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inexperienced freshman, but Phillips didn't mind.
• "It was just a great experience for me," Dupree said.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- March 31 marks the official end of the season for the statewide snowmobile trail system.
• Black Hills Trails District supervisor Shannon Percy says grooming operations began in full force on the season opener and crews have been consistently grooming throughout the season. Grooming operations will continue as long as snow conditions allow until March 31.
• Trails Program specialist Tony Schmitt says conditions were not as ideal in the eastern part of the state. He says a majority of the East River trail systems didn't receive the necessary snowfall for trail grooming.
• The best trail conditions this season were in the Brookings, De Smet and Lake Poinsett areas.
• The program is funded by snowmobile users through license registration fees, fuel tax reimbursement and an excise tax on the sale of snowmobiles.
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• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Donations from an American Indian tribe in Minnesota totaling nearly $1.4 million have helped tribes in the Great Plains deal with a winter propane crisis.
• The Shakopee Mdewakanton (mehd-WAH'-kuh-tuhn) Sioux Community provided grants to the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota and South Dakota; the Yankton, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota; and the Santee Sioux in Nebraska.
• A nationwide shortage of propane over the winter pushed up the price of the fuel to the point where many reservation residents couldn't afford it. The problem was particularly acute on Standing Rock, where about 5,000 homes on the 3,600-square-mile reservation rely on the fuel for heat.
• The Shakopee tribe runs a charitable grant program. Chairman Charlie Vig says officials felt compelled to help fellow tribes get through the winter.
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