The Bad: Jails and prisons filled with repeat DUI offenders.

The Good: Innovative programs such as electronic monitoring bracelets that keep convicted drunk drivers off our roads and highways by sending computer signals that alert law enforcement when one of the wearers has been drinking.

The Best: A legislative appropriation that will provide another $400,000 to purchase an additional 300 bracelets, an investment that will save lives as well as the costs associated with incarcerating DUI offenders.

The Good: Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band that performed for the airmen of Ellsworth AFB and their families on Feb. 1 as part of a USO entertainment tour. Sinise is best known for the "Forrest Gump" role of the band's name and his "CSI: New York" television series. This is the actor's 26th USO tour.

The Good: The $5,000 Opportunity Scholarships that help keep the best and the brightest of South Dakota's high school students in the state for college.

The Bad: A proposal to lower the bar on ACT scores for Opportunity Scholars from 24 to 23 that passed the Senate Education Committee .

The Ugly: Lowering academic standards on one scholarship pool ultimately diminishes the value of the whole higher education system.

The Bad: High gasoline prices that hover around $3 per gallon and only threaten to go up, not down.

The Good: Eligible VA Health Care patients got an increase in their reimbursement for travel for medical care in the 2008 Veteran Affairs Appropriations Act which should alleviate some of the economic strain of traveling to and from VA facilities.

The Ugly: Until it was raised to 28.5 cents per mile on Feb. 1, the VA 's travel reimbursement rate was 11 cents per mile.

The Good: The McLaughlin City Council's approval of a domestic-violence shelter, the Pretty Bird Woman House, in McLaughlin's downtown area.

The Bad: The jurisdictional issues between tribal and city law enforcement agencies that could threaten security at the only shelter for battered women on the Standing Rock Reservation.

The Ugly: The lack of essential police services and the scarcity of law enforcement dollars that threaten the safety and security of all people on tribal reservations.

Correction

The Jan. 28 Good, Bad & Ugly incorrectly stated Rapid City Council President Malcom Chapman's position on the public discussion of city travel expenditures. The Feb. 11 council retreat, where aldermen have agreed to revisit the travel policy, is open to the public.