Montana
'Montana Bar Fairies' expanding to Bozeman starting Cat-Griz weekend as Gallatin County DUIs increase
BOZEMAN — People in downtown Bozeman who choose not to drink and drive after a night out will soon see fairies giving them a gift to thank them for their good choices.
“Montana Bar Fairies is a nonprofit that my daughter and I started because my son was killed by a drunk driver in the Flathead, on March 23rd, after celebrating his 21st birthday,” says Beth McBride.
Bobby Dewbre was set to graduate from Flathead Valley Community College with a welding certificate before he was hit by a drunk driver while waiting for his sober ride.
To ensure no other family experiences the grief they do, Beth McBride and her daughter Carli Dewbre decided to start Montana Bar Fairies.
Hevenn Vanh
“My daughter drove by a bar early in the morning on her way to work and she saw some cars in the parking lot. And she called me up and she said, ‘Mom I wish there was a way that we could thank people for not drinking and driving, for leaving their cars,’” McBride recalls.
The nonprofit began in Kalispell almost a year ago, but an increase in DUI-related accidents in Gallatin County brought the Bar Fairies to Bozeman.
“There seems to be a desire for the community here to say, ‘You know what? We’re done.’ It’s over. We’re not accepting drunk driving anymore. It’s time to save lives,” says McBride.
According to the Gallatin County DUI Task Force, Gallatin County consistently ranks in the top five most dangerous counties in Montana for impaired driving—with Bozeman Police issuing a majority of all DUIs in the county.
Bozeman’s Bar Fairies chapter director and MSU student, Patricia Hinchey, says there’s no better time to start their work in Bozeman than the weekend of Cat-Griz.
“Sunday morning, we’re going to be going really early and placing coffee cards on cars, around downtown, in the parking lots, along the streets. And so, if you’re lucky, you might get a coffee card thanking you for not drinking and driving after the Cat-Griz game,” Hinchey says.
Included with each coffee card is a card with a story of someone who lost their life to a drunk driver. Patricia says they’re looking for Bozeman families willing to share their story, as well as more volunteers.
“We want to take Montana from the worst state for DUI fatalities to zero. And we need the community’s help to do that,” says McBride.
Contact Hinchey for help with Bozeman’s chapter at Patricia@montanabarfairies.org
Learn more about Montana Bar Fairies at their website.
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.
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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