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"integrity of the secretary of state's office has been damaged and much of the public have lost faith in it."
• In that same letter, Krebs said the biggest risk to the GOP goal of winning every statewide office was the secretary of state race.
• Gant insisted Krebs' challenge didn't play a role in his decision not to run.
• "I'm confident, had I decided to run for another term, I would have been successful in both the primary and the general," Gant told the Argus Leader.
•

• PHOENIX (AP) -- The U.S. Marshals Service says a man convicted in South Dakota of firearms charges and on the run for more than 15 years has been arrested in Arizona.
• The service says members of a task force arrested Steve Charles Durant without incident Tuesday in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. He was living under an assumed identity.
• According to the Marshals Service, Durant had been a fugitive since 1997, when he escaped from a community transition program after being released from prison.
• Durant was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison after being convicted in 1991 in federal court in South Dakota on charges related to the unlawful possession and transfer of automatic weapons.
• He awaits extradition to South Dakota.
•

• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- The Pierre City Commission has approved hiring a company that will start work on a possible indoor sports facility and events center in South Dakota's capital city.
• The city will pay Icon Architectural Group $55,000 to find private partners, locate possible sites, produce designs and a timeline and study possible financing.
• After the work is completed, if the city decides not to continue, it'll recoup $16,500 from Icon, which has developed similar facilities in North Dakota and Nebraska. If city officials move forward, the $55,000 will go toward the design and construction of the facility.
• Icon project manager Kirk Simet said the initial work could be finished in a little more than a month if things go well.
• The city is looking to replace the City Auditorium, a run-down facility that closed more than two years ago because of structural safety issues.

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