by a housing market that was seeing prices skyrocket and existing zoning that created a lot of single-family-only development in large areas,” Mandeville said.
A broad coalition supported the changes: builders, real estate agents, free-market advocates and some local government groups, Mandeville told CapCon. Housing prices and rents have stabilized since the legislation was enacted.
“We tried to get government out of the way to encourage building without red tape,” Sen. Jeremy Trebas, a Cascade County Republican, told CapCon in an email about the housing situation in Bozeman. With a population of 60,000 and slow growth, the city faced a housing crunch, with a large inventory of aging and obsolete buildings. Expensive housing and taxes, Trebas said, were driving people to move to Washington, California and other states.
“If we could change land-use policy, encourage development of higher density like duplexes as infill, allow for housing in commercial zones (as it was a 100 years ago), reduce minimum lot sizes, and allow by-right accessory dwelling units and such, we could let the market work to produce density and supply without spending government dollars to incentivize it,” Trebas said.
Opponents of Montana’s reforms expressed concerns about more people moving in from out-of-state, said Trebas. He countered that Montana natives were hurt by high costs that price upcoming generations out of the housing market.
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