Montana

Helena Capital’s Vaughn Wirkus signs with Montana State football

Published

1 year ago

December 4, 2024

Helena Capital’s Vaughn Wirkus signs with Montana State football

HELENA — The man who protected Merek Mihelish’s right during a Gatorade Player of the Year-caliber season officially became a Montana State Bobcat on Wednesday.

Vaughn Wirkus, Helena Capital’s 6-foot-6 right tackle, was tabbed a three-star recruit by 247Sports, ranked the best offensive lineman in the state of Montana’s 2025 class, and the fourth-best recruit overall.

All three recruits (Grant Vigen, Vinnie Souza, Malachi Claunch) ranked ahead of Wirkus join him in Bozeman.

“It feels amazing, committing to the team you grew up watching,” Wirkus said. “Now you get to play for them? It’s a pretty great feeling…

“The DonJoy Mafia, [MSU’s] O-line, it’s a pretty crazy group and I’m really excited to play for them.”

Wirkus was a two-year starter and three-year contributor for the Bruins, helping pave a path for a team that averaged 6.8 yards per carry and scored 31 rushing touchdowns during a state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Committed since July, Wirkus officially signed early Wednesday morning, becoming one of 24 athletes to sign early with MSU and one of four offensive linemen.

Helena Capital OT Vaughn Wirkus was one of 24 athletes to sign with Montana State University football on Wednesday as part of early National Signing Day. Wirkus started at right tackle during the Bruins’ 11-1 Class AA state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Daniel Shepard

Those other three offensive lineman are: Nicholas Maloff (Meridian High; Idaho), Nate Thornton (North Kitsap High; Washington); Ben Winters (Kalispell Glacier High).

“It’s pretty surreal,” Wirkus said. “You wake up in the morning and you sign the real document…

“You’re like, ‘man I’m a Bobcat.’ It’s pretty crazy to go from a Bruin to a Bobcat.”

Wirkus was a second-team All-Conference selection a season ago, honors likely improved upon with 2024 Class AA football honors teams still unknown.

Weighing between 240 and 250 pounds, Wirkus said his priority this off-season and after stepping foot on campus will be adding size and speeding up footwork to match the Division I level.

Vaughn Wirkus Signing 2 — Helena Capital OT Vaughn Wirkus was one of 24 athletes to sign with Montana State University football on Wednesday as part of early National Signing Day. Wirkus started at right tackle during the Bruins’ 11-1 Class AA state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Daniel Shepard

“That all comes with coaching,” Wirkus said. “The facilities there at Montana State are really fantastic, so I don’t think I’ll have any problem doing that.”

Wirkus reunites with former Capital players Tom Carter and Talon Marsh at MSU, standouts on the Bruins’ 2022 title-winning team. He is Capital’s second Division I offensive line signee in three seasons, joining Austin Buehler, who signed with the University of Montana as part the Griz’s 2023 recruiting class.

Other recent Capital offensive line commits include: Cole Dawes (Montana Tech, 2024), Barrett Hageman (Montana Tech, 2024), and Jack Gollehon (Montana Tech, 2025).

“He’s been a solid part of that offensive line here for three years,” Capital head coach Kyle Mihelish said of Wirkus. “We’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of Vaughn, he’s a good football player…

Vaughn Wirkus Signing 3 — Advertisement

Helena Capital OT Vaughn Wirkus was one of 24 athletes to sign with Montana State University football on Wednesday as part of early National Signing Day. Wirkus started at right tackle during the Bruins’ 11-1 Class AA state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Daniel Shepard

“He has good feet. Usually guys who are that size don’t have good feet. He’s quick, he can move, he can run. The Bobcats got a good one.”

Email Daniel Shepard at daniel.shepard@406mtsports.com and find him on X/Twitter @IR_DanielS.

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Montana

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

Published

12 hours 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

1 day 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

2 days 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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