• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The Federal Communication Commission says a retooling of a federal fund used to subsidized telephone service will help expand rural broadband Internet access.
• But a South Dakota official says the new $4.5 billion Connect America Fund is actually hindering expansion in the state.
• Public Utilities Commission Chairman Chris Nelson says companies are backing off from future fiber optic projects because of uncertainty in the commission's funding formula.

• The FCC in November adopted reforms aimed at bringing the Universal Service Fund into the digital age. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says the old fund had become inefficient and wasteful, and it was leaving very large parts of rural American behind.
• Genachowski says 44 percent of South Dakota's rural population lacks high speed Internet, and the new fund will help expand access.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Balls will be flying this week as softball players from 30 states converge on Sioux Falls for a national tournament.
• More than 110 teams are expected to compete in the ASA/USA Girls' Class A Under-14 Fast Pitch National Championship. The one-week tournament kicks off Sunday with opening ceremonies. Play begins Monday at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls.
• The championship games are scheduled for Aug. 5, which is also Sioux Falls Appreciation Day. People get in for free on that day.
• Day passes for other tournament days start at $5.
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• GOSHEN, Conn. (AP) -- Dozens of Native Americans wore the traditional garb of their ancestors, sang songs and beat drums on a western Connecticut farm Saturday in celebration of the birth of one of the world's rarest animals -- a white bison.
• The miracle calf was officially named Yellow Medicine Dancing Boy at the elaborate ceremony at the Mohawk Bison farm in Goshen in the state's northwestern hills. It was born June 16 at the farm of fourth-generation farmer Peter Fay.
• Many Native Americans consider white bison a symbol of hope and unity; some

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