WHITEWOOD, S.D. – Two people were killed Saturday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash that occurred near Whitewood, SD.

At this time names have not been released by authorities pending notification of family members.

The preliminary crash report shows that the driver of a 2012 Dodge Avenger was traveling eastbound on SD Highway 34.  That vehicle crossed the centerline directly into the path of a westbound 2013 Chevrolet Silverado. The vehicles collided in the westbound lane near mile marker 24.

The 24-year-old male driver of the Dodge was ejected as the vehicle came to rest in the eastbound lane and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The Chevrolet continued into the ditch. An 87-year-old female passenger in the truck was also pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the truck, a 55-year-old male, suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. All information released so far is only preliminary.

 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has confirmed that the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Custer County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a homicide that took place Friday, April 12, in Custer County.

The Custer County Sheriff’s Office Friday night responded to a report of a homicide at 9:47 p.m. at a home west of Custer on U.S. Highway 16. Officers found a deceased adult male. An adult female, who also was assaulted in the incident, had driven herself to the local hospital.

DCI identified a male suspect who had fled the scene. In the early morning hours of Saturday, the 13th, it was determined that the suspect was in Wyoming, heading towards Colorado in the Cheyenne area.  Larimer County sheriff’s deputies and members of the Colorado State Patrol pursued the individual who fired shots at pursuing officers and was eventually stopped.  According to a news release from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office the man stayed inside his vehicle once stopped and, before law enforcement could make contact with him, turned his gun on himself.  He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Names of those involved are not being released at this time.

Attorney General Jackley said DCI and the Custer County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the homicide. The South Dakota Highway Patrol is assisting with the investigation.

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the Wyoming/Colorado incident in cooperation with local agencies and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. The Larimer County Coroner’s Office will release the man’s identity at a later time.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – South Dakota Senators Mike Rounds and John Thune, along with Congressman Dusty Johnson have sent a letter to the United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging the Postal Service to avoid downsizing or significantly reorganizing mail processing operations in South Dakota.

As part of its Delivering for America plan, the USPS is reviewing every processing and distribution center in the nation in order to offset deficits by reducing services at a portion of them and eliminating some others. The Dakota Central processing and distribution center in Huron was among the first to be reviewed. The initial findings supported a move of all non-local mail processing from the Huron facility to Fargo, North Dakota. In February 2024, USPS finalized that decision, without taking into account local concerns.

In 2012, the USPS closed Customer Service Mail Processing Centers in Aberdeen, Mobridge and Pierre. Currently, the only USPS processing facilities in South Dakota are in Huron, Rapid City and Sioux Falls. The USPS also did an initial review of the Sioux Falls processing facility and is in the stages of finalizing a move of all non-local processing to Omaha, Nebraska.

The letter states that while the South Dakota congressional delegation believes that all Americans deserve his standards of service, they are also concerned that in trying to cut costs for the USPS those savings will ultimately be at the expense of rural and highly rural populations in South Dakota or similar states.

Quoting the letter, “We believe that further curtailment of processing operations in South Dakota could yield additional delays and costs, specifically, with mail being rerouted out of state, we are concerned that added delays stemming from adverse weather would affect rural towns, other small communities and tribal nations across South Dakota.”

 

AMES, IA – The state Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University are looking for volunteers to help create a new Bumble Bee Atlas.

Bees are an important part of the ecosystem, and scientists are figuring out their habitats to help them thrive.

Iowa is home to at least 14 species of bumble bees that help pollinate native wildflowers and flowering crops in farm fields and backyard gardens.

Iowa State University University Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and plant pathologist Matt O’Neal said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently listed several bee species as endangered.

“And that includes the Rusty Patch bumble bee,” said O’Neal, “20% of what it used to be, and that includes parts of Iowa. There is also evidence that other bumble species are in decline and so, this survey will give us a chance to see where those bees are and how abundant they are.”

With that information, O’Neal said scientists can work to protect the bees’ habitats and create Iowa’s Bumble Bee Atlas.

It’s part of a larger project to map the bees and foster bee development nationwide. Sign up online to volunteer.

The national project is part of a collaboration with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Some 900 people have volunteered for the national atlas project, and counted more than 20,000 bumble bees – which O’Neal said face several major threats.

“Pesticide exposure, parasite and pathogens,” said O’Neal, “and then the last ‘P,’ and probably the most important, is poor forage.”

The researchers will work to alleviate those threats by knowing where the bees are.

Volunteers have discovered species thought to be gone from their states, contributed to new field guides, and improved scientists’ understanding of bumble bee populations across the country.