LINCOLN — On Dalton Mountain Road, just outside Lincoln, a brand-new bridge opened to traffic just last month. The project to replace a decades-old timber bridge there was a big improvement – but according to a new report, it’s only a small part of a significant need for infrastructure upgrades across the state.

On Wednesday, at the Montana State Capitol, the Montana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers unveiled a “report card” on infrastructure in the state, grading on 14 categories ranging from roads and railways to dams, broadband and even public parks. Their report gave Montana’s bridges a “C-,” defined as “mediocre” and “requiring attention” – and down from a “C” in the last report card in 2018.

“I think we’ve all seen across Montana in this past year, we’ve had a lot of closures in areas that we haven’t seen previously – Missoula, Bigfork, Twin Bridges, several areas with those aging bridges have caused major issues and detours,” said Lexi Leffler, a civil engineer who chaired the committee that worked on the report card.

According to the report, of more than 5,200 bridges across Montana, about 600 are either closed or have weight restrictions because of their condition – and that number has been increasing 10% to 20% year to year. For bridges owned by the state, only about 2% have closures or weight limits, but for those owned by counties, it’s closer to 20%.

The old Dalton Mountain Road Bridge, built in 1956, was one of those county-owned bridges. In 2017, several foundation piles on the bridge failed.

“When the supports went, it got old real quick,” said Bob O’Leary, who’s lived in the area for 32 years. He crosses the bridge to Lincoln most mornings to pick up his mail.

Emergency repairs on the old bridge were enough to keep it open – but only with one lane, and only for vehicles weighing up to eight tons. O’Leary says residents were concerned fire trucks and ambulances might not be able to cross.

Lewis and Clark County asked for help replacing the bridge, and the state eventually contributed money to the project through two grant programs. Leaders awarded a $3.9 million contract to Sletten Construction, and in July, the road closed down as crews began work on a new “pony truss” bridge over the Blackfoot River.

Jonathon Ambarian

During construction, drivers needed to take an 11-mile detour using Herrin Lake Road – and O’Leary got a very personal reminder of how important this connection is.

“It wasn’t an issue for me until August, when I had the heart attack and it took the ambulance 20 minutes to get over to the house instead of five minutes,” he said.

Leffler said, in a state as rural and spread-out as Montana, it’s not unusual for one bridge closure to have that kind of effect.

“There’s really a lot of ripple effects of that, even just down to small communities not being able to get their regular shipments to the grocery store,” she said.

The federal government identifies just over 350 bridges statewide as being in “poor” condition. The ACSE report card says about 900 Montana bridges require immediate repairs – around 15% of all the bridges in the state. It says federal and state governments have made investments – like 2023’s SAFER Act – but that the anticipated $535 million in funding over the next ten years would fall well short of the $4.4 billion in need.

“We hope this is a tool for citizens to learn more about infrastructure in our state, and we also hope that it’s a springboard for more discussions,” Leffler said.

HELENA, Mont. — A Montana law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors will remain temporarily blocked, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, after justices agreed with a lower court judge who found the law likely violates the state’s constitutional right to privacy.

The case against the Montana law now goes to trial before District Court Judge Jason Marks in Missoula.

“I will never understand why my representatives are working to strip me of my rights and the rights of other transgender kids,” Phoebe Cross, a 17-year-old transgender boy and lead plaintiff, said in a statement. “Just living as a trans teenager is difficult enough, the last thing me and my peers need is to have our rights taken away.”

The attorney general’s office said it looks forward to defending the law, with a spokesperson noting there are recent scientific and legal developments that support lawmakers’ postion. This court decision comes as the British government on Wednesday banned puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria, citing an unacceptable safety risk.

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month heard arguments over Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers, hormones or surgery for transgender minors, with observers saying it appeared the justices were likely to uphold the ban. The Biden administration had sought to block similar bans that exist in more than half the states.

“Because Montana’s constitutional protections are even stronger than their federal counterparts, transgender youth in Montana can sleep easier tonight knowing that they can continue to thrive for now, without this looming threat hanging over their heads,” said Kell Olsen, an attorney for Lambda Legal.

Legislative debate over Montana’s bill drew national attention in the spring of 2023 after Republicans punished Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr — the first transgender woman elected to the state’s Legislature — for admonishing lawmakers who supported the bill.

Marks blocked the law late lasg year, just days before it was to take effect. He agreed with transgender young people, their families and health care providers that the law is likely unconstitutional and would harm the mental and physical health of minors with gender dysphoria, rather than protect them from experimental treatments, as supporters claim.

The judge noted the same Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law saying patients, including minors, have a right to receive treatment for other issues with experimental drugs — as long as it’s recommended by a health care provider and they give consent.

Marks said he could only conclude the Legislature’s stated intent in passing the law was “disingenuous,” and it seemed more likely its purpose is to “ban an outcome deemed undesirable by the Montana Legislature, veiled as protection for minors.”.

Montana is one of at least 26 states that have passed bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors and most face lawsuits. Some bans have been temporarily blocked by courts, while others have been allowed to take effect. Fifteen states have enacted protections for gender-affirming medical care for minors.

In Montana’s case, transgender youth argued the law would ban them from continuing to receive gender-affirming medical care, violating their constitutional rights to equal protection, the right to seek health care and the right to dignity. The state Supreme Court upheld the injunction based on the right to privacy.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is one game from an achievement that’s been reached by only Joe Montana during the NFL’s AFC/NFC era.

In each of his past seven games, Tagovailoa has completed at least 70 percent of his passes. The only quarterback to complete at least 70 percent of his passes in eight consecutive games in the same season is Montana, who did so in 1989, when he led the San Francisco 49ers to their fourth NFL championship in a nine-season span.

Tagovailoa’s streak wouldn’t still be going except for his performance in overtime during the Dolphins’ 32-26 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday.

WITH ‘NO ROOM FOR ERROR,’ TUA TAGOVAILOA, DOLPHINS RALLY FOR OVERTIME VICTORY

The former Alabama All-American entered the extra period having completed 27-of-40 passes in the game – 67.5 percent. But Tagovailoa completed his final six passes in overtime to get Miami into the end zone for a victory without the Jets offense ever getting on the field and get his completion rate for the contest to 70.2 percent.

“I don’t think two years ago this game occurs,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said during his postgame press conference. “He continues to get better. I think he had 47 pass attempts this week. He had 40 last week. I think it’s been since the Monday night game (on Nov. 11) that he’s turned the ball over. It’s a lot of work, and all of his work is paying off because he’s a naturally gifted quarterback, not only the skill sets but people gravitate towards him. He makes people better. That’s an incredibly important part of that position. …

“What he’s doing is he’s mastering the art. The hardest thing to do — you could argue the hardest position to play — is quarterback out of all the positions in sports. And the biggest differentiator with quarterbacks is: It’s a big moment. There’s a lot of stuff on you. And to be able to play clear-minded and let the game come to you – case in point, 47 pass attempts and zero interceptions again – it’s really cool to see.”

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees completed 74.4 percent of his passes in 2018 to establish the NFL single-season record. (Brees also had a streak of eight consecutive games completing at least 70 percent of his passes, but they came in the final five games of 2017 and the first three games of 2018.) Tagovailoa is at 73.8 percent for the 2024 season.

Over Miami’s past three games, when Tagovailoa has completed 99-of-133 passes for 1,013 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions, the Miami quarterback has put his name beside some of the game’s greats.

With three consecutive games with at least 300 passing yards, two or more touchdown passes and no interceptions, Tagovailoa became the seventh quarterback to achieve that feat in the NFL’s AFC/NFC era, and there have been only two longer streaks – five games apiece by Peyton Manning (straddling the 2012 and 2013 seasons) and Brees (in 2011).

Tom Brady had three such three-game streaks, and Patrick Mahomes has done it twice. The other quarterbacks to accomplish the feat are Brian Hoyer and Aaron Rodgers.

Tagovailoa’s past three games have included an even rarer streak. He’s the first player in NFL history to put together three consecutive games with at least 40 passes, two or more touchdown passes and no interceptions in a single season. Kirk Cousins also had such a three-game streak as the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, but the first two games were the final two contests of the 2020 season, and he got Game No. 3 to open the 2021 campaign.

For the first time in his NFL career, Tagovailoa has passed for 300 yards in three straight games. That’s tied for the Dolphins record with four such streaks by Dan Marino, which occurred in the 1984, 1988, 1994 and 1998 seasons.

Tagovailoa is the second quarterback from Alabama to post three consecutive 300-yard passing games in a single season, following Jeff Rutledge. In 1983, Rutledge made four starts for the New York Giants and passed for at least 325 yards in each of the final three. Rutledge’s only other 300-yard passing game in the NFL occurred seven years later. (Joe Namath had a three-game 300-yard streak, but it came in the final two games of the 1967 season and the first game of the 1968 campaign.)

Miami plays the Houston Texans at noon CST Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston.

The Texans have allowed one quarterback to throw for 300 yards this season. Cooper Rush completed 32-of-55 passes for 354 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the Dallas Cowboys’ 34-10 loss to Houston on Nov. 18.

Two quarterbacks have completed at least 70 percent of their passes against the Texans in 2024, and Houston lost both games – to Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers 24-22 on Oct. 20 and Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans 32-27 on Nov. 24.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.