SOUTH DAKOTA – The entire state of South Dakota was without 9-1-1 service last night.  The outage occurred around 8 pm and according to a news release from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety the service was returned a little after 11 pm.

During the time social media posts were easily found by sheriff’s offices across the state informing residents that the call-in 9-1-1 service was unavailable statewide, but the texting service for 9-1-1 was still operating.

At this time officials do not have an explanation for the outage which also affected parts of Nebraska, Nevada, and Texas and federal offices contacted, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have not responded to requests for comment.

 

MITCHELL, S.D. – Mitchell Baseball coach Luke Norden was acquitted of four charges related to failure to report abuse or neglect of a child and misprision to a felony, stemming from an alleged rape case involving Legion baseball players.

The trial, held at the Davison County Courthouse, also involved former Mitchell Baseball Association president Jeremy Borgan, whose misdemeanor charge of Failure to Report Abuse or Neglect of a Child was dismissed.

The charges stemmed from an incident in June 2023 in Pennington County, where six players were charged with rape.

During the trial, a witness testified about incidents of hazing and alleged sexual abuse involving Mitchell baseball players. The witness recounted an alleged hazing incident in Wyoming in 2022 and an incident in Rapid City in June 2023, where players allegedly penetrated another player’s anus with their fingers as part of an initiation ritual.

Judge Donna Bucher emphasized that Norden and Borgan’s cases were different from the ongoing investigation into the alleged rape involving the Mitchell baseball players.

Neither Norden nor Borgan commented after the case.

 

DEADWOOD, S.D. – Deadwood Police are investigating the death of a Buffalo, Wyo. man who apparently succumbed to injuries sustained from a high-level fall over the weekend in Deadwood.

Deadwood Police Chief Cory Shafer said at approximately 2:20 a.m. Saturday, a woman alerted a Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputy near The Lodge, stating her 38-year-old boyfriend did not return from downtown Deadwood and was missing.

Shafer says at approximately 3:44 a.m., authorities located the male laying along the west side of U.S. Highway 85 near mile marker 30. The male was pronounced deceased on scene.

A preliminary investigation suggests the male succumbed to injuries sustained from a high-level fall. No signs of foul play were evident at the scene.

The incident remains under investigation and the name of the individual, along with other details regarding the incident are expected to be released later this week.

 

DES MOINES, IA – Educators and public school advocates are pushing back on a measure which would consolidate state-funded services that have been an important part of schools in rural Iowa for generations. Some state lawmakers said the funding could be used more efficiently.

Area Education Agencies have been the go-to place for educators in rural Iowa when they need state services at the local level, in all 99 Iowa counties. House Bill 2612 would consolidate the agencies, outsource some of their services and give the state oversight of them.

Mike Owen, deputy director of the group Common Good Iowa, said the agencies have been critical resources for generations.

“The Area Education Agencies have been a very valuable regional system that helps school districts, large and small, with various services that they can’t really do on their own,” Owen explained. “From special education to media services, to professional development of teachers.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed the measure, said it will provide a more efficient way to spend the state’s education dollars. It is scheduled to take effect July 1.

The battle over public school funding has been playing out on a variety of fronts in Iowa, which enjoys a reputation for some of the best-quality public education in the nation. The state recently enacted a private school voucher program, paid for with state dollars.

Owen sees consolidating the Area Education Agencies and outsourcing some of the services they provide as another step in the wrong direction for Iowa’s K-12 classrooms.

“It’s total disrespect to locally elected decision-makers for schools,” Owen contended. “One more example of how education, unfortunately, is being used to pit people against one another, when it is really a unifying value for Iowans.”

There are nine Area Education Agencies in Iowa. The State Department of Education will assume oversight of all of them.

 

PIERRE, S.D. – Last year’s Medicaid expansion in South Dakota increased eligibility to another 51,000 adults but a new report showed among people across the state who qualify, only 39% are enrolled.

Groups likely to be uninsured include young adults and American Indian young adults, about half of whom are uninsured but now qualify for Medicaid benefits.

Xanna Burg, director of South Dakota Kids Count, said low enrollment rates are, in part, due to timing. She explained the expansion was rolling out just as states were ending the federal requirement which kept everyone on Medicaid covered during the pandemic.

“I think having those happen in tandem hurt the ability to really do this significant outreach to eligible populations,” Burg observed. “Because you’re trying to deliver one message saying, ‘We’ve expanded eligibility,’ and then there’s this other message that’s saying, ‘You need to, like, re-enroll.'”

Matt Althoff, secretary of social services, has said some people who were disenrolled are making more income and no longer qualify and this should be celebrated. The expansion actually increased the income level for households to qualify, from just over $14,000 a year for a family of four, to about $43,000.

Burg noted one challenge for enrollment is, the information helping to determine eligibility is housed under different programs in the state. She argued more communication could boost the numbers.

“Thinking about where programs can talk to each other, whether it’s through SNAP or WIC or the Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program,” Burg suggested. “Working across agencies to really identify these populations that might be eligible.”

State officials said it could take up to two years to reach full enrollment.

 

ST. PAUL, MN – Local offices around the country that help administer elections have seen higher rates of turnover in the past two decades. Newly compiled data show steady growth in the number of those in charge moving on from their roles. Officials with the Bipartisan Policy Center say higher turnover among election administrators has been felt by all regions in the U.S. with bigger spikes between 2018 and 2022. Minnesota saw its rate increase from 23% in 2004 to a high of 47% two years ago.

Rachel Orey, senior associate director of elections project, Bipartisan Policy Center, said these officials have increasingly complex jobs alongside the day-to-day logistics, likely driving turnover.

“Today, election officials must manage everything from cybersecurity risks posed by foreign adversaries to public communications of people who are doubting the outcome of elections to information technology, legal disputes, political pressures, human resources. The list goes on,” she said.

Orey added recent increases have occurred in larger jurisdictions, which have received the brunt of scrutiny in the wake of the 2020 election. The report says an aging workforce might be another contributing factor. While Minnesota did see its level spike in 2022, the turnover rate has eased going into the 2024 vote.

Orey said increasing workloads have coincided with widespread reports of threats and harassment that are making election administration untenable work.

“That’s where state and federal legislators can really step in to provide adequate resources, competitive compensation levels and safety protections for election officials,” she continued.

Last year, the Minnesota Legislature did approve certain bills designed to provide more relief and safeguards for local offices.

Meanwhile, turnover doesn’t necessarily mean the people taking over are inexperienced. Orey said new officials have an average of eight years of experience in top-level positions.

“So, when we see a turnover in a chief election official, it isn’t always the case that someone new is coming in who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Rather, we see more often that it is folks with lots of experience in elections who are stepping into these chief roles,” she explained.