Montana

May 6, 2025 Western Montana election results (unofficial)

Published

10 months ago

May 7, 2025

May 6, 2025 Western Montana election results (unofficial)

MISSOULA — The polls have closed for the Tuesday, May 6, 2025, election and the results for races are being tallied.

Several districts from Kalispell to Hamilton to Missoula had levies on the ballot, asking voters to fund everything from staff salaries to safety improvements.

Missoula County

Missoula County Public Schools is seeking an elementary general fund levy that would pay for things like the art and music programs along with utilities and staff salaries. The levy was set at just under $385,000. MCPS also put a high school general fund levy to the voters at just over $164,000 to help pay for things like supplies and curriculum.

Bonner is seeking an elementary school general fund levy for just under $25,000. The district is also asking voters for a safety levy amounting to just under $25,000.

Frenchtown voters were asked to decide on a $539,000 operations mill levy, which the superintendent told MTN that rising costs are outpacing the school’s budget.

Building safety was also on the ballot for Target Range, where officials were asking for $250,000 from taxpayers to pay for improvements to the school.

The Hellgate Elementary School District is asking for a $200,000 general fund levy from voters, which would be used for general operations such as salaries and utilities. The district is also asking for a nearly $272,000 safety and security levy.

DeSmet School asked taxpayers for $31,000 to address inflationary costs and utility issues, like heating.

Lolo School was asking for $97,000 for their general fund mill levy to improve academic opportunities for students.

The East Missoula Rural Fire District was asking for $300,000 to increase its operating budget.

Flathead County

Residents in Kalispell were asked to vote for a$2.9 million high school district general fund levy. A high school district levy hasn’t passed in Kalispell since 2007. The levy would fund instruction and operations of Flathead and Glacier high schools. Kalispell School District Superintendent Matt Jensen told KPAX that 21 full-time positions will be eliminated if the levy fails, along with major cuts to popular programs including the Ag Center, sports, music and theater, speech and debate and more.

Whitefish Schools are also facing a budget deficit, which is why they turned to the voters this year. School officials proposed a levy of up to $100,000.

As we reported just a few weeks ago, Deer Park School in the Flathead was asking voters for $4 million. The money would replace some buildings as the school runs out of space.

West Valley Fire is asking for an almost $263,000 levy. The money would help pay for more staff and better equipment.

Ravalli County

The Hamilton School District has a $49 million bond before residents. Voters recently approved selling the middle school property. If approved, the bond creates a fourth to eighth grade campus at the current Westview property. Fourth and fifth grade students will be located in a remodeled version of the current Westview building, and sixth through eighth grades will be located in a newly constructed building. School officials say these two buildings will be connected by shared services spaces that reduce the cost of the project but still keep the age groups separate during the school day. The bond term will be 25 years.

Lake County

The Arlee School District is asking for technology levies for both the high school and elementary school. $35,000 is on the ballot for the high school district. The Arlee Elementary District had the same request at $35,000.

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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

24 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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