As of Wednesday, December 8, 2021, Montana reports 193,277 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 282 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 35 new cases in Cascade County, 35 new cases in Yellowstone County, 32 new cases in Gallatin County, 25 new cases in Missoula County, and more new cases in 33 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 2,958. Currently, 186 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 2,781 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Four more people’s death have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 790,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 49,400,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

A swarm of more than 40 earthquakes — ranging from a magnitude 3.5 to 5.8 on the Richter Scale– rattled off the coast of Oregon, on a fault line called the Blanco Fracture Zone, which is more active than the infamous San Andreas Fault in California. The series of earthquakes began early Tuesday morning and continued into Wednesday.

School superintendents from Montana’s eight AA school districts have written a letter to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen to express their disappointment with her leadership, citing nine specific examples. The letter, dated Monday, included the signature of Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Watson, formerly Bozeman’s Superintendent, along with the school superintendents of Billings, Belgrade, Bozeman, Great Falls, Butte, Kalispell, and Helena.
“The bottom line is that for us to best do our jobs, we need you to be doing yours,” the superintendents wrote in the letter.