Money talks. In this case, it's yelling at the Montana Democrats.

By DARRELL EHRLICK| Editor-in-Chief

Happy Friday, folks. You made it. The end of the week. And today we begin with a double dose of bad news for Democrats in Montana. U.S. Senate candidate Alani Bankhead was out-hustled in fundraising efforts by a margin of approximately 32-to-1 by independent candidate Seth Bodnar. And the results don’t get much better in the eastern race for the U.S. House where another independent has smoked Democrat Brian Miller.

But wait, there’s more. A group of prominent Democratic attorneys have written an open letter to the state party saying if Bankhead drops out — something that many advocate as a means of overcoming Republican Kurt Alme — the party doesn’t have to nominate or endorse any other candidate. Those same attorneys argue Montana should think more about its values than its political parties.

In non-election news, legislators want to know what’s happening with the hundreds of millions that they earmarked for building a new women’s prison, and were disturbed to hear that the number of inmate deaths is on a record-breaking pace for 2026.

Columnist George Ochenski says that Montana leaders have potentially created a situation that’ll repeat one of the most notable debacles in recent memory by pushing through a merger of the state’s largest public utility, NorthWestern Energy with Black Hills Energy Corp. Ochenski says that the promises of the merger sound not so unlike what happened when Montana Power deregulated, causing electricity rates to jump, and Treasure State residents to have to repurchase the same assets it had once owned.

One of the oldest and most notable wolf packs in Yellowstone National Park is moving outside of the park boundaries, which means that Mollie’s Pack would be subject to state hunting laws, and may be hunted out of existence.

Republicans in the United States House of Representatives have begun the process of formally dismantling the United States Department of Education. President Donald Trump had tried to accomplish the same thing by executive order until the United States Supreme Court said the work must be authorized by Congress. So the GOP representatives are giving it a shot, but it’s unlikely to be successful because the United States Senate must have 60 votes to approve the changes.

Even though dismantling the Department of Education seems like a long-shot, it didn’t stop Keith Sonderling, Trump’s pick to lead the United States Department of Labor, from praising the idea during his Senate confirmation hearing. Some of the programs that would be orphaned by vaporizing the Department of Education would be overseen by the Labor Department.

The United Methodist Church conference for Idaho and Oregon had planned an annual meeting in Idaho, but regional church leaders announced they’re moving the yearly gathering from the Gem State because of worries about protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as immigrants.

While some Methodists may be fleeing from Idaho, another thing that could be crossing state lines is measles. Wyoming officials have been dealing with an outbreak in Teton County, and now eastern Idaho reports a case, which means it’s getting closer to Montana.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has the Democrats in that chamber focused on retaking the majority during the election in November. And to make sure Democrats win, he’s calling on support from teachers unions across the nation.

It sounds like a Montana situation: A toxic mining site, the large industrial company, Atlantic Richfield and a place called Anaconda. But this particular story is only related to Montana as Nevada officials contemplate what will happen to the polluted and abandoned mine there that has ties to Copper Kings of Montana.

As the clock winds down on the number of days before Congress goes on break for campaigning and the election, House Republicans are trying hard to push through several budget items using the reconciliation process that is more complicated, but would not require the support of any Democrats. They’re now looking for a supplemental budget proposal of $95 billion.

Note: some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall

When the National Guard was originally called up by President Donald Trump to allegedly help the national emergency of immigration, many people, including state governors, thought the action would be temporary. But new reporting by National Public Radio shows that the administration plans to keep utilizing the national guard troops through 2029 in Washington, D.C.

In Arkansas, faithful supporters and fans of PBS were not happy by the cancellation of the popular PBS’ News Hour programming. The affiliate station said the reason was to use more local programming and because it couldn’t afford the costs, but many residents wonder if the decision was motivated by political pressure, according to the Arkansas Advocate.

Montanans, who cherish their state-given right-to-privacy, would understand the irritation and suspicion of West Virginia residents who are protesting after the Huntington City Council purchased Flock cameras, which can record public streets, intersections and traffic violations, leading to concerns about invading privacy.

There are a lot of changes that are happening in government right now. One of the most consequential is changes with the Medicaid program. New requirements that were passed through the “One Big Beautiful Bill” cut some funding to the program while mandating work requirements. Montana is already experiencing that, plus there’s a worry about Medicaid provider reimbursement rates and the impact on rural healthcare systems. Whether you’re a provider, patient or just curious, we’d love to have you join us.

If you want to learn more about the large federal changes, States Newsroom, the parent organization of the Daily Montanan, invites you to a panel conversation that touches on some of these changes. You can register for that discussion, which includes leaders from KFF Health News, at 10 a.m., Mountain on July 23. More details can be found here.

When we were walking out to the car on Thursday, my son looked at the sky and then smelled the air.

“What is that?” he asked.

The air had a cool but heavy haze. Things took on a musty smell.

“That’s humidity,” I explained.

I checked my allegedly intelligent phone — the humidity was 88%. The rain that had provided a relief from the brutally hot weather and turned a usual Montana summer night, which includes a cool respite from high temperatures into something more like a sauna as the precipitation hit streets, sidewalks and ground that had been pummeled by the unrelenting weather recently.

Poor kid. Since he’s lived his life in Montana, he’s not accustomed to the humidity, but having spent a considerable portion of my life in places that have humidity as a routine weather element, I knew the smell and sight. Within an hour, most of that lingering humidity had begun to burn off. And I thought about how one of my favorite features in Montana is summer rain storms — the kind that cool things off; the kind that bring a momentary reprieve from the pounding summer sun. And as thunder rattles off the Rims surrounding Billings, you can hear it careen farther down the Yellowstone Valley.

As fate would have it, my favorite coffee hangout had a particularly good blend of music to go along with the drink menu yesterday. As I was walking in, it was playing the 1990 Belinda Carlisle hit, “Summer Rain.” The song hit the charts worldwide (achieving its peak in … Australia). Few artists were as synonymous with the 1980s as Carlisle, who made her name with the pop group The Go-Gos before going solo.

The song is poppy, sultry and romantic, and hits on the theme of summer loves and memories of the warm rain.

“Somewhere in my heart, I’m always dancing with you in the summer rain.”

If you have a song that you’d like to share, or would like to get in touch with us, please send us a note at [email protected]

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