EBS
STAFF
BIG
SKY – The fifth installment of the weekly EBS virtual Town Hall meetings featured
a diverse panel of speakers that touched on a number of topics ranging from
vaccines to live and virtual musical performances.
U.S.
Sen. Steve Daines, who is originally from Bozeman, brought a Capitol Hill
perspective recapping the series of aid packages and legislation that have been
passing through the federal government to support those struggling during the COVID-19
pandemic. Daines said he’s been fighting on behalf of Montana in the midst of
these nationally scaled decisions, making sure state businesses like taverns
are included within the scope of the Paycheck Protection Program loan
guidelines and that Montana’s seasonal economic nature is factored into monthly
payroll calculations.
Looking
ahead, Daines is largely focused on expanding testing availability and capacity
as well as pushing a vaccine into the public as soon as possible. He stated
that there is a chance that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration process for
testing and releasing the vaccine could be streamlined, but there is only so
much red tape that can be cut through. “You can’t compromise efficacy and
safety,” he said. “You can’t.”
Representatives
from NorthWestern Energy, a utility company serving Montana, South Dakota and
Nebraska, said proactive preparations set them up for relative stability during
the pandemic. In 2009, around the time of the rise of the H1N1 virus, NWE tested
its incident command structure against a pandemic scenario. This allowed them
to transition well over half of their employees to work remotely and continue
the essential work that that people across their 136,000-square-mile service
territory depend on.
“We
feel it’s more important today than ever that we continue to harden and make
the grid resilient,” said NorthWestern Vice President Bobbi Shroeppel, who was
joined by CEO Bob Rowe.
Dr.
Kaley Burns, a Naturopathic Medicine physician and the owner of Big Sky Natural
Health, narrowed the conversation to a local community scope. Burns said that
despite the blows people may be experiencing to their mental and physical
health, there are ways to rise above these challenges.
“I
think we can kind of find comfort in the fact that we all can take some control
in our health and maybe in the health of those that we care for, ” she said.
The
meeting concluded with a special guest and uplifting performance as Brian
Stumpf, local musician and 2014 Dirtbag King, took the virtual stage. Stumpf,
who has been playing for an online audience once a week in his “Stumpy Sundays”
series, reflected on the resiliency of the Big Sky community during these
trying times, adding that the strength of the community has never been more evident.
Stumpf closed out the evening by playing what he called the “greatest song ever written,” Monty Python number “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
EBS virtual Town
Hall schedule:
Afterward, EBS
will host Town Halls on the first Monday of each month:
- June 1
- July 6
- Aug. 3
- Oct. 5
- Nov. 2
- Dec. 7
