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Tuesday, January 16th, an e-mail was sent to many schools in Montana stating a bomb had been placed somewhere In the school and by the time the email was read it would be too late. The email was received locally around 9:15 p.m. according to McCone County Sheriff Paul Skyberg. I was able to speak with Sheriff Skyberg about the threat. According to Sheriff Skyberg, as far as authenticity, we treat them as real until we know they are not. We suspected this was a hoax but had to treat it as real. "The first step is to call the Fusion Center. Fusion Centers are state-owned and operated centers that serve as focal points in states and major urban areas for the receipt, analysis, gathering and sharing of threat-related information between State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT), Federal and private sector partners (this information was taken from Homeland Security website). Sheriff Paul stated that the email was received locally by school board members and administrators and included 75 schools, including Vida, Circle, and Richey. Schools located all over the state received emails. I asked how they went about the search. Sheriff Skyberg and an Officer from DCI (Division of Criminal Investigation) were met at Circle School by Tara Hubing, School Superintendent, who gave them access to the school and unlocked doors as they inspected room to room. Sheriff Skyberg stated, "We searched every nook and cranny and every desk for explosive devices." Undersheriff, Joe Juliano, and a Deputy from Roosevelt County went to the Vida School and performed a similar search. The search took nearly 4 hours to complete. The Sheriff and Undersheriff called 10-8 (clear of scene) at around 1:30 a.m., with no bombs reported. Sheriff Skyberg was up early the next morning headed to the Circle School to have a law enforcement presence there to ease minds and answer questions. Sheriff was there several hours and then radioed he was going to Vida to do the same thing. Working at 911 dispatch I hear or witness some crazy things, but when I work after Darlyne I have had the greeting of "We have an a active shooter in Marsh MT," to last week's "We have a bomb threat at the school." Circle is our bubble, and we are not prepared for the big city movie situations like this. Situations like this make me realize that we are not impervious to these things. They make me appreciate that we are protected by our wonderful, caring Sheriff's office. It is great to be a part of a TEAM that is prepared for such big city situations. School Social Media publication on page 6