Montana

THAT'S not something I would have guessed about Montana, but according to Readers Digest, Montana cats have an average lifespan of 14.3 years!

With as much as Montana has changed in the last 10 years, do you still love it as much as you did "back then"?

It's becoming a broken record: another day, another several hundred cases of COVID-19 in Gallatin County. Of the 1,831 new cases in Montana, 503 of them are in Gallatin County.

With no electricity. In the boonies. On 10 acres. If you need to CHECK OUT of society, this little place just east of Missoula looks perfect. Ray is this cabin's Superhost and he has been named the "Best New Superhost" for the entire state of Montana.

The conditions this past Fall were to hot, dry and dangerous to do any pile burning in our Custer Gallatin National Forest so they're doing it now. If you find yourself in the backcountry, you may see smoke from these pile burns. No need to worry as they are controlled.

It's becoming a regular occurrence. Gallatin County tops the State of Montana in new cases of COVID-19, and also has the highest number of current cases of all Montana counties with 835.

By 11am there were over 80 incidents on Montana highways. Crashes, slide-offs and jackknifed semis were wreaking havoc on traffic flow and causing backups and delays. Snow, wind and cold temperatures are creating dangerous conditions and more is on the way.

What is designed to be a great tool to see snow removal progress across Bozeman has become an unexpected moment of Zen when I need a break. There's an online map that lets you view the most recent activity of the City of Bozeman snow removal crews.

As of Tuesday, nearly 40% of all new positive COVID-19 cases in Montana were in Gallatin County. There are 408 active cases with 159 new cases recorded according to the State of Montana COVID-19 dashboard.

By late Monday morning, there were at least 2 dozen incidents on Montana highways that required Highway Patrol to be dispatched. Snow covered roads and low visibility guarantees there will be at least more slide-offs before days end.

The tidbits of advice for new Montana residents and those looking to move here range from the mundane to the laughably wrong. But the most common piece of wisdom you'll see in online forums is to "change your plates as soon as humanly possible".

From Missoula to Butte to Bozeman to Billings, the Montana Highway Patrol was very busy with crashes and slide-offs Wednesday morning.