KTALK AM 1340 NEWS 8/27/08

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A Rapid City man has been put on probation for starting small fires in a men's restroom at Western Dakota Technical Institute. Ethan Fougner pleaded guilty earlier to one count of reckless burning. He initially faced three counts of reckless burning, which is a felony. Fougner could have been sent to prison for 30 years. His probation period was set at four years. Authorities arrested him for setting fires at the technical school on June 10, 2004, and this year on May 1 and May 5.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A Rapid City man who pleaded guilty to mistreating animals won't have to pay for the care of 22 dogs that were nursed back to health. A judge says Chad Cooper was convicted on just two counts and must pay only for the cost of treating two dogs. Cooper was earlier put on probation for two years and had 145 days of a one-year jail sentence suspended after spending 223 days in jail before being released on bond. The prosecutor wanted Cooper to pay $16,000 in restitution for the 24 Alaska malamutes found at his home and nursed back to health. The judge will decide next week how much Cooper must pay in restitution for two of the dogs.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A third man has been charged in connection with the 1975 slaying of American Indian Movement member Anna Mae Pictou Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Vine Richard Marshall -- better known as Dick Marshall -- of Rapid City entered a not guilty plea yesterday to aiding and abetting first-degree murder. Marshall was an AIM leader and served 24 years in prison for the March 1975 shooting death of Martin Montileaux. Another AIM leader, Russell Means, was acquitted. Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud was convicted in 2004 and is serving life in federal prison. John Graham is scheduled to stand trial in October in Rapid City. Marshall was implicated by his wife during testimony at Looking Cloud's trial.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - According to a circuit judge in Pierre, two state lawmakers can testify for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging South Dakota's education funding system. Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur says state Senator Ed Olson of Mitchell and Representative Jim Putnam of Armour can testify about the adequacy of state education funding.

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - A Crofton, Nebraska, man charged with murder in the death of a Yankton man is to be arraigned tomorrow. The lawyer for 29-year-old Shane Tweedy says new information has come to light that caused yesterday's scheduled arraignment to be postponed.

WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) - A not-guilty plea and a November trial for a Watertown minister accused of having child pornography on his computer. Facing the charge is Dennis Hayes of St. Martin's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - West Nile disease in humans has been detected in five more South Dakota counties. They include Meade, Dewey, Grant, Bennett and Miner counties.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A wildfire that was started by sparks from power lines has been contained north of Oahe Dam. The blaze, which began Tuesday, consumed an estimated 800 to 1,000 acres, or roughly one and a half square miles. It took firefighters nearly 12 hours to corral the prairie fire.

ABERDEEN, SD (AP) - High fuel prices are escalating busing costs for schools across South Dakota. The Aberdeen School District is estimating a $31,000 increase in those expenses, which grow to around $240-thousand. The school district's closest athletic conference competitor is Huron, which is 90 miles away. The Central Cobblers play host to Aberdeen Friday night in the opener for both football teams.

WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) - A delegate to the Democratic National Convention says South Dakota got a raw deal in terms of seating at Denver's Pepsi Center, sitting way off to one side of the arena. A delegate says that former Senator George McGovern, who endorsed Obama, quipped that perhaps state Democrats voted wrong in Senator Hillary Clinton's primary win. Kay Solberg of Watertown says the party will unite behind Barack Obama. Rapid City alderman Malcom Chapman is one of the state delegation leaders in Denver.

The Republican Convention begins next week in St Paul, MN.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The Ralph Nader campaign has turned in about 8,200 signatures to get the consumer advocate's name placed on the presidential ballot in Wyoming in November. Wyoming law requires the signatures of 3,868 registered voters for a candidate to qualify for the ballot. The Secretary of State's office is reviewing the Nader signatures to make sure they belong to registered voters.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The Dakotas have the nation's lowest participation rate for students taking the SAT test. The rate in both states is 3 percent of graduating high school seniors. In South Dakota, 277 seniors who graduated last spring took the test, while in North Dakota, the figure was 256.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The company that manages the Sioux Falls bus system says it will pay workers an estimated $250,000 in back pay and other compensation. The payoff will end an acrimonious 2-year fight between the employees' union and the management firm.

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) - Brookings-based Daktronics had a 37 percent jump in profit in its first quarter. The company earned nearly $10 million, or 24 cents a share.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The Haakon County town of Philip is scheduled to be South Dakota's Capital for a Day tomorrow. Governor Rounds and his Cabinet will be in Philip to meet with residents, both jointly and one-on-one.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A town hall meeting on the Farm Bill will be held at the South Dakota State Fair on Saturday at Huron. The state's entire congressional delegation, the state agriculture secretary and state Farm Service boss will all be on hand for the discussions.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Can a South Dakota school district stop a radio station from doing play-by-play on out-of-town games? A judge will decide that issue in Pierre, where the school board wants to keep KCCR Radio from broadcasting "away games." The school district says Dakota Radio Group, which owns KGFX Radio in Pierre, has exclusive rights to the games - at home and away.

(AP Stories Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)