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deal with the high cost of propane.
• Daugaard says propane prices in South Dakota have doubled to more than $4 a gallon in the past few weeks due a shortage caused partly by cold weather.
• The governor says some people in the Low Income Energy Assistance Program could have trouble buying propane as their tanks run low. He says reserve money in the program will be used to help families who have less than $400 remaining in their assistance accounts.
• For example, people with $400 remaining in their account could get an additional $400 so they can buy 200 gallons of propane at a cost of $800.
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SD panel moves to remove 'squaw,' keep 'Negro'
NORA HERTEL, Associated Press
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- A legislative committee approved a bill Friday that allows use of the word "Negro" in South Dakota place names but makes it clear that the word "squaw" should be removed from all locations.
• Joe Nadenicek, a member of the state board responsible for getting rid of offensive names, was pleased with the vote.
• "I've been working with this issue since 2001," said Nadenicek, a staff attorney with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "I'm happy to be working toward a level of closure."
• The Legislature previously passed laws requiring the renaming of a list of geographic features that included the terms "Negro" or "squaw." The state Board on Geographic Names has been working to find new names for such creeks, dams, lakes and other features. But black leaders in Sioux Falls told the board last fall that the term "Negro" is not offensive and should continue to be used to recognize South Dakota's African-American heritage.
• The Senate State Affairs Committee voted unanimously Friday for a bill that specifically declares the word "squaw" offensive and bans its use in place names. The bill also would remove references in previous law to specific features that were to be renamed because their names included the word "Negro."
• Porter Williams, curator of the South Dakota African American History Museum in Sioux Falls, said the measure was exactly what black leaders want.
• "We did not want to diminish our history in South Dakota," Williams said in a phone interview after the committee meeting.
• The removal of "Negro" would be "erasing the history and contribution of African Americans," said Sen. Chuck Jones, R-Flandreau, the bill's main sponsor.
• Jones, a member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, said many people have (Continued on page 26)
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