• ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Businesses that move products on the Mississippi River continue to seek the government's help as the river approaches historic lows.
• The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday began reducing the outflow from an upper Missouri River reservoir to ease drought conditions in that part of the country.
• The move will reduce the amount of water flowing into the Mississippi River and could mean further restrictions on barge traffic by early December, or perhaps even closure of the river from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill.
• Ann McCulloch of the trade group the American Waterways Operators says restrictions or closure could cost businesses millions of dollars.
• Companies and trade groups are asking the corps to restore the flow, and to expedite removal of rock formations in the Mississippi that impede barge traffic.
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• SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) -- The South Dakota Department of Agriculture is hosting a free seminar this week about treating mountain pine beetles in the Black Hills.
• The session will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hudson Hall in Spearfish. The goal of the seminar is to help landowners understand the various options for finding and treating infested trees.
• The seminar will be presented by forest entomologists Kurt Allen of the U.S. Forest Service and John Ball of South Dakota State University and SDDA.
• Information will be presented on the how, when and why of treating infested trees this fall and winter. The workshop will also address how to identify trees attacked by mountain pine beetle and separate those from ones attacked by other pine beetles.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Chillier temperatures are greeting South Dakotans returning home after a long holiday weekend away.
• While some areas of South Dakota saw near-record highs on the days leading up to Thanksgiving, temperatures have dropped significantly over the past few days

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