The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana • 1

TODAY'S WEATHER 32 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009 2009 The Billings Gazette 123rd year, No. 287 -j. 10 Mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries in the area Complete forecast 8B LOCAL EDITION "zr; i A f) ill I OVERCOMING THE SLUMP Steven Davis' hot shooting keeps Skyview in the hunt for AA tournament berth 1C TIM-BITTEN AT BST Voices take strange turns in farce ID CROW TRIBE LAYOFFS 180 seasonal workers let go early IB N.Y. airplane crash kills 49 people Gregg won't seek job at Commerce sr i-rr m. i uup senator aiTTerswitnuDama policies gregg Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y.

Authorities say 49 people are dead after a commuter plane crashed into a home in suburban Buffalo and erupted in flames late Thursday. State police spokeswoman Rebecca Gibbons confirmed early today the 48 deaths aboard Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air. Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonet said the crash also killed one person on the ground. The Q400 Bombardier aircraft Associated Press WASHINGTON Saying "I made a mistake," Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire abruptly withdrew as commerce secretary nominee Thursday and left the fledgling White House suddenly coping with President Barack Obama's third Cabinet withdrawal.

Gregg cited "irresolvable conflicts" with Obama's policies, specifically mentioning the $790 billion economic stimulus bill and 2010 census in a statement released without warning by his Senate office. At a news conference in the Capitol, he sounded more contrite. "The president asked me to do it," he said of the job offer. "I said, That was my mistake." Obama offered a somewhat different account from Gregg. Please see Gregg, 8A Associated Press A plane burns Thursday after it crashed into a house in Clarence Center, N.Y, near Buffalo.

New York state police say it was a 50-passenger Please see Crash, 8A commuter plane. mats, a Setting up annual wrestling tourney is a symphony of sorts Maintain analog, FCC tells TV stations Mandate will cost local station $16K for power, general manager says By JAN FALSTAD Of The Gazette Staff rtfc but- nl -J .1... 9 III LARRY MAYERGazette Staff Wrestlers from Senior, Skyview and West arrange mats Thursday for the state wrestling tournament at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. The annual tournament starts this morning. All class meet to be held More wrestling coverage If you go Your converter box is hooked up.

You're ready to tune in to digital TV and receive the four Billings-area stations through your old ana-logset. Not so fast. The Federal Communications Commissionpulledtheplug Thursday on the early switch from analog to digital for 123 of the 491 stations in the United States that were ready to convert Tuesday. In Billings, all four network broadcasters had planned to turn off their analog signals Feb. 17, the original deadline set by Congress several years ago.

That deadline has since been pushed by Congress to June 12. After years of planning, the last-minute decision frustrated KULR-TV General Manager Bruce Cum-mings. "What's disappointing to me is the Billings market is pretty ready to go," Cummings said. "We've done a good job of educating people on what to do." The stations already have been broadcasting both digitally and in analog, the only way many older TV sets can receive a signal. news director Jon Stepanek said local stations have done a good job over the past two years of helping people get ready to convert.

"In the end, we and probably the viewing public are frustrated with this situation, but it was a mandate, so we'll make the best of it," Stepanek said. KTVQ.will continue to broadcast analog signals until June 12, he said. That is also the plan station manager Sandra Zoldowski at ABC (KSVI) and Fox (KHMT) adopted Thursday. However, she said her corporate owner, Nexstar Broadcasting of Irving, Texas, will make the final decision on when to drop analog. For the past week, the local stations have been scrambling to comply with the latest regulations, including producing new Please see Digital, 7A Tickets are available at the box office at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark or at the door.

Adult two-day passes are $20. Single-j day passes are $12, or $7 after 7 pm Student two-day passes are $16. Single-day student I passes are $10, and the 7 pm pass is The tournament starts with a parade of athletes at 930 am today and wraps up with championship finals at 6 pm Saturday. walls of the upper deck, where results for each class and division will be posted throughout the tournament. Sulser has been volunteering for the tournament since he retired in 1996.

His favorite part of the weekend is catching up with friends from his days as a teacher, coach and administrator. For 30 years, Sulser was a teacher and football and basketball coach in Glasgow, where there is a long wrestling tradition. Many of the Glasgow fans, parents and wrestlers are the children and grandchildren of his former students. "It's been lots of fun over the years," Sulser said. The highlight of his weekend is sure to be the AA matches in the 140-pound class.

His at Metra for 21st straight year By LAURA TODE Of The Gazette Staff Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark swarmed with activity Thursday in preparation for the Montana state wrestling tournament, which begins today and continues through Saturday. By 9:30 a.m., the arena will be filled to the rafters with fans, and the floor will be covered with a parade of high school wrestlers from every comer of the state. Behind the scenes, about 300 volunteers are working to make the event go smoothly. Local high school wrestlers provided the muscle for moving mats, and once those were in place, a few boys playfully grappled while others helped to tape the colorful mosaic together. -Volunteers then cleaned and sanitized the mats and set up scorekeeping tables and electronics.

Scales for official weigh-ins were certified and set up in the Montana Pavilion. "Every year, I'm always amazed by the number of people who show up and give their time," said Dave Williams, Billings School District athletic director and the event manager. With a roll of duct tape and a tape measure, Sid Sulser, 76, meticulously hung signs on the For a guide to this years tournament including a schedule of events and results from the 2008 event see the special section Class B-C Glasgow is on track for more honors, 1C Class Havre looks to continue dominance with 3rd consecutive team title, 5C r1li To see video highlights of early matches Please see Wrestling, 7A tournament go to gazprepsports.com 24-HOUR NEWS AND WEATHER UPDATES i 1 Classified 7E Deaths .68 Markets J4A Opinion Comics Enjoy ID Movies -7D TV COMING SATURDAY: The Gazette's Dream Dates reader write-in contest. Life Goldsmith Galls-n r. uczen Koses wim every vcennne rurcncse ffr rx Diamonds and Fine Jewelry Spj.yX iLjji; iSj, jlA Jit, Qp Making men heroes everyday of the iceeki.