News Briefs

MT Teen Vax cam-paign
On Jan. 29, the Mon-tana Department of Public Health and Human Ser-vices announced the pro-motion of the HPV vaccine with their primary focus being teenagers and can-cer prevention.
According to the CDC’s 2016 National Immuniza-tion Survey, only half of Montana’s parents/guardians are choosing to get the HPV vaccine for their children. In the last year there has been a larg-er percentage of females receiving the vaccine, the boys’ numbers are declin-ing. Montana ranks lower than the national average in up-to-date immuniza-tions, reported Sheila Ho-gan, Director of DPHHS.
The 2018 Montana Teen Vaccination cam-paign will provide re-sources and information to healthcare profession-als, parents and teens to increase awareness of the human papillomavirus and the cancer it causes.
For more information about HPV and other ado-lescent vaccines, visit www. immuniza-tion.mt.gov.

Another six weeks of winter predict-ed
Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow on Feb. 2 and saw his shadow. The 132- year- old tradition was publi-cized across the U.S. early Friday morning. Many braved the frigid tempera-tures to take a look at the infamous groundhog.
According to the Na-tional Centers for Envi-ronmental Information, Phil has seen his shadow 101 times since the tradi-tion began.
We can all hope that maybe this year, he gets it wrong.

Mardi Gras trivia night in Libby
St. Joseph Youth are hosting their third annual Trivia Night and pairing it with a “Fat Tuesday” Mardi Gras menu on Sun-day, Feb. 11 from 5 until 7:30pm at the parish hall. Tables of eight compete for great prize baskets by winning at trivia or having the best decorated table. Snacks and drinks at each table, delicious conces-sions, mini-games be-tween rounds and a silent auction top off the fun-filled evening. All pro-ceeds from this fundraiser go toward St. Joseph’s Youth activities. Call Ni-cole at 293-4322 to re-serve your spot. $15 per person at the door.

FVCC seeks nomi-nees for 2018 dis-tinguished alumni award
Flathead Valley Com-munity College is now accepting nominations for its ninth annual Distin-guished Alumni Award.
The award honors a graduate of FVCC for his or her leadership, career achievements and service and philanthropy to the community and the col-lege.
The award will be pre-sented to the recipient at the FVCC Alumni and Friends Spring Luncheon at the college on March 21.
Nominations must be submitted to the college by 5 p.m. on March 1. Nomination forms are available in the Founda-tion Office in Blake Hall, online atwww.fvcc.edu/alumni-award or by con-tacting Heidi Hickethier at hhickethier @fvcc.edu or 756-4388.

MT Dept. of Reve-nue opens 2018 income tax filing season
The Montana Depart-ment of Revenue is now accepting all electronical-ly-filed returns and those filed by paper for the 2018 state income tax filing season.
“We understand the work that taxpayers put into filing their taxes, and we sincerely appreciate everyone who files and invests in maintaining Montana’s quality of life,” said Mike Kadas, Director of the Montana Depart-ment of Revenue.
The department en-courages all taxpayers to file electronically and pro-vides information about many e-filing options on its website that are se-cure, easy, and in most cases, free.
“Another reason to e-file is to help us safeguard your tax refund. It reduces time and errors,” Director Kadas said. “In addition, filing early helps prevent fraudsters from using your identity to steal your refund. April 17 is this year’s filing deadline, but the sooner you file, the better.”
Tax fraud and identity theft continue to grow and the department has measures in place to help detect, safeguard and pre-vent identity theft-related tax fraud. Protecting tax-payer refunds is a priori-ty, which may slow down release of refunds. Be-cause of this, some re-funds may take as long as 90 days for processing. Taxpayers who receive a letter from the depart-ment asking for verifica-tion or more information should respond with the requested information, so the department can finish processing the return and send out the refund.