The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services sent its annual warning to Montanans Tuesday to prepare for the respiratory virus season as the first influenza cases and the first hospitalization of the year have been reported during the past two weeks. The state’s dashboards contain information about Covid-19 the flu RSV outbreaks and emergency room data. During the 2023-2024 season there were a combined 35,000 cases of the two illnesses reported.
Residents from Silver Bow and Gallatin counties filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Butte-Silver Bow County District Court asking a state district court judge to force the Montana Department of Revenue to recalculate residential property taxes in the Treasure State. They claim the Gianforte administration has violated the law and the state Constitution by allowing taxes for homeowners to skyrocket while most business classes saw a reduction.
Disability Rights Montana sued the elections administrator in Deer Lodge County earlier this month claiming inmates placed at the Montana State Hospital should be eligible to vote. Tuesday Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued an Attorney General’s Opinion holding that felons placed in Warm Springs for psychiatric treatment are prohibited from voting just as their counterparts serving prison sentences in other correctional facilities.
As home prices increase in Montana and with inflation the cost of insuring your residence is also expensive. MarketWatch dot com compiled information from Quadrant Montana ranks as the 11th most expensive state in the nation for home insurance premiums 42% higher than the national average.
With the 2024 election approaching today the personal-finance website WalletHub released a list ranking 2024’s most powerful state’s voters and Montana ranks 21st. It aims to highlight where people’s votes matter the most and thus where people have the biggest responsibility to make their voices heard. WalletHub compared the relative clout of 2024 voters in the presidential and Senate elections by calculating a Voter Power Score for each state for both types of elections.
The cost of flooding at Columbia Falls High School this summer will exceed $1 million in insurance claims. The classroom wing of the high school flooded in late July after a thunderstorm swept through dumping about 2 inches of rain in Columbia Falls.
Lolo’s water and sewer system will get upgrades across the board. This after the Missoula County commissioners awarded a $5.8 million contract Tuesday using federal COVID dollars. The core of the project is to improve the wastewater treatment system capacity and operations.
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks will offer a free instructional workshop next Tuesday afternoon for hunters to learn how to collect chronic wasting disease samples from harvested deer elk and moose. The workshop will be at the Billings FWP office from 5 to 7.
Residents of the Hamilton School District will see a ballot measure November 5th asking if they are for or against granting it permission to sell the Hamilton Middle School. The aging facility served as a high school before construction of a newer facility on Hamilton’s eastern edge.
The Helena Police Department is counting how many deer are living within city limits. By determining how many deer live in the Queen City it can be determined how to best manage the urban deer population. This year’s urban deer count began last Wednesday and the animals are counted for a minimum of six days spread out over two weeks.