Thursday,  July 5, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 357 • 12 of 25 •  Other Editions

Crews fully contain Highlands Fire in WY, SD

• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Fire crews have fully contained the Highlands Fire burning in southwest South Dakota and northeast Wyoming, and made progress on the White Draw Fire in South Dakota's Black Hills.
• The Highlands Fire destroyed five structures including two homes between Newcastle, Wyo, and Custer, S.D. It scorched about 400 acres.
• The White Draw Fire has reached nearly 9,000 acres but the Great Plains Fire Information office says it is now 80 percent contained.
• Gov. Dennis Daugaard asks that all flags in South Dakota be flown at half-staff

Thursday to honor four North Carolina National Guard airmen who died in the crash of a C-130 air tanker helping battle the White Draw Fire last weekend. Two other airmen were injured in the crash.

Nebraska relatives recall airman killed in crash

• BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska family members of one of the four airmen killed in a plane crash while fighting a wildfire in South Dakota say he always wanted to serve his country.
• KMTV-TV reports (http://bit.ly/MylkZi ) that family members say Maj. Ryan David (dah-veed) was a Bellevue native who leaves behind a 10-year-old son. They say he was deployed six times by the Air Force, including to the war in Iraq.
• David was one of four members of the North Carolina National Guard who died when their C-130 crashed Sunday while fighting a wildfire in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The cause is under investigation.
• David's cousin says he was "always ready and willing to serve." His aunt says he was a big guy with a teddy bear for a heart.

Wheat, corn, soybean stocks down in Dakotas

• FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Wheat, corn and soybean stocks are down in the Dakotas compared to a year ago.
• The Agriculture Department says in its most recent reports that wheat stocks in North Dakota total 69.1 million bushels, down 22 percent. The 23.6 million bushels stored in South Dakota is down 3 percent from 2011.
• Corn stocks are at 166.3 million bushels in South Dakota and 48.3 million bushels in North Dakota, down 3 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
• Soybean stocks are down 17 percent in South Dakota to 24.5 million bushels,

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