Good morning, Rapid City.

Shoppers at Breadroot Natural Foods Co-op rounded up their bills from April through June to raise $5,552.10 for the Black Hills Parks and Forests Association, which supports four National Park Service sites and three USDA Forest Service partners (the check was presented on July 14 at 100 East Blvd. North).

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s Steel Across America tour made its 26th stop at Mount Rushmore to honor 9/11’s 25th anniversary by showcasing a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center + the tour continues its journey nationwide.

South Dakota Mines received a $3.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to lead RAPID-REE, a project that will develop advanced technologies for mapping critical minerals and support domestic supply chains as part of a national ARPA-E initiative.

Rapid City Area Schools is scheduling bond information meetings in the coming months before the vote, and Superintendent Jami Jo Thompson said the sessions will answer community questions directly.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor released today shows extreme drought expanding across far western South Dakota.

All of Lawrence and western Meade counties (including Sturgis) are in extreme drought, while parts of Pennington, Custer, Fall River, Jackson and Bennett counties face severe conditions and central Meade shows moderate drought.

Crews are battling the Duhamel Fire north of Wall, which burned 531 acres and is 50% contained near Duhamel Flat Road (winds were 25-30 mph), while the Bender Fire is 80% contained after burning 48 acres and the Potato Creek Fire is 30% contained after burning 9,000 acres.

Box Elder residents may soon keep chickens after a committee approved a proposed ordinance that sets rules for permits, lot sizes, coop standards (it also bans roosters).

The proposal now moves to City Council for review.

On Wednesday night, the Post 22 Hardhats defeated the Post 74 Bandits 13+3 at Fitzgerald Stadium, with key plays from the Reeder brothers and Josh Elder, while Rapid City Post 320 lost 7+2 to Sioux Falls West after a 2+0 start.

Today at 1:00 p.m., Post 320 faces Watertown.