SIOUX FALLS, SD – Lawyer Ryan Kolbeck typically doesn’t deal with legal questions about hunting licenses. The criminal defense attorney did field multiple calls on the topic in the days following the Nov. 8 election, however. They started coming in shortly after it became clear that South Dakota voters had voted to reject the legalization […]

SIOUX FALLS, SD – The widow of a slaughterhouse worker who died after contracting COVID-19 is challenging the constitutionality of a South Dakota law that preemptively absolves employers of liability for exposing workers to the virus. The South Dakota Department of Labor (DOL) used the law this summer to justify denying the worker’s compensation claim […]

PIERRE, SD – The South Dakota House of Representatives elected its leadership team for the 2023 legislative session, a week after their counterparts in the Senate did the same. Members of the 94-member GOP supermajority’s more moderate faction came out ahead in both chambers. Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels, Watertown, was elected to replace […]

WHITE RIVER, SD – A rural western South Dakota school district is one of several across the country to receive a surprise donation from billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. White River School District got $1.5 million from Scott about a month ago. Scott, who has a 4% stake in Amazon, has donated just under $2 billion over […]

SIOUX FALLS, SD – The public had a second opportunity to speak to the South Dakota Board of Education about proposed changes to the state’s social studies standards on Monday at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. The in-person comment session came after nearly 1,000 people submitted written testimony, and dozens of educators braved the cold to […]

RAPID CITY, S.D.  – Brandon Tyon, 43 of Rapid City, was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for “possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.” Besides 18 months in prison, Tyon will also serve three years of supervised release. Tyon pleaded guilty to the firearms charge in August. In January 2021, was caught using methamphetamine. […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City police say they no longer are looking for Dustin Way in connection with the deadly shooting in North Rapid Sunday night. In a release Wednesday, police say they have made contact with 30-year-old Way. He is the second person police were looking for. They also made contact earlier this week […]

SCOTLAND, S.D. –  Two people died and another person was seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday night north of Scotland. Names of the four people involved have not yet been released pending notification of family members. Preliminary crash information indicates that a 2010 Kenworth T800 semi-truck and trailer was traveling northbound on South Dakota […]

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Health reported 847 new cases of COVID-19 over the past week. In their weekly report, health officials noted 616 active cases and 72 hospitalizations. There were 41 new hospitalizations reported this week. Eight new deaths sent the state’s death toll since the pandemic began to 3,096. Across […]

STURGIS, S.D. – The Meade County Commission yesterday passed second and final reading of a new ordinance that will add some teeth on building a shooting range within the county. The ordinance was drafted in response to plans by the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks to build a 400-acre public shooting range in southeast […]