TEN PEOPLE INJURED IN INTERSTATE 90 BUS ROLLOVER
DRAPER, S.D. – 10 people were injured, including the driver, when a private bus lost control and went off of the road on Interstate 90 Saturday evening.
According to a release from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, the private bus crashed near mile marker 207, about six miles east of Draper.
The driver of the bus lost control and entered the south ditch of the interstate, eventually coming to rest on its passenger side.
The driver and two passengers had minor injuries. Seven passengers sustained serious, non-life-threatening injuries. Three other passengers were not hurt.
The range of ages of those on board is from 10 to 65 years old.
REPUBLICAN IN-FIGHTING IN SOUTH DAKOTA LEGISLATURE
PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) – In politics, it was once considered a virtue to compromise and reach across the aisle.
But that’s not how all South Dakota Legislators review the process today, particularly the group of conservative pro-landowner Republicans who unseated more traditional Republicans in the June 2024 primary.
The Bitterness Lingers?
Rep. Logan Manhart, R-Aberdeen, took fellow Republican Rep. Drew Peterson, R-Salem, to task for Peterson’s recent comments at a forum on democracy in Vermillion.
“Want to know why so many pieces of good legislation died by only a few votes this year?” Manhart wrote on X Saturday. “Some Republicans openly worked with Democrats to undermine true Conservative causes. Their response?: “We did our job.””
South Dakota Searchlight quoted Peterson at a panel discussion on democracy hosted by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota.
There are 96 Republicans and 9 Democrats in the South Dakota Legislature.
At the start of the legislative session that ends on Monday, populist Republicans ousted the previous, more traditional Republican leadership. There was a complete changeover in GOP leadership and most committee chairs.
S.D.’s GOP Schism Not Unusual
Because the Republican Party has dominated politics for most of South Dakota’s history, it is not unusual for there to be a schism within party ranks in Pierre.
The South Dakota Republican Party has had two competing groups since before statehood, according to historian Jon Lauck. In the early days, “Stalwarts” (conservatives) battled “Progressives” (reformers). This split was evident in 1912 when South Dakota Republicans chose Theodore Roosevelt over President Taft on their ballot.
The pattern continues today. According to press reports, in February 2025, Jim Eschenbaum—a former Obama supporter, recent Trump acolyte, retired Hand County Commissioner, and farmer—won the party chair position by appealing to grassroots Republicans who are concerned about property rights and oppose carbon pipelines. The recent GOP intraparty election also “cleaned house” of moderate Republicans in leadership roles.
The legislature returns to the Capitol at 1 p.m. Monday to consider one bill vetoed by Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden.
BILL MAY EXPAND NUMBER OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS PRACTICING IN IOWA
DES MOINES, IA (AP) – The Iowa legislature has sent the governor a bill that would likely expand the number of physician assistants practicing in Iowa, by creating a path to a multi-state license.
If the bill becomes law, Iowa will enter a compact next year that would let P.A.s licensed in 14 states practice in any of those states. The neighboring states of Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin will be part of the compact.
Senator Kara Warme of Ames said this kind of a reciprocal licensing arrangement is already available for doctors, nurses and mental health professionals. “We all know the extensive need that we have in our state for medical providers and this licensure compact is one way to meet some of those needs, allowing easier access to telehealth medicine or to practicing across state lines in our border communities,” Warme said during Senate debate of the bill.
Representative Austin Baeth of Des Moines, a physician, spoke during House debate. “This is a good bill,” Baeth said. “We know from experience in other health care licensure compacts that this is typically a net win for Iowa in gaining more health care professionals to help patch in our shortages.”
According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants, there are over 1300 P.A.s licensed to practice medicine in Iowa and over half of them are working in rural areas. Two years ago, Governor Reynolds signed a law that removed the requirement that a P.A. be supervised by a doctor in order to practice medicine in Iowa.
CARBON PIPELINE COMPANY FILES FOR PAUSE OR DISMISSAL OF LEGAL FIGHTS IN SOUTH DAKOTA
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Joshua Haiar – South Dakota Searchlight) – A carbon dioxide pipeline company has asked courts to pause or dismiss its pending legal fights against landowners and a state regulator in South Dakota after the state’s adoption of a law that prevents the company from using eminent domain.
Eminent domain is a legal process for acquiring access to land for projects that have a public benefit, with compensation for landowners determined by a court. It’s commonly used for projects such as electrical power lines, water pipelines, oil pipelines and highways.
Some South Dakota landowners who oppose the Summit Carbon Solutions project sued to stop the company from surveying their property. They argued that doing so without just compensation was unconstitutional because soil sampling and other invasive practices would occur.
Summit said it had a right to survey the land because it had eminent domain authority. The company sued some landowners as well.
The disputes ultimately reached the South Dakota Supreme Court, which determined Summit had not yet proven it meets the legal qualification for using eminent domain, and sent the cases back to lower courts. Lawsuits in which Summit no longer needed to survey the land in question – because an agreement was reached or the route was changed – were then dismissed, leaving four cases remaining.
Summit filed a motion to dismiss those cases on March 20, two weeks after Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the bill barring carbon pipeline projects from using eminent domain.
Regulator case paused
Meanwhile, a judge has paused Summit’s legal effort to remove an elected state regulator from its pipeline permitting case. Summit alleged the regulator has a conflict of interest. The company cited the eminent domain ban as part of its rationale for seeking a stay in the case.
South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen’s sister-in-law is part of a trust that owns land on the proposed pipeline route. Fiegen declined to recuse herself from Summit’s permit application, and Summit sued to disqualify her from considering the permit.
Both Summit and the state agreed to indefinitely stay the case, and a judge entered the stay on March 14.
Permit pause sought
Summit has also requested a pause for “review and adjustment” of its permit proceedings with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. The commission rejected Summit’s first application in 2023, largely due to the route’s conflicts with local ordinances that mandate minimum distances between pipelines and existing features. Summit later adjusted its route and reapplied.
The eminent domain ban has been hailed as a victory by some landowners who have resisted Iowa-based Summit’s proposed $9 billion project. The pipeline would transport carbon dioxide emissions from dozens of ethanol plants in five states to an underground storage site in North Dakota. It would qualify for billions in federal tax credits incentivizing the sequestration of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions.
The project has permits in North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, although some permits are being challenged in court. Nebraska does not have a permitting process.
Summit has said it is not giving up on the project.
“In South Dakota, recent legislative changes have temporarily slowed our timeline, but they have not altered our vision or our determination,” said Summit CEO Lee Blank in a press release. “We remain confident that our project is moving forward in a way that benefits farmers, ethanol producers, and rural communities.”
