As of Sunday, May 9, 2021, Montana reports 109,924 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 41 new cases reported in the last day: 13 in Flathead County, 8 in Lewis & Clark County, 6 in Cascade County, 6 in Missoula County, and more new cases in 5 more Montana counties. Many Montana counties do not report over the weekend, and so official case counts do not include Gallatin County, Yellowstone County, and others. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 1,123. Currently, 70 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Cascade, Yellowstone, Flathead, and Gallatin Counties. 1,592 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Nationwide, more than 581,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 32,700,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed into law a controversial bill limiting the ability of hospitals and other businesses to require that staff be vaccinated. House Bill 702 makes it illegal for most businesses or organizations to require staff, visitors, patients or customers be vaccinated in order to access a facility. It doesn’t apply to schools or day cares.

Gov. Greg Gianforte also has signed House Bill 273 which pulls the plug on a 43-year-old public referendum that left decisions on the construction of new nuclear power plants to a public vote, but now transfers those decisions to the Legislature instead. Montana voters passed the Montana Empowering Voters to Approve Proposed Nuclear Facilities Initiative in 1978, also known as I-80, that puts proposed nuclear-power facilities up for a public vote.

A beef processing plant is slated to start operations in Livingston next year. It’ll be headed up by a charitable beef nonprofit organization. The NPO will open the processing plant to butcher meat for food banks and for ranches with direct retail sales.