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The Hastings College Choir, under the direction of Dr. Fritz Mountford, performs our realization of a simple canon, or round, by the early America singing master, William Billings.

"The Billings Gazette," a Montana newspaper that endorsed President Obama over John McCain in 2008 (but went with Romney in 2012) admitted Friday that they were wrong -- Obama is in fact worse than his predecessor, George W. Bush. Apparently, the potential collapse of Iraq (and the disastrous worldwide consequences sure to follow) was the last straw. "[W]e were wrong," the editorial page notes,"We said things couldn't get much worse after the sub par presidency of George W. Bush. But, President Barack Obama's administration has us yearning for the good ol' days when we were at least winning battles in...

A 12-year-old girl suffered burns to one side of her body when a flash grenade went off next to her as a police SWAT team raided a West End home Tuesday morning. "She has first- and second-degree burns down the left side of her body and on her arms," said the girl's mother, Jackie Fasching. "She's got severe pain. Every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes." Medical staff at the scene tended to the girl afterward and then her mother drove her to the hospital, where she was treated and released later that day. A...

Although Mitt Romney has virtually locked up the Republican presidential nomination and all of his serious challengers have conceded the race, presidential candidate Fred Karger is still out on the trail campaigning. Karger, a gay Republican running an issues-based campaign to change attitudes within the GOP about same-sex marriage, took his efforts last week to Utah, which holds the nation's last primary election, on June 26. Karger spent four days in the state, meeting with local Republican leaders and urging the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to stop funding efforts against gay marriage. (Prior to launching his presidential...

So, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, with temperatures forecast at 6 degrees below zero, will there still be a long pre-dawn line for wristband passes to Sarah Palin’s book signing? “You betcha,” say Palin fans, who will vie for a limited number of slots to the former Republican vice presidential nominee’s noon appearance Dec. 8 at Borders Books in Billings. “We’re going to probably have that big Kodiak pickup flagged up around midnight,” said Eric Olson of the conservative group Montana Shrugged. “The doors open at 9 a.m. to get the rubber bands.” Clutching copies of the politician’s...

BILLINGS - American Police Force officials showed up in Mercedes SUV's that had "Hardin Police" stenciled on the vehicles. The twist, the city of Hardin doesn't have a police department. Two Rivers Authority officials say having APF patrol the streets was never part of their agenda. "I have no idea. I really don't because that's not been a part of any of the discussions we've had with any of them," said Two Rivers Authority's Al Peterson. As it stands now the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department is contracted to patrol the city and APF has no jurisdiction. If that was...

Here is video from CBS News of the 911 call made in the murder of Florida couple Byrd and Melanie Billings, who were shot to death seven weeks ago. The report plays the 911 call, and shows animation of what the surveillance video shows of the killings. A judge will not allow the actual video to be released. Eight suspects have been arrested in the case. . . . . . . . (Watch Video)

PENSACOLA, Fla. — The attorney for the family of a slain Florida couple said Wednesday they made a small donation to a martial arts program run by one of the men accused of killing them. Byrd and Melanie Billings were shot to death earlier this month during a break-in at their home west of Pensacola. The couple was known for adopting 13 special needs children. One of the suspects in the slaying, Leonard Gonzalez Jr., told investigators he had opened a martial-arts studio with financial help from the victims, according to court records released Monday. But family attorney Crystal Spencer...

Here is a video report this morning giving new details on the murder of Florida couple Byrd and Melanie Billings, the couple with 16 children - many of them adopted and with special needs. An eight suspect has been arrested, and this report says CBS News has confirmed that the DEA is investigating possible drug ties to the crime. CBS also reports that the Billings may have been having financial problems, and had actually sued their own son for child support after taking in their son's child. No link is made between that and the crime. An interview with the...

PENSACOLA, Florida — Eight people have been charged in a precisely executed, deadly break-in at the Florida home of a couple with 13 special needs children, but authorities are still seeking at least one more accomplice who they believe failed his assignment to disable the house's surveillance system. Footage taken by the cameras helped lead investigators to the suspects in last week's shooting deaths of Melanie and Byrd Billings, who were known for adopting children with disabilities. The videos showed masked men — some dressed as ninjas — slipping into front and back doors at the home. Police on Wednesday...

Here is video from Nancy Grace last night where the murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings, a Florida couple with 16 children, was discussed in detail. Officials are now looking for up to eight suspects thought to be involved in the murders. Four suspects are already in custody. Reports say they were dressed in "Ninja-style" clothing and conducted the assault on the home with "military precision." The Billings had adopted 12 of the children, most of them with special needs like Autism and Down's Syndrome. . . . . . (Watch Video)

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Byrd and Melanie Billings had a growing brood of adopted children with autism, Down syndrome and other disabilities, and took care to make their nine-bedroom house a safe place for them, wiring it with surveillance cameras in every room. It was those cameras that captured images of the masked men who shot the wealthy couple to death in a break-in executed with chilling precision.

-snip- Day laborer Wayne Coldiron, 41, turned himself in to Escambia County authorities and Leonard P. Gonzalez Jr., 35, was arrested in neighboring Santa Rosa County, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. Earlier Sunday, authorities charged Gonzalez's father, Leonard P. Gonzalez Sr., with evidence tampering. Police said the 56-year-old tried to paint over and hide damage on a red van that was spotted on surveillance video leaving the home where Byrd and Melanie Billings were shot to death Thursday. Eight of the couple's children were asleep in the house when the shootings took place. -snip-

Authorities have made an arrest in the killings of a Gulf Coast couple known for adopting special-needs children, a sheriff's spokesman said Sunday. Byrd and Melanie Billings are seen surrounded by their children. Investigators announced Saturday night that two people were being questioned in the killings of Byrd and Melanie Billings, who were found dead in their Beulah, Florida, home Thursday night. Sgt. Ted Roy, a spokesman for the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, told CNN that one person had been arrested Sunday afternoon. Eight children found in the Billings home were unharmed and were being cared for by relatives at...

The Rutherford Institute is suing a Billings, Montana, school over a graduation decision. John Whitehead, founder of the Institute, says many people were scheduled to speak at the 2008 Butte High School graduation. Some chose serious subjects, others humor, he says. "Renee Griffith, who is a Christian, wanted to mention Christ once and mention God once in one of her very short remarks, and the school said she couldn't do it," he explains. "She [insisted she] wanted to do it, so then they actually removed her from the graduation ceremony and did not allow her to speak." According to a...

It was a long, cold night for Duke, a 16-month-old St. Bernard who froze to the ice on a pond at the Peter Yegen Jr. Golf Club.

A city police officer was awarded $1.3 million in damages this afternoon by a District Court jury that found merit in all claims by him that supervisors retaliated against him when he reported alleged misconduct within the Billings Police Department. The verdict was announced at 4:35 p.m. after 11 hours of deliberations over two days. The trial that spanned eight days and included testimony from numerous witnesses, including Mayor Ron Tussing, City Administrator Tina Volek and top officers in the Police Department. In the lawsuit filed last year, Officer Steve Feuerstein claimed his career was stalled when and his supervisors...

Confused Tourist Lands in U.S., Not Australia BERLIN (Dec. 29) - A 21-year-old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in the Australian metropolis Sydney landed 13,000 kilometres away near Sidney, Montana, after mistyping his destination on a flight booking Web site. Tobi Gutt planned on flying from Germany to sunny Sydney, Australia, left. He mistakenly booked a ticket to snowy Sidney, Montana. Big Sky, Montana, is shown at right. Dressed for the Australian summer in t-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany Saturday for a four-week holiday. Instead of arriving "down under," Gutt found himself on a different...

Sheep don't mix well with grizzly bears and wolves. Now they won't mix at all on more than 70,000 acres in the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness. A 74,000-acre sheep grazing allotment south of Big Timber in the Gallatin National Forest has been permanently closed and the ranchers who used it for generations have been paid to move their sheep elsewhere... The agreement is the eighth -- and second-largest -- in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in recent years that has led to the retirement of about 300,000 acres from grazing. The latest involves the Ash Mountain and Iron Mountain allotments used for generations...

...Most of the focus in Katrina's wake has been on oil prices, one reason the Bush administration has waived some fuel emission standards and released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But just as worrisome to America's economic health are rising natural gas prices. Even before Katrina, the Energy Information Administration was projecting natural gas prices of $10.50 per MMBtu. As recently as 1992, prices were about $3.50. Fortunately, America has extraordinary reserves of natural gas located right off its coasts. Unfortunately, the environmental lobby has helped maintain a federal moratorium that puts 85% of what is known as the...