Montana health officials: RFK Jr.’s vaccine changes may affect local communities
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices within crafts recommendations for school vaccine requirements but U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired its 17 member. Montana public health department spokesperson Jon Ebelt confirmed the agency receives and distributes the vaccines that are recommended by the oversight committee but did not respond directly to questions about whether changes to that list would automatically compromise which shots the department gives out for free.
Storied Montana lawmaker coal miner organizer from Colstrip dies at 79
Former Republican legislator Duane Ankney from Colstrip died over the weekend at age 79. He served 16 years in the state Capitol in eight legislative sessions four in the House and four in the Senate. He remained a very active advocate for his district and community after he left state politics behind. Ankney was born in Idaho in 1946 and moved to Montana in 1969 after serving five years in the U.S. Navy.
Milk River Project hits major snag with Canadian cement snafu
Repairing St. Mary’s Canal that provides drinking and irrigation water to people along Montana’s Hi-Line has hit a major snag. Federal regulations have stopped deliveries of concrete from the project’s supplier in Canada. Cement from Canadian-based SW Concrete can’t reach crews re-constructing the St. Mary’s diversion dam and Hall’s Coulee siphons. Project managers are calling on the Montana delegation to find a solution for the stalled cement before time runs out in Montana’s construction season.
Recreation Alert! Many Watercraft Inspection Stations Still Active in Montana
So far this year over 90,000 watercraft have been inspected for aquatic invasive species and thirty-four of those were carrying mussels. While some watercraft inspection stations close after Labor Day others continue operating in high-risk corridors through October. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks says keeping aquatic invasive species out of Montana waters is an ongoing effort so all watercraft require inspection at the stations that are still in operation.
Visitors to Yellowstone are slow to make overnight reservations
Visitors to Yellowstone National Park are waiting longer this summer before booking a room at Xanterra Resorts Park Lodges even though Yellowstone saw a 2% increase in August visitation compared to the same month a year ago. So far this year Yellowstone has hosted 3.54 million people up slightly from last year but off the record-setting 2021 pace by 1%. National Park System campgrounds have been full or nearly full each night of the summer season.
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The Yellowstone County Detention Facility has been over charged about 30 cents a meal since October 2022 by Summit Correctional Services and now the national provider of food and commissary services will refund $592,000. According to the Big Sky Business Journal an unintentional error resulted from a miscalculation in an adjustment in cost based on the number of meals.
A childcare option is now available for Big Sky families as Gallatin River Childcare has opened its second location there. The nonprofit first opened in Gallatin Gateway last year and now with the help of the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation it has expanded to Big Sky.
The City of Great Falls is moving forward with its plan to sell the former Community Recreation Center and has retained McKay-Rowen Associates for $4,200 to perform an appraisal. It intends to set the minimum bid at $800,000 and follow the process detailed in the city code to sell the property that was formerly called the DeMolay Memorial Building.
Brigadier General Buel Dickson relinquished command of the Montana Air National Guard to Brigadier General Trace Thomas over the weekend and retired. Both men were fighter pilots who transitioned to cargo pilots when the 120th converted from the F-15 to the C-130 in 2014.
Officials with Mountain Line in Missoula will begin a new bus route beginning September 13th that will temporarily be offered for residents interested in going to Marshall Mountain this fall. The bus will leave from downtown Missoula and can carry up to 16 passengers and bikes per trip as part of a pilot program and will run hourly on weekends through the end of October.
