As of Wednesday, June 23, 2021, Montana reported 113,403 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 63 new cases reported in the last day: 18 new cases in Yellowstone County, 9 new cases in Cascade County, 7 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 15 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 422. Currently, 56 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Cascade and Flathead Counties. 1,657 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Two more deaths have been reported in the last day. Nationwide, more than 602,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 33,500,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Yellowstone County reports a fifth person to die from COVID-19 in the month of June—a person who wasn’t vaccinated. Fifteen patients with COVID-19 related illness were hospitalized in Billings last weekend; 7 in intensive care and 6 on ventilators.

A former nurse could be the first socialist mayor of a large US city in more than 60 years. India Walton, 39, a candidate in Buffalo, New York, defeated the city’s four-term mayor in a major upset in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

National Geographic, one of the world’s pre-eminent and most visible mapmaking groups, has officially decreed the existence of a fifth ocean. Called the Southern Ocean, it’s the body of water that surrounds Antarctica.

Nine candidates are running for four spots on the Bozeman City Commission in the upcoming November election. Four of the five members of the city commission are up for election, and all four now serving in the seats are running as incumbents this November.