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• "I seek this as a great start in investing in post-secondary and higher education" Tidemann said.
• The six universities have a total budget of $805 million this year, with $168 million of that coming from state general funds. The four technical institutes have a total budget of $21.5 million, with nearly all of it coming from state appropriations.
• The bill also notes that higher education's goals are to increase the number of graduates for the state's workforce and to boost the state's capacity for research and development. A new council would be set up to monitor progress toward those goals.
• The council would include the governor, members of the Legislature and education officials. Lawmakers made it clear the council would not interfere with the Board of Regents constitutional responsibility to govern the universities or the state Board of Education's legal power to regulate the technical schools.
• The legislative panel also approved bills that would require the state Labor Department to report job placements for state university graduates and would require state agencies to report how university graduates perform on licensing or certification examinations.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota's winter wheat crop is about 43 percent emerged, but behind last year's pace and the five-year average.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its weekly crop and weather report that winter wheat is rated at 21 percent very poor, 32 percent poor, 44 percent fair and 3 percent good. By this time last year, the crop was 98 percent emerged and the five year average is 97 percent emerged.
• Cattle conditions are rated at 72 percent good to excellent, 25 percent fair and 3 percent poor.
• Precipitation was a bit more widespread this past week with nearly all locations receiving some moisture and about half the stations reporting above average precipitation. Vermillion had the highest total for the week at 0.51 inches.
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