Tuesday,  August 14, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 031 • 26 of 38 •  Other Editions

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ground, DeSersa and others struck him several times, including with a baseball bat. The victim died as a result of the injuries.
• DeSersa was remanded to the custody of the U.S. marshal's office.
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Precipitation, cooler temps help SD farmers

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Precipitation and cooler temperatures have brought some relief to South Dakota farmers, as many began cutting recently released CRP acres for hay this past week.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its weekly crop and weather report

that temperatures were below average over much of the state for the first time since early June. Precipitation was fairly widespread, but generally light.
• Topsoil moisture was rated at 13 percent adequate, 36 percent short and 51 percent very short.
• About 77 percent of corn has reached the dough stage, compared to 22 percent last year and 27 percent for the five year average. Barley is 95 percent harvested.
• Cattle conditions improved slightly with 69 percent rated in the good to excellent range, 27 percent fair, and 4 percent poor.
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Oil boom brings scarcity of workers in small towns
SEAN MURPHY,Associated Press

• WOODWARD, Okla. (AP) -- The local prison is so short on guards that inmates can sometimes just walk away. A gas station barely has enough cashiers to keep up with the trucks filling the parking lot. And "help wanted" signs seem to hang from every restaurant and shop.
• Yet almost no one is interested in the jobs.
• This is the flip side of the nation's oil and natural gas boom. Although the expansion of drilling has breathed economic life into many small Oklahoma towns, the lucrative opportunities are also drawing people away from traditional service-sector jobs and even once-coveted state positions.
• The result: Many businesses and government agencies now struggle to find enough workers. Most able-bodied people can double or triple their income in the oil patch.
• "If you can walk and breathe out here, you can get a good job," said LaVern Phillips, president of the Industrial Foundation in Woodward. The county's unemploy

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