PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in Brookings. This invasive beetle, which feeds on North American ash species, has prompted the expansion of the state Plant Pest Quarantine to include Brookings County, along with Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, and Union Counties.
EAB has also been identified in Baltic, Brandon, Canton, Crooks, Dakota Dunes, Lennox, Sioux Falls, and Worthing.
The year-round quarantine aims to slow the spread of EAB by prohibiting the movement of firewood and ash materials out of the affected counties.
Restrictions also apply to firewood from any hardwood species, whether for commercial or private use. Infested ash trees can still harbor EAB larvae, with a single piece of ash firewood potentially releasing multiple adults over the summer.
DANR Secretary Hunter Roberts emphasized the importance of following quarantine restrictions to prevent further spread, urging people to “buy it where you burn it.” Early-season treatments can effectively kill young larvae before they damage trees.
Property owners within a 15-mile radius of Brookings are advised to contact commercial applicators promptly to protect their ash trees.
EAB was first detected in the United States in 2002 and in South Dakota in 2018.
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – A Native American man convicted of killing two FBI agents 49 years ago in South Dakota has lost what could be his final chance at parole, after widespread activism in support of his release.
Leonard Peltier, 79, is serving two consecutive life terms in prison and is reportedly in failing health. His latest parole hearing was last month, and he won’t be eligible for parole again until June 2026.
Peltier is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. He was active in the American Indian Movement in 1975 when the shootings occurred.
According to the FBI, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a man on the Pine Ridge Reservation who was wanted for robbery. They pursued a vehicle containing several occupants, including Peltier, into an area of the reservation where the fatal shootout ensued.
AIM member Joseph Stuntz also died — from a shot by a law enforcement sniper, according to federal authorities. The lack of an investigation into Stuntz’s death is one of numerous criticisms that has been leveled against the government’s handling of the incident, the trial and Peltier’s conviction.
Peltier has maintained his innocence, and numerous people and organizations have rallied to support his parole request. Amnesty International USA’s executive director, Paul O’Brien, said in a statement Tuesday that President Joe Biden should grant Peltier clemency and that “continuing to keep Leonard Peltier locked behind bars is a human rights travesty.”
“Not only are there ongoing, unresolved concerns about the fairness of his trial, he has spent nearly 50 years in prison, is approaching 80 years old, and suffers from several chronic health problems,” O’Brien said.
NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, released a statement from President and CEO Nick Tilsen.
“Today is a sad day for Indigenous peoples and justice everywhere,” Tilsen said. “The U.S. Parole Commission’s denial of parole for Leonard Peltier, America’s longest serving Indigenous political prisoner, is a travesty.”
The FBI opposed Peltier’s parole request. Director Christopher Wray wrote to the Parole Commission that “Peltier is a remorseless killer who brutally murdered two of our own before embarking on a violent flight from justice.”
“Throughout the years, Peltier has never accepted responsibility or shown remorse,” Wray wrote. “He is wholly unfit for parole.”
SOUTH DAKOTA Undated (Kathleen Shannon/Greater Dakota News Service) – Abortion bans and restrictions limit women’s participation in the workforce, according to a new analysis that quantifies the negative impacts on state economies.
South Dakota saw an average loss in GDP of nearly 1% per year between 2021 and 2023, due to a drop in labor force participation by people who became pregnant and didn’t have access to abortion care, according to data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. That adds up to nearly $641 million in economic losses to the state.
Jamila Taylor, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, said the 16 states with abortion bans or extreme restrictions, including South Dakota, are costing the national economy $68 billion annually.
“Not only do these restrictions and bans have a clear impact on the health and well being of people with the ability to get pregnant, they also have an impact on their productivity and their economic position in life,” Taylor said.
Taylor added abortion access not only helps family finances, but also allows women ages 15 to 44 to engage more broadly in society — in local communities or politics, for example.
Despite restrictions, abortion numbers are rising. The first full calendar year after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade saw an 11% increase in abortions since 2020 – or over one million abortions in the formal health care system in 2023, according to The Guttmacher Institute.
If voters pass South Dakota’s constitutional Amendment G in November, it will enshrine protections to abortion.
Hannah Haksgaard, University of South Dakota law professor, said even if it passes, people seeking an in-state abortion would likely see a lag time before services become available.
“There would still likely be state legislation that would try to restrict abortion in certain ways, and then the question would become whether those restrictions violated the new constitutional amendment,” she said.
Haksgaard added that could make providers move slowly on offering abortion services in the state, until the legal issues are settled.
ROSEBUD, S.D.— A man and woman were sentenced for embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal organization on Monday.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota, 46-year-old April Ferguson, Sioux Falls, S.D., was sentenced to five months in federal prison and an additional five months of home confinement, followed by two years of supervised release, restitution of $36,077 for the Ideal Lakota Community, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Steven Casto, 41, also of Sioux Falls, was sentenced to two years of probation, restitution of $5,922 for the Ideal Lakota Community, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Both Ferguson and Casto were indicted in March 2023 and pleaded guilty in March 2024. Both previously lived within a political subdivision of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Officials say Ferguson and Casto linked a CashApp account to the Ideal Lakota Community’s bank account and conducted a number of transactions not for the benefit of community members.
“Transactions included purchases from Amazon, Apple, Playstation Network, gas stations, restaurants, department stores, and grocery stores. Ferguson and Casto either directly benefited from the expenditures or allowed others to benefit from the funds rightfully belonging to the Ideal Lakota Community,” a news release from U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell said.
