NBC Montana: New tool helps track Montana’s population growth. “The Population Forecasting Data Model is a collaboration between the Montana Department of Commerce and Carroll College. The data model will help plan community development and land use. The model also predicts population at the county level for the next five years.”
KGVO: Montana Chambers Launch Tool to Help You Keep Tabs on Legislature’s Work . “The Missoula Chamber of Commerce announced this week that it’s part of a group of half-a-dozen Chambers of Commerce from around the state who are deploying a new tool to help the ‘right to know’. Using an open software tool known as the Council Data Project, journalists, activists, researchers, and community members can keep appraised on legislation and help hold lawmakers accountable to their constituents.”
State of Montana Newsroom: Montana State Library Digital Collection Of Current and Historic Montana Law Means More Access and Research Possibilities. “The Montana State Library recently partnered with the State Law Library and Legislative Branch to digitize hundreds of historic print volumes of Montana law… This new online collection delivers all the qualities traditional print readers love: the look and ease of print navigation minus the negatives: torn pages, missing copies, coffee stains, pencil marks from previous users, and having to physically travel to a library. Not a minor inconvenience in our geographically big state since only a handful of Montana libraries have law books.”
Lewiston Tribune (Montana): Great Falls Tribune archives find a new home. “Elevator doors open up to the top floor of the History Museum in Great Falls, where overflow and large items not on display are stored, and an entire corner of the room was filled with recently acquired filing cabinets…. The History Museum recently acquired more than 20 filing cabinets filled with newspaper files and several boxes with photographs and photo negatives from the Great Falls Tribune in a massive effort to preserve the records after the Tribune building sale was finalized and everything needed to go.”
Montana State University: Montanan’s 1972 Constitutional Convention retrospective interviews now archived at MSU Library. “Montana State University Library’s Archives and Special Collection has created a searchable online repository of video interviews and transcripts of surviving delegates and staffers from the Montana Constitutional Convention of 1972.”
Montana Public Radio: COVID-19 was the leading killer of Native Americans in Montana last year. “According to a review of death certificates by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, deaths among American-Indian and Alaska Natives spiked 36 percent in 2020 compared to the previous five years, largely due to COVID-19. The analysis shows the rate of COVID deaths among American Indian and Alaska Native people in Montana was also over double that of Indigenous people across the entire country.”
Montana Attorney General: Attorney General Knudsen Launches New Online Missing Persons Database. “Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen launched a new tool today to help law enforcement agencies and the public find missing persons and bring them home. The enhanced Montana Missing Persons Database is easier to use, increases accessibility for cell phones and tablets, and includes other features to provide accurate and timely information.”
CBS News: “Do we need to ration care?”: COVID patients overwhelm Montana hospitals. “Montana, the first state to ban COVID-19 mandates for employees, has one of the lowest vaccination rates and the highest hospitalization rates in the country. Some hospitals have reached the point of not accepting new patients and are preparing to ration care. The intensive care unit at Billings Clinic is operating at 175% capacity. ”
Billings Gazette: Postcard from an overrun ICU: ‘The problem is we are running out of hallways’. “The situation has played out in hospitals around the nation since 2020. But now Montana is a national hot spot for COVID infections, recording the highest percentage increase in new cases over the past seven days. The state announced 1,209 new cases on Friday, and Yellowstone County, home to Billings Clinic, is seeing the worst of it. Last week, the county had 2,329 active cases, more than the next two counties combined.”
Mississippi State University: Digitized photos from MSU Libraries’ Holder Collection unveil beauty of Montana’s Crow Indian tribe. “The photographic beauty of both the natural and built environments of Montana’s Crow Indian tribe is now easily accessible to academic researchers and U.S. history enthusiasts through Mississippi State University Libraries’ digital collections.” Not a huge collection, but good photography.
NBC Montana: Montana launches new wildland fire restrictions website. “Fire officials launched a real time map of Montana detailing current fire restrictions today. It comes as Montana’s DNRC explains fire season started early and indications are we’re in for a bad one.”
KHQ: New database and portal aims to ‘streamline’ reports of missing indigenous people. “The Blackfeet Community College unveiled a new portal that will help people report cases of Montana’s missing and murdered indigenous people…. People can submit a missing persons report, which will get sent to local law enforcement agencies. The coalition will make sure that agencies got it, and will keep in touch with the person who submitted it. They’ll also post the report on social media pages.”
US News & World Report: States Are Banning COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements. “As COVID-19 vaccinations continue across the country, Arkansas and Montana are the latest states to advance legislation or enact laws that ban certain requirements – such as vaccine passports or conditions of employment – based on inoculation status.”
NBC News: Gianforte tests positive for COVID-19. ” The governor’s office announced Monday evening that Gov. Greg Gianforte tested positive for COVID-19. Gianforte had just received his first vaccine dose last week. A spokesperson for the governor says they do not know how he contracted it, and added that he has held no public events since Thursday evening.”
KPAX: New statewide website highlights earn-while-you-learn opportunities for young adults. “Too often, we see young adults leaving the great state of Montana to work somewhere else in the region or the country, and when that happens, Montana’s workforce suffers. Through a collaborative effort between the Missoula Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Department of Labor, Montana’s workforce is gaining some traction through a new website.”
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