In Brief

STATE NEWS

100 Year Sentence in Homicide Case

Montana DOJ Secures 100-year Sentence in Madison County Homicide Case

The Montana Department of Justice (DOJ) Prosecution Services Bureau secured a 100-year sentence yesterday in a Madison County murder case. Stanley Gordon Bernadini, 58, was sentenced to 100 years in the Montana State Prison, with no time suspended for the deliberate homicide of Michelle Sorrows of Ennis. He also received a concurrent sentence of 10 years for tampering with physical evidence.

On the first day of his October 2020 trial, Bernadini admitted he killed Sorrows after they got into a fight at his apartment in late July 2018. He buried her body in a remote area in the Madison Range near where he worked as a ranch hand.  After several searches, DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents and local law enforcement located Sorrows' remains in June 2019.

“This strong sentence delivers justice for Michelle’s family and friends. It was made possible by the work of Montana Department of Justice investigators and prosecutors,” Attorney General Austin Knudsen said. “Murders and other violent crime have been rising in Montana in recent years, mainly due to the epidemic of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs. We are working closely with county attorneys and local law enforcement agencies to bring criminals to justice.”

DOJ attorney Christopher McConnell prosecuted the case at the request of Madison County Attorney Chris Christensen.

State Offering Food Benefits for Underprivileged

DPHHS, OPI to Issue P-EBT Nutrition Assistance for Montana Families.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) will issue Pandemic Electronic Transfer (P-EBT) benefits to eligible families whose children lost access to free or reduced priced meals from October 2020 to the end of this school year as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

DPHHS estimates this issuance will benefit approximately 15,000 children.

DPHHS Director Adam Meier said the federal government has recently approved Montana’s plan to continue the temporary assistance program. DPHHS first issued P-EBT benefits in 2020. During the week of May 17, eligible families will receive a notice from DPHHS about the P-EBT program, and within a few days of the notice the household will receive a P-EBT card.

Families do not need to apply for this benefit as DPHHS will use monthly attendance information provided by schools to determine children eligible for the program.

“Montana families have faced numerous challenges over the past year,” Meier said. “This has been a very successful program, and we’re pleased to partner with OPI once again to provide this assistance.”

The Office of Public Instruction’s (OPI) School Nutrition staff is working with DPHHS to connect eligible families to the program. “Our schools and families have done an incredible job adjusting to the twists and turns thrown their way as a result of the pandemic, and this partnership will help them focus on the well-being of our children,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen. “OPI will work diligently with DPHHS to ensure that this program is implemented in an efficient and transparent manner.”

Children are eligible if they would have received free or reduced price meals if not for the various educational modes implemented over the past school year. Eligibility for P-EBT benefits will be determined on a monthly basis back to October, and are based on the school and child’s circumstance for that particular month. To be eligible, a child’s school must participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Districts will submit each students’ monthly learning modes, such as fully virtual, fully in-person, or hybrid schedule from October 2020 through the end of the school year. 

DPHHS plans to issue the first of two incremental payments to eligible families for October through February during the week of May 17. It’s estimated that monthly benefit amounts for this allocation will range from monthly amounts of $68 to $116.

A second payment to families will be made in June that will cover March through the end of the school year. Benefit amounts for this allocation have not yet been determined.

Payments will be made to families through the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) EBT card system to current SNAP households and non-SNAP households with eligible children.

All eligible families will be issued a new EBT card specifically for the P-EBT program regardless of if they already receive SNAP. Eligible families in June will receive additional P-EBT benefits on this same card. The benefits can be used at any location that accepts SNAP/EBT cards.

The P-EBT program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The federal funding for the current 2020-21 school year P-EBT issuance is not funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). However, additional P-EBT funding was made available to states for the upcoming summer by ARPA.

During the first payment issuance in 2020, a total of $21 million was issued to benefit over 64,000 Montana children for lost school days during the 2019-20 school year.

Montanans with questions are encouraged to call 1-888-706-1535 or email [email protected].

For more information about P-EBT, go to montanameals.org.

History of Booze in Montana

MISSOULA – Alcohol has intoxicated Americans since the dawn of the republic, and a University of Montana course details how booze has spilled into society’s consciousness up to the present with a special history project.

The class, Intoxication Nation, is taught by Kyle Volk, chair of UM’s Department of History, who decided to “liven things up a bit” from traditional courses on American history.

Open to up to 35 students from all majors, this is the second year the class has produced oral histories – projects that capture living history. For the course, students complete a “Wet Missoula” project by interviewing subjects involved in the local alcohol scene (this year on Zoom) and creating a written transcript for future history.

“Students learn about their community and the people living in it,” Volk said. “Through this process, they also learn about the business of alcohol and potential careers in the field – an enormous sector of the economy with all sorts of possibilities.”

Whether called “booze, demon rum, hooch, poison, liquid courage, firewater” – according to Intoxication Nation’s course description – students in the class trace the saturation of alcohol into the country’s history from its very inception to the cocktail culture of the 1950s.  

In the course Volk explores how rum – produced from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production and slave labor – became an essential commodity and object of currency in the 18th-century Atlantic world. Especially because of the fur trade, Native Americans also became rum drinkers. And although everyone knows of “no taxation without representation,” Volk said few are aware that the British empire taxed molasses, and thus rum, before tea.

As a bonus, students even learn how to throw a good cocktail party – as judged by a cocktail guide from the 1940s. But in the process, and somewhat more soberly, they learn how new modes of socialization emerged as white middle-class Americans flocked to the suburbs after World War II and what American neighborhoods and livability look like today.

            Stephen Hayes, a UM student from Denver majoring in history and philosophy with plans to attend law school, said he joined the course to learn about a new piece of American history.

            “I thought using alcohol as a lens to study the past was an intriguing approach that would allow me to see portions of American history about which I previously had little understanding,” Hayes said. “Alcohol has been (and remains) an important force in American history, and yet I knew little about how and why that was so.”

            Hayes said the course focuses on how Americans’ relationship with alcohol has changed over time – the types of alcohol, how much and where it is consumed – up to the craft alcohol boom today.

            “The development of craft beer is something that has occurred only since the 1980s,” Hayes said. “It is a recent trend, but, as many a Missoulian could attest, it is a very salient one indeed.”

UM students first interviewed community members on the explosion of Missoula’s craft alcohol scene in 2018. Students examined the science of distillation with the owners of Montgomery Distillery, observed German pub culture at Bayern Brewery and gleaned insights on women-produced cider throughout history at Western Cider in Missoula.

 “The idea with this project is for students to help capture the present moment so future researchers and interested members of the public will have special access to information and insights – particularly those that might not be accessible in other sources,” Volk said.

This year, the interviews highlight how COVID-19 impacted alcohol culture and feature Missoula bar and brewery owners, bartenders and servers, an AA member, a recovery counselor, a sales rep for distribution companies and more.

            For his “Wet Missoula” project, Hayes interviewed local sales rep Greg Ragan from Intermountain Distributing, a fine wine distributor in western Montana. As more and more Americans stayed home during COVID-19 and bought up wine and beer, wine distributor sales spiked and merchandisers worried about keeping gas stations stocked with beer.

            Volk said oral history is the perfect way to capture the emotion surrounding what a business has gone through during a pandemic or what it was like to be a server or bartender during shutdowns and mask ordinances.

            “I want students to gain an understanding of and appreciation for oral history as a skill and practice among professional historians,” Volk said, “as well as a hands-on appreciation for history in the making – to see history as a living, breathing and fundamentally dynamic force. This is a theme in all my classes, but oral history casts new light on it and gives students capacity to shape future histories by asking questions and recording responses for posterity.”

Capturing oral history is part of the UM History Department’s larger commitment to provide students access to hands-on, community-driven research. Through offering an Oral History Internship and a new Certificate in Public History, the department prepares the histories and historians of the future. 

            The “Wet Missoula” project will be posted with interview and transcripts to the Mansfield Library’s webpage once complete at https://scholarworks.umt.edu/wetmissoula_oralhistory/.

Emergency Energey Assistance Available

Help is Available for Energy Emergencies

Are you or someone you know struggling to catch up on your home energy bill from last winter? There might be help available. While it has been frustrating at times throughout COVID to work through the process of applying for help, Energy Share and Action for Eastern Montana (AEM) in Glendive want you to know there is help available, including one-on-one assistance when needed.

Energy Share helps Montanans who are facing home energy emergencies. AEM processes Energy Share applications and can help you apply. Common reasons people apply for Energy Share include unexpected expenses, non-working or unsafe heating systems, illnesses or injuries, domestic abuse situations, and loss of employment or reduced wages.

AEM can also help you fill out applications for a new program that is for renters only. The new Emergency Rental Assistance Program helps with rent, utilities and internet for people who rent and who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless of your need, contact AEM at 1-800-227-0703, 406-377-3564, or visit their website at http://www.aemt.org. They are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. If it is outside of those hours or if you are not in Glendive, check with them about the possibility of meeting with an outlying service employee for one-on-one help. AEM is located at 2030 North Merrill in Glendive.

Energy Share relies on donations to help your neighbors who are facing energy emergencies. One hundred percent of private donations are used to help someone in need. If you would like to be involved this way, please visit https://www.energysharemt.com/donate-now or mail a check to Energy Share, 3117 Cooney Drive Suite 102, Helena, MT 59602.

Salmonella Linked

to Live Poultry

Salmonella Cases Linked to Live Poultry Increase

State officials encourage safe handling

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) and Department of Livestock (DOL) officials warn that Salmonella cases linked to live poultry are increasing.

Salmonella infections aren’t only caused by eating contaminated food – they can also come from contact with animals and animal environments, including backyard poultry.

Raising backyard poultry has become an increasingly popular activity in Montana. In a year where a lot of Montanans spent more time at home than normal, many have turned to at-home activities such as raising backyard chicks and ducks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the COVID-19 pandemic boosted demand for backyard poultry flocks across the country.

“Raising your own flock can be a rewarding and fun experience, but should include safe handling practices to decrease disease risk,” said DPHHS epidemiologist Rachel Hinnenkamp “Even if poultry appear healthy and clean, they can still transmit disease to people.”

While there are many benefits to raising poultry, there are also associated health risks. In 2020, 24 Montanans were linked to a multi-state outbreak of 1,722 Salmonella cases caused by contact with live poultry or their environment. This is the largest multi-state backyard poultry outbreak in over 10 years, and it caused at least 333 hospitalizations across the country. This spring, there are already eight confirmed Salmonella cases in Montana caused by contact with backyard poultry, including four hospitalizations.

Poultry can carry and shed bacteria such as Salmonella without showing any signs of disease. Salmonella can cause illness in humans and can be spread while handling live poultry or objects in their environment.

Hinnenkamp said children under five and people with weakened immune systems, such as pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic disease, are at the highest risk for infection and should avoid handling live poultry.