U.S. Census Bureau

Last week the U.S. Census Bureau published more granular data on Montana’s demographic changes. That information will be used to delineate the boundaries of the state’s two new future districts. The officials in charge of that job met Tuesday to establish an official timeline.

Community leaders across the state are preparing for more people who might need access to a homeless shelter this year. The state’s moratorium on evictions amid the pandemic expires this month and shelters in Montana have already seen greater demand from years of cost of living increases in the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the Trump Administration’s request to halt the Census 2020 count two weeks early. State officials are concerned Montana will be severely undercounted.

As an uncertain deadline for the census looms, organizers and Get Out the Count workers are rushing to get as many people counted as possible.

As Montana continues to lag behind the national census response rate, members of hard to reach rural communities are counting themselves in grocery stores, libraries and bars. The once in a decade count decides millions of dollars in federal funding and could boost Montana’s representation in Congress.

Carbon County is mostly rural. Coupled with its older population, and considering the current pandemic, social isolation worries Therese Picasso-Edwards.

When COVID-19 safety protocols shifted whole sectors of the healthcare industry from in person visits to a telehealth model, Arjun and Hannah Verma watched their parents, a pulmonologist and a cardiologist, fret about some of their elderly patients who were unprepared for the switch. The elder Vermas were concerned that their patients who didn’t own camera enabled devices or know how to use video conferencing platforms would be forced to forgo critical care.

The U.S. Census Bureau is still seeking to hire hundreds of temporary, part-time workers in Montana by the end of August.

State officials are worried a new sped up federal deadline could jeopardize Montana’s chances of getting an accurate census total. The once a decade count has large implications for the Treasure State.

On Tuesday, the Montana Department of Commerce announced the state is spending roughly $500,000 of federal coronavirus relief money to boost 2020 Census...