Montana

Pondering bringing the family together in Montana

Published

2 years ago

July 23, 2024

Press Room

Pondering bringing the family together in Montana

Lisa Schmidt
| Special to the Great Falls Tribune

Two years ago when I heard the words tumbling from my mouth, they seemed like a great idea.

All of my cool, out-of-state cousins could come to the ranch for a long weekend and enjoy some Montana-style fun.

Of course, back then I had plenty of time to repaint the peeling trim on the house, repair the crumbling rock wall, clear the clogged septic system, and plant an abundant garden next to a verdant lawn.

This idea sparked from an uncle’s birthday party. My cousin, Brent, managed to bring all of us together for an afternoon, despite long distances and threadbare family fabric. At the impromptu after-party, cousins who had not seen each other for years discovered we all liked one another. Even better, we wanted to see each other again.

My ranch seemed like a perfect place for a reunion.

They would have to make more of an effort than I – it isn’t easy to get to Conrad, Montana, even if it is the true epicenter of the universe.

Still, I wanted my cousins to be impressed, not live my reality.

By last week, I could flush the toilet.

The rest of my vision was fading fast.

The hot sun and wind sucked the grass dry, my tomatoes were still recovering from a late frost and I could pick peeling paint from the house trim as I walked past the windows.

So much for putting my best foot forward.

So I shifted my goals from appearing to embrace conventional societal standards to refraining from poisoning people I love with my potato salad.

Fortunately, my brother brought the potato salad.

The thermometer in the shade pointed to the 90s.

My guard dogs growled sometimes.

People said it was too far to walk to the tepee I set up inside an old tepee ring far from the house so they could enjoy the isolated beauty of the prairie — although the kids managed to skip and jog the entire three-quarters of a mile.

I realized that other people choose convenience over isolation and shade over sweat.

Oh.

Right.

That meant I needed to modify my plan to set up a shooting range a half mile from the house.

Instead, my shop became the shady visitors center from which to fire at targets.

Their rifles came out one day, pistols the next.

Despite these blips in my interpretation of cultural norms and expectations, we all had a good time.

The kids swam in the creek while adults sat under a few shady chokecherry bushes.

The wagon ride to the sheepherder’s monument compressed a few passengers’ vertebrae, but they comprehended the scope of the landscape.

Some of us reviewed progress on my building remodeling project.

Others fed the orphan lambs.

We took turns playing cornhole, trash-talking when necessary.

We learned that a competitive spirit just might be a shared dominant gene.

We relived childhood stories and recounted successes and failures of adulthood.

Nobody mentioned the peeling paint.

We all ate too much.

People made supper and even cleaned up my kitchen.

Everyone contributed.

Best of all, we talked about our plans for the future.

Those plans included seeing one another again.

We wove the threads of our various lives into our family fabric again – fabric not quite yellow twine strong, but definitely as tough as wool yarn.

Our next family reunion is now scheduled for next August, at a family tree farm in Oregon. All I need to do is show up, wash a few dishes and weave threads into an even stronger family fabric.

I can do that.

Meanwhile, I give it 50-50 odds on whether my house trim will be painted and the rock wall repaired by then.

Lisa Schmidt raises grass-fed beef and lamb at the Graham Ranch near Conrad. Lisa can be reached at L.Schmidt@a-land-of-grass-ranch.com.

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Montana

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

Published

4 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is running for Montana’s Western Congressional District seat, entering the race a day after U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced he would not seek reelection.

Jacobsen’s announcement sets up a new contest for the open seat after Zinke, a Republican, said he would seek reelection.

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“As your Secretary of State, I’ve stood up to Washington overreach, defended election integrity, and delivered real results for Montanans. In 2020, voters gave me a mandate to clean up our elections, grow Montana business, and push back against radical liberal special interests. I delivered. Now it’s time to take that same results-driven, America First leadership to Congress.”

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

16 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Montana

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

Published

1 day 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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