VERMILLION, SD – On November 14, a fatal collision between a car and a bicycle occurred at the intersection of East Main Street and Anderson Street in Vermillion.

The bicyclist, identified as Clayton Lehmann, a 67-year-old professor at the University of South Dakota, suffered injuries and succumbed to them two days later in a Sioux Falls hospital.

The car’s driver, a juvenile, remains unnamed due to their age, and the Vermillion Police Department is actively investigating the incident.

Lehmann, a respected figure in the academic community, had dedicated 35 years to teaching Greek and Roman history at USD.

A Celebration of Life is scheduled at the USD Vermillion campus to honor his legacy.

 

SIOUX FALLS, SD (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) – Minnehaha County commissioners signed off on a settlement agreement Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of violating the First Amendment rights of people collecting signatures for ballot questions.

Dakotans for Health sued the county this spring after the commission passed a policy on May 2 that restricted petitioning to a small area near the county administration building and required petitioners to check in with the county auditor before collecting signatures. The group also sued Lawrence County, whose commissioners had considered but did not pass a more restrictive set of petitioner regulations. The group recently asked that the Lawrence County suit be dismissed.

The advocacy group is collecting signatures to put a repeal of the state’s sales tax on food and a constitutional amendment reinstating the right to an abortion on the general election ballot in 2024. Abortion became illegal in South Dakota shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn the constitutional right to abortion with its 2022 decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson.

U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange signed a temporary restraining order to stop Minnehaha County from enforcing its petitioning policy just one day after the Dakotans for Health lawsuit was filed. Lange agreed with Dakotans for Health’s assertion that the policy likely violates free speech rights and clearly encumbered its ability to gather signatures in time to get its measure on the ballot.

“The new policy generally makes it much less likely that those entering or exiting the Minnehaha County buildings will engage at all with petition circulators,” Lange wrote in the May 11 order.

The county has since worked to craft a constitutionally defensible alternative policy, Minnehaha County Commission Administrative Officer Tom Greco told commissioners on Tuesday.

“We certainly appreciate citizens who take an active role in government decisions at all levels, but we do want to ensure that the buildings are able to accommodate people every day without any unnecessary delay or inconvenience,” Greco said.

The settlement agreement Greco presented, signed on Nov. 15 by Dakotans for Health’s Rick Weiland, was grounded in that updated policy.

The only significant difference between the petition-gathering policy in place before this spring’s attempt to rein in activity is the creation of a “zone of non-interference” that spans 24 feet of sidewalk from the entryway to the administration. The area creates a clear path from the building’s handicap parking spaces to the entrance. Petitioners are free to stand to the south of the doors.

As with the previous policy, petitioners cannot engage with citizens inside the entryway or inside the building itself.

The policy is similar to one passed in Brown County this month, which requires petitioners to be 10 feet from any entrance. Commissioners in the county seat of Aberdeen were concerned about clashes between abortion amendment petitioners and a group called “Decline to Sign,” which has deployed people to popular signature-gathering spots to dissuade citizens from signing the abortion rights petition. Decline to Sign representatives also stand outside the Minnehaha County administration building.

Weiland told South Dakota Searchlight that the updated petitioning policy in Minnehaha County is preferable on First Amendment grounds. He also asserted that a wider area for petitioning should help temper the risk of heated confrontations between supporters and opponents of the ballot question.

“If we hadn’t challenged the Minnehaha County policy, it would have had us all out there in a box,” Weiland said.

Dakotans for Health will need 35,017 signatures from registered voters to put the abortion amendment on the ballot, and 17,508 signatures to put the initiated law on the ballot that would repeal the state sales tax on food.

Minnehaha County commissioners voted Tuesday to sign the settlement agreement with Dakotans for Health, which agreed to drop its claims with the formal adoption of the new petitioning policy. Commissioners will vote formally on the policy on Nov. 28.

The Dakotans for Health measures are among more than a dozen questions that could appear on statewide ballots in the Nov. 5, 2024, election.

 

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Isaiah Dubray, a Sioux Falls man, has been sentenced to life in prison for a violent attack in a central Sioux Falls apartment building.

In October 2022, Dubray stabbed and killed a man, leaving a woman severely injured with multiple stab wounds.

The three individuals had been drinking together, according to witnesses.

Dubray pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted murder as part of a plea deal, with several other charges dropped.

The Minnehaha County State’s Attorney emphasized the victory for victims and the message sent to habitual criminals, affirming the commitment to public safety and justice for such heinous acts.

 

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is considering a semester-long certificate program for medical marijuana dispensary workers.

The proposed curriculum includes courses on medical marijuana laws, pharmacology, ethics, compliance in dispensing, and a practical capstone.

The initiative aims to ensure the safety of citizens and legitimize the state’s emerging medical marijuana industry.

While Governor Kristi Noem opposes marijuana legalization, voters approved medical cannabis in 2020.

The certificate program, if implemented, could become a unique requirement in the U.S. for formal education in the marijuana industry.

The proposal is in its early stages and addresses concerns about potential disruptions to existing dispensaries during employee certification.

The college envisions the program as a response to market demand and a way to standardize education for dispensary workers.