T IMES
February 14, 2020
BAKER, MONTANA
Three Baker Spartan wrestlers earn a trip to State in Billings
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TC Energy announces local Keystone XL pipeline meeting Staff Report
Devon Nesbitt-Sexton
Sophomore - 132 lb. weight class 2nd place at Divisionals “I’m super excited for our senior’s first year of wrestling and going to state.”
Damien Nesbitt-Sexton
Sophomore - 145 lb. weight class 2nd place at Divisionals “I’m excited for state and I’m happy for my teammates and for all the help they gave me to help me get to state.”
TC Energy has announced plans for a local meeting regarding the Keystone XL pipeline route and planned construction Feb. 27 at the Fallon County Fairground Exhibit Hall. According to the energy company, pre-construction on the route is scheduled to start in March with a workforce comprised of project staff and contractors. The company spokeswoman said there would be a temporary increase in population and traffic in the areas closest to the worksites. She added that the company anticipates starting in April in some areas along the route and finishing up by December. The 10 a.m. meeting is designed to discuss with local officials about the scope of the work and to answer questions. According the company, the meeting is one of the requirements established by the Montana Facility Siting Act (MFSA) certificate to notify local officials of the project’s upcoming activities in 2020.
O’Connell Qualley
Senior - 285 lb. weight class 4th place at Divisionals “I’m proud to be going to state my first year of wrestling and ready to finish out a great year!”
Local childcare grant moves project forward By Brad Mosher
bmosher@countrymedia.net
The Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation has received a grant to help start planning for a proposed childcare facility in Baker. The Department of Commerce notified the organization Feb. 3 that it will receive a $23,978 grant from the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund. It is on behalf of the Southeast Montana Area Revitalization Team (SMART). According to local officials, the grant will help in completing a preliminary architectural report for the proposed childcare facility. Beth Epley, the executive director of the Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation, said that the EMEDC covers five counties in eastern Montana. “The Eastern Montana Economic Development Corporation teamed up with the Southeast Montana Area Revitalization Team (SMART). “SMART has been working towards seeing what we needed to build or create some sort of childcare facility that we need here in Baker. “The BSED trust fund provides planning dollars for projects that are going to create jobs and that are going to create highwage jobs in Montana,” she explained. “If this goes to construction, this will create a bunch of new jobs.”
Epley said that she worked together with Shanny Spang Gion, the director of SMART, on the grant proposal. “It requires either a city, county or local economic development corporation sponsor. We served as the sponsor while Shanny and I co-wrote this application,” Epley explained. In a press release about the grant Gion stated, “With the award of this grant, SMART and EMEDA (Eastern Montana Economic Development Authority) will be able to better discern the most viable options for meeting the childcare need in our area.” The funding will help as a feasibility study for the childcare project, according to Epley. “There is a feasibility study component to it as well as a preliminary architectural report. So hiring an architect will give multiple options – if there is an existing building in town that could be redeveloped, but also if that is not an option, then what are some land use options here in Fallon County that would also meet those needs,” she said. Eventually, there will be a preferred alternative offered to the SMART and EMEDA board which still allows for more input from the local community, she added. The need for childcare has already been established, Epley said. “SMART put out a survey at the beginning of this school year. And the survey came back overwhelmingly saying that this is a need in our community.” Gion has been doing a ton of legwork on this project, Epley added.
After a series of surveys and studies, Epley said that there was an estimate of approximately 100 children who could be served by a childcare facility. “Based upon that, there are state requirements for the amount of square footage per child, depending on whether they are infants, or toddlers, that would determine the requirement for the size of the facility. “We don’t have any licensed child care facilities in town. We have multiple people who do in-home daycare,” she explained. Among the licensing daycare requirements are limitations on the number or children being supervised, with a certain teacher or adult to child ratio, she explained. The approved grant will create a planning document which will go in examining the local locations along with the structure that would be needed, Epley explained. “It is like a combination of where it is and what it is,” she said. “With that will come some preliminary cost estimates of what those options would be.” It is also common to have a preliminary architectural report or engineering report if a project will be seeking any state or federal grant funds, Epley added. “They will want to see that you have done your research up front and that you have met all of their requirements. “This gives us a way to do some further examinations ourselves, while still prepping for other funding options.” The actual proposal was submitted in December.
Baker, county hit hard by influenza strains
By Brad Mosher
bmosher@countrymedia.net
Baker health care workers and students are being hit hard by the latest strain of influenza, according to local health officials. “There is a lot of it (influenza),” Evelyn Neary, the clinic manager and business manager for the Fallon Medical Complex, said. “It is pretty serious because we are missing employees. They have had it or their children. The health care facility workers have to be out for seven days,” she explained. “That was the medical staff’s decision. If someone that works here is positive for influenza, they need to be out for seven days.” The staff at the medical complex still is short-handed with several people out with influenza, she added. “It is quite a difficult strain this year because it is presenting in different ways,” she said. “We have had people who are positive for Influenza A, people who are positive for Influenza B and a few cases where they had both.” In the community, the people who are sick or who have family members that are sick need to be careful to not pass it to others, she explained. “If they are sick or their children are sick, they need to stay home and keep their children at home.” “We are still seeing a lot of ill people.” Influenza A reportedly infects more children and young adults than older age groups and has a variety of symptoms, including fever, headaches, body aches, cough, fatigue and vomiting. “If people need to be seen, then we will try to get them seen,” Neary explained. Schools impacted The latest strain of influenza has hit local school age children hard, according to Kim Cuppy, the director of public health in Baker. “It is kind of busy over here,” she said Tuesday. “Our biggest impact are in the schools. At this time, most of our cases have been school age kids. We’ve had a lot of kids out of school, particularly in the grade schools.” In Baker, the public health department has seen both strains of Influenza, she added. “There is a higher rate of B, but we have had both. Most kids have been out of school for four to seven days with it.” The number of people hit by Influenza in the local community is much higher than last year, she
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explained. Symptoms “We have seen a lot of kids with pretty high fevers, however, that is not always 100 percent of the time. We have had some kids presenting with pretty low fevers - like 99 degrees - and testing positive,” she said. “Some of the symptoms for Influenza are fever, cough, sore throat, a stuffy or runny nose. We have had some presenting with nausea and vomiting along with it,” she said. In addition, in some cases, fatigue can be a problem. In some cases, there can be a dizziness or loss of equilibrium, she added. The current strains of Influenza can hit a variety of age groups hard, she said. “Definitely, the very young, and the elderly, but also anyone with an underlying health condition can be compromised.” Although she admitted getting a flu shot would not hurt, the community may have seen the worst of the current flu season. “If you do get a shot, it does take a couple of weeks to reach full effectiveness. So, it is kind of hit or miss at this point, but we definitely have flu shots available. It wouldn’t hurt at this point.” Parents or adults can arrange for flu shots by contacting the public health department. “We definitely have plenty left and I do think the pharmacy (Baker Drug) in town here is giving them too. I would encourage people to call.” According to Cuppy, the best time for people to get the vaccine is in the fall. “We are now at the tail end of a good time to get it. Sometimes, we see it (flu season) go into April, but usually, by the end of April, we don’t have any more cases.” Prevention “Washing hands is the number one thing you can do other than getting the flu shot to prevent the spread of the infection,” she said. Among the suggestions for parents is to keep the children at home for at least 24 hours after the fever has broken without using medication. “A lot of people send them back to school after they are fever free, but they still are contagious for a good 24 hours after the fevers. Make sure you are keeping the kids home during that time.” Masks may not help that much at home, she said. “You are already contagious before you have symptoms, so they have spread it already. I would say to wear a mask at home if you have anyone in the household who is more susceptible to being sicker with the flu - the elderly, senior citizen population.” In addition, she strongly suggested using good hand hygiene, hand sanitizers and using disinfectant to helps sanitize infected surfaces, she added
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Vol. 104 No. 07
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