Tag Archives: South Dakota

The Rapid City Journal reports: The Rapid City Council voted 9-1 on Monday night to move a mask-optional ordinance to a second reading with council member John Roberts voting no. The majority of the public attending the meeting did not wear masks despite a mask requirement while in city buildings. There were also three police officers present as well as …

The Hill reports: North Dakota’s coronavirus mortality rate is the highest of any U.S. state or country, according to an analysis of data from last week conducted by the Federation of American Scientists. The analysis shows that North Dakota has a rate of 18.2 deaths per 1 million people. South Dakota, meanwhile, has 17.4 deaths per million, the third-worst rate …

The Hill reports: ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Sunday when she suggested that President-elect Joe Biden was the beneficiary of “illegal activities” in the election. Noem during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” said “people have signed legal documents stating that they saw illegal activities” and cited New York Times reports of “clerical errors.” …

CBS News reports: South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was “distracted” before he drove onto a highway shoulder where he struck and killed a pedestrian in September, state Secretary of Safety Craig Price said Monday. Price said 55-year-old Joseph Boever was walking on the side of the road and displaying some type of light on the night of Sept. 12 …

The Associated Press reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday blamed South Dakota’s recent surge in coronavirus cases on an increase in testing, even as the state saw a new high in the number of people hospitalized by the virus. There are currently no open general-care hospital beds in the southeastern part of the state, which contains the two …

The Mitchell Republic reports: A grand jury has indicted a Mitchell man on charges of obstructing a law enforcement officer for his actions during a Mitchell School District Board of Education meeting last month. Reed Bender, 39, faces a Class 1 misdemeanor for “using or threatening to use violence, force or physical interference or obstacle, intentionally obstruct, impair or hinder …

Reuters reports: The number of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 is topping 25% in several states in the U.S. Midwest as cases and hospitalizations also surge in the region, according to a Reuters analysis. North Dakota’s positive test rate has averaged 30% over the past seven days compared with 6% the prior week. The positivity rate has risen to …

The Mitchell Republic reports: A member of the public was escorted out of the Mitchell Board of Education Monday night by Mitchell Police after he refused to don a mask as per district policy that mandates mask wearing on school property. The man, whom Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Graves identified as Reed Bender, appeared at the meeting and sat …

The Rapid City Journal reports: The attorney general said in a statement today that he and the local sheriff searched a crash scene after he thought he hit a deer Saturday night but they both missed spotting the pedestrian he had hit and killed. Jason Ravnsborg said he used Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek’s personal vehicle to drive home to …

The Rapid City Journal reports: South Dakota’s attorney general reported hitting a deer Saturday night but actually hit and killed a man whose body wasn’t discovered until the next morning, the Department of Public Safety said Monday morning. The release does not say if Ravnsborg stopped to confirm that he hit a deer or inspect his vehicle for damage. It …

The Daily Beast reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem called a surprise press conference on Sunday evening to announce that the state attorney general, Jason Ravnsborg, had been involved in a fatal car crash the night before. Details were scant but Ravnsborg released a statement saying, “I am shocked and filled with sorrow following the events of last night. As …

The Associated Press reports: Over 400,000 motorcycle enthusiasts gathered for the annual rally from Aug. 7-16, and it was reported that social distancing and mask wearing at some of the events was not observed. The rally was officially linked to hundreds of coronavirus cases across more than 10 states and at least one death. But the study that relied on …

ABC News reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Wednesday lauded first lady Melania Trump’s keynote speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC), adding “no mother in this country” wants to raise children in Democratic-led cities. Noem told Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” host Sandra Smith that the president’s wife delivered a “powerful” speech showcasing “her mother’s heart” Tuesday night …

New Music Express reports: Thousands of fans gathered in Sturgis, South Dakota at the weekend to watch Smash Mouth in concert despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The show on Sunday (August 9) was part of this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a 10-day festival estimated to attract 250,000 motorcycle enthusiasts. Footage from the concert showed little in the way of social …

The New York Times reports: Since the first days after she was elected governor of South Dakota in 2018, Kristi Noem had been working to ensure that President Trump would come to Mount Rushmore for a fireworks-filled July 4 extravaganza. After all, the president had told her in the Oval Office that he aspired to have his image etched on …

CNN reports: The governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action. Gov. Kristi Noem sent letters Friday to the leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe demanding that checkpoints designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus on …

The Week reports: President Trump will visit Mount Rushmore on July 3 to see the fireworks display he helped facilitate, even as uncertainty over the pandemic stretches into the summer. Earlier this week, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) confirmed the Independence Day celebration would go forward. “We’re excited that this will be happening at Mount Rushmore,” Noem said, as …

The New York Post reports: South Dakota’s coronavirus cases have begun to soar after its governor steadfastly refused to mandate a quarantine. The number of confirmed cases in the state has risen from 129 to 988 since April 1 — when Gov. Kristi Noem criticized the “draconian measures” of social distancing to stop the spread of the virus in her …

Sioux Falls’ CBS News affiliate reports: Rep. Tony Randolph, a Republican from Rapid City, introduced a bill Thursday that would prohibit the state from enforcing, endorsing or favoring policies that cover a range of activities that involve members of the LGBTQ community. In short, the bill wants the state to not enforce, endorse and favor policies that allow same-sex marriage, …

The Hill reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is defending the state’s launch of an anti-drug campaign with the slogan “Meth, we’re on it.” The tagline drew a mix of criticism and ridicule across Twitter on Monday, but Noem cited the backlash as proof that efforts to raise awareness around South Dakota’s methamphetamine crisis was, in fact, working. “Meth …