Montana Today

The number of people hospitalized in Missoula County due to COVID-19 has reached 43, tying the record high set on Nov. 7, 2020. Thirty of the people hospitalized are county residents.

A call for heightened safety measures across Montana University System campuses is growing as COVID-19 cases continue their upward climb. Friday, the seven-day average of cases in Montana hit 604, breaking 600 for the first time since Dec. 17, 2020. 

Local hospitals are reporting 40 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, which is just shy of the record set last November. The Delta variant is causing more severe illness in younger, unvaccinated individuals than the original strain that circulated this past winter.

More and more people in the United States are choosing to be cremated, and Montanans are making the choice way more frequently than the national average, according to Montana State University Extension.

First Interstate Bank hosted its fourth annual volunteer day where more than 2,000 employees statewide volunteered for 250 service projects throughout the region.

Searchers in Glacier National Park on Sunday found the body of a missing Richmond, Virginia woman in a steep and rocky area near the Continental Divide. Jennifer Coleman was reported missing on Wednesday, September 1.

A federal class action lawsuit filed in Missoula District Court is accusing Ravalli County of running a “wealth-based discrimination scheme” by requiring pretrial arrestees to pay exorbitant fees to get out, or stay out of jail without considering their ability to pay.

The donation will provide funding for new facilities at each of the MSU College of Nursing’s five campuses, including Missoula. New facilities will be equipped with modern classrooms and state-of-the-art simulation labs.

Inmates held in the Missoula County jail for a bailable offense will receive a $143 credit for each day served under the new rate set by commissioners on Tuesday. The county is still asking the state to cover the full cost of housing its inmates at the local jail.

The crime lab experienced a drop-off in DUI testing during the COVID-19 lockdown, but once businesses reopened, the caseload increased. And often, it’s a drugs and alcohol situation when someone is pulled over.