While the arrival of new vaccines for COVID-19 should enable a return to in-person events, the sheer mechanics of their mass distribution mean that early 2021 events are still primarily virtual. That’s certainly true for the fourth annual MonDak Agricultural Research Summit, typically held late in the year, but now moved online and converted to a webinar series, beginning Thursday, Jan. 14.

The U.S. Surgeon General expressed his concern for the impact of COVID to Native Americans during his visit to Montana last week. Vice Admiral Jerome Adams was scheduled to take part in the opening of a search testing site on the Fort Peck Reservation on Friday, Dec. 11, but his flight was canceled due to weather conditions. He spoke about COVID concerns during a press conference on Thursday,

U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester today celebrated Senate passage of their bipartisan bill, the “Montana Water Rights Protection Act,” Dec. 21. The bill will permanently settle the century long CSKT water dispute, support Montana jobs, modernize rural infrastructure and protect the water rights of all Montanans. “After years of hard work, the U.S. Senate just passed our bipartisan

The Roosevelt County COVID-19 Unified Command (task force) met last week to communicate updates from across the county. Of note, the data out of the Fort Peck Tribes shows a decrease in positivity from 25 percent to 18 percent. This is great progress but still needs to decrease further to ensure a safe public environment. The fatality rate remains much higher than the national average at 4.9

The Montana Public Service Commission announced last week that Montanans will need to start using the “406” area code more than ever starting in 2021. Beginning Oct. 24, 2021, the 10-digital dialing will become mandatory in the state. That means all calls in Montana, including local calls, will require using the 406 area code. The change is needed because the Federal Communications Commission

The Culbertson Student Council will present the Parade of Lights on Thursday, Dec. 17. The council invites families, clubs, businesses and youth groups to enter a Christmas float for the parade. For more information, contact Christina Olson at 787-6241 or olsonc@culbertson.k12.mt.us. Participants should meet in the front of the school and along the south and east sides of the playground fences