Latest South Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

UNEMPLOYMENT SD's October unemployment rate rises PIERRE, S.D. (AP) New figures show South Dakota's October unemployment rate was 5 percent, up from 4.8 percent in September.

The national jobless rate is 10.2 percent.

South Dakota's Labor secretary, Pam Roberts, says South Dakota's rate has been around 4.8 percent to 5 percent the past several months. She says small-scale layoffs continue but that some employers have resumed hiring.

The state's October 2008 unemployment rate was 3.2 percent.

FINANCIAL RANKING South Dakota gets good financial ranking PIERRE, S.D. (AP) According to a release from Gov. Mike Rounds, a new report by the Pew Center on the States shows that South Dakota's state government is tied for ninth best in the nation when it comes to balancing the budget.

The state Constitution requires a balanced budget, and Rounds credits the Legislature with taking that role seriously and being "fiscally prudent." The Pew study gave South Dakota state government a score of 12 on a scale that considers 30 to be the most fiscally imperiled and zero to be the most fiscally sound. New Mexico and West Virginia were tied with South Dakota.

Rounds will unveil his annual budget proposal to the Legislature on Dec. 8.

POET-CELLUOSIC ethanol Poet reduces cellulosic ethanol production costs SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) Poet LLC, the nation's top ethanol producer, says it is has reduced its cellulosic ethanol production cost during the past year from $4.13 per gallon to $2.35 per gallon.

The Sioux Falls-based company plans to produce 25 million gallons of ethanol each year from plant waste typically left behind in farmers' fields at its Corn ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

A pilot-scale plant in Scotland, S.D., has produced about 20,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol since it began operations a year ago Wednesday.

Privately held Poet says it has reached the cost savings by reducing energy usage, enzyme costs, raw material requirements and capital expenses.

PROFESSOR DEATH Settlement in death benefits lawsuit SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) An out-of-court settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over life insurance benefits for professor Morgan Lewis, who was found dead of a single gunshot wound on the Northern State University campus in Aberdeen five years ago.

Lewis' domestic partner, James Buck, sued for $150,000 in life insurance benefits and other damages after insurance benefits were denied because investigators determined the death was a suicide. He is the beneficiary of the estate.

Details of the settlement were not disclosed. A federal judge signed an order Monday to dismiss the suit.

Police initially labeled Lewis' death as suspicious. Sixteen months later they classified it a suicide.

CONSTRUCTION DEATH SD construction accident victim identified DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. (AP) A Sioux Falls man who died in a construction site accident in southeastern South Dakota has been identified as 27-year-old Gabe Koenigsfeld.

Koenigsfeld was a sports standout at Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock High School in Iowa, and a former South Dakota State Football player. He earned an Iowa state title in the discus in 2000.

Authorities say Koenigsfeld died Tuesday morning when an embankment caved in on him at the work site in Dakota Dunes, just south of Sioux Falls. They did not identify him but his family in Marble Rock, Iowa, confirmed that Koenigsfeld was the victim.

His sister Amanda said Koenigsfeld and his wife, Stephanie, were expecting their first child.

Information from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/ HARRISBURG SCHOOL Harrisburg school building project approved HARRISBURG, S.D. (AP) Voters in Harrisburg have overwhelmingly approved a $14 million building project.

Unofficial returns from Tuesday's election show 607 votes in favor and 296 opposed, or 68 percent approval. The bond measure in the school district on the south side of Sioux Falls needed 60 percent approval to pass.

The project involves building a fourth elementary school. It is to open in 2011.

This school year Harrisburg grew by about 300 students, pushing the student population past 2,200. More than half of Harrisburg's student population is in the elementary grades.

FORT PIERRE WATER VOTE Fort Pierre voters approve rural water deal FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) Residents of Fort Pierre have approved buying water from a rural system.

Unofficial results from Tuesday's election show 351 votes for the plan and 210 votes against, for an approval rating of 63 percent. The City Council was to meet Wednesday night to canvass the votes.

The election was on whether Fort Pierre should buy water from the West River-Lyman Jones Rural Water System. The City Council approved the agreement last summer, but it was referred to a public vote.

Supporters say that while the agreement will mean higher water rates, it will improve the quality of city water. Opponents said the city's current well water supply is fine and residents cannot afford higher water rates.

Information from: KCCR-AM, http://www.todayskccr.com/ DOG DEATH REWARD Wyo. man offers $1,500 reward for dog's killers PIERRE, S.D. (AP) A Wyoming man is offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to whoever shot and killed his beloved dog while he was on a hunting trip in central South Dakota.

Mac Mackaben found his 7-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Little Kit Carson, dead in early August.

Mackaben said Little Kit was a purebred trained to rescue avalanche victims. He found the dog dead on a rural road near where he was staying with friends and got so upset he vowed never to return to South Dakota or go hunting again.

Mackaben said his family and friends helped him change his mind.

Hughes County Sheriff Mike Leidholt says his office has run out of leads in the dog shooting case but is willing to look again if the reward brings new information.

Information from: Pierre Capital Journal, http://www.capjournal.com (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-18-09 1101CST | save this article / add to your favorites list