On Thursday, President Biden announced the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the coming weeks will issue an “emergency temporary standard” that will mandate all employers with 100 or more employees to require their workers be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID testing. This rule is estimated to impact 80 million private-sector workers, with businesses facing

The Montana Nurses Association expressed serious concern last week over the legality and scientific accuracy of an Aug. 31 emergency rule issued by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. The rule told public schools they “should consider” parental concerns when imposing face mask mandates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and stated that scientific literature is “not

After an aggressive push by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced it is expanding assistance available to Montana ranchers as a result of historic drought conditions to cover costs incurred transporting feed for livestock that rely on grazing through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish Program. Tester pushed for the change

Montana State University Extension has a new, free, color booklet available about identifying and managing pests and problems in ornamental trees and shrubs in Montana. The 240-page guide is intended to help MSU Extension agents, arborists and those in nursery and landscape trades identify and diagnose tree and shrub issues and to help with decisions for treatment based on integrated pest

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has announced efforts to improve Montana drought and water supply planning. This planning effort was discussed during last week’s Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Committee meeting. Approved in 1995, the existing Montana Drought Management Plan is slated to be updated with support from a new federal grant. “With every region of Montana facing severe to extreme

As a part of his yearslong push to improve market transparency and ensure fairer prices for Montana producers, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has announced bipartisan legislation, the American Beef Labeling Act, which would ensure that beef raised in the United States is labeled as a product of the USA. The legislation is also sponsored by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and

On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the Montana Department of Livestock received confirmation that a horse in Ravalli County was diagnosed with rabies. This is the 12th case of rabies in the state in 2021, and the fifth in a terrestrial (nonbat) species. As a result, Ravalli County has been placed under a 60-day quarantine. The purpose of the quarantine is to reduce the risk of further disease spread in the