As of Monday, June 14, Montana reports 112,850 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 92 new cases reported in the last day: 20 new cases in Cascade County, 17 new cases in Yellowstone County, 10 new cases in Ravalli County, 9 new cases in Missoula County, 7 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 17 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 578. Currently, 47 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Cascade and Flathead Counties. 1,643 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Two more deaths have been reported since Friday. Nationwide, more than 600,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 33,400,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Jewish groups are condemning Arizona’s potential use of gas chambers for executions. The gas chamber’s upgrade at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, southeast of Phoenix, has struck a nerve with Jewish organizations that have grown increasingly vocal in their opposition to what they describe as a particularly macabre method of execution.

Attorneys for a West Yellowstone woman facing the death penalty on charges related to the murder of her grandson will challenge the constitutionality of capital punishment in coming months. Patricia Batts is charged with deliberate homicide, aggravated kidnapping, criminal child endangerment and strangulation of a partner or family member, all felonies, related to the murder of her 12-year-old grandson, James Hurley.

The Deep Creek Canyon fire in Broadwater County, burning between Townsend and White Sulphur Springs, grew to 174 acres Monday morning. Aircraft and at least two fire crews — totaling 35 personnel — are working to suppress the fire, which is burning in timber, brush and grasses.