Latest South Dakota Headlines
All the headlines from our South Dakota Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Dakota Legislation Banning Cell Phone Use While Driving Sent to Governor
Mar 5 2020 // A bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature bans the use of smartphones and other electronic communication devices while driving, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) reported. The APCIA supports...
Parents in South Dakota Plead for Tougher Texting While Driving Penalties
Feb 24 2020 // Jacob William Dahl was a 19-year-old Northern State University student when he was killed after running into the back of a soybean truck while looking at his cellphone. Dahl, a 2013 graduate of Castlewood High School, was...
Fire Destroys 4 Businesses in Busy South Dakota Town
Feb 19 2020 // Four downtown businesses in a small southwestern South Dakota community have been lost in a fire, according to the city’s mayor. The Vault restaurant, China Buffet, the Quilt Shop and an ice cream shop were burned in...
Officials: South Dakota 2019 Traffic Deaths Possibly State’s Lowest
Jan 31 2020 // Public safety officials say South Dakota may have recorded its lowest number of traffic deaths in state history. So far, 102 traffic fatalities have been recorded for 2019, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety...
2019 Floods Brought Financial Woes to South Dakota Townships
Jan 17 2020 // Townships in South Dakota are facing economic difficulties as 2019 flood repair costs mount. Townships primarily depend on their taxpayers for funds to repair more than 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) of roads while they...
Outlooks to Revised to Stable for Missouri Valley Mutual Insurance
Jan 14 2020 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from positive and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” of Missouri Valley Mutual Insurance Co....
South Dakota School District Settles Former Student’s Lawsuit for $65K
Jan 14 2020 // A school district in South Dakota has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a sexual discrimination lawsuit brought by a former honor student who said her high school principal punished her for using a phrase her male peers used...
3 Hurt in Explosion at South Dakota Petroleum Distributor
Jan 2 2020 // Three people were hurt in an explosion at a South Dakota petroleum distributor on Dec. 30, the company’s co-owner said. The explosion happened around 2 p.m. in the truck maintenance shop of Harms Oil just west of...
Construction Company Put on Probation for Fatal South Dakota Building Collapse
Dec 18 2019 // A construction company was sentenced to a year of probation in the death of a worker during a 2016 building collapse in downtown Sioux Falls. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ordered Hultgren Construction to serve a year...
Aid Request for 6 South Dakota Counties Rejected by FEMA
Dec 2 2019 // South Dakota has lost an appeal for federal funding to rebuild from tornadoes and floods that hit six counties in August. The Federal Emergency Management Agency ruled that the damage was not severe enough to qualify for...
South Dakota Doctor Made Millions on Unneeded Surgeries, Feds Say
Nov 19 2019 // A South Dakota neurosurgeon made millions of dollars by performing unnecessary and dangerous surgeries, including one that left a patient partially paralyzed, federal prosecutors contend in a lawsuit against the...
Keystone Pipeline Leaks 383K Gallons of Oil in North Dakota
Nov 1 2019 // TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of oil in northeastern North Dakota, state regulators said Thursday. Crews on Tuesday, Oct. 29 shut down the pipeline that...
South Dakota’s Sanford Health to Pay $20M to Settle Kickback Suit
Nov 1 2019 // South Dakota-based Sanford Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems, has agreed to pay more than $20 million to resolve kickback allegations stemming from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by two Sanford...
South Dakota Governor Requests Disaster Declaration for Tornadoes, Floods
Nov 1 2019 // Gov. Kristi Noem is requesting a presidential disaster declaration for the damage caused by tornadoes and floods that struck southeastern South Dakota in September. Noem made her request in a letter to President Donald...
South Dakota Regulators Want Bigger Bonds from Oil, Gas Drillers
Sep 30 2019 // State regulators will ask the Legislature to require bigger financial guarantees for oil and gas wells in response to a failed 40-well natural gas project in northwest South Dakota. Under current state law, drillers of...
Federal Settlements in South Dakota Wildfire Total More Than $700K
Sep 19 2019 // Landowners in South Dakota have received over $700,000 in a lawsuit accusing a federal agency of burning their properties in an April 2013 prescribed fire that blazed out of control, destroying more than 10,000 acres. The...
‘All Are Safe and Sound’ After Tornado Hits South Dakota Hospital
Sep 13 2019 // When the warning sounded shortly before midnight that a tornado could be approaching, the clock turned into a stopwatch for staff members working the night shift at a behavioral health center at a Sioux Falls...
Buildings Damaged by Severe Weather, Including Likely Tornado, in South Dakota
Sep 12 2019 // Severe weather, including a probable tornado, struck South Dakota’s largest city late on Tuesday, leaving a trail of damaged buildings, downed power lines, fallen trees and some reports of injuries, officials...
Midwest Economic Survey Suggests Little or No Growth on Horizon
Sep 4 2019 // An August survey of business supply managers suggested slow or no economic growth over the next several months in nine Midwest and Plains states, in part because of trade skirmishes, according to a newly released...
South Dakota Judge Sides With Liberty Mutual in Bad Faith Dispute
May 23 2019 // A federal judge in South Dakota has dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by a couple who had to tear down their Sioux Falls house after a long-running dispute with their neighbors. Judge Roberto Lange recently granted Liberty...
