UNDATED – The 12-person jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial convicted him Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records. With this, Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes.
With the verdict now in and sentencing scheduled for July 11, we are watching for reactions from political leaders in the area.
Two of the first to come in are from the Governors of Iowa and South Dakota.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued the following statement:
“America saw this trial for what it was, a sham. For years, Democrats like Alvin Bragg have been trying to put President Trump in jail with complete disregard for our democracy and the will of the American people. The only verdict that matters is the one at the ballot box in November where the American people will elect President Trump again.”
In South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem quickly responded to the conviction in an email statement to media outlets:
“Massively conflicted, Biden donor and Liberal judge + stacked jury with unconstitutional jury instructions + radical leftist prosecutor = wrongful conviction. President Trump did nothing wrong, and even the liberal media knows it. The judge violated Trump’s constitutional rights and did everything in his power to get this outcome despite the clear evidence Trump was innocent. No doubt Trump will be easily vindicated soon as the case will obviously be overturned on appeal.”
PIERRE, S.D. – The 190th session of the state Basic Law Enforcement Certification Course will graduate 42 new law enforcement officers today in Pierre.
The graduates represent 28 different agencies from around the state and they have completed 13 weeks of training to get to today’s ceremony. The certification course is required for the students to become fully qualified law enforcement officers in South Dakota.
Graduates are required to complete course work that includes instruction in the law, arrest control tactics, firearms, vehicle handling, and criminal investigations. The training program is taught by full-time staff from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation and adjunct instructors from law enforcement agencies from across the state.
All this leads to the next, special class at the training center as they hold the first-ever basic certification course geared toward the unique challenges that face Tribal law enforcement officers and non-tribal agencies that border the reservations.
In the past, a handful of tribal officers trained in South Dakota but the majority received their training in New Mexico, meaning they had to be away from their families. This 13-week course will allow tribal officers to go home on the weekends.
Tribal officers selected for the training are from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribe. The rest of the 24-member class will consist of officers from other non-tribal law enforcement agencies.
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs will be hosting 12 fallen hero bridge dedication ceremonies this year, honoring 15 veterans.
In 2019, Kristi Noem and the South Dakota Departments of Veterans Affairs, Military, and Transportation launched the Fallen Heroes Bridge Dedication Program with the mission of dedicating state bridges to South Dakotans who were killed in action while serving their country or classified as missing in action.
“Naming South Dakota bridges in honor of our fallen gives us the opportunity of remembrance, reflection, and respect—to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to this nation,” said South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Greg Whitlock. “These men and women, so young and in such a short time, met their destiny on far off battlefields. In return for their great gift, there is nothing more complex or important that we can do but to ensure the memories of their shortened lives go on.”
This year’s 12 bridge dedications include:
Jun 29—LT Donald R. and SGT Fred H. Harms—Tripp American Legion Post 142 (102 S. Main Street)— 2:00 pm (CT);
Jul 3—SGT Lelund M. Kahler—Belle Fourche Rec Center (1111 National Street)—2:00 pm (MT);
Jul 10—T/5 Harald Haraldsen—Buffalo Lions Civic Center (210 State Road 20)— 2:00 pm (MT);
Jul 19—CPL Russell N. Ferdig—Elk Point United Parish (2102 E. Main Street)—2:00 pm (CT);
Jul 24—CPL John C. McDowell—Corsica Travel Plaza (HWY 281 and Main Street)—11:00 am (CT);
Aug 2—PFC John Tuin—Estelline American Legion Post 184 (222 Main Street)—1:30 pm (CT);
Aug 5—RM2 Eugene L., RM2 Ordien F., and LT LeRoy M. Herr—Bristol High School Gym (500 S. 3rd Street)— 1:30 pm (CT);
Aug 10—SGT Terry G. Rada—Geddes Multi-Purpose Center (409 Michigan Avenue)—12:00 noon (CT);
Aug 17—SGT Dennis D. Lawver—Miller American Legion Post (402 S. Broadway Avenue)—2:00 pm (CT);
Aug 18—PFC Gunnar D. Becker—Sanborn County 4-H Building in Forestburg (23237 405th Avenue)—2:00 pm (CT);
Aug 21—1LT Daniel J. Kirchgesler—St Thomas More High School in Rapid City (300 Fairmont Blvd)—2:00 pm (MT); and
Nov 11—1LT Josef L. Thorne—Beresford High School Gym (301 W. Maple Street)—1:30 pm (CT).
“We are committed to preserving their memories and demonstrating our will to remember. We ask everyone to participate in one of the 12 bridge dedications scheduled in 2024,” said Secretary Whitlock
To learn more about South Dakota’s fallen heroes bridge dedication program, visit vetaffairs.sd.gov.
LINCOLN, NE – A truck driver was sentenced in Nebraska this week to 29 years in prison after he met a teenager through social media and transported the minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity.
Nebraska U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr announced the sentencing of David Mark Platt, 58, formerly of Washington state.
According to federal investigators, Platt in the spring of 2022 met a 15-year-old through a website called Quora, where the minor was posting about wanting to run away from home.
Platt made a plan to pick up the minor from California and travel across the country together in his semi-truck, according to the investigators. Platt knew the teen’s age, investigators said. On May 12, 2022, he picked up the minor. Shortly afterward the minor was reported missing by family.
On May 15, Platt’s semi was pulled over by law enforcement officers near Lexington, Nebraska. During the stop, Platt admitted touching the minor in a sexual manner, said the news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The minor was taken to a child advocacy center and disclosed that Platt had sexually assaulted the minor each day of the trip.
Investigators said search warrant results from the social media platform revealed Platt’s expectation that the minor would have sexual intercourse with him and “other various things he expected of the minor victim.”
“The search warrant results additionally showed Platt’s preference for preteen to teenage girls and his pattern in attempting to find a child to travel with him for sex and his preference for BDSM sexual relationships,” according to the media release.
Platt was on the sex offender registry at the time of the crime, the release said.
U.S. District Judge John Gerrard sentenced Platt for one count of transporting a minor to engage in illegal sexual. After his prison term, he is to have a lifetime of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $29,000 in restitution.
IOWA (Undated) – Residents, businesses and emergency service providers are feeling the impact of phone and internet issues across Iowa. Landline phone service has been interrupted across the state and Homeland Security officials say that it is related to an issue with service provider Lumen Technologies.
It has been reported that the interruptions may affect 911 services being accessed through a landline phone. At this time it is recommended that any 911 contact be made via mobile phone.
911 texting is also available in all counties in Iowa.
It is reported that the outages are in various locations around the state. We will keep an eye on this as the day continues.
LINCOLN, NE (Deborah Van Fleet / Nebraska News Connection – Sunday is Global Heat Action Day, to raise awareness about the risks posed by heat and ways to stay safe.
In Nebraska and across the Midwest, the combination of higher temperatures and rising humidity is making outdoor workers more susceptible to heat-related illnesses. Agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable.
Athena Ramos, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health who is affiliated with the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health, said heat-related illness is preventable. She pointed to the importance of letting people become acclimated to heat before working in it and providing sufficient amounts of cool, clean water.
“A worker will need about 32 ounces of water an hour in hot temperatures, so about four cups of water an hour,” she said. “And even if somebody doesn’t feel thirsty, we need to encourage them to drink water. It’s very, very important to help the body prevent overheating.”
Ramos also stressed the importance of rest breaks, shade and training on the multiple signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. And she encouraged the use of a “buddy system.” In 2018, heat caused a farmworker’s death in a Nebraska cornfield, and his body wasn’t found until the next day.
Long workdays contribute to agricultural workers’ risk of heat-related illnesses. Ramos said 10-hour days are not unusual for Nebraska farmworkers.
“And a lot of the migrant farmworker crews will be working more than 10 hours a day, because they’re coming in for a relatively short period of time,” she said. “And they have specific tasks that have to get done, and they only have four or five weeks to actually do it.”
To date, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington have enacted state heat standards. Ramos said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is working on federal standards, but heat currently falls under the “General Duty Clause.”
“Within that clause, it basically says that employers have a duty to ensure a safe working environment,” she said. “So, you already have that responsibility as an employer, although a lot of farmworker advocacy groups would say we need something more specific.”
She said OSHA has also been doing more heat-related inspections under a “Special Emphasis Program.”
