As of Thursday, February 18, 2021, Montana reports 98,100 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 244 new cases reported in the last day: 36 in Gallatin County, 34 in Yellowstone County, 33 in Flathead County, 24 in Missoula County, 21 in Lewis & Clark County, 20 in Silver Bow County, and more new cases in 24 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,562. Statewide, 4,484 people have been hospitalized. Currently, 109 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Flathead, Gallatin and Lewis & Clark Counties. 1,337 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 490,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 27,900,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

A North Carolina mother of five was accidentally killed and her youngest child injured when her children found a gun in her purse. Police were called to an apartment in Cornelius, North Carolina on Monday night and found the mother, Gabriel Alexis Henderson, in a back bedroom. The 25-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The only other people in the apartment at the time of the shooting were Henderson’s five children. The oldest was in the living room and the other four were in the bedroom when they found a small semiautomatic handgun in their mother’s purse, police said. The mother was inadvertently shot, as well as the youngest child. The youngest child was transported to a hospital in Charlotte with non-life-threatening injuries.

Nearly 120 people associated with the Legislature have been tested for COVID-19 from Feb. 5 through this week. Results from tests Monday show three positives, which include a legislator case previously reported and two members of House staff likely exposed the week prior. The last lawmaker to announce they had tested positive did so a week ago. Of the total people tested either at the Capitol or state health clinic in Helena since Feb. 5, 30 have been lawmakers and 90 nearly all staff. So far five lawmakers, all Republicans, have tested positive for the virus since the session started Jan. 4, which is being held under a hybrid model that allows for remote participation. Most Democratic lawmakers are participating remotely because the Republican majority refuses to mandate or enforce public safety protocols in the capitol, like face masks and physical distancing.

Tensions between religious freedom legislation and LGBTQ rights have flared more than once in recent days at the Montana Legislature. It didn’t take long for the 2021 session to dive into LGBTQ rights. In its third week in action the House chamber had drag-out fights on the rights of transgender people over a proposed bill to prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming care, Another bill moving through the Legislature would say transgender female athletes cannot play on female sports teams. On Tuesday, a bill sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, to implement the “Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act” drew heated commentary from opponents who decried the proposal as an open door to discriminate against the LGBTQ community in access to housing, health care, employment and more. The bill would largely prohibit state laws from burdening religious groups and activities unless a government agency has a compelling interest to do so, and would bolster a religious party’s case in court. After scores of opponents testified against the bill, Sen. Bryce Bennett, D-Missoula, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing the bill, brought Glimm back to the podium. “I’m an LGBT person. You know that,” Bennett said. “This bill would allow people like to me to be denied housing, to be kicked out of restaurants, to be denied health care, to be fired from my job, not because of something I did but simply because of who I am. I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me why you deserve a life free of discrimination and people like me don’t.”

You can comment on bills before the Montana Legislature at leg.mt.gov.