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promotion officials say this could be one of the best years ever for the tourism industry in western South Dakota.
• The Rapid City Journal (http://bit.ly/LQfYIT ) reports that shopkeepers, visitor industry officials and operators of tourism attractions report inquiries and reservations are up substantially from this time a year ago.
• In Deadwood, inquiries are up 20 percent from last year, reaching a level as high as when HBO's "Deadwood" series first aired in 2004. And total traffic from January through April at Mount Rushmore National Memorial was up 27 percent from the same period last year.
• George Milos of the Deadwood Chamber of Commerce says it seems that people are thinking about traveling because they are more comfortable with the economy and gas prices have leveled off.

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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The two Democrats seeking South Dakota's lone seat in the U.S. House disagree on whether taxes should go up at the end of the year when the tax cuts passed about a decade ago are due to expire.
• Matt Varilek, a former staffer to Sen. Tim Johnson, and Minnehaha County

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