PIERRE, S.D. – An 81-year-old man has died as a result of injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash that occurred on the afternoon of Friday April 12, two miles west of Fort Pierre, SD.

The initial crash report shows that the driver of a 2018 Chevy Silverado was traveling on US Highway 14 and crossed over into the oncoming lane. The driver of a 2010 Dodge Ram was in the oncoming lane and tried to swerve around to avoid the Silverado, but was unable to do so, resulting in a head on collision.  The impact was on the passenger side of each truck. Both drivers sustained injuries and were transported by Pierre ambulance to St. Mary Hospital in Pierre for treatment.

However, on Sunday April 28, the driver of the Silverado died as a result of his injuries.

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

 

ST. PAUL, MN (Suzanne Potter/Minnesota News Connection) – Minnesota is a leader in renewable energy – getting 54% of its electricity from zero-carbon sources last year, according to the 2024 Minnesota Energy Factsheet released today. The annual report comes from Clean Energy Economy Minnesota and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.

Lisa Jacobson, BCSE president, said that’s 12% better than the national average.

“We’re really pleased to see about 600 megawatts of wind and solar getting added, and we’re anticipating that that’s going to be even higher next year as some of the large utility-scale projects are that are being built right now kind of come online,” she said.

Carbon emissions from the power sector also dropped 54% in 2023 with the retirement of part of the Sherco coal-fired power plant. Electric vehicle registrations went up 55%. Last year, Minnesota-based Cummins began shipping electrolyzers, which generate energy from hydrogen.

Andy Kim, president of the civil engineering firm EVS in Eden Prairie, said battery storage will be increasingly paired with large-scale solar projects in the future.

“You get uninterrupted power, you improve grid stability, and ultimately, it will lead to cost savings. And we see battery storage on at least half of our projects right now. And I would not be surprised if within the next two years, we see it on 90% of our projects,” Kim said.

Amelia Cerling-Hennes, managing director of public affairs with Clean Energy Economy Minnesota, said the state made big strides policy-wise in 2023.

“So much happened last year, starting with passing 100% clean energy by 2040. And then following that up with a really historic energy omnibus bill. We created the Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority. We funded high-voltage transmission,” she said.

Tara Narayanan, lead analyst for North American regional trends with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said energy efficiency is working – electricity consumption went down even as productivity. However, she notes that we need to ramp up the clean-energy transition even faster if we are to meet the goals set by the Paris Accords.

“Compare where we are going against where the U.S. has committed to go, we’re really not on track. We’re really going to have to make dramatic efforts in order to get to where we had committed to be in 2013,” Narayanan said.

The state got $800 million in climate funding from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.

 

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – Politicians and dog experts are criticizing South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after she wrote in a new book about killing a rambunctious puppy. The story — and the vilification she received on social media — has some wondering whether she’s still a viable potential running mate for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Experts who work with hunting dogs like Noem’s said she should have trained — not killed — the pup, or found other options if the dog was out of control.

Noem has tried to reframe the story from two decades ago as an example of her willingness to make tough decisions. She wrote on social media that the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket had shown aggressive behavior by biting.

“As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy,” she said on X. “But often the easy way isn’t the right way.”

Still, Democrats and even some conservatives have been critical.

“This story is not landing. It is not a facet of rural life or ranching to shoot dogs,” conservative commentator Tomi Lahrenco posted online.

Several posters described Noem as Cruella de Vil, the villain from the Disney classic “101 Dalmatians.” A meme features a series of dogs offering looks of horror.

“I’m not sure which thing she did was stupider: The fact that she murdered the dog, or the fact that she was stupid enough to publish it in a book,” said Joan Payton, of the German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America. The club itself described the breed as “high-energy,” and said Noem was too impatient and her use of a shock collar for training was botched.

But South Dakota Democratic Senate Minority Leader Reynold Nesiba considered the disclosure more calculated than stupid. He said the story has circulated for years among lawmakers that Noem killed a dog in a “fit of anger” and that there were witnesses. He speculated that it was coming out now because Noem is being vetted as a candidate for vice president.

“She knew that this was a political vulnerability, and she needed to put it out there, before it came up in some other venue,” he said. “Why else would she write about it?”

In her soon-to-be-released book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” of which The Guardian obtained a pre-release copy, Noem writes that she took Cricket on a bird hunting trip with older dogs in hopes of calming down the wild puppy. Instead, Cricket chased the pheasants, attacked a family’s chickens during a stop on the way home and then “whipped around to bite me,” she wrote.

Noem’s spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether the dog actually bit her or just tried to do so, or whether Noem had to seek medical treatment. The book’s publisher declined to provide AP an advance copy of the book.

Afterward, Noem wrote, she led Cricket to a gravel pit and killed her. She said she also shot a goat that the family owned, saying it was mean and liked to chase her kids.

The response to the story was swift: “Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit. I’ll start,” Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on X. The post included a photo of him feeding ice cream off a spoon to his Labrador mix named Scout.

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign added a photo of the president strolling on the White House lawn with one of his three German Shepherds. Two of Biden’s dogs, Major and Commander, were removed following aggressive behavior, including toward White House and Secret Service personnel. The oldest, Champ, died.

Democrat Hillary Clinton reposted a 2021 comment in which she warned, “Don’t vote for anyone you wouldn’t trust with your dog.” She added Monday, “Still true.”

Conservative political commentator Michael Knowles said on his titular podcast that while Noem could have handled the situation differently, “there is nothing wrong with a human being humanely killing an animal.” He later added: “Fifty years ago, this political story would not have made anyone in most of America bat an eyelash. And the fact that it does today tells you something, not about the changing morality of putting down a farm animal, but about the changing politics of America.”

He later said that the story is “extremely stupid and insignificant” because Noem doesn’t have a chance of being selected as Trump’s running mate.

Payton, who is a delegate to the American Kennel Club and lives in Bakersfield, California, said the situation was a mess from beginning to end.

“That was a puppy that had no experience, obviously no training,” she said. “If you know a minuscule amount about a bird dog, you don’t take a 14 month old out with trained adult dogs and expect them to perform. That’s not how it works.”

The club itself said puppies learn best by hunting one-to-one with their owners, not with other dogs.

When problems arose she should have called the breeder, Payton said, or contacted rescue organizations that find new homes for the breed.

Among those groups is the National German Wirehaired Pointer Rescue, which called on Noem in a Facebook post to take accountability for her “horrific decision” and to educate the public that there are more humane solutions.

“Sporting breeds are bred with bird/hunting instincts but it takes training and effort to have a working field dog,” the group’s Board of Directors wrote in the post.

Payton described Cricket as nothing more than “a baby,” saying the breed isn’t physically mature until it is 2 years old and not fully trained it’s 3- to 5-years old.

“This was a person that I had thought was a pretty good lady up until now,” she said. “She was somebody that I would have voted for. But I think she may have shot herself in the foot.”

 

SIOUX CITY, IA – Following a 5-day federal court trial, a Sioux City man has been convicted of kidnapping and possessing ammunition as a felon.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, 49-year-old Bobby Rhoden from Sioux City was convicted of one count of kidnapping and one count of possession of ammunition by a felon and drug user.

Evidence at the trial showed Rhoden threatened the victim, his former girlfriend, into his car so he could recover a phone that she had taken. Within the next 36 hours, he had brutalized her and drove her to multiple locations in an effort to find his phone.

A press release states the victim eventually escaped Rhoden when she ran away to a neighbor’s house. As she was running, Rhoden had fired his gun at or near her. An investigation of the kidnapping revealed live ammunition in the garage where Rhoden lived which was also the location where he held his victim.

Rhoden was previously convicted of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and two counts of forgery in Scott County, Iowa. He was also convicted of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

Rhoden will remain in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing and faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

 

PIERRE, S.D. (Robin Opsahl / South Dakota Searchlight) – South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed on to a letter Monday alongside 47 other state governors, as well as five territories and commonwealths, opposing the Biden administration’s move to incorporate Air National Guard service members into the Space Force.

The letter from the National Governors’ Association, addressed to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, is written in opposition to a legislative proposal submitted by the Department of Defense to the Senate Armed Services Committee that would transfer some Air National Guard personnel and equipment currently being used on space missions to the Space Force.

The Defense Department proposal would require Congress to override existing law requiring that governors approve changes to National Guard units, through Title 10 and 32 of the U.S. Code, that outlines gubernatorial authority over their states’ National Guard.

The bipartisan group of governors signing the letter said the proposed measure would hurt governors’ abilities to use the National Guard in response to crises. Governors must retain full authority over these units “to protect operational readiness and America’s communities,” the letter states.

“Legislation that sidesteps, eliminates or otherwise reduces Governors’ authority within their states and territories undermines longstanding partnerships, precedence, military readiness and operational efficacy,” the letter states. “This action also negatively affects the important relationships between Governors and DOD at a time when we need to have full trust and confidence between the two to meet the growing threats posed by the era of strategic competition as well as natural disasters.”

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told federal lawmakers earlier in April that the proposal would shift roughly 700 National Guard members to Space Force as part of a one-time transfer. There are currently 14 units, with about 1,000 personnel, working on space-related missions in seven states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, New York and Ohio — that could be impacted by the move, according to the National Guard Association of the United States.

The National Guard advocacy group also released a statement opposing the draft legislation.  Kendall told reporters in April that he doesn’t “see a reason why a state needs a Space Force militia.” But Retired Maj. Gen. Frank M. McGinn, the organization’s president, said keeping space missions within the National Guard keeps the personnel current serving on space missions in work, as many are not able to move or take on full-time responsibilities. It allows states to retain the same defense and military capabilities as other parts of the country, he said — comparing the issue to states having artillery and cyber units in the National Guard, separate from the U.S. military.

“Here is what Secretary Kendall is asking to do: Skirt federal law to transfer nearly empty units to the Space Force, thereby reducing the nation’s military space capabilities at a time when our nation is seeing growing competition in space,” McGinn said. “I don’t see why he wants to take this action. And a growing number in Congress wonder the same.”

Only two state governors, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, did not sign on to the letter. Both states have a vested interest in Space Force operations and development, with Patrick Space Force Base in Brevard County, Florida being one of the five current bases of the military branch. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also has operations in both states.