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Find the latest updates and information on the COVID-19 pandemic at www.bitterrootstar.com
‘The B Volume XXXV, Number 39
Community meals
County Board of Health asserts authority over COVID-19 response By Michael Howell
It may not be the one of the fanciest restaurants in the Bitterroot Valley, like the world renowned restaurant at Triple Creek Ranch up the West Fork, but the free hot meals being served in drive-by fashion at the Cornerstone Bible Church in Hamilton are made by the same outstanding chefs. The free meals can be picked up at the church located at 280 Fairgrounds Road from 5:30 to 6:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Family Shelter, Triple Creek team up to provide meals By Michael Howell
Since it was founded in 2010, the mission of the Family Shelter of the Bitterroot has been to provide comprehensive services to help circumstantially homeless families in the Bitterroot Valley achieve sustainable economic independence.
As part of that effort they began the Community Meals Program, providing free meals for anyone in the community who needs one. With the help of local churches the non-denominational non-profit organization began offering a free meal each Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Cornerstone Bible Church in Hamilton.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
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They have been serving hundreds of meals annually ever since. But things suddenly ground to halt when COVID-19 arrived in Montana. Gary Locke, Director of the Family Shelter, said that as things progressed it became evident that they could See MEALS, page 2
Town of Stevensville creates Economic Recovery Task Force Stevensville Mayor Brandon Dewey last week announced the creation of an Economic Support and Recovery Task Force. The Task Force is charged with guiding the Town’s efforts to sustain and recover local businesses and employment and mitigate the eco-
nomic hardships that come from the COVID-19 crisis. Their work will support Stevensville organizations and individuals throughout the remainder of Governor Bullock’s Stay-at-Home order and will lay the groundwork for economic recovery in the area by identifying
and mobilizing available resources to strengthen the local economy. The task force includes a broad range of stakeholders building a partnership of public and private for-profit and non-profit
The Stevensville Schools have continued to adapt and adjust lunch programs and educational services for distance and home based learning during the COVID19 school closure. The school lunch program has continued to make both breakfast and lunch available to all students. The Stevensville Food Service program shifted to sack meals that require little in home preparation, or can be easily
heated in a microwave oven. The meals are delivered to students via the school bus route system and via two general delivery points. Buses are currently running all morning routes to drop off both a breakfast and lunch bag for every student that meets the bus. The District also makes these meals available from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Burnt Fork Market parking lot and at the bus stop near the intersection of Illinois Bench and
Airport roads. The food service delivery program has been in place since March 17th and has seen steady growth in participation numbers as the coronavirus closures and stayat-home orders continue. The first day of the meal delivery program saw 199 students receive meals. As of April 8th, the number of students receiving meals increased to 412. Stevensville Food Service manager Jenna Henning states, “Due to the large number of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch programming, it is important to make sure these children have access to meals the meet USDA nutritional standards. The food service staff has been working extremely hard to make sure students in the community have access to food on a daily
See TASK FORCE, page 11
Ravalli County’s Incident Management Team (IMT), formed on March 18 to help coordinate the county’s response to the COVID-19 emergency, started off with County Commissioner and Health Board Chairman Jeff Burrows serving as incident team commander. This was soon changed, and County Health Officer Dr. Carol Calderwood took the helm. Now, the Ravalli County COVID-19 IMT has hit another bump in the process, as members of the County Board of Health registered some strong complaints about being left out of the IMT’s deliberations and left uninformed about decisions that were being made by the team. The issue came before the Health Board after Commissioner Jeff Burrows placed an item on the board’s agenda to consider the option of passing a local declaration that would make it a criminal offense to violate any of the state’s and/or county’s mandatory shuttering directives such as closure of non-essential businesses. As it stands, without a local decla-
ration by the county health board, the governor’s directive can only be enforced by the county attorney filing civil charges against the alleged violator. But Burrows then withdrew his original agenda item and changed it to read: Update on COVID 19 situation in Ravalli County with Dr. Calderwood (PHO and IMTIC) and Karyn Johnston (PHN) and Royce McCarty (County Attorney) At the regularly scheduled meeting, Dr. Calderwood told the Board, “You have parallel authority with the Health Officer. You are a partner.” She said that some stakeholders attend their daily morning meetings and they were welcome to attend as well. She said they were trying their best to communicate with everyone involved. “Communication has been slim with us,” said Health Board member Katie Scholl. She said that the board members had only received three phone calls since the IMT was formed in March and had received virtually no information about what was going on. Dr. Calderwood apologized, saying, “We didn’t realize that it
wasn’t being referred to you further. We felt like we had a liaison with your group.” Scholl had also made a request for the minutes of the IMT meetings which were still not produced but Scholl was assured that they would be forthcoming. Health Board member Dr. Michael Turner said that state law places the responsibility for the community’s health squarely in the hands of the Health Board. “It’s not the County Attorney’s, or the Sheriff’s, or anybody else’s and I think some of us feel that we have not been included.” He said the board received an email stating, “It has been decided…” with Calderwood’s name and names of other IMT members, “but none of you are on the board. Three people who are not board members have decided that this board was not to consider something. I think somebody is trying to usurp our authority.” Dr. Calderwood said, “I understand how you feel, but the situation that happened was we were trying to gain extra tools. I
because Montana families and small businesses, health care workers and working folks and many others cannot wait for the critical relief that it will provide.” He said with trillions of dollars involved, the administration has to be held accountable with strict and aggressive oversight to make sure the relief is going to the families and small businesses that need it. To ensure that accountability, Tester and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called on the President to provide for a Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery at
Treasury that is fully independent and able to exercise his power to identify and prevent any waste fraud or abuse. Tester claims now that his fears seem to have been justified as the Administration took the drastic step of removing the Chairman of the Pandemic Response Accountability committee, the Inspector General. “This is deeply troubling,” said Tester. “Anything less than absolute transparency about how
See HEALTH BOARD, page 3
Montana’s U.S. Senators pushing for federal aid
By Michael Howell
In a press call last week Senator Tester explained his vote in support of the CARES Act, the federal government’s $2.2 trillion package designed to lessen the impacts of the unprecedented impact on the economy by the COVID-19 emergency disaster. “It’s far from perfect,” said Tester. “It does too much for the big corporations and not enough for hard working Montanans. It adds every dollar in it to our national debt. But I voted for it
See SENATORS, page 6
Stevensville Schools adapting to coronavirus challenges
Volunteers help distribute supplies and classroom materials for drive through pick up by parents.
Now Serving the Bitterroot! 406-361-9551
2701 Eastside Highway, Stevensville Located between Bell X-ing & Victor X-ing HappyTrailsStorage.com
See SCHOOLS, page 8
Stevensville Schools food service staff and transportation staff pose for a photo following morning meal deliveries.
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