Montana

‘Uncomfortable’ position: How, why Marshals held out versus Billings

Published

2 years ago

May 20, 2024

‘Uncomfortable’ position: How, why Marshals held out versus Billings

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Roughly half of the Rapid City Marshals roster left the team on Friday, Co-Owner Wes Johnson tells KOTA News.

Team ownership notified players this week that moving forward they will only get paid $250 per game – that’s the 25% agreed upon in the contract between the team and the Arena Football League. As a result, nearly a dozen players quit.

Wages have been the primary concern from players all season, not only in Rapid City but across the country. It’s what ultimately led to last Saturday’s game, May 11, against the Billings Outlaws to be forfeited.

CONTEXT: Marshals players ‘refuse’ to come out of locker room

On Monday of this week, KOTA News heard from former players Tim Lukas and Brian Villanueva on what made them hold out against Billings, and do it the way they did.

”We’ll do anything to play this game, and we’ll believe anyone that tells us really good things,” Lukas said. “The more that we started seeing cracks in the walls and some of the things that seemed like they were getting ignored by a lot of people, the more it became apparent that we had to act on it.”

Marshals players started brainstorming how they wanted to send a message several days before last Saturday’s game. While it remains unclear what exactly those conversations looked like between players in private, it’s known that the timing of their actions were deliberate.

“Things were getting dragged out in previous weeks and we wanted to make sure that you know decisions were made you know quicker, and that was part of the strategy,” Villanueva said. “If it was truly about making sure that we were taking care of the players than I felt like there would have been a game played, honestly.”

READ: Hear from Marshals ownership as AFL receives backlash

Players whole-heartedly believed that the team ownership would meet their requests and pay them in full before kickoff against the Outlaws. That did not happen.

The Marshals wanted to make a statement, loud and clear, and the end result was felt by their peers across the league.

“A lot of the guys were proud that we stepped up and that we stuck together as a team to write a message to the entire league,” Lukas said.

“Had we not done it in that way, I don’t think it would have been felt as strong,” Villanueva continued.

Although players thought that not playing was the right move, ownership believed otherwise. Forfeiting the game against Billings put the franchise in a “really uncomfortable” financial position, according to Marshals Co-Owner Wes Johnson.

“Wes usually tells us how much time he spends with this organization, and knowing that there’s not a lot of personnel or resources in the building, I know that they both (Wes and Rebecca) are working extremely hard on it,” Lukas said.

Looking back on all of this, Lukas is happy he came to South Dakota, but thinks that if he would have done more research, some of these issues wouldn’t have come as a surprise.

“I wish I would have dug a little bit further into some of the people who are at the very top, running the AFL, just for my own peace of mind,” Lukas said. “But as far as having regrets, I don’t have any regrets.”

On Tuesday of this week, league owners unanimously voted to appoint Jeff Fisher to AFL interim commissioner. Fisher is a former NFL head coach and serves as the president of operations for the Nashville Kats. This move pushes out former league commissioner Lee Hutton.

MORE: Jeff Fisher named interim commissioner of AFL

In addition to league front office changes, many teams have undergone schedule reconstruction to help with scheduling logistics among the teams left in the league. This will take several weeks to finalize, according to Chris Chetty of G6 Sports Group.

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Montana

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

Published

2 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

14 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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