In The News

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines announced that Montana will receive more than $71 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat COVID-19 through large-scale testing and vaccination efforts. The year-end bipartisan COVID-19 relief and stimulus package allocates $61,517,133 for COVID-19 testing and provides $9,657,321 for vaccine distribution. Tester said, “With the news this week that Montana has passed the grim milestone of more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths, these critical resources are needed more now than ever to help get this virus under control once and for all and get folks back

Another large swath of timberland in Northwest Montana will remain open to the public in perpetuity after groups finalized the purchase of the Lost Trail Conservation Easement. The 7,256-acre parcel near Marion will complement an existing network of public lands stretching across Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties. Situated within the recently proposed 100,000-acre U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lost Trail Conservation Area, the prized single block of land also shares nearly 7 miles of border with the 7,876-acre Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge near Kalispell and is close to the sprawling 142,200-acre Thompson-Fisher Conservation Easement. The property protects the

Ravalli County and Missoula County Public Health Departments have been overwhelmed with phone calls about COVID-19 vaccination schedules. And both departments are asking the public to quit calling. Instead, Ravalli County Public Health Director Tiffany Webber said that in Ravalli County, the staff has started an online appointment and waiting list for those who are requesting appointments. The Ravalli County vaccinations have started for the healthcare workers and first responders, but there is a limited supply. Webber said that as the department works to coordinate an efficient distribution program, they are starting an online way for you to request information

HELENA — The COVID-19 pandemic response has been a costly endeavor at all levels of government. Lewis and Clark Public Health (LCPH) alone has already spent more than $1 million responding to the public health crisis. To put that into perspective, LCPH spent a total of $781,689 during their entire 2019 fiscal year. “That’s primarily because we’ve had to hire so many extra people to help do this work,” Lewis and Clark County Health Officer Drenda Niemann. “We’ve had to hire 70 contact tracers for example, more people to help with code enforcement and support staff to answer phone calls.”

The COVID relief bill passed by Congress in late December includes $15 billion that could aid eligible independent music venues and movie theaters in Montana that have been shuttered since March. The passage was like “finally getting a sigh of relief,” said Sean Lynch, the owner of the Pub Station concert venue in Billings. He helped the push for the Save Our Stages Act through the National Independent Venue Association, a group formed at the beginning of the pandemic. Its members estimated that up to a thousand venues could close without more relief. Here in Missoula, Logjam Presents, the owners

U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced Tuesday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) renewed a $250,000 grant to help reduce grizzly bear and human conflicts in Montana. “This funding is critical to help reduce grizzly-human conflicts in Montana as we continue working to delist the grizzly bear and return management to the state,” Daines said. The USFWS grant to the Montana Wildlife Services will include: • Additional support through the Wildlife Services contract to address bear and human conflict. • Leveraging existing Federal programs, such as grants provided under the Pittman-Robertson Act, to restore, conserve and manage animals and their

A bipartisan bill offered by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) that permanently settles a century-long tribal water dispute in his home state recently became law as part of the roughly $1.4 trillion omnibus appropriations package signed by the president. “I’m very glad I could play a direct role in getting this done, and I thank President Trump for signing our bill into law,” said Sen. Daines on Dec. 27. The Montana Water Rights Protection Act, S. 3019, which Sen. Daines sponsored in December 2019 with cosponsor U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), authorizes, ratifies and confirms a specified water rights settlement

Both houses of Congress have voted to repeal an anti-trust exemption in the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 which protects payers from federal competition laws. The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2020 amended the McCarran-Ferguson Act to include the following statement: “Nothing contained in this Act shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to the business of health insurance (including the business of dental insurance and limited-scope dental benefits).” The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2020 received bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, with sponsorship from Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Peter

A New Jersey biopharmaceutical company, Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., has purchased 44 acres on the northeast edge of Hamilton and plans to build a vaccine development and commercial manufacturing facility. According to a news release on its website, the company will use the Montana plant and a new facility in Massachusetts to help develop and produce vaccines. The Tonix statement said their vaccine candidates are “led by modified horsepox vaccines, TNX-1800, a potential COVID-19 vaccine and TNX-801, a potential smallpox and monkeypox vaccine.” The City Of Hamilton and the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority also worked with Tonix. Hamilton has