March 2015

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The state Senate has passed a measure that would more easily allow the state to react to deadly disease outbreaks. Senators voted 29-5 Tuesday to approve the plan, which was backed by the Department of Health and would expand the state’s authority to respond to serious communicable diseases. Republican Sen. Craig […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Police in Rapid City are investigating death of a man whose body was found in a city park. Police say they were called to Memorial Park around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. They say they found the body of a Native American man in his mid-50s. An autopsy is scheduled to […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The state House has voted down a measure requiring South Dakota schools to have a safety plan for potential violent incidents such as a school shooting. The House voted 37-30 against the proposal, which also would require schools to conduct a lockdown drill annually. The bill’s sponsor is Republican Rep. Scott […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Rapid City police say a 22-year-old man who died over the weekend accidently shot himself in the head with a gun he believed to be empty. Police say Colton Strangerhorse, of Rapid City, was drinking with friends when he pulled out a gun from his waistband around 1 a.m. Witnesses […]

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — For the past month, families across Brookings County have been finding a surprise on their doorsteps: a big blue box with a birthday cake and a gift or two inside, all with a balloon attached. It’s called the Big Blue Birthday Box, and it’s Nick Wendell’s effort to give young children […]

MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) — In her mind, she’s always been the caretaker. That’s why it was hard for Ardis Beck to handle the role of patient. But in December, Beck, 59, was in that position — undergoing open heart surgery to fix a valve problem and an aneurysm in her heart, caused by a birth […]

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Every morning, Jessie Overaker hops out of bed and, like so many others, gets in her workout. Her exercise of choice is jumping rope. That’s been the case for the past 15 years. She’s 92. Her kid sister, Evelyn Cooper, does aerobics twice a day most days, with the same aim […]

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) — In a hospital located more than 300 miles from Yankton, two area youth are currently living just doors apart. Ariyanna Miller and Tomas Rokahr have both recently undergone bone marrow transplants and now are waiting for the results. Miller, a student at Alcester-Hudson High School, underwent her transplant this month, while […]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Residents across the Upper Midwest got some of the winter they had so far missed on Tuesday, as a fast-moving storm dumped several inches of snow and made travel treacherous in some areas. The storm dropped up to 6.5 inches of snow in western Minnesota, while far eastern South Dakota got 3 […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The state Public Utilities Commission has granted a request from Black Hills Power to raise rates for its customers in western South Dakota. The commission voted 3-0 on Monday to approve an overall rate hike of 4.35 percent. The utility company had initially requested an approximately 9 percent hike. The hike […]