June 2015

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — It’s been more than two years since a prescribed burn-turned-wildfire torched over 10,000 acres of land in the Dakotas, and ranchers are hoping they can soon recover the millions of dollars they estimate they’re owed. South Dakota’s congressional delegation sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A southeast South Dakota man convicted of raping a child has been sentenced to 90 years in prison. The 53-year-old Jose Tomas Guevara Sorto was sentenced this week in Sioux Falls. He was convicted of first-degree rape in December. Authorities say the Sioux Falls man raped a 7-year-old he was […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota insurance regulators and two insurance groups have reached a settlement that will result in a $750,000 total penalty against the companies. The state’s Division of Insurance on Wednesday announced the settlement with Farmers Insurance Group and Foremost Insurance Group. The Insurance Division says an investigation found “various deficiencies in […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota’s congressional delegation says the federal government hasn’t processed any claims from residents who incurred damages from a prescribed fire that grew out of control over two years ago. U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Department […]

PLANKINTON, S.D. (AP) — Two South Dakota men have been arrested on charges that authorities say stem from sex offenses that the men committed against a child. Attorney General Marty Jackley on Wednesday said the men were arrested in Aurora County, in eastern South Dakota. Jackley says a 41-year-old man from Plankinton is facing one […]

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — One of two men accused of conspiring to murder a South Dakota man in North Dakota is appealing his conviction to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Joshua Clark is serving life in prison for his role in the spring 2013 killing of 18-year-old John Swain, who had moved to Bismarck from […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A woman from Rushville, Nebraska, has claimed a $97,589 Dakota Cash lottery jackpot in South Dakota. Laura Landreth won the money in the May 13 drawing with a ticket she bought at a store in Spearfish. She collected the prize on Tuesday. Landreth says she’ll use her winnings to pay off […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Alma Tonsager didn’t realize how much she had missed playing trumpet until the Sioux Falls woman walked into a local New Horizons Band rehearsal. She still was so unsure about resuming music that she left her horn in her car. “Where’s your horn?” demanded Bob Griffith, another trumpet player. “In […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — In a story June 1 about the awarding of state grant funding to six projects in South Dakota, The Associated Press erroneously reported how the city of Florence plans to spend its portion. It will use the money to improve its wastewater system, not its water distribution system. A corrected version […]

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Executives with two large century-old agricultural cooperatives in the Dakotas say merging them would save about $44 million over the next four years. North Central Farmers Elevator and South Dakota Wheat Growers are proposing to become CentraGro Cooperative on Aug. 1. Members of both co-ops will vote this summer on whether […]