Latest South Dakota Headlines
All the headlines from our South Dakota Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Dakota Lawmakers Consider Recreational Marijuana Legalization
Jan 11 2022 // South Dakota lawmakers spent the last year figuring out what to do with two voter-approved measures to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana. While a medical program has been implemented, recreational pot...
South Dakota Begins Medical Marijuana Permitting Process
Dec 6 2021 // The South Dakota Department of Health is beginning to issue medical marijuana cards, but officials say it could be months before dispensaries will have anything to sell. Municipalities across the state are also receiving...
Smithfield to Pay $13,494 Over Coronavirus Hazards at South Dakota Facility
Nov 17 2021 // Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. – the country’s largest pork processor – has agreed to assemble a team of company and third-party experts to develop an infectious disease preparedness plan that the company will...
Jury Awards $42 million to South Dakota Woman Injured at Work
Nov 16 2021 // A Pennington County jury has awarded $42 million to a Rapid City woman after she was denied medical benefits from her previous employer and the employer’s insurance company. United Parcel Service and Liberty Mutual...
Mechanical Failure Touched Off Large South Dakota Fire, Officials Say
Oct 8 2021 // A mechanical failure caused the fire that has burned about 1.5 square miles northwest of Rapid City, according to state and local officials. South Dakota Wildland Fire and the Rapid City Fire and Police departments tweeted...
South Dakota Fire Threatens 500 Homes; FEMA OKs Firefighting Funds
Oct 5 2021 // FEMA on Oct. 4 authorized the use of federal funds to help with the cost of fighting the Auburn Fire in Pennington county, on the north side of Rapid City, South Dakota, that is threatening 500 homes. Around 1,000 people...
South Dakota AG, Widow of Man Struck in Fatal Crash Ink Settlement
Oct 1 2021 // The widow of a man who died last year after being struck by a car driven by South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has reached an out-of-court settlement after threatening a lawsuit, the two sides...
South Dakota Homeowners Sue County Over Sinkhole Risks
Sep 30 2021 // More than 150 homeowners in a development outside Rapid City, South Dakota, are suing Meade County over risks to their properties after a sinkhole exposed an abandoned gypsum mine. The federal complaint filed Sept. 27 by...
South Dakota Court Rules Pierre Not Liable for Injuries Caused by Trainee
Sep 24 2021 // The South Dakota Supreme Court, in an opinion released Sept. 23, agreed with a lower court ruling that two people on a motorcycle who were severely injured in a crash with a volunteer firefighting trainee cannot collect...
3 South Dakota Family Members Sentenced for Defrauding Farmers
Sep 23 2021 // Three members of a South Dakota family accused of bilking millions from farmers due to risky speculation in the grain business have been sentenced to time behind bars. Jared Steffensen and his wife, Tami Steffensen,...
South Dakota AG Got Speeding Ticket Days Before Trial Over Deadly Crash
Sep 2 2021 // South Dakota’s attorney general was ticketed for going 57 in a 35 mph zone just days before he pleaded no contest to traffic charges for a car crash that killed a pedestrian last year. Jason Ravnsborg, the...
Confirmed Tornado Caused Damage in Southeastern South Dakota
Aug 31 2021 // A storm survey team from the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has confirmed it was a tornado that caused damage in and around Lennox during the weekend. The weather service tweeted the brief tornado...
Fines, but no Jail Time for South Dakota AG in Pedestrian Death
Aug 29 2021 // South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg pleaded no contest on Aug. 26 to a pair of misdemeanor traffic charges over a crash last year that killed a pedestrian, avoiding jail time despite bitter complaints from the...
South Dakota’s Sanford Health Targeted by Cyber Hackers
Aug 6 2021 // A large healthcare system based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, acknowledged that it has been targeted by hackers. Sanford Health President and CEO Bill Gassen confirmed to the Argus Leader that the organization was working...
South Dakota Supreme Court Allows Police Excessive Force Lawsuit to Proceed
Aug 3 2021 // The South Dakota Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit to go forward alleging police officers used excessive force when arresting a Sioux Falls woman in 2016. Nichole Boggs sued in Second Circuit Court for injuries she...
South Dakota Rules for Medical Pot in Public Schools Approved
Jul 21 2021 // The South Dakota Department of Education succeeded on July 19 in its second attempt to get legislators to approve rules for allowing medical marijuana in public schools. The Board of Education struck language that would...
Autonomous Farming Vehicles Cropping Up in South Dakota
Jun 30 2021 // A John Deere tractor is pulling a grain cart. Dust swirls around the equipment as the tractor roars by. That’s a familiar sight in South Dakota. But there’s something different about this tractor. The cab is...
South Dakota Lawmakers, Cities Making Their Own Marijuana Plans
Jun 29 2021 // As South Dakota anticipates a state Supreme Court decision on whether recreational marijuana will become legal in July, state lawmakers and city governments are moving forward with their own pot plans. Officials across the...
South Dakota Records Second Earthquake This Month
Jun 18 2021 // Another earthquake has been recorded in South Dakota, the fifth since December. According to the United States Geological Survey, a 2.6 magnitude quake was recorded about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday with the epicenter about 60...
Earthquake Recorded in Southern South Dakota, No Damage Reported
Jun 7 2021 // Officials say an earthquake occurred in southern South Dakota, though no damage was reported. The United States Geological Survey said the 3.7 magnitude quake happened at 10:25 a.m. Friday just north of the South Dakota...
