(Continued from page 15)

35 mph that day, with gusts that reached 44 mph.
• Blue Bird now wears oven mitts to lift heavy objects, so his skin doesn't peel. Burns scars cover his left ear, left leg, and abdomen. The two smallest fingers on his left hand fused together, and he now shies from direct sunlight.
• Blue Bird said a friend pulled him out of the flames and beat the fire out with his hands, as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Someone called an ambulance that drove him to Pine Ridge's hospital, where medical staff sedated him. He awoke almost three days later at a burn center in Greeley, Colo., with a breathing tube in his throat.
• Blue Bird's attorney, Tom White of Omaha, filed a tort-claim notice with Sheridan County and the Rushville Fire Department in April. White said Thursday that the no

tice triggers a 6-month waiting period before Blue Bird can file the lawsuit, so local authorities have a chance to seek a settlement.
• White, a former Democratic state lawmaker who is also representing the tribal government in its lawsuit against the Whiteclay beer stores, said firefighters did "a very poor job" of checking the area before they lit the fire.
•

• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- A mountain lion has been put down after injuring a family pet in Rapid City.
• The Rapid City Journal reports (http://bit.ly/LJGUou ) that police were called to the residence on Saturday morning to find the lion hiding in a machine shed. Police shot and killed the 1-year-old female lion.
• Police say the cat swiped at the family's dog causing minor injuries to the animal.
• The lion was the second cougar shot by Rapid City Police in eight days. The first was a 2-year-old, 84-pound female reported by a motorist who had seen it crossing Omaha Street shortly after midnight on June 15.
• Police shot the cat in a parking lot, after getting authorization from South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks.
•

• HOT SPRINGS, S.D. (AP) -- Calista Kirby of Brookings has been crowned Miss South Dakota.
• The 23-year-old will represent the state at the Miss America pageant in January.

(Continued on page 17)