April 2015

PLATTE, S.D. (AP) — A roll of the dice has determined who will be the next mayor in the South Dakota town of Platte. Steve Christensen became the next mayor Thursday after the town solved its too-close-to-call race with a game of chance. Christensen and incumbent Mayor Rick Gustad split the vote in the April […]

PLATTE, S.D. (AP) — As luck would have it, Platte has a new mayor. Steve Christensen became the south central South Dakota town’s next mayor Thursday after it solved its too-close-to-call race with a game of chance. Christensen and Incumbent Mayor Rick Gustad split the vote in the April 14 election. An old state statute […]

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — A group of students from Nepal at the University of South Dakota is raising money for victims of the recent earthquake that has killed more than 6,000 and injured almost 14,000 people. The Nepalese students at the Vermillion school sent out an announcement Thursday notifying the public that they’re collecting money […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Homicide incidents, as well as arrests for sex offenses and assaults all increased in South Dakota last year. Attorney General Marty Jackley says the state’s annual crime report shows a 66 percent increase in homicides, including murder and non-negligent manslaughter, over the year. It also shows a 2 percent rise […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Pete Larson has discovered thousands of fossils around the world, co-authored three books and led the team that unearthed the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. But there’s one black mark on his record: a federal conviction that landed him in prison almost 20 years ago. His name could […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Sioux Falls police have arrested a woman in a homicide that occurred about 3 ½ years ago. Fifty-eight-year-old Daniel Eastman was beaten and stabbed in a downtown Sioux Falls alley in August 2011. He died in a hospital a few months later. The killing went unsolved, but authorities have now […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Arrests for homicides and negligent manslaughter, sex offenses and assaults all increased in South Dakota last year. Attorney General Marty Jackley says the annual crime report shows a 69 percent increase in homicides and negligent manslaughter over the year, a 2 percent rise in sex offenses and a 1.85 percent […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Dennis Daugaard has appointed Dakota Dunes businessman William Shorma to a vacant seat in the South Dakota Senate. Shorma will succeed Dan Lederman, who resigned earlier this year in District 16. Shorma will serve the remainder of Lederman’s term, which expires after the 2016 general election. Shorma grew up farming […]

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Brookings police are investigating a shooting that sent a man to the hospital but say there is no threat to the general public. An officer found an 18-year-old man in the backyard of a home with a gunshot wound while searching for a suspect after a call about a suspicious person […]

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — A Groton man accused of having 7 pounds of marijuana at his farm and business is set for trial in about a month. The American News reports ( ) that 45-year-old Timothy Thurston’s trial on felony drug possession charges has been scheduled to begin June 8. Thurston was arrested in December […]