As of Friday, March 4, 2022, Montana reports 271,030 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 330 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 102 new cases in Flathead County, 46 new cases in Blaine County, 43 new cases in Glacier County, 21 new cases in Yellowstone County, 17 new cases in Gallatin County, 17 new cases in Missoula County, and more new cases in 26 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,443. 46 of Montana’s 56 counties report active cases. Currently, 90 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 3,204 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 955,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 79,100,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Officials at Montana State University-Billings will consider removing the name of the college’s first president from its administrative building after discovering quotes from 85 years ago in which he supported Adolf Hitler’s sterilization plan to improve the genetics of the human race. A task force will review statements from Lynn Banks McMullen and recommend whether McMullen Hall should be renamed.

NorthWestern Energy has issued a so-called net-zero emissions plan to reach goals by 2050, but the plan allows NorthWestern’s largest carbon-emitting asset in Montana to continue burning through 2044. The utility plans to build two new “on-demand” natural-gas-fired power plants, one in Montana and one in South Dakota. The plants would be capable of being scaled up or down to accommodate variable power from renewable resources, a responsiveness that the utility’s existing combined cycle coal-burning power plants don’t have.