As of Tuesday, February 8, 2022. Montana reports 253,204 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,284 new cases of coronavirus infection reported since yesterday: 182 new cases in Cascade County, 136 new cases in Missoula County, 124 new cases in Yellowstone County, 96 new cases in Rosebud County, 89 new cases in Gallatin County, and more new cases in 45 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 8,417. 55 of Montana’s 56 counties report active cases. Currently, 303 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. 3,043 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Six more people’s deaths have been reported since Friday. Nationwide, more than 904,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 76,800,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

A prison guard at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge died Friday shortly after reporting for his shift. Officer Albert “Chub” Wheat died at the prison Friday morning. He was 50 years old.

A man was shot and killed in Clyde Park early Tuesday morning and a suspect has been taken into custody. Shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Park County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a man being shot on Lathrop Street in Clyde Park.

A workforce housing project that will add about 170 new apartments near the Belgrade airport will begin construction this summer. The development in the Yellowstone Airport Plaza, a former gravel pit south of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, is off the Interstate 90 interchange.

Montana’s recreational marijuana market sold $12.8 million in product its first month, putting the Treasure State on pace to meet projections of $130 million in legalized marijuana sales in 2023. Add in January’s $9.7 million in medical marijuana sales across the state and Montana raked in $2.9 million in tax revenue from cannabis in 31 days.