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This Hour: Latest South Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment

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SCHOOL FUNDING

SD lawmakers urged to boost school funding

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Officials representing South Dakota school districts say a legislative panel should look at boosting state financial aid to schools.

Rob Monson of the South Dakota School Administrators Association says the legislative study committee should consider recommending an increase in state funding, not just an adjustment in the way money is divided among schools.

The Education Funding Formula Study Committee is charged with looking at how the funding formula affects high school graduation rates, how technology affects education and why many school districts have decided to opt out of state property tax limits.

Committee members say those tasks will likely involve a look at overall state financial aid to school districts.

The committee plans to meet again July 29th through 30th.

REGENTS-UNIVERSITY CENTERS

Report: enrollment down at 2 university centers

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Board of Regents says enrollment at 2 of the state's off-campus university centers dropped during the last academic year.

University Center-Sioux Falls served 3,117 students over the past year, a decrease of 2.5% from the prior year.

Capital University Center in Pierre reported a 25% decrease in the number of credit hours in the 2012 through 2013 academic year to 2,112 total credit hours. Total unduplicated headcount also decreased by 14%.

In its first full year of classes at its new location, University Center-Rapid City saw its credit-hour delivery increase 1.2% to 21,693 hours in the 2012-2013 academic year.

The state's three off-campus centers reported program delivery and enrollment figures Wednesday to the Board of Regents at the board's monthly meeting in Vermillion.

MACHETE THREAT

Man accused of threatening 2 with machete

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Police in Pierre say they've arrested a Rapid City man for threatening two people with a machete.

KCCR radio reports that officers were called to a Pierre motel just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Pierre Police Captain Elton Blemaster says the 29-year-old man was holding a machete with an 18-inch blade when he threatened to cut off the heads of a 38-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, both from Pierre.

Police say the suspect ran off but was found a few blocks away with the machete concealed in his pants. He was booked in the Hughes County Jail on two charges of aggravated assault.

LINDBERGH MARKER

Lindbergh landing site marked north of Pierre

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The site of a 1927 Charles Lindbergh landing north of Pierre has been recognized with a historic marker.

KCCR radio reports that Lindbergh came to South Dakota during his nationwide stop of capital cities following his historic flight to Paris. Community dignitaries honored Lindbergh that day with a celebration, a parade and other activities.

The Pierre-Fort Pierre Historic Preservation Commission's Don Zeller says Lindbergh's trip aimed to show people that aviation was the wave of the future.

Zeller says it has taken about two years to raise the money needed for the marker. He says it is an important part of the city's history.

A dedication of the new marker will be held later.

NATIVE MOB-MURDER

Native Mob member sentenced for murder

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A member of a Native American gang has been sentenced to 43 years in federal prison for shooting and killing a fellow gang member.

Shaun Martinez was sentenced Wednesday in Minneapolis U.S. District Court.

Martinez pleaded guilty in December to one count of murder resulting from using a firearm in a violent crime.

In a plea agreement, Martinez admitted that he shot and killed Jeremee Kraskey in south Minneapolis in February 2011 to keep him from giving information to law enforcement.

Martinez was part of a federal case filed against 25 members of the Native Mob. Prosecutors accused gang members of using violence and intimidation to keep the gang in power.

Authorities say the gang is most active in Minnesota and Wisconsin but also in Michigan and the Dakotas.

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