State/Local

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls man convicted for raping his girlfriend’s 6-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. Twenty-five-year-old Emmanuel Pio was charged with first-degree rape. Authorities say the victim’s mother and Pio had been in a relationship for six years before the incident occurred. He is not the […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — It’s unclear whether Gov. Dennis Daugaard will sign a measure to exempt South Dakota’s youngest workers from the $8.50 minimum wage voters approved in November, the governor’s administration said on Thursday. The state Legislature has approved the measure, which would carve out a $7.50 minimum wage for people under 18. Daugaard’s […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Three Sioux Falls residents have been indicted on drug and child abuse charges following reports from social workers who said say they found a bag of meth in a child’s diaper. The Argus Leader reports ( ) Alex Robinson, Naomi Redowl and McKeasha Parks were charged in a two-count indictment. […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Dennis Daugaard wants to review a measure to exempt South Dakota’s youngest workers from the $8.50 minimum wage voters approved in November before deciding whether to sign the bill. The state Legislature has approved the measure. Daugaard’s spokeswoman said Thursday he wants to look over the plan, which would carve […]

KYLE, S.D. (AP) — Residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation are wrapping up their final day of a three-day effort to address the youth suicide epidemic on the reservation. Since late December, five young reservation residents have killed themselves, and members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are seeking solutions to prevent more deaths. The […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Authorities are searching for a man who robbed a Sioux Falls bank at gunpoint. Police say the man entered the Dacotah Bank on East 10th Street just after 11 a.m. Thursday and demanded money from employees. No one was hurt. Once he had the cash, he drove off westbound in […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A Senate committee has approved a resolution petitioning for a presidential pardon of renowned South Dakota paleontologist Peter Larson. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure Thursday, which seeks a clean slate for Larson, whose team discovered the famous Tyrannosaurus rex fossil “Sue” in 1990. In 1992, federal agents seized the […]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The state of South Dakota does not plan to push back against federal rules requiring new wood-burning stoves to produce fewer emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently updated its clean air standards for residential wood heaters. It also added air standards for outdoor and indoor wood-fired boilers, indoor wood-fired forced […]

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Some South Dakota farmers say they’re concerned about what an upcoming agriculture cooperative merger could mean for competition in the state. The South Dakota Wheat Growers and North Central Farmers Elevator announced plans this week to join and create a newly named co-op. They’ll have a combined membership of nearly 8,000 […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The University of South Dakota is becoming the first college in the state to offer gender-neutral housing. Director of University Housing Todd Tucker tells KELO-TV ( ) that allowing all students to live together regardless of gender will give more options to students, particularly those in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual […]