Libby Public Schools offer free breakfast, lunch for kids
Jun. 6—Libby Public Schools announces the sponsorship of the Summer Sun Meals To-Go.
The Summer Food Service Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child Nutrition Program that provides free, nutritious meals to children when school is not in session.
Free breakfast and lunch meals will be provided for all children 18 years of age or younger. Adults are welcome to purchase breakfast for $3.25 and lunch for $5.50.
This summer the USDA has given us permission to offer "To-Go" meals. The children will be able to have breakfast on-site and take lunch at the Libby Christian Church VBS during the first week of summer, June 9-12.
Jerry Dean Park at the McGrade Center, Plummer Center and Central School Building will have FREE "To-Go" breakfast and lunch offered Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday during June and July. Children can pick up both breakfast and lunch at the same time.
Wednesday deliveries will include Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday meals. Please see the enclosed flyers for more details.
Pickup times at McGrade, 933 Farm to Market Road, are 11-11:30 a.m. and noon-12:30 p.m. at the Central Administration building, 724 Louisiana Ave., and at the Plummer Center, 263 Indian Head Road.
Registration is not required. For more information, call 406-293-8877.
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Newsweek
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NWS poses an existential threat to American agriculture—the parasitic fly lays eggs in open wounds of livestock, producing maggots that burrow into living flesh, causing severe injury and often death. The USDA successfully eradicated NWS from the United States in 1966, but its return would devastate the livestock industry and threaten food security. The economic stakes are substantial. A similar outbreak in Florida in 2016 required euthanizing 102 infected animals, demonstrating the pest's destructive potential even in contained situations. The current threat represents the parasite's northward march through Central America over two years, reaching Mexico in November 2024 and spreading to within 700 miles of the U.S. border. NWS has systematically moved through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and now Mexico, with cases detected in Oaxaca and Veracruz states. What To Know The reopenings span three months, with five ports gradually resuming operations. The other four are: Columbus, New Mexico, on July 14 Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on July 21 Del Rio, Texas, on August 18 Laredo, Texas, on September 15 Each reopening will be evaluated for adverse effects before proceeding to the next phase. The parasite's rapid spread through Mexico triggered the May suspension after the USDA's February attempt to resume imports with enhanced inspection protocols proved insufficient. The department's response included deploying sterile fly dispersal operations, releasing over 100 million sterile flies weekly to disrupt the pest's reproductive cycle. This sterile male technique, previously explained to Newsweek by Texas A&M Professor Phillip Kaufman, works because female screwworm flies mate only once—flooding areas with sterile males prevents successful reproduction. 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These quick actions by the Trump Administration have improved the conditions to allow the phased reopening of select ports on the Southern Border to livestock trade. We are continuing our posture of increased vigilance and will not rest until we are sure this devastating pest will not harm American ranchers." Speaking previously to Newsweek, Kaufman, also head of the department of entomology at Texas A&M University, said: "To eliminate the fly, especially under a more widespread infestation, requires several complimentary approaches, including monitoring for infested wounds for larvae, using fly-specific traps, and the mass release of sterile males." He added: "The sterile male technique is crucial in this process as the female screwworm fly mates only once and by inundating the infested area with sterile males we in effect make the females lay eggs that do not hatch. As these wild females die out, the population drops, and the fly is ultimately eliminated. This takes time to accomplish but has been proven effective repeatedly." Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station, Texas, on April 29. Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station, Texas, on April 29. Meredith Seaver /College Station Eagle via AP What Happens Next The USDA will continuously monitor each port reopening for adverse effects before proceeding to the next phase. Officials reported no notable increase in NWS cases or northward movement over the past eight weeks, indicating progress in containment efforts. Additional improvements in Mexico's animal movement controls and surveillance efforts remain critical for remaining ports to reopen as scheduled.
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