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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has re-elected Gary Hanson as its chairman.
• The vote was held among the panel's three commissioners -- Hanson, Chris Nelson and Kristie Fiegen -- at the commission's meeting on Tuesday. Nelson was elected as vice chairman.
• Hanson is serving his second six-year term on the commission. He was first elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2008. He has also served as mayor of Sioux Falls from 1994 to 2002 and as a South Dakota state senator for three terms.
• Hanson says he appreciates the confidence of the other two commissioners their goal is to assure South Dakotans have safe, dependable and affordable utilities.
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• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- The passage by North Dakota voters last November of a comprehensive indoor smoking ban has boosted the state's grades in an annual tobacco "report card" from the American Lung Association.
• North Dakota got two A grades -- for smoke-free air and for funding tobacco control and prevention programs above the federally recommended amount. Last year the state got a C for smoke-free air.
• Two other grades remained unchanged over the year -- a C for helping state employees and North Dakotans on Medicare quit smoking and an F for the state's cigarette tax.
• South Dakota's grades remained unchanged from last year. The state got a B for smoke-free air, a C for its cigarette tax, a D for cessation programs and an F for tobacco prevention and control funding.
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• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- A fatal shooting in the parking lot of a Rapid City motel was a drug deal gone bad, Pennington County's lead prosecutor said.
• Charles Birdshead, 30, is charged with manslaughter and commission of a felony with a firearm in the Jan. 7 death of Eustacio Marrufo, 33, at the South Dakota Rose Inn. Birdshead was arrested Monday and made his first court appearance Tuesday. Magistrate Judge Heidi Linngren ordered him held without bond, the Rapid City

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