RAPID CITY, SD – A Rapid City man was arrested on six counts after firing several rounds at a passing patrol car Saturday morning, October 7th.
At about 2:30 a.m. (MDT), police were dispatched to the 4300 block of Pendleton Drive. Witnesses stated that 44-year-old Christopher Dahn exited a bar and fired a handgun multiple times at a patrol car. The car was en route to an unrelated incident.
Two bystanders witnessed Dahn shooting at the patrol car and quickly took action. They disarmed Dahn, brought him to the ground and detained him there until the officers arrived at the scene.
While officers were speaking with Dahn, they noted his slurred speech and alcohol coming from him. Dahn was arrested for Aggravated Assault on Law Enforcement, Discharge of a Loaded Firearm While Intoxicated, Reckless Discharge, Discharge of a Firearm at a Motor Vehicle, Commission of a Felony with a Firearm, and Carrying a Concealed Weapon into a Liquor Establishment.
Dahn is in custody at the Pennington County Jail. There are no reports of damage or injury caused by the gunfire.
The Rapid City Police Department extends its’ appreciation to the bystanders who intervened and stopped a possible deadly incident from happening.
PIERRE, SD – South Dakotans who rely on food stamps missed out on $100 million for groceries because the state declared an end to the COVID-19 emergency while federal funding was still available, according to an analysis prepared by the state Legislative Research Council and obtained by News Watch.
Gov. Kristi Noem decided in July 2021 that South Dakota had recovered enough from the pandemic and ended the formal emergency far earlier than most other states. That prevented the state from taking the estimated $103 million in additional emergency funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) available until March 2023.
The estimate is likely low because emergency allotment totals rose as more people qualified for SNAP benefits in early 2021, the LRC analysis said.
Thirty-two other states took the funding until the program ended. South Dakota was one of the first states to end its state of emergency and stop taking the money for food to low-income residents, people with disabilities and families with children.
According to amounts from the final month South Dakota took the emergency funding, about 34,600 households lost out on an average of $150 per month over those 19 months.
Critics of Noem’s decision — including a South Dakota lawmaker, grocer and food stamp recipient — said it prevented low-income families and individuals from buying more food during the lingering months of the pandemic. It also denied grocery retailers millions of dollars in revenue, they said.
But Noem’s communications director, Ian Fury, said the governor concluded the state economy had “fully recovered” from the pandemic and that a state of emergency was no longer needed.
The unemployment rate had fallen to pre-pandemic levels, the tourism industry had rebounded and “our COVID peak was long in the rearview mirror,” he wrote in an email to News Watch.
PIERRE, SD – The South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC) has agreed to buy two 160-acre parcels of land in rural Lincoln County. This land has been chosen as the site for a new men’s prison, which will replace a significant portion of the current State Penitentiary located in Sioux Falls.
According to Kellie Wasko, the Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Corrections, this location is the most suitable for a modern correctional facility that meets the state’s public safety requirements while having the least impact on the growth of the community. She expressed her gratitude to Governor Noem, the Legislature, and Commissioner Greenfield for their support in securing the land for the state’s public safety needs for years to come.
The South Dakota State Legislature has provided funding for the construction of new prison facilities in South Dakota, including a new men’s prison, in both 2022 and 2023 through the Incarceration Construction Fund. In 2023, Governor Noem signed HB 1017 into law, which allocated $52 million for the purchase of land and the hiring of architectural and engineering services required to build the new men’s prison. The legislation also allocated an additional $270.7 million for the construction of the facility.
In July 2023, Governor Noem indicated, “We will be able to avoid unnecessary debt by using [the state’s $96.8 million budget surplus] for future prison construction costs.”
The land is situated in rural Lincoln County, on the western side of the corner of 477th and 278th Street. Currently, the state of South Dakota owns the land through the Office of School and Public Lands. As per state law, Schools and Public Lands are authorized to transfer property to another government entity for the appraised value. The appraised value of both has been set at a total of $7,910,000. It is a financially responsible choice to utilize the land that the state already owns.
LYON COUNTY, IA – A truck was found in a ditch on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 29th, but the driver was not at the scene of the crash.
According to the Lyon County sheriff’s office, 45-year-old Sioux Falls resident Michael L. Bucholz was driving east on 190th avenue when the truck, registered to Prairie Sons, Inc., entered a ditch. This happened just before 9 a.m., but was not reported until a passerby observed the accident just before 2 p.m.
Three separate warrants including failure to maintain control, driving a vehicle with a revoked license and driving under suspension are currently out for Bucholz.
