Montana

Montanans react to Trump returning to the Treasure State

Published

2 years ago

August 2, 2024

Montanans react to Trump returning to the Treasure State

HELENA — One thing is clear, regardless of what people think about former president Donald Trump: They know his return to Montana is likely to bring a lot of attention.

Trump, now again the Republican presidential nominee, will be back in the Treasure State next week, for a campaign rally Friday, Aug. 9, in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman. It will be his sixth rally in Montana, and the first since 2018.

Trump campaigned in Billings in 2016, during the Republican presidential primaries. He then traveled to the state four times in 2018 – holding events in Great Falls, Billings, Missoula and Bozeman – as Republicans sought to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Tester is on the ballot again this year, and Trump has endorsed his GOP challenger, Gallatin County businessman Tim Sheehy.

Paul Bellamy was living in north-central Montana in 2018 and says he wasn’t able to attend any of Trump’s rallies, but he knows people who did.

“It drew a lot of people in,” he said. “They were pretty upfront about it – they thought it was a pretty good thing.”

Bellamy says he likes Trump’s business experience, and he hopes he’ll have a localized message at this event.

“I don’t think he needs to boast on his record as much as he does,” he said. “I want to hear more about what he’s going to do for Montana. I believe that a rural state like we have, we get forgotten about a lot, especially back East.”

The Trump campaign allowed people to start requesting tickets for the rally on Thursday. Joan Haubein, of Helena, says she would love to attend, but her family is dealing with some health problems at the moment. She says she wants to hear Trump talk about issues like border security and about what she calls “ridiculous” policies coming out of the federal government.

“We should be able to say, in this country, what we believe without being put down or called racist or anything else,” she said.

Haubein believes Trump’s visit will be a good thing for Montana.

“People need to speak out and they need to vote – whether they’re Democrat or Republican, we need votes,” she said.

Of course, many Montanans aren’t as supportive of Trump’s visit. MTN spoke to a number of them who didn’t want to go on-camera for this story, but who had concerns about things like the tone of the campaign.

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Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

26 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

13 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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