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• The features being renamed apparently got their original names because a man lived in the area with two Native American women, Whiting said.
• The 2001 South Dakota Legislature passed a law to start eliminating offensive names, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has since changed the names of 20 places in the state. Another state law passed in 2009 listed 15 names that hadn't been changed and created the new state board to tackle the job.
• However, the federal board has deferred action on some name changes, partly because it said the state had not sufficiently involved the public in renaming geographic features.
• Next, the state board will seek new names for some places in Custer County, located in the southwestern corner of the state.
• Whiting said tribal officials also would like to see something done about places with names that do not meet the official definition of offensive, but bother Native Americans. Some places named for military officers sent to the area to subdue American Indians more than a century ago should also be known by their Lakota names, she said.
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• MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The University of Minnesota has proposed that it take over Fairview Health Services, the system that operates the university's teaching hospital, a move that could pre-empt a merger between Fairview and Sanford Health.
• University President Eric Kaler outlined the proposal in a letter to Fairview executives that the school released Thursday. Fairview has run the university's medical center since 1997. Kaler says he'll meet with Fairview executives next week.
• The disclosure comes ahead of a hearing at the Capitol on Sunday on the potential merger between Minneapolis-based Fairview and Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health. Attorney General Lori Swanson says she's concerned about an out-of-state organization taking over the Twin Cities' second-largest hospital and clinic chain.
• Fairview and Sanford Health officials have said their talks are only in the early stages.
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