As of Wednesday, November 24, 2021, Montana reports 189,678 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 497 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 70 new cases in Gallatin County, 69 new cases in Flathead County, 64 new cases in Yellowstone County, 39 new cases in Cascade County, 38 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 38 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 5,655. Currently, 258 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 2,612 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Seven more people’s deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 775,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 47,900,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

As the Covid-19 crisis in Europe intensifies with spiking cases of coronavirus, so too have the cries of protest from those opposed to the lockdowns and vaccine mandates now in effect in some parts of the continent. While vaccine skepticism is nothing new in the region, the sometimes violent demonstrations of the last few days and weeks have a relatively new element: the radical far right.

Republican Ryan Zinke, who’s a candidate for Montana’s western congressional district, blew a deadline to submit a report detailing the former Interior Secretary’s finances. His campaign said it would file the disclosure statement “in a timely manner.”

Big Sky Resort opens Thanksgiving Day with a brand new chairlift, more snowmaking capabilities and fewer pandemic-related restrictions. 42 inches of snow has fallen on the mountain so far this season, which is 76% of the area’s historical average. Bridger Bowl Ski Area north of Bozeman will have a later opening on Dec. 10, which is slightly earlier than the ski area’s late opening on Dec. 17 last year. And for the first time in decades, the 2021 Yellowstone Ski Festival in West Yellowstone has been canceled.