Aaron Bolton

State health officials say that Montanans on Medicaid will now have increased access to treatment after the federal government waived a restriction on what types of facilities can provide care for Medicaid patients.

In Montana, dogs are being trained to sniff out chronic wasting disease. The animals will be deployed on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation to prevent the disease from being passed to humans.

Some Canadian parents are making the trek into Montana to get their young children vaccinated against COVID-19.

Director Adam Meier will leave the state Department of Public Health and Human Services on Aug.12, citing a family health issue.

Montana's Blackfeet Nation is experimenting with a new way to detect chronic wasting disease in animals and toxic substances in plants used by tribal members for food and cultural practices.

There are a little more than 62,000 children younger than 5 years old statewide, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. While Montana health officials expect more vaccines for kids in that age group to be ordered in the coming weeks, demand could be lower compared to older children.

Incashola, who died earlier this week at the age of 76, was a key figure in the cultural revival on the Flathead Reservation in the 1970s. He served on the Séliš-Ql̓ispé cultural committee for decades and held the role of committee director since 1995.

Montana state health department spokesperson Jon Ebelt says the state is ordering vaccines in anticipation of the approval, but didn’t say how many. He says providers could receive the vaccines by June 21, which is the earliest they could be administered following approval.

Later this year, Montana tribes will receive the first round of funding for water and sewer projects on tribal land from Congress’ bipartisan infrastructure bill. On Thursday, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Lake County announced that the two governments will work to jointly fund road and infrastructure projects.

Wolverines will receive protections while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers listing them under the Endangered Species Act.