The UK plans to roll out “immunity passports” to Brits who have already contracted the COVID-19 disease in order to allow them to return to “normal life,” the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday. “We are looking at an immunity certificate,” Hancock told a Downing Street press conference. “How people who have had the Read More…
The FDA announced Thursday that it is relaxing some of the recommendations regarding blood donations to address “a dramatic reduction in donations” amid the COVID-19 pandemic — but the department still recommends that sexually active gay men should not give blood. According to a press release from the department, it is now recommending that male donors can Read More…
Glacier National Park has awarded its labor services contract for the 2020 Visitor Transportation Service to LC Staffing of Kalispell. The contract with the company is valid for up to two years and provides drivers, dispatchers and supervisors for the park’s 35-bus fleet that provides shuttle service along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Jim Foster, chief of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Red Ants Pants Music Festival, that is usually held in July outside White Sulphur Springs has been canceled due the COVID-19 pandemic. This would have been the 10th year for the music festival. “It is with heavy hearts we have made a difficult, but we feel the most responsible, decision to cancel Read More…
The UK plans to roll out “immunity passports” to Brits who have already contracted the COVID-19 disease in order to allow them to return to “normal life,” the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday. “We are looking at an immunity certificate,” Hancock told a Downing Street press conference. “How people who have had the Read More…
The FDA announced Thursday that it is relaxing some of the recommendations regarding blood donations to address “a dramatic reduction in donations” amid the COVID-19 pandemic — but the department still recommends that sexually active gay men should not give blood. According to a press release from the department, it is now recommending that male donors can Read More…
Glacier National Park has awarded its labor services contract for the 2020 Visitor Transportation Service to LC Staffing of Kalispell. The contract with the company is valid for up to two years and provides drivers, dispatchers and supervisors for the park’s 35-bus fleet that provides shuttle service along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Jim Foster, chief of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Red Ants Pants Music Festival, that is usually held in July outside White Sulphur Springs has been canceled due the COVID-19 pandemic. This would have been the 10th year for the music festival. “It is with heavy hearts we have made a difficult, but we feel the most responsible, decision to cancel Read More…
LIVINGSTON – Popular musician John Mayer approached a Livingston nonprofit to help combat COVID-19 in Park County. The Livingston Enterprise reported Mayer made a financial contribution to the Livingston HealthCare Foundation to provide Park County residents with more ventilators. Livingston HealthCare hospital spokesperson Whitney Harris told The Enterprise Mayer got in contact with the nonprofit to Read More…
Violators of Yellowstone County and Montana state orders to limit group gatherings and maintain social distance could face up to 90 days in jail and fines, county officials said during a news conference Wednesday in Billings. Law enforcement officers said they will not be stopping drivers on the road for no reason or putting up Read More…
North Dakota’s two U.S. senators are hopeful about the outlook for the oil industry that’s plagued by low crude prices, after a phone call earlier this week between the presidents of the United States and Russia. Few details have emerged about the call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which came after several weeks of Read More…
BISMARCK — Cass County now has more cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, than any other county in North Dakota. The North Dakota Department of Health announced 17 new cases of illness Tuesday, March 31, including eight in Cass County. A ninth Cass County case was confirmed earlier Tuesday, but the department Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department says that legislation passed in 2019 to expand the regulated area for shed antler and horn collection in the state is now in effect. “The updated regulation expands the seasonal closure area to include expanded critical wintering habitat and enact a new opening time of 12 noon on Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s governor is asking tourists to stop coming to the state while it’s under a stay-at-home directive. Gov. Steve Bullock also asks anyone who recently traveled to the state from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days. The directive does not apply to people traveling into the state for work-related reasons. Read More…
Montana colleges and universities stand to receive $31 million from the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package just passed by Congress. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, announced the aid to higher education in a news release Monday, saying it was part of a total of $1.25 billion heading to Montana local governments, small businesses and individuals for Read More…
After a hopscotching process, Montana got the OK to call off standardized testing for students usually required by the federal government. The move had been likely since the U.S Department of Education indicated that it would offer statewide testing waivers as most of the nation’s public schools closed because of the new coronavirus. Montana education officials Read More…
Washington — Americans who are eligible to receive one-time payments from the federal government as part of a massive coronavirus economic relief package will see that money deposited into their bank accounts “within three weeks,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday. “We expect that within three weeks, that people who have direct deposit with information with us will Read More…
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Three Wyoming gun shops say their businesses have seen an uptick over the past week, mirroring a national trend fueled by the spread of the novel coronavirus continuing across Wyoming and the nation. “It’s borne out of fear that people are going to go crazy,” said Larry Frandson of Cody Wyoming Guns and Ammo, adding Read More…
EVANSTON – Wyoming gets an F in social distancing practices. National data company Unacast has utilized cellphone location data to rank every state in the nation on social distancing practices in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of March 25, Wyoming was the only state in the country to earn an F grade. The Read More…
On Thursday, March 26, Governor Steve Bullock clarified essential businesses and operations in a Directive where he declared Montanans must shelter in place and stay at home. We have summarized the list of essential businesses and operations listed in the Directive: Businesses that sell, manufacture or supply needed products: Stores that sell groceries, medicine, including medication Read More…
Crow Tribal Chairman Alvin Not Afraid Jr. issued an executive order mandating all tribal members to stay home in order to control the potential spread of the novel coronavirus, according to a press release issued by the tribe Friday. The order, which goes into effect March 28 at 12:01 a.m. and stays in effect until Read More…
Even though the Montana Science Center is temporarily closed, executive director Abby Turner was keeping an eye out for what the center could be doing for Bozeman. “We had been watching the ways that people are helping out,” Turner said. “For us, we knew that some of the resources that we had available at the Read More…
LIVINGSTON — One day late last week, Dan Vermillion, owner of Sweetwater Travel in Livingston, woke up to a flurry of emails. There were seven different requests to book his vacation rentals for up to six months. Normally, a booking is three days, five days, maybe a week. By: Johnathan Hettinger – Montana Free Press LIVINGSTON Read More…
While families’ cats and dogs are enjoying the upside of spending days with their owners working from home during the coronavirus shutdown, wild coyotes in San Francisco are reportedly also taking advantage of the benefits of a suddenly empty city. There have been several recent fake stories circulating about unusual wildlife showing up in cities during the Read More…
FARGO — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been in daily contact with lawmakers about the coronavirus and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of calling a special session, a spokesman said Wednesday. Mike Nowatzki, Burgum’s communications director, said that although “it’s too early to speculate” about whether to call in lawmakers, the governor’s office continues Read More…
The businesses lining the main streets of Wyoming speak volumes about the communities they inhabit. Successful restaurants reflect the tastes of the local residents. Retailers, and the wares they carry, often resemble the demographics of a community. Art galleries, music shops and others can indicate the existence of tourist traffic and a creative class that Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Governor Steve Bullock on Thursday afternoon issued a directive requiring Montanans to stay home and temporarily closes all nonessential businesses and operations as efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) continue. The order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday March 28; Bullock said implementation of the order will buy Read More…
BOZEMAN — An organic chemist from Montana State University is one of 25 educators in the 2020 class of Cottrell Scholars, an award honoring both academic leadership and innovative research in the physical sciences. Sharon Neufeldt, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in MSU’s College of Letters and Science, received the award last month Read More…
Washington (AFP) – Just because there’s a pandemic going on, doesn’t mean the party has to stop. And one DJ has kept it going — for 10 hours at a time. The coronavirus has upended daily lives, with thousands of deaths around the world. Many people are staying at home in an effort to stem Read More…
Boeing on Monday said it is shutting down production at its factories in the Seattle area for two weeks as the manufacturer grapples with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s move to suspend its production at its facilities in the Puget Sound area comes as Washington state, where most of Boeing’s production is centered, Read More…
In the spring of 2018, the Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos unveiled a new course, Psychology and the Good Life. The subject was happiness. Santos’ course was a blend of abstract and concrete. It combined positive psychology with the real-life applications of behavioral science. It debunked popular notions of what makes people happy (like the Read More…
The coronavirus has caused the price of gasoline in North Dakota to drop 15 cents in the past week, and some industry analysts say the downward spiral could see gas plummet to 99 cents a gallon. According to travel and navigation application GasBuddy, gas prices in the state are 37 cents lower than one month Read More…
The Wyoming State Health Officer signed an order, effective immediately, that prohibits gatherings of 10 or more in a single room or confined space due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news releasee from Gov. Mark Gordon’s office on Saturday. “People of any age can spread this disease to others who are Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — Editor’s note: In the above video, Idaho State Epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn answers viewer questions about the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic. We have received many questions from viewers regarding the accuracy of the confirmed coronavirus cases reported on the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare website. Local public health districts may be confirming cases of Read More…
On March 11, before there were any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Montana, 57 Montanans filed a new claim for unemployment benefits. On March 18, with 15 cases of the virus in the state, there were 2,830 new claims — an increase of nearly 50 times in seven days. Gov. Steve Bullock and the Department Read More…
The State of Montana will be implementing emergency onsite and remote work procedures for many state employees begining Montay, Mar. 23. The change is to reduce potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus while maintaining necessary state-government operations. The State of Montana is one of the largest employers in Montana with more than 20,000 employees. READ Read More…
BILLINGS – Hospitals and other medical facilities around the country have been facing a shortage of masks in recent weeks, as the threat of COVID-19 has spread. In Billings, surgeons who typically would use a new mask for every procedure have been asked to use just one mask a day so that they don’t eventually Read More…
The spread of the new coronavirus has halted travel and prompted a price war between two of the world’s biggest oil producers, putting many in the Bakken on edge as the outlook for the oil industry turns bleak. “It’s been extremely brutal,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. “We’re going to Read More…
The Wyoming state government has launched a webpage to keep residents up to date on the latest information on the COVID-19 outbreak as well as available resources. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon made the announcement on Wednesday. According to a release from the governor’s office: “We want to offer a single location to share information and resources from multiple Read More…
The Montana Office of Public Instruction said in a news release on Wednesday that it has submitted state and federal waiver requests to ensure that schools in Montana continue to receive funding, do not have to make up lost hours due to school closures, continue to have nutrition resources for students, and do not have Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Governor Steve Bullock on Wednesday evening said that two new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Montana. The two new cases are a Missoula County man in his 50s, and a Gallatin County man in his 60s. The tests, conducted by the DPHHS Public Health Laboratory, were confirmed Wednesday evening. Read More…
HELENA – A sprawling lawsuit to force the state to rewrite its energy policy, to combat climate change, has been filed in state District Court – and most of the lead plaintiffs aren’t even old enough to vote. 16 Montana youths, acting through their guardians and with the help of two environmental law groups and Read More…
Governor Doug Burgum makes a historic announcement Sunday night closing schools statewide. Burgum says schools will be closed this week in North Dakota, for five days. Schools public and private will be closed by executive order March 16-March 20. A decision at the end of the week will be made as well. The Governor says Read More…