The national opioid crisis is being exacerbated by the use of fentanyl and there have been multiple doses in Montana in recent weeks, according to the Cascade County City-County Health Department. Fentanyl is several orders of magnitude stronger than heroin and is commonly mixed with methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine or benzodiazepine. Users are often unaware that they are taking fentanyl and
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After nearly a year of discussions, disagreement and apparent lack of communication, the Cascade County Commission voted unanimously during their June 21 meeting to reject an amendment by the city to their joint agreement for management of the City-County Health Department. They instead approved an amendment proposed by the deputy county attorney that is identical to the existing agreement but
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County Commissioners voted unanimously during their June 21 meeting to put the question of a three percent local tax on marijuana sales on the November ballot. The county can, if voters approve, implement a combined three percent local tax on all medical and non-medical marijuana sold in the county. On the same November ballot, the city is planning to ask
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Great Falls Public Schools has been testing sinks and fountains for lead under a new rule from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. The rule was created in January 2020 and requires schools to check at least every three years for lead in the water of any sink or fountain used for drinking or food prep. Schools’
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Cascade County has had a slight spike in COVID-19 cases recently with 125 new cases over the last week. The City-County Health Department has raised the community level back to medium. The case rate is now 153.63 per 100,000, the average of daily new cases over a seven day period. Alluvion closing drive-through COVID testing site on April 30 COVID
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The temporary agreement between the City of Great Falls and Cascade County for the management of the City-County Health Department is set to expire on June 30. There’s been little progress between the city and county on developing a new agreement. During the June 1 health board meeting, County Commissioner Joe Briggs said that so far, the proposals they’ve heard
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Bird flu has been confirmed in more bids in Cascade County. In April, highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, was detected in a commercial poultry flock in Cascade County. The exposed birds were culled and disposed of, according to the City-County Health Department. Since then, bird flu has been confirmed in wild or feral geese, a duck and a
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The Cascade County City-County Health Department’s governing body voted May 5 to hire Abigail Hill as the new public health officer. The governing body, which was established last year after a state law change, is comprised of the three county commissioners and one non-voting city commissioner. Currently, Mayor Bob Kelly is the city’s representative. The county commissioners interviewed Hill and
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Alluvion Health has notified Cascade County officials that it is terminating its contract with the county to provide medical services at the Adult Detention Center. Alluvion gave officials 120 days notice of terminating the contract on April 21, about a week shy of the day the four-year contract was approved in 2021. County approves medical services contract for jail The
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Recreational marijuana may be on the ballot in November for whether it should remain legalized in Cascade County. Last week, the City Commission voted to send the question of whether marijuana sales should be legal within the city limits to the voters after denying a request for an inspection for a couple wishing to sell marijuana within the city limits.
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