Video Of Mayor Kelly Sans Mask At Packed Concert Monday Night

Tuesday of this week E-City Beat received the video clip below with the following message from an anonymous sender:

Ol Bob too scared to hold a commission meeting in person but doesn’t mind a mask less packed house.

The video was recorded on Monday November 8, 2021 during a Sawyer Brown concert packed with mask-less attendees, including Kelly, at Great Falls’ downtown Newberry event venue.

This comes after weeks of Kelly cancelling all in-person city commission meetings over public safety concerns due to COVID-19.

University Of Providence COVID-19 ‘Argos Pledge’ Email

Editors note: E-City Beat received this email and screenshots last week with permission to publish on condition of anonymity.

“I am sending this email to you as an alert that UP Administration is making students sign the “Argos Pledge”.

This document is a consent form (legally binding contract) that all patrons must sign to attend UP. This details very vaguely about complying with masking and social distancing, but hinted at the possibility of a vaccine mandate.

The lines that raised suspicion the most with me was the compliance with CDC protocols, and specifically stating “relocation to designated quarantine locations” and “contact tracing”.

Students are given until Friday, Sept. 17 to sign and comply. Note that I received this in my inbox on Sunday, Sep. 12.”

The lines that raised suspicion the most with me was the compliance with CDC protocols, and specifically stating “relocation to designated quarantine locations” and “contact tracing”.

“At this time we do not have a Together As Argos Pledge on file from you. As indicated in the August 4, 2021 communication, submission of the Pledge is requirement of any student attending the University campus this fall semester.”

All The Little Covid Fiefdoms

Here in Montana, governor Greg Gianforte repealed the mask mandate that required businesses to have customers and employees alike, mask-up.

So why is it, that I cannot go into some businesses without a mask, still? Why is it, that some companies, mostly those with a corporate pyramid structure, still require their employees to wear masks as well?

That is a complex couple of questions to answer, it turns out. Currently, each business in Montana is acting like its own little fiefdom, with its own rules that can supercede the government, though not technically allowed to.

I asked a local legislator where I can read about the mandate repeal, and its terms. As it turns out, there is no such document.

A major issue, is that the problem of Covid is being funded, but there are no incentives to businesses who open back up fully, without requiring masks, in support of the Constitution, aside from the support they might gain from freedom-loving customers.

If having a business of one’s own, is the way to get around Covid regulations, whether they be good or bad, to supercede government plans, then everyone in America ought to start their own business, in the name of personal safety. As it is, it is up to citizens to uncover the truth of what, exactly, is going on here.

  • Are businesses and corporations operating in favor of mask mandates, because they are getting government subsidies and other kickbacks?
  • Is their need for enforcement, based on receiving covid relief funds from the government in return?
  • And if so, what do we do about it?

As an example of this policy, I questioned MacKenzie Pizza Company of Great Falls, MT, while attending an interview session. This company heavily favors mask mandates. MacKenzie acts as though the mandate is merely inconvenient to potential employees, when this is not the case. I personally sat down with two employees of the company, and explained:

“This is not merely wrong, or an inconvenience, or some small issue. This is unconstitutional. No one in America voted for this mask mandate. No one voted for mask mandates to last indefinitely.”

But my words were lost on these pathetic Yes Men and Yes Women, who unsympathetically stated that the decision came from corporate in Whitefish, and thus, their hands were tied. How convenient for them.

In the spirit of Representative Jim Jordan, who asked Anthony Fauci for a timeline for covid restrictions ending, I asked the pizza company employees the same thing. “What is your timeline for the mask mandate ending?” They, like Fauci, didn’t have one. Thus, no end date is in mind with this company. These restrictions are not meant to end – ever.

Local citizen Jules Vasquez, who was there to see the interview exchange at MacKenzie Pizza Co, states, “If they want to have the policy voluntary for employees, that’s one thing, but requiring them to conform to a no-longer-existing mandate, is at best ignorant, and at worst, illegal.”

Technically, businesses being able to require masks even after the recall of the mandate, falls under the same legal sphere as being able to refuse service to anyone, for any reason. A business operating under these terms, can’t be sued for refusing service (or in this case, refusing to hire), unless there is a religious, racial, or other discriminatory claim being made.

But I always wonder about the health aspect. Personally, having worked for months on end in a place that required masks, left me in a deep depression.

The symptoms of depression can lead to suicide in individuals, and certainly is not something for businesses to toy with, in the name of profits. Suicides have skyrocketed during the covid pandemic.

To date, two of Jules’s family members have committed suicide during the lockdowns that took place. I have other friends – ones who experience such things as epilepsy and grand mal seizures – and requiring them to wear a mask, regardless of what anyone has to say about it, would be downright evil.

A huge question becomes, who is policing these businesses in America, in terms of their Covid requirements, and where does it end?

This is a huge threat to democracy and the Constitution, and I, like Representative Jim Jordan, would like a timeline as to when this chaos is all going to end, for good.

Businesses were never meant to be above the law of the land, and I don’t want to see an America where citizens are chained to their desks, because “businesses can do whatever they want, in the name of Covid.”

And I sure hope I’m not alone in this regard.

Benefis Makes Employee COVID-19 Vaccinations Mandatory

E-City Beat has received numerous messages and documents from Great Falls Benefis Health Systems employees and others concerning mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all employees as a condition of continued employment.

Here is a screenshot of the ‘Heads-Up’ email sent from Benefis CEO John Goodnow to all Benefis employees.

Here is a comment from a Benefis employee who asks to remain anonymous, understandably so.

“Multiple employees at Benefis outraged by the vaccine mandate. Employees are being bribed with money and higher ups are using scare tactics to make employees comply. Nearly 35% of the employees have not been vaccinated and are scared to be terminated due to not wanting to get the vaccine.”

One employee said, “I do not want to get the vaccine but since it will now be mandatory i will have to get it because I can not afford to lose my job.”

Take a look at a page from the Benefis newsletter stating that the vaccine will be a requirement for employment at BHS.

And here is another comment in an email E-City Beat received yesterday:

“They are Mandating a vaccine that has not been approved from the FDA besides for emergency use. We do not know the long term effects of the vaccine because it has only been out for a few months. They do not know how long the vaccine will last and how many booster shots you may need.

There is so much still unknown about these vaccines but they are in a rush to make all employees get vaccinated.

Benefis says to refer to the CDC for the latest facts. On the CDC website it states ” Getting vaccinated is a personal choice” so why are Benefis employees in jeopardy of losing their jobs if they refuse to get the vaccine? 

As an employee you can be deferred for medical and religious reasons but not strictly for the reason of not wanting to get it due to it being an experimental vaccine and not knowing the long term side effects.  Also it is not promised that if you put in a deferral for medical or religious reasons that it will get approved.”

Stay tuned to E-City Beat this week for more on what’s going on with the Benefis Health Systems vaccine mandate.

Board of Health Votes to Adopt Revised COVID-19 Control Measures

Editors note – below is the press release from Cascade County sent Wednesday, January 20, 2021 2:40 PM

Great Falls, MT — This morning, the Cascade City-County Board of Health met to vote to adopt less restrictive COVID-19 control measures in light of Governor Gianforte’s recent directives. 

Last week, Governor Greg Gianforte announced that he was rescinding former Governor Bullock’s Executive Orders 2-2020 and 3-2020. Governor Gianforte also issued a new Directive implementing his Executive Order 2-2021, which lifts some restrictions but leaves the mask order in place. 

The directive states that “in the interest of uniformity of laws and to prevent the spread of disease, all inconsistent local government health ordinances or orders are preempted by this Directive, but only to the extent they are less restrictive.” That is, Governor Gianforte’s directive does not supersede local health orders. 

A local Health Officer Order will be issued later today and will be uploaded to the Cascade County COVID-19 webpage (check the documents section). Four decisions were made at today’s special Board of Health meeting:

  1. Occupancy*
    1. Businesses may now increase their operations to 75% of their capacity
  2. Operating hours*
    1. Businesses identified in the previous health order** may now close between the hours of 12:30 AM and 4:00 AM
  3. Maximum assembly at events
    1. Gatherings of up to 50 people are now allowed
    2. Gatherings of 50-250 people are allowed indoors with the approval of an Event Plan Packet (will be posted on the Cascade City-County Health Department COVID-19 & Events webpage before 5:00 AM on Friday 1/22/21)
    3. Gatherings of 50-500 people are allowed outdoors with the approval of an Event Plan Packet (will be posted on the Cascade City-County Health Department COVID-19 & Events webpage before 5:00 AM on Friday 1/22/21)
  4. Date of implementation & duration of Order
    1. The above control measures are effective Friday January 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM and will remain in place until the per capita spread of the virus is 25 per 100,000 for four consecutive weeks

Notes:

  • *Exceptions to occupancy & operating hours, which are not limited to 75% capacity or to new operating hours:
    • Schools: local school districts and school boards for all school-related activities, both academic and extracurricular School Events, both academic and extracurricular 
    • Childcare facilities, in recognition of their critical role in supporting a necessary workforce
    • Food service establishments that serve a population that depends on it as its sole source of food: university dining facilities, cafeterias in K-12 schools, hospital and care facilities, room service in hotels, crisis shelters or similar institutions, airport concessionaires, and any facilities necessary for the response to the emergency, all of which may continue to operate using necessary-only personnel
  • **Businesses identified in previous health order:
    • Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffee houses, bars, brew pubs, taverns, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, special licensees, clubs, casinos, gyms, movie theaters
  • These restrictions will be continually assessed as we move forward.”

Cascade County Health Board Extends COVID-19 Restrictions

On Wednesday the Cascade County City-County Board of Health voted to keep the mask mandate and mandatory 10:00 PM closing time for bars and restaurants in effect in Cascade County regardless of whether newly seated Governor Greg Gianforte eases the COVID-19 statewide restrictions in the coming days or weeks.

Read the Order here.

The action will keep former Governor Bullock’s July 2020 statewide mask mandate in effect along with Public Health Officer Trisha Gardner’s November 20, 2020 restrictions including closing times, occupancy limits, social distancing and mask requirements.

The County Public Health Officer has legal authority to impose stricter requirements than the state.

Wednesday’s order will remain in effect until Montana’s COVID infection rates fall below 25 per 100,000 for four consecutive weeks.

The current COVID-19 infection in Montana is 38 per 100,000.

So here’s today’s poll question:

[poll id=”29″]

Racism Or Protecting Customers From COVID-19 In Great Falls?

This morning I received several ‘heads up’ messages concerning a Facebook post from Sharen Kickingwoman about an incident at the Great Falls Wingate by Wyndham Hotel.

Here is the part of the post which outlines the incident:

‘My mom booked his room at the Wingate Hotel here in Great Falls. When he arrived and checked in with his ID, the worker told him “we don’t serve people from Browning”. When pushed further as to why, she said it was their policy “because of Covid”…

…I asked the new hotel clerk if they served Natives and specifically people from Browning and she was so confused because she was like “of course we do, but lots of people keep calling and asking me that, do you know why?” So this has obviously been happening for some time.So if you’re in Great Falls, or honestly anywhere, don’t support Wingate Hotels! They are completely fine with racist policies that target Native folks.’

You can read Kickingwoman’s entire post here.

After reading it a couple of times I shared the post along with my own comment and reaction:

“I am at a loss for words after reading this. In fact I am shocked and angry. I will be asking some very serious questions and making some pointed inquiries.

To my Native American brothers and sisters: speaking as a community leader I can assure you that if this is as it appears to be it will not be ignored or swept under the rug. We are better than this, Great Falls. We have to be.”

Just a little while ago, Wednesday afternoon, I had a lengthy conversation with Larry Gooldy, the General Manager of the hotel and asked him to provide a statement with their side of the story. He did so promptly and here is the statement in full:

“The incident with Kickingwoman started when I saw the reservation pop up during my afternoon front desk shift. I let my afternoon employee know that we may have a stay at home notice for one of her reservations and to let me know if she had any problem.

Guest checked in at 5:12p local time and presented a Browning ID for residence. At that time my front desk employee advised that the area Kickingwoman was from was under a lock down from the Blackfeet Nation( https://blackfeetnation.com/covid19/ ) ( https://www.krtv.com/news/coronavirus/stay-at-home-order-extended-again-on-the-blackfeet-reservation )and they would not be able to stay without a Doctors note for medical procedure or travel notice as indicated for reasons to travel.

The guest was unaware and had no note with them and had a note sent to the front desk. So my employee let me know and I advised ok to stay and I would follow up in the morning with the guest when I came in on the note.

The guest stayed and checked into room 119. The guest had a pet that they wanted to stay in hotel as well and was advised of service animal only property. Guest stated that he should be allowed to have the pet stay with him due the fact he is a veteran. My desk employee advised that would not be possible. They stated they would leave dog in car overnight.

Later the guest came back to front desk and began to call the my employee a racist for not letting people from Browning stay, even though we checked said guest and was allowing them to stay since they provided paperwork for the doctor.

The guest was advised of stay at home order issued by Blackfeet nation tribal council again and presented copy of Stay at home order from the nation’s website. The said guest decided to leave under their own accord. We did not ask, or force said guest to leave the hotel.

The guests then left the hotel.

Following Heath department guides to prevent the spread of COVID 19 the hotel has a policy for the protection of all guests that occupy a room, that it is safe and free of contamination spread. Guests that present a health risk/safe risk to guests or employees in the hotel would not be allowed to stay. I.e Quarantine, Stay at home, Lockdown, or indicate they are sick/Symptomatic.

In a side note while doing an interview this morning with Nora Mabie at the hotel, we had two Native American ladies with us that checked in yesterday from a different area not under a Quarantine restriction. They got breakfast from the front desk and returned to the room to eat. When asking Nora if should could account for the validity of a racist hotel claim when I have two ladies walking before you, that have just stayed in our hotel on the same day of this claim. She would not comment.”

Mr. Gooldy also informed me in our conversation that the hotel reservation was made through an online travel site and that site, as well as all of Wingate by Wyndham’s web sites, carry an explicit disclaimer informing customers to personally check with the hotel and inquire about local COVID-19 restrictions.

To be fair, it appears that the Kickingwoman family did not check with the Great Falls Wingate Hotel to ask about specific COVID restrictions prior to checking in.

So was this incident an example of racism, or a common sense health precaution? Readers can make up their own minds.

My takeaway is that we all need to do a better job of informing ourselves and communicating clearly in these confusing times.

Montana Journalist Busted For Misleading Tweet About COVID-19

An NBC Montana journalist called Maritsa Georgiou, in keeping with the rest of her alarmist Twitter feed, recently shared a hospital map that painted a dire picture of COVID-19.

One discerning reader took it upon himself to provide the context and objectivity that Georgiou did not.

Georgiou later attempted to clean up her misleading tweet.

Add it all up, and of the 126 patients in the five counties cherry-picked by Georgiou, only six were COVID cases — just under 5%.

Participating In City Government During COVID-19

Editors note: E-City Beat has requested and received permission to copy and paste Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon’s reports from his public commissioner’s Facebook page, ‘Rick Tryon for a Greater Great Falls’.

“Here’s the link to the agenda for Tuesday nights Great Falls City Commission meeting. The commission will be meeting via Zoom (hopefully for the final time).

The public can attend in person even though doing so is discouraged due to COVID-19.

2 Park Drive South, Great Falls, MT
Gibson Room, Civic Center
May 05, 2020 7:00 PM

The public can also live stream the meeting here https://greatfallsmt.net/livestream.

Meetings are also available live on cable channel 190.

Comments may be sent via email before 5:00 PM on Tuesday, to: commission@greatfallsmt.net.

The public may call in during specific public comment periods at 406-761-4786. All callers will be in a queued system and are asked to remain on hold and be patient.”

Two Polls On Opening State & Local Economy & Schools

Montana Governor Steve Bullock has announced that the state will begin easing restrictions put in place due to COVID-19 starting this coming Sunday and Monday, April 26 & 27, with churches and retail businesses allowed to re-open.

This will be followed by bars and restaurants having the green light to open up on May 4.

The Governor has left it up to local school districts to decide whether to open schools back up. The Great Falls Public School board is seeking input on the issue from local parents and will be meeting this Monday evening, May 27.

Click here to read the key points and criteria for Montana’s Phase One Re-opening for churches, businesses and schools.

Please take a minute to weigh in on our poll questions.

[poll id=”20″]

[poll id=”21″]