In The News

U.S. Senator Steve Daines, Senator Jon Tester and U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte, all of Montana, announced Friday all bars in the state may now qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program. “Montana’s 2,400 taverns and bars have been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic which has impacted over 40,000 Montana jobs,” Daines said in a release. “I fought hard to ensure Montana’s taverns and bars are eligible for the same relief as other small businesses across the state to keep their workers employed. I’m glad the Small Business Administration acted on my request to help Montana workers.”  “Small businesses across Montana have been shut down

MISSOULA – The University of Montana’s Center for Translational Medicine is working on a possible vaccine for COVID-19 right now. To fund the fight against COVID-19, the National Institute of Health awarded UM’s department $2.5 million dollars. The principal investigator on the two-year award is Dr. Jay Evans, the center director and a research professor in UM’s Division of Biological Sciences. “When the call came from NIH in February to shift focus and develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, we quickly adjusted lower priority vaccine projects to focus our efforts on this urgent need,” Evans said. “Our dedicated team of experienced researchers stepped up

U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced that Montana veterans and their beneficiaries who receive VA benefits will be receiving their direct checks automatically without having to do anything extra from the Department of Treasury. This follows Daines urging both Treasury and Veterans Affairs Departments to work together to get the direct checks to Montana veterans the fastest and most effective way possible. “This is great news for our Montana veterans and their families who have given so much in defense of this country,” Daines said. “Ensuring our veterans get these direct checks as quickly and easily as possible will help give

Researchers at the University of Montana are working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine with the help of a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The University of Montana has become a leader in vaccine development, ever since a team led by Jay Evans joined UM in 2016, after pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline downsized its operations in Hamilton, and the research team moved to Missoula. Evans and his team at UM’s Center for Translational Medicine began working on the vaccine after being contacted by the NIH in February, prompting them to get to work on COVID-19 research while the federal grant

The Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Montana recently received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify and advance a COVID 19 vaccine. Montana Senator Steve Daines visited the campus on Thursday and received a tour of the center and spoke to the researchers about the effort to find a COVID 19 vaccine. “I had an outstanding brief from the scientists at the University of Montana who are doing cutting edge research on developing a vaccine for COVID 19,” said Daines. “To think that some of the best research and the best scientists

Montana received a funding boost from the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday to enhance its testing capabilities as it prepares for a phased reopening and works to reboot its economy. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines said the state will receive $5 million in funding earmarked for enhanced contact tracing and testing, and to protect vulnerable populations and high risk individuals. Gov. Steve Bullock laid out his plans for the phased approach this week. The state’s stay-at-home order will expire Sunday and some Main Street businesses will reopen on Monday. Others will follow shortly after. At the University of

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., outlined the importance of a phased reopening of the Montana economy while discussing COVID-19 relief efforts on Capitol Hill during a virtual chat with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning. Daines said the good news is that Montana has seen a steady decline in confirmed COVID-19 cases – with zero reported on Sunday and just four on Monday – but the bad news is the statewide shutdown has resulted in 75,000 unemployed Montanans. “We prepared for the worst but thankfully the worst didn’t happen,” Daines said. He said it is time to consider

Four new cases of coronavirus were reported in Montana on Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 437. And of those, 273 cases have recovered and there have been 12 deaths due to the respiratory illness. The state reports at covid19.mt.gov there are 14 who remain hospitalized out of 59 hospitalizations and 11,241 tests have been performed. That’s an increase of 190 tests from Monday. Also on Tuesday, the governor said he was able to get more masks, shields and other protective gear for health care workers. Two of the newest cases were in Gallatin County, which now has 145. Yellowstone reported one new case

BIG SKY – The fourth installment of EBS’s virtual Town Hall meetings brought key voices to the weekly conversation, kicking off the evening with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. The state executive joined the meeting in between conversations with business leaders, public health experts and others to determine the best way to roll out a phased reopening anticipated to begin April 25, the day following the termination of the governor’s stay-at-home directive. Bullock echoed statements he made in his own press conference last week, advising Montanans to reshape their expectations of what life outside of quarantine conditions will look like. “Our