Author: Reilly Lowery

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.”

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

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