Montana

Working together to protect kids from lead in schools

Published

2 years ago

June 2, 2024

Working together to protect kids from lead in schools

The dangers of lead exposure for children are well known and many schools across Montana have made great strides to protect students and staff from lead in drinking water. But a number of Montana schools have not yet taken action and the possibility of lead in school drinking water continues to be a serious concern.

Children are particularly at risk because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults and the risks from lead include anemia, kidney and brain damage, as well as learning disabilities and decreased growth.

Because children spend a large share of their childhood in schools, it is extremely important to provide safe drinking water. Some schools may not even be aware of the danger because even when water entering a building meets safety standards for lead concentrations, older plumbing within schools could contribute to elevated lead levels in the drinking water.

In Montana, testing for lead began in 2020 in accredited K-12 schools where students can get drinking water. As of April, 487 school facilities (buildings) have tested for lead out of 591 in the state, leaving 104 schools — in both large and small communities — that have not yet completed the testing.

Fortunately, funding and assistance is available to help make sure all Montana schools can first test their drinking water and then take preventative steps if needed to eliminate any dangerous levels of lead.

For testing, an EPA grant supports free sampling for lead in drinking water for any Montana school. The schools can hire someone to do the testing and invoice the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

For schools where lead tests exceed the state standard, we supported and helped pass an amendment during the 2023 Legislature that provides funding that will cover the cost of labor and supplies for new faucets, drinking fountains or water bottle filling stations. Using this state program, we can work with parents, local communities and schools to keep our schools and children safe.

Here are the details: The Legislature approved $3.7 million for the replacement program which is available to any school that needs to upgrade its water drinking facilities. Each school building qualifies for up to $100,000 to replace water faucets, water fountains and purchase new bottle filling stations, with up to a quarter of this amount available for labor costs.

The funding should help most schools greatly improve their drinking water. According to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, a bottle filling station costs roughly $2,500 and faucets run from $300-$500 each.

One of the major challenges now is to help the remaining schools test and fix their drinking water as needed. Parents, teachers and school administrators should check with Montana Department of Environmental Quality for more information, or contact any of us, to learn the status of their school and how to participate.

Lead is a danger to our children’s health, but working together we can address this problem and help ensure that our kids learn in a safe and secure environment.

Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre, Rep. Melissa Romano, D-Helena, Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula.

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Montana

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

Published

1 hour 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

13 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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