Associated Press

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Propane users may be heating their homes more cheaply this winter than they have for many years. Large petroleum inventories have caused prices to plummet, and that’s good news for many rural residents who heat with propane. “It’s kind of nice to see a smile on a face,” propane distributor David […]

DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) — The attorney for a Lead man accused of killing a woman is seeking to have some evidence disallowed at trial. The Rapid City Journal reports ( ) that defense attorney Ellery Grey maintains police violated the rights of 44-year-old James Rogers Jr. when they searched his apartment. Authorities allege that Rogers […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Attorney General Marty Jackley says three Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies involved in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect who later died were justified in firing their weapons. Jackley’s report also says 31-year-old Rory Gunderman, of Sundance, Wyoming, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, not from a bullet fired by one […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Ellsworth Air Force Base has opened a community center that will serve as a gathering place for airmen and their families. The 5,100-square-foot facility is the centerpiece of a $64 million construction project that when complete will add 214 homes to the base near Rapid City. Base officials held a […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The Bureau of Indian Affairs is changing the way it sends money to South Dakota’s Lower Brule Sioux Tribe amid allegations of financial mismanagement by the tribe in recent years. The BIA said in a letter to the tribe that it plans to distribute money for contracted social services and […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The Bureau of Indian Affairs plans to change the way it sends money to South Dakota’s Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, amid allegations of financial mismanagement by the tribe in recent years. The Argus Leader reports ( ) the BIA plans to distribute money for social services and other programs on […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A state prison inmate has been placed on escape status after walking away from a minimum-security lockup in Rapid City. Corrections officials say 24-year-old Salvador Ortiz left the Rapid City Community Work Center without authorization about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Ortiz is serving a 4-year sentence for burglary in Pennington County.

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota State University will be offering a new master’s degree aimed at helping organizations manage workforce planning and leadership development. The South Dakota Board of Regents approved the master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology this week. It’s a subdiscipline of psychology that applies research to improve the well-being and performance of […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Several South Dakota newspapers pre-dating 1922 are now available on a national online database. The South Dakota State Historical Society says newspapers from Canton and Yankton are now part of the Chronicling America project, a Library of Congress initiative to develop an online database of select historical newspapers from around the […]