Nearly 16,000 Montanans who purchased Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance through the marketplace are set to receive partial reimbursement for premiums paid between 2018 and 2020. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers selling plans on the marketplace to spend a certain percentage of the premiums they collect on medical or health-related expenses like doctor visits, drug prescriptions and hospital

Following a year-long search, the board of trustees of Daniels Memorial Healthcare Center has announced it has hired Kody Brinton as chief executive officer. Brinton has worked in several roles in health care over his career, and most recently served as regional administrator and vice president of National Sinus Institute in San Antonio, Texas since 2018. A native of Lyman, Wyo., Brinton holds

The Internal Revenue Service received a record number of complaints about Economic Impact Payment scams in June and July 2021. “Criminals are relentless in trying to victimize the public and during this pandemic are after your economic impact payments which are intended to help those in need,” said Andy Tsui, IRS criminal investigation special agent in charge for the state of Montana. “The

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has announced that the U.S. Department of Treasury has allocated Capital Projects Funds to Montana from the American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds worth $119,934,533 to help carry out critical capital projects that will directly enable work, education, and health monitoring by improving access to high-speed internet and other connectivity infrastructure.

The 2021 Wheat and Barley Variety Survey reports are now available. Funded by the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, these reports were conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service Mountain Regional Office to help guide breeding programs in selecting cultivars to develop that will ultimately increase the onfarm profitability and enduse marketability of Montana- grown crops.

As established in House Bill 93 signed during the 2021 legislative session, the Montana Department of Agriculture can now certify additional materials, such as gravel, as being free of noxious weeds. Administrative rules for Noxious Weed Free Materials (MAR Notice No. 4-21-273) were recently adopted following a public hearing and comment period that received no comments, although industry groups

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission is seeking public review and comment on several wildlife-related items and the 2022 Montana fishing regulations, all of which were approved for comment during the recent commission meeting. Wildlife proposals include the wild turkey augmentations in north-central Montana, bighorn sheep augmentation on Wildhorse Island, Adaptive Harvest Management

to her hometown to keep the family in the family business. Smith is gradually learning more of the business, and her presence gives Downs something she hasn’t had a lot of since 2019 — a peace of mind. Downs’ youngest daughter, Jessica Smith, is headed off to college this fall, but plans to work remotely to continue helping publish the newspaper each week. She’s worked for newspaper for the