SOUTH DAKOTA STATE NEWS HEADLINES!!!

(11/20/09) HURON, S.D. (AP) - One of Tulsa, Oklahoma's most-wanted fugitives has been arrested by Huron police. The Beadle County State's Attorney's office says several felony charges against 30-year-old Jerri Lynn Goff are being dismissed and that Goff is being extradited to Oklahoma. Officials say Goff had used various names to try to obtain services in Beadle County.

(11/20/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A 22-year-old man, Ross Big Eagle, has been indicted for a crash that resulted in the death of a Pierre man and a passenger's unborn child. Court papers say Big Eagle was the driver when the vehicle crashed, killing a 28-year-old passenger and another passenger's unborn baby. He faces two vehicular homicide charges.

(11/20/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A Dakota Cash ticket sold in Rapid City has all five winning numbers from Wednesday night's drawing. Whoever holds the ticket has won more than $110,000. No one has come forward to claim the prize.

(11/20/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A Fort Pierre man with 10 lifetime arrests for driving under the influence has been sentenced to five years in prison for his latest one. Devern Peck was sentenced for his guilty plea to a fourth DUI. Court officials say not all the DUIs throughout the years had been prosecuted and some had been dismissed.

(11/20/09) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin says the decision whether to send more troops to Afghanistan is secondary to the question of what the U.S. mission is. The South Dakota Democrat says the nation has a clear national security interest in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan because they can provide safe haven to terrorist groups.

(11/20/09) MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - Court documents say the apparent slaying of a Mitchell teenager might have been sparked by romantic jealousy. Twenty-year-old Alexander Salgado and a 15-year-old girl are charged with murder in the case. Authorities believe a body found in the trunk of a burned car is that of 16-year-old Jasmine Guevara, though the remains haven't been positively identified.

(11/20/09) UNDATED (AP) - The uncertainty over weekly allotments of a limited supply of H1N1 vaccine has complicated efforts to organize immunization clinics and distribute it to hundreds of providers in the Dakotas. South Dakota's secretary of health says not everyone who wants the vaccine has had a chance to get it yet.

(11/19/09) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - More than 19,000 households have already applied for a program to help pay winter heating bills. That's more than the number of households that received help last winter.

(11/19/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Attorney General Marty Jackley says seniors need to be cautious during a new enrollment period for Medicare Part D. He says there might be some scams out there to collect private financial information or charge application fees that should not be charged.
(11/19/09) BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota State University in Brookings will add a minor in nuclear engineering. Educators say it will make graduates more attractive to employers in fields like health care, homeland security, and nuclear medicine.
(11/19/09) UNDATED (AP) - The state's best high school girls volleyball teams are preparing for a noon opening of the state tournaments.  The big-school teams are playing in Brookings, while the Class A and Class B tournaments are in Watertown.

(11/19/09) WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) - Officials of Glacial Lakes Energy of Watertown say the ethanol maker is expanding its Mina ethanol operations. The expansion is expected to be done in four to six months and cost about $2.75 million. It will include construction of a 6,000-bushel-per-hour corn dryer and increased on-site storage capacity.

(11/19/09) RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Rapid City airport officials say no one was injured yesterday when engine failure forced a small plane off a runway by about 1,200 feet. The pilot had problems in the air and tried to make an emergency landing. The pilot wasn't hurt and didn't hit any structures.

(11/19/09) ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - When the Aberdeen Regional Airport loses a flight in January, the afternoon departure time will be gone as well. Airport officials tried to keep a late afternoon or evening flight time when daily flights decrease from three to two, but a Delta official says it won't happen. Aberdeen is served by Mesaba Airlines, a Delta Connection carrier.

(11/19/09) ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - Two men have pleaded guilty in the robbery of the First State Bank of Warner last spring. Luis Castillo and Fernando Reyes will be sentenced in February. A third defendant is expected to plead guilty next week. Court documents show the men stole about $85,000 and moved bank employees into a vault and restrained them.

(11/18/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds says a new report by the Pew Center on the States shows that South Dakota's state government is tied for ninth best in the nation when it comes to balancing the budget. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget, and Rounds credits the Legislature with taking that role seriously and being "fiscally prudent."

(11/18/09) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A complaint filed in federal court in Sioux Falls says some penitentiary inmates have been denied their right to a parole hearing. The case involves 17 inmates who received a life sentence before 1979 -- when a law creating the sentence of life without parole took effect. The state denies the claims and has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
(11/18/09) JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) - A coalition of Midwestern states including South Dakota is studying the creation of a college-credit exchange that could make it easier for some people to finally earn their degrees. The project would create a central location for people to store the college credits they have received from multiple institutions. Schools then essentially would bid for the opportunity to enroll students for the completion of their degrees.
(11/18/09) DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. (AP) - Authorities say a 27-year-old Sioux Falls man is dead after an embankment caved in on him while he worked at a construction site in southeastern South Dakota. The man was unloading wall forms into the ground for a basement with other workers yesterday at the Dakota Dunes site when portions of the embankment gave way.
(11/18/09) CANTON, S.D. (AP) - The LifeLight Christian music festival has a new home. Starting next Labor Day weekend, the festival will be held on a 220-acre farm east of Worthing. It had been held near a water park west of Sioux Falls. The LifeLight board approved the new location yesterday.
(11/18/09) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The Sioux Falls City Council is getting its first look at the final plan for a new event center that would be home to hockey, basketball and indoor football. Opponents want to know how the city plans to pay for the center, which is estimated to cost between $137 million and $169 million. It would replace the aging Sioux Falls Arena.
(11/18/09) RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Rapid City officials want to continue the city's deer hunt. A state Game, Fish and Parks Department survey last month counted 282 deer compared with 325 in 2008. But the department says that number is still high enough to continue hunting them. Officials say the goal is to keep the deer at a manageable level.

(11/17/09) BELVIDERE, S.D. (AP) - Authorities in southwestern South Dakota believe a van parked between a house and garage caught fire yesterday and spread, killing a couple inside the home. The victims were 80-year-old Thomas Carrico and his 79-year-old wife, Helen.  The blaze in Belvidere destroyed four vehicles, a camper and a garage as well as the house.

(11/17/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Foul play is not suspected in the death of a Pierre man whose body was found floating in the Missouri River north of Pierre and Fort Pierre yesterday. Sixty-five-year-old Ronald Wham had been missing since Nov. 7.
(11/17/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - State lawmakers are having legislative staff prepare a summary that explains a committee's recommendation for substantial increases in taxes used for roads. Last month, a study committee recommended a 10-cent-a-gallon increase in the state gas tax, a 1 percent increase in the excise tax on vehicle sales, and a boost in the annual vehicle registration fee.
(11/17/09) VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) - A Mount Rushmore National Memorial spokesman says Superintendent Gerard Baker is on medical leave and an acting superintendent has taken over for the next several weeks. John Scott was brought in from Arkansas, where he's superintendent at Pea Ridge National Military Park. Scott could be in the temporary Mount Rushmore job until mid-December.

(11/17/09) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Last week's dry weather is helping farmers in South Dakota. The Department of Agriculture says 93 percent of the soybean crop has been harvested. Corn is still way behind the five-year average, though. Just 27 percent of the corn has been harvested.

(11/17/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gains in the stock market could give the state budget a boost. State Investment Officer Matt Clark says two trust funds that aren't providing any money for the current budget likely will be able to contribute money next year. He says the two funds have earned about 14 percent so far this budget year.
(11/17/09) FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Fort Pierre's mayor hopes for a large voter turnout at tomorrow's special election. Voters will decide whether the city should buy rural water or keep what they have.

(11/16/09) BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP) - Regional Health of Rapid City plans to sell three Belle Fourche nursing homes to a Minnesota company.  Regional Health Chief Operating Officer Tim Sughrue says the Fox Family Trust has agreed to buy the properties and lease them to Mission HealthCare LLC, of Jordan, Minn.

(11/16/09) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The U.S. attorney for South Dakota, Brendan Johnson, will chair an American Indian issues subcommittee that reports to the nation's attorney general. The subcommittee makes policy recommendations on public safety and legal issues in Indian country and implements the Justice Department's Indian country policies.

(11/16/09) BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Agriculture Department says sunflower crops could set yield records this year in the Dakotas -- the top two producing states. That could help blunt a drop in nationwide production and ensure a healthy supply for processors in the U.S. and Canada.

(11/16/09) DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) - The grocery store in the historic Black Hills gambling town of Deadwood is closing at the end of the month. Blondie's IGA says fewer customers, high utility costs and competition with other stores in the area prompted the move.

(11/16/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The state Game, Fish and Parks Department is reminding hunters they can't use salt licks or bait to attract deer. The department says some retailers sell various big-game baits and lures that are illegal to use in South Dakota.

(11/16/09) ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - A man convicted of injuring a federal officer in a 2008 shooting has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison. Forty-three-year-old Kelly Ward of Little Eagle was convicted of assault, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

(11/16/09) PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A man faces a federal indictment in an October slaying at Cherry Creek on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Court documents show A'bleza Skyler Oakie, also known as Skyler Oakie, is charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Orville Marrowbone on Oct. 21.

(11/16/09) DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) - The historic Black Hills gambling town of Deadwood is losing its grocery store. Blondie's IGA says fewer customers, high utility costs and competition with other stores in the area has led it to close its doors at the end of November