Jess Sheldahl

The Montana Department of Corrections announced last week six new coronavirus cases among inmates at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.

Community health centers in Montana will receive over $24 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to use for COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment.

The death penalty, while legal in Montana, hasn’t been used in over a decade. A bill in the legislature would expand the definition of drugs that could be used in executions and make it possible to move forward with the executions of the two men sentenced to death in Montana.

The Montana Department of Corrections announced Monday it’s upgrading technology at its facilities using funds from its annual budget and COVID relief money.

A new grant fund to provide aid to Indigenous families conducting searches for missing loved ones launched Wednesday. The Montana Community Foundation established the first of its kind program.

A therapeutic youth home in Sheridan, Wyoming is closing its doors this spring after multiple states have dropped contracts with its parent company nationwide due to reports of violence, abuse and a death at another facility. When Normative Services Inc. Academy closes in March, nearly 50 kids from Montana will need to be transferred elsewhere.

The pandemic has made keeping in touch with loved ones difficult for everyone. COVID-19 precautions have halted in person visitation at Montana’s prisons, straining communication between inmates and their families.

The Montana National Guard on Nov. 18 withdrew from Montana State Prison after assisting the facility, strained by an outbreak of COVID-19 among inmates and staff. Eleven soldiers tested positive for the virus prior to and during the roughly three week mission.

The Montana News Guild, which represents staff from the Billings Gazette, finalized its first contract with newspaper owner Lee Enterprises on Nov. 1.

The Montana Department of Corrections confirmed Friday two inmates in state custody died due to COVID-19 last month. The announcement came nearly two weeks after the first inmate’s death.

In Yellowstone County 83 percent of absentee ballots had been returned as of this morning. Voters in Billings reported waiting two to three hours to register to vote and cast their ballots this morning at MetraPark, the main polling station for the most populated city in the state.

A man listed as an inmate in Montana State Prison custody died due to COVID-19 pneumonia in Deer Lodge on Oct. 24, according to his death certificate.