News

Daines introduces measure to give workers new skills in post-COVID job market

A bill to help workers navigate the shifting economy by gaining new skills and provide employer incentives could help boost the nation’s recovery, Sen. Steve Daines said Tuesday.   Daines on Tuesday morning introduced the Workforce Recovery and Training Services Act, saying many workers are returning to a job market that looks different than it did before the pandemic.   “As our nation continues to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, we must ensure our workers have the support they need to get back to work,” Daines said. “My bill will boost our economic recovery by connecting unemployed Montanans with

More COVID-19 treatment drug being sent to state

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday was expected to be sending 24 cases / 960 doses of remdesivir to Montana, which they have given emergency-use authorization to treat certain patients hospitalized with COVID-19, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines said.   Remdesivir It is an antiviral that shortens hospitalization by about an average of four days.   “These shipments of remdesivir will help treat and support Montanans hospitalized with COVID-19,” Daines, R-Mont., said in an email. There are 40 vials per case and the average patient receives 6.25 vials over a five-day course of treatment.   Jon Ebelt, spokesman for

As COVID cases climb, Tester urges pause on evictions; Daines announces drug shipment

The number of fatalities in Montana due to COVID-19 grew to 39 on Monday as state health officials announced two more deaths in a Billings nursing home.   The state added 88 new cases on Monday, including four in Missoula, increasing the running tally to 2,621. More than 48 people remain hospitalized in the state and 1,248 cases are considered active.   “Two more Montanans have sadly passed from COVID-19. My heart goes out to their families and community,” Gov. Steve Bullock said. “As we continue to see the tragic situation unfold at Canyon Creek (Billings), I call on Montanans

Daines: Montana to Receive 24 Cases of Remdesivir

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – To help fight the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Montana, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is sending 960 doses of the antiviral treatment Remdesivir to the state on Monday.   The drug has received emergency use authorization by the FDA to treat patients with the virus. Patients who receive the treatment will receive roughly six doses over five days for treatment.

Sen. Daines secures funds for Whitehall meat processing operation

Sen. Steve Daines secured $26,250 for the Headwaters Resource Conservation and Development Area Inc. to research the feasibility of a meat processing operation in Whitehall. The funding comes from the Economic Development Administration and the company that received it is located in Butte. “This critical funding assesses the need for a meat processing operation in Whitehall and will lead to more jobs and opportunities for the folks of Jefferson County,” Daines said in a July 17 press release.

Praise for farm aid, criticism for meatpackers: Under secretary’s visit a mixed bag

The threat of infection had kept the USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation cooped up in Washington D.C. for months. On July 15 he arrived in Great Falls, noting that his trip to Montana was the first he’d made outside the beltway since last March.   “One of the best parts of the job is to get out of D.C. and be able to get to real farm country,” Under Secretary Bill Northy said to an assemblage of Montana ag producers who gathered at a machine shop on the Bumgarner farm east of Great Falls last Wednesday.  

Daines Distributes PPE to Crow Tribe, Tours Detention Facility at Crow Agency

CROW AGENCY, MT – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined Crow Chairman AJ Not Afraid on the Crow Reservation to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to Crow tribal members.    Following the distribution of PPE, Daines toured a detention facility the Crow tribe is looking to utilize as they continue to lack enough holding space to maintain their policing needs on the reservation.     Background:   Daines is committed to ensuring that Montana tribes have the critical resources they need to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To read about Daines’ COVID-19 related efforts, click HERE.  Daines strongly backs strengthening law

Crow Tribe Police hoping to acquire empty detention facility

BILLINGS, Mt. – Early Friday afternoon Crow Tribe Chairman AJ Not Afraid, Senator Daines, Crow Tribe Police and Tribal members took a tour of the empty detention facility in Crow Agency.   The detention center is currently leased by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Crow tribe is looking to take over the lease to utilize the facility as they continue to lack enough holding space to maintain their policing needs on the reservation.   The crow tribal police department wants to clean out and refurbish the empty jail before they open the facility for the police force.   Crow

Crow Tribal Police eye former BIA jail to begin detention operations

The Crow Tribal Police and Crow leadership are eyeing a closed Bureau of Indian Affairs jail on the reservation to meet the newly formed police force’s detention needs.   Several administrators with the Crow Tribe, Bureau of Indian Affairs and gathered at the site of a former BIA jail on the Crow Indian Reservation to discuss the possibility of the tribe taking ownership of the jail to book offenders arrested by the new tribal police force.   On Friday, several Crow Tribe administrators, Bureau of Indian Affairs officials and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., toured the facility and discussed the challenges