June 2015

DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) — Casinos in Deadwood are betting the introduction of three new voter-approved games will help reinvigorate the historic Black Hills town and level its odds against gambling hotspots across the country. Keno, craps and roulette begin play July 1. Industry advocates believe the new games will bring in peoples who otherwise would […]

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A company seeking to build an oil pipeline across Iowa says it has purchased easements from nearly 60 percent of landowners, but some don’t believe the claim. The Des Moines Register ( ) reports that activists say online records show far fewer easement purchases. A spokeswoman for Dakota Access LLC, […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Recent stormy weather in Rapid City has hampered work on a $24 million reconstruction of the road considered the gateway to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The Rapid City Journal reports ( ) that some of the work on the Mount Rushmore Road project is on schedule […]

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 48-year-old South Dakota woman has been killed in a southeast Iowa highway crash. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports ( ) that the accident occurred around 2 p.m. Saturday on eastbound U.S. Highway 34 in Mount Pleasant. The crash report says 15-year-old Eva White was driving a minivan […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Sioux Falls police are searching for several juveniles who allegedly stole a minivan and fled from officers after throwing fireworks at passing vehicles. Officers decided not to give chase early Sunday due to high speeds, and say the driver of the van eventually lost control and crashed the vehicle into […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Severe storms are creating a swath of damage through eastern South Dakota. The Argus Leader reports that winds gusting to 100 mph downed trees and power poles in Garretson, and blew over four large tanks at a fertilizer plant. A gas leak prompted the evacuation of a mobile home park. […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A prayer vigil in memory of the nine people killed at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been held at a Sioux Falls church, where leaders called for an end to racial hatred. The Argus Leader and KDLT-TV report the Saturday vigil drew around 40 to 50 people to […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Lightning is believed to be the cause of a weekend apartment building fire in Rapid City that displaced 27 residents. The 17-unit building was heavily damaged in the blaze that began about 7 p.m. Saturday. Part of the roof collapsed, and an official cause of the fire won’t be known […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Melissa Johnson’s epiphany happened in a hospital room 15 to 20 years ago, back when they called the place Sioux Valley Hospital and not Sanford Health. A cancer nurse by training, she was standing in the room of a very frail, very elderly woman. Surgeon Dr. Gary Timmerman bent low […]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A prime route for millions of Black Hills tourists each year could be subjected to the flow of trucks from a proposed limestone mine along U.S. Highway 16 — the road to Mount Rushmore National Monument. Officials from Iowa-based Croell Redi-Mix, which has an office in Rapid City, have announced […]