• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars officials have taken over management of the Rapid City post after a dispute over selling the club.
• The five board members of Post 1273 resigned earlier this week after club members voted against a motion to sell the building, which has a bar and restaurant.
• Board member Doug Stulken tells KOTA-TV he resigned because the VFW is going bankrupt and it's too hard to manage.
• Rick Barg, state adjutant and quartermaster for the VFW, tells KNBN-TV that the post has been placed under suspension in order to keep it open.
• Barg says a few holiday functions will be held as scheduled in the next couple of weeks.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- A deployment ceremony is being held for about 160 South Dakota Army National Guard soldiers who are going to Afghanistan.
• The ceremony for the 1742nd Transportation Company is being held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Harrisburg High School. Speakers include Gov. Dennis Daugaard, U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem and Maj. Gen. Tim Reisch (RYSH), adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard.
• The unit will deploy to Afghanistan for a year-long tour. Its mission is to provide transportation of cargo and bulk water and fuel products. The unit's headquarters is in Sioux Falls, with a detachment in Flandreau.
• The unit will train in Fort Hood, Texas, for several weeks before going overseas. This is the third mobilization for the unit, which was also deployed to Iraq in 1990-1991 and 2003-2004.
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• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- The National Audubon Society's 114th annual Christmas Bird Count begins Saturday.
• Counts around the country will run through Sunday, Jan. 5.
• The western South Dakota and Black Hills of Wyoming region will host at least 12 bird counts, 10 of which are official counts that contribute data to the National

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