Donnie Steen
Tarin DeGrand
Riley Davis
Marcos Gallegos
Tegan Miller
Jesse Brawley
Jaren Lingle
Entire Baker Boys Wrestling Team heading to State this weekend
Unused COVID funds put into city general fund Construction workers are busy making repairs next to the Fallon County Health Department office in Baker. The workers with T.W. Clark of Billings are repairing underground leaks which were discovered in 2020. PHOTOS/Brad Mosher
Construction continues on repairs to conduits near county health office
Staff Report Work is continuing on underground repairs to some of the drainage conduits next to the Fallon County Health Office in Baker. According to Fallon County Commissioner Steve Baldwin, the work is under the dietary building, just a short distance away from the health office.
Warmer weather is going to help the project along over the next few weeks, the commissioner said. The general timeline for finishing the project next to the health office will be in the next several weeks. “That is what we are hoping for,” Baldwin said. The county is using the same contractor, T. W. Clark of Billings, as on the nearby Parkview (1) repair project.
By Brad Mosher
bmosher@countrymedia.net The City of Baker has added approximately $170,000 in unused CARES Act COVID-19 funding to the city’s general fund, according to the city treasurer. However, the guidelines governing its uses and restrictions have not been announced yet, treasurer/clerk Kevin Dukart said. “We did get some CARES money and it went directly into the general fund,” he explained. “We haven’t heard anything from the state on what that can be spent for, but it is in our general fund as a revenue. “So, we’ll budget that until the upcoming year when we start our budgets in July or August.” The Federal CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act) was passed in March 2020 as a way to provide economic assistance to American workers, families and small businesses, in addition to help preserve jobs throughout the country. “So far, we – the city – have received approximately $170,000.” he said. However,
Dukart has said there have been no guidelines supplied on what that money may be used for – from the state and other levels. “We’ll find out during the budget time. Because it is in our general fund, that to me says it can be spent for any general fund purpose. That is all I have to go on until I hear anything different. Obviously, that is not my decision anyway. That is the decision of the city council when they set the budget for next year,” he explained. Having unused CARES funding is not unique to Baker, he said. “I am sure that almost every other community and county (in the state) that has gotten money from them is in the same situation as we are.” “Each of those government agencies are deciding how to handle the CARES Act money in their own ways,” he said. Right now, Dukart is waiting for the state to come up with the guidelines on how to handle or use the money remaining from the CARES Act funding. “I doubt that it will go through the state legislature. I think it will be handled administratively through whatever administration that will be responsible for
the CARES money,” Dukart explained. COVID hours Another aspect of CARES related monies was focused on up to about 80 hours of paid leave tied to COVID-related services through December of 2020. “We are looking at the possibility of drafting a policy, since COVID is still prevalent, that any employee who has not used that 80 hours through the end of December 2020, that they could use any remaining ones (hours) into 2021,” he said. “It deals with employee leave, not overtime.” “That is just a local decision. It will be a policy decision from the city council. There is nothing that the state would have to be done, that we know of yet. We don’t know if the federal government is going to come out with anything fixed in that or something for that particular declaration,” he added. As of yet, Dukart said he has yet to see anything in the proposed bill going through Congress at present that will have or change the ways to handle the current COVID funding the city has. “I haven’t seen any of the details on that,” he added.
Warming trend expected to March Governor cites improving COVID-19 through Fallon County, region conditions in state County active count drops to zero Staff Report
Warmer temperatures and slightly below average precipitation are being predicted for the next few weeks in Fallon County and the surrounding areas, according to the National Weather Service Office in Billings. The highs around 60 degrees during the day will continue through the weekend before dropping into the low 50s and high 40s starting Monday. But after that cooling period, the temperatures are expected to warm again. According to the NWS Billings office, the average temperature in Baker during the month of February was 9.8 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, with a night-time average of -12 degrees. At its warmest in February, the city hit 58 degrees (Feb. 2). Almost two weeks later, the city hit a -34 degrees on Valentines Day. The city also
Staff Report
had an average wind speed of 10.5 miles per hour during the month. Although the month began with mild temperatures, it was soon hit by snow and a historic cold snap before finally getting back to near normal temperatures in the final days of February. From Feb. 6 through the 14, the region was hit with an extended period of very cold
temperatures when an arctic air mass dropped out of northern Canada into Montana. Billings at one point had five straight days of highs below zero. Other communities were hard hit by the extreme cold, with Ingomar hitting a -44, Roundup (-43) and Brandenberg (-40). Baker and Miles
See WARM WEATHER Page 2
The impact of COVID-19 cases in the Treasure State is continuing to improve, according to Gov. Greg Gianforte. The governor has announced that the state will be moving into a new phase in the battle against COVID-19 with now three available vaccines. Montana has access to the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and is getting the newer onedose Johnson and Johnson vaccine as well. Starting Monday, the state will open Phase 1B-plus when it comes to vaccinations, according to state health officials. The category will include people between 60 and 70 years of age, along with people 16 years or older with certain medical conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and liver disease. At his recent press conference, the governor said that he wanted everybody to be able to get vaccinated, the supplies are still in short supply. “The best thing we can do for our neighbors is to prioritize Montanans who are most at risk of serious complications and death from this serious virus,” he said at his press conference. “That is what Phase 1B and Phase 1B plus do.”
Under the Phase 1B plus designation, state officials have estimated that it will have an effect on approximately 100,000 Montanans. As of March 2, there have been more than 100,000 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the state, with 1,385 fatalities attributed to COVID-19. Currently, the state had listed 1,559 active cases and 83 hospitalized. Since the pandemic hit the state, 4,591 people have been hospitalized by the virus. Since the virus hit Montana about one year ago, the state also is listing 97,643 as having recovered. County count at zero As of March 1, Fallon County is at zero again in active cases. That follows a drop to one case reported online Feb. 23 by the local county health department. According to the Fallon County Health Department, between the Fallon County Public Health and Fallon Medical Complex combined, 483 people have full vaccinated with their COVID vaccine. In addition the health department also said that 283 people have recovered in the county and that there is no one currently hospitalized with
See COVID-19 CONDITIONS Page 2