Top articles shared by The Billings Gazette journalists

A lot of animals in the path of Montana's fires are going to need a lot of hay. With more than 300,000 acres incinerated and an untallied amount of hay destroyed, ranchers in the burned areas will need help feeding their livestock, disaster and agriculture officials say.

Traffic at Clapper Flat Road and Buffalo Trail is closed to traffic and is being controlled by Yellowstone County Sheriff's Department.

Calling his sentence "outrageous and illegal," former Billings school bus driver Timothy Whalen has appealed his case to the Montana Supreme Court. In an appeal filed last week, Whalen argues that he should be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas related to his convictions for driving a school bus drunk and striking a student in a crosswalk.

A water main burst on Broadwater Avenue early Tuesday, creating a 20-by-20-foot crater at Broadwater and Fourth Street West.

When the order came on June 26 to evacuate Ashland because of the fast-moving Ash Creek fire, residents of Heritage Living Center, an assisted living facility primarily for Northern Cheyenne elders, had to go, too. Nineteen of the residents spent the first night at the Boys and Girls Club in Lame Deer, sleeping in chairs or on the floor.

A 34-year-old Billings man accused of stabbing his girlfriend in the ear with a key was charged Monday in District Court.

A man who was driving drunk with his wife and daughters in the vehicle when he drove through a downtown intersection and crashed into a parked car admitted to charges Monday in District Court.

A 21-year-old man who stabbed his landlord during an attack on his girlfriend was sentenced Monday in District Court. Dustin Greg Kaufman, 21, received concurrent sentences of 10 years with the state Department of Corrections, with five years suspended, for felony charges of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

A Billings man who was ordered four months ago to serve a six-year suspended sentence for shooting a man at a house party in 2009 is back in jail.

A man who admitted to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl at a downtown shelter was sentenced to prison Tuesday.

A roof leak over the weekend left the gym floor at Skyview High covered in water.

A pedestrian was seriously injured Wednesday morning when a pickup truck left the street and struck him as he walked on a downtown sidewalk.

Randy Clark choked up as he talked about how much Sadie, his border collie-blue heeler, loved the dog door he built for her last year. He could walk outside through the sliding glass door and leave it open, but Sadie would proudly push through her own little door alongside it.

A 42-year-old Billings man denied a felony charge Friday alleging he kicked his 13-year-old son in the groin.

Billings police shot and killed a man who fired on officers early Thursday at a downtown convenience store, Chief Rich St. John said.

CODY, Wyo. - When William F. Cody talks, people listen. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center on Saturday opened its new $2.7 million exhibit on the life and times of its namesake figure. Visitors were greeted at the door by Cody himself, or at least a man who bore a striking resemblance on camera to the Western icon.

An attorney for Billings School District 2 is seeking the release of confidential criminal justice records to help the district decide how to respond to a $750,000 claim related to the rape and death of a student.

A spring storm was moving in as several Billings homicide detectives descended on Coulson Park. The body was face down in the Yellowstone River, about six feet off the bank, where it was found by two men coming off the water from an afternoon canoe outing.

HELENA - A man has been charged with threatening President Barack Obama after he reportedly told Secret Service agents that he planned to kill the president and everyone else he believes is responsible for his wife's death.

A Billings couple accused of a knife attack on the man's ex-girlfriend were arraigned Thursday in District Court. Wayne Allen Bryant, 32, and Barbara Anne Gaught, 30, appeared before Judge Mary Jane Knisely by video from the county jail. Both denied a felony charge of assault with a weapon.