Between March 28 and April 17, 2023, over 50 individuals reported becoming sick with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms after eating at Dave’s Sushi in Bozeman, MT. As previously reported, two of these individuals died and three were hospitalized.

The Gallatin City-County Health Department (GCCHD) and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) have continued the outbreak investigation in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This investigation has been a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary undertaking. At this time, there is no further risk to the public for illness associated with this outbreak.

The public health departments have published a summary report to indicate the findings from this outbreak investigation. You can read that report here.

 
BIG SKY — After months of assembly at CWA in Switzerland, Big Sky Resort’s new Lone Peak Tram cabins are complete and en route to Big Sky.  

Two 75-passenger cabins, each weighing 6,615 pounds, have begun the more than 5,000-mile journey from Olten, Switzerland. 

The cabins departed from Olten to the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, where they were loaded on a cargo ship. The cabins will travel by ship through the Panama Canal before reaching Port Hueneme, California, where they will be loaded onto a truck to their final destination – Big Sky, Montana.  

The new cabins are expected to arrive in Big Sky in late August. 

BOZEMAN — Jumping out of a helicopter into water, navigating through the woods at night without a flashlight and completing a 20-mile road march carrying a 60-pound pack and rifle were a few of the challenges that Montana State University graduate Luke Ebeling completed on his way to recently winning what many call the "Olympics of the military."

Ebeling, graduate of MSU's ROTC program and a captain in the 3rd Ranger Battalion of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, took first place with his partner, Spc. Justin Rein, in the 2023 Army Best Ranger Competition in Georgia in April, winning a plethora of prizes and equipment from the event’s sponsors. A total of 56 teams competed in the nearly non-stop three-day event in which participants cover more than 100 miles during 30 events that test the limits of their physical and mental endurance.

"‘Olympics of the military’ is a pretty apt description. There's nothing else that really compares to it," said Ebeling, who earned his bachelor's in English writing from MSU in 2018 before entering the military to join one of the special operations infantry units called the Rangers. "I couldn't have done it without my partner. That definitely made the experience."

By the time Ebeling and Rein started the 20-mile road march that stretched into the first night of the competition, they had already put in almost 40 miles of drills that day, Ebeling recalled. Then, with scarcely a break, they had to jump into several hours of cognitively demanding tasks, such as taking apart and putting together weapons, nighttime reconnaissance and medical interventions on a simulated casualty. The second night featured the night navigation course, which they completed carrying 50-pound packs.

“It’s definitely super challenging fitness wise, but also mentally,” Ebeling said.

Ebeling, who spent months training for the competition after going through the Army’s elite Ranger School, also chalked up his success in part to the grit he learned while doing training drills in Montana winters while at MSU. As a cadet in MSU’s Army ROTC program, the ROTC leadership, or cadre, arranged an opportunity for him to shadow an active-duty special operations leader in Washington state, which was a formative experience, he said.

"Due to the ROTC cadre helping me out and making that connection, it was kind of always my goal to go on to a Ranger unit," Ebeling said. "That gave me the opportunity to go to Ranger School and ultimately to do this competition.”

“I've stayed in contact with a lot of mentors at MSU, who have been super helpful," he added.

Ebeling, who grew up in the Denver area, said he knew he wanted to go into the military and saw MSU's ROTC program as a good way to have his education paid for while knowing he would have a military career waiting for him.

ROTC is an educational program designed to provide the opportunity to become an officer in the U.S. armed forces while completing a bachelor’s degree. MSU students can enroll in ROTC as freshmen without any commitment to serve in the military. Cadets take ROTC classes and participate in weekly physical training in addition to their MSU courses. The majority of cadets earn some level of scholarship while in the program, and, upon graduation from MSU, most start active duty military careers.

"It offered me a lot of opportunities," Ebeling said of his MSU ROTC experience. "I got to go around world, do cool stuff and meet awesome people along the way.”

"Luke was the complete scholar, athlete, leader package that we are continually looking for," said Brent Reinhardt, scholarship and enrollment officer for MSU's Army ROTC. "He was, and obviously still is, an outstanding athlete, dedicated student and natural leader. I am super proud of him and his accomplishments thus far."

Although MSU's ROTC programs are housed in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering and many ROTC cadets major in engineering or other STEM fields, cadets can choose any major at MSU. Ebeling started as a business major but quickly changed after discovering his passion in an English writing course. He served as a student instructor at MSU's Writing Center for two years and benefitted from MSU's curriculum, which emphasized being able to communicate across different disciplines, he said. "That's what I do now every day, writing emails and memos, working with infantry, engineers, logisticians."

When he started ROTC he wasn't fully aware of the range of opportunities it would open, he said. In addition to shadowing the special operations leader, he attended the Army's airborne school, where he learned how to parachute out of planes, and ROTC paid for a study abroad experience in Brussels, Belgium, during which he traveled Europe.

What he ended up valuing the most in his ROTC experience was the camaraderie, he said. "I was with a lot of people who were motivated to do well, whether in classes, leadership or physical fitness. To be around like-minded individuals was really helpful. The staff was also focused on helping us succeed."

"ROTC is what you make of it," Ebeling said. "The opportunities are endless."

BOZEMAN — Bridger Animal Nutrition has joined the ranks of PETS+ "America's Coolest," an exemplary group of U.S. independent pet retailers and service providers. The magazine welcomes nine new pet businesses this year, as chosen by a panel of distinguished industry judges in its seventh annual contest.

More than 50 entries were judged in six categories: Exterior, Interior, Online Presence, Marketing, Individuality and Story. After internal judging, finalists were sent to this year's industry panel: Peter Scott, president and CEO of the American Pet Products Association; Lyn Falk, owner and president of Retailworks, Inc.; Nancy Guinn, founder and president of Dog Krazy Inc., and past America's Coolest winner; Missy Limbeck, marketing manager for Pet Palette Distribution; and Kat Carbonaro, marketing manager of Astro Loyalty.

"We asked businesses from across the country to tell us exactly what makes them so cool. We were impressed by all of the entries and thank all of the businesses that entered," PETS+ Editor-in-Chief Pamela Mitchell said. "This year's winners reflect the indie spirit still strong in our industry. They are a diverse group of pet businesses, from a single location to six and from retail only to a multi-service operation that even offers veterinary care. The smallest packs its offerings into 1,300 square feet, and the largest spans 54,000 indoors and outside. One element they all share? Each has achieved success in their own unique way."

BOZEMAN – A Montana State University geographer is leading part of a multi-institutional study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense to examine the effects of climate change on agriculture in Africa and how that may tie into U.S. national security.

The study is funded by a $3 million grant from the Defense Department’s Minerva program, which supports cross-institutional projects related to national security. It involves researchers from five universities and is led by the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“Some research suggests climate change may be, in military parlance, a threat multiplier or catalyst to conflict in political situations,” said Cascade Tuholske, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Earth Sciences in the College of Letters and Science.

He said MSU’s portion of the project will study to what extent changing climate conditions are driving agriculture-related migration among the citizens of Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.

Africa is generally growing hotter, he said, with some areas experiencing increasing extremes — dry regions becoming drier and wet regions wetter. That can impact Africans’ ability to work in agriculture, but it remains unclear whether those changes are prompting agricultural workers to leave rural areas altogether, Tuholske added.

Tuholske, along with a graduate student and post-doctoral researcher, will conduct surveys in Kenya and Zambia in 2024 and again in 2027 to assess whether climate-caused changes in food production, processing, distribution and consumption are influencing people’s decisions to relocate. The surveys also will inform satellite-based analysis in Tanzania, Tuholske said.

The MSU team will blend survey results collected in the field with satellite data to better understand how the populations of those countries are shifting. MSU’s Geospatial Core Facility, which helps researchers on campus distill complex sets of geographic data, will assist.

In addition to shedding light on migration trends possibly related to climate change, the demographic information collected during the study could help the African countries with planning infrastructure and better understanding their citizens’ needs, Tuholske said.

He added that the work may reveal lessons in resiliency that can be applied elsewhere.

“Southern and eastern Africa have tremendous potential for strong agriculture even with the challenge of climate change,” he said. “We can learn from communities how they are strengthening their societies through agriculture.”

The research methodology developed during the study also will be useful closer to home.

“The code we write, and a lot of the data sets we use from the climate side are global,” Tuholske said. “It can be leveraged by graduate students asking similar questions about climate impacts to farmers and ranchers here in Montana.”

Helena, MT- Big Hearts Under the Big Sky (Big Hearts), a program of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association (MOGA), has completed the first of its “family adventure” trips scheduled for the year. Alli Duncan, 16, of Billings, MT was the first trip recipient of 2023.

Big Hearts covers all the hard costs for qualifying families to participate in outfitter-supported trips. Since 2008, the organization has served hundreds of individuals and their families and donated over half a million dollars in outfitted services.

Alli was nominated for Big Hearts through the Billings Clinic. She has been dealing with Spina Bifida and other medical conditions since birth, which have placed her in a wheelchair. Alli was accompanied on the adventure with her parents, Amber and Tony, and sister Addy.

Alli’s “Montana Adventure,” provided by MOGA Outfitter Matt Klumpp, owner of Walker Outfitting, included: lodging at Lion's Ledge Mountain Escape; white water rafting with Flying Pig Raft Company owned by MOGA member Patrick Sipp, fly fishing with; MOGA Outfitters Guy Flynn of Montana Elk and Trout) and Vern Strader of Greater Yellowstone Outfitters; and a helicopter tour of Yellowstone National Park with Golden Eagle Helicopter Tours.

“Since returning home, we can’t stop talking about what an amazing week we had and what it meant to be able to take a trip together,” said Tony Duncan, Alli’s father. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our family.”

“At Big Hearts, our focus is on the family experience,” said Mac Minard, MOGA Executive Director and trip Ambassador, “We know these conditions can become overwhelming fo

Bozeman —Despite community interest and Sweet Pea’s best efforts, we are unable to move forward with the Bite of Bozeman this summer. The Bite of Bozeman (and The Taste of Bozeman before it) is a long-standing community tradition. Unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve been unable to raise enough commitment from local food vendors and restaurants to adequately support an event of this magnitude and provide the best experience for everyone. Vendors that did sign up to participate will receive a full refund.

Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts remains committed to reimagining The Bite of Bozeman. We will continue to conceptualize a family-friendly event that appeals to vendors and community members alike. 

ABOUT SWEET PEA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS:

The Sweet Pea Festival is a three-day festival of the arts held in Bozeman, Montana, since 1978. Festival dates are always the first full weekend in August with other events, such as Chalk on the Walk starting off the festivities of Sweet Pea Week. The Festival includes everything from music, theatre and dance to children’s activities, an Artist Marketplace with artists from Bozeman and around the country, and adult painting workshops. The Sweet Pea Festival is committed to its mission statement of “promoting and cultivating the arts.”

Hundreds of volunteers run and organize this annual event, a testament to the community’s desire for its ongoing success. All monies raised above what is needed to operate the Festival are given back to the community in the form of grants for the arts, art education, and special projects in the Bozeman area.

The Montana Beef Council and the Big Sky Country Fair have teamed up in order to bring education, activities, and fun to Bozeman from Wednesday, July 19 through Sunday, July 23. At the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, the Haynes Pavilion will be transformed into the Montana Beef Council Barnyard, where children’s workshops and giveaways will be taking place each day from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Activities include building your own brand, a roping relay, beef bingo, line dancing, protein poetry, pasture pair tag, and an introduction to beef cuts. While workshops are taking place, parents can pick up resources on where to find local beef, recipes, nutrition information, and ideas on what to make for dinner!

Additionally, the Montana Beef Council will be hosting a scavenger hunt using stickers placed throughout the fair. If participants fill out their scavenger hunt cards correctly, they are given the chance to win beef swag and other prizes. Competitors can sign up at the Montana Beef Council Barnyard or by following this link.

“Last year, we brought one pretty exciting activity to the fair in the form of a ninja obstacle course, but this year, we’re bringing a whole host of activities for families to enjoy,” said Anna Sponheim, project manager for the Montana Beef Council. “In order to accomplish our goal of putting more beef on more plates, we have to get outside the barn, which is why we’re bringing the barnyard to Bozeman.”

Amanda Hartman, Big Sky Country State Fair Marketing/Sponsorship Coordinator, said, “We are excited to team up with Montana Beef Council for the all-NEW Barnyard! Offering more agriculture education opportunities at the Big Sky Country State Fair has been a goal of ours for years, and with the help of Montana Beef Council, we are making that dream a reality.”

More details about the upcoming activities at the Montana Beef Council Barnyard and the Big Sky Country State Fair can be found on the Montana Beef Council Facebook page.

Check out more information about the Montana Beef Council throughout the year on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, or by going to www.montanabeefcouncil.org.