CHAMBERLAIN, SD – U-S Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is touring parts of South Dakota where funding from the Biden Administration is being used to enhance transportation in the state.  Monday Buttigieg stopped to see progress on a new terminal for the Chamberlain Municipal Airport.  He says the Biden Administration is making progress where other Administration’s have not and that bipartisan cooperation is making the projects possible.  He added that infrastructure is critical no matter the size of the community.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Airport Terminal Program is providing 855-thousand dollars for the project.  Buttigieg is touring an I-90 rest area near Salem on Tuesday.

 

SAC COUNTY, IA – Authorities in Sac County, Iowa are continuing their investigation of the death of a man in a house fire in the town last week.

A deputy responded to a report of smoke coming from a condemned house last Thursday morning.  The structure had been scheduled for demolition.

The deputy encountered the 66-year-old owner of the property in the garage.  The man displayed a gun to the deputy and pushed away, refusing to leave the garage structure which became engulfed in flames.

The sheriff’s office says no shots were fired.  The man’s body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner and the State Fire Marshall is investigating the fire.

 

STURGIS, SD – Representatives from AMA Pro Racing and the Outerkind Agency were in Sturgis Monday to conduct controlled road tests in anticipation of hosting a motorcycle race in the future during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Sturgis Police, Sturgis Public Works and the Meade County Sheriff’s Department were all on hand to help the Agency conduct the tests in which a pro rider rode city streets both in and adjacent to the downtown corridor.

Ben Keane (cane) Of the Outerkind Agency knows there are some logistics that will need to be overcome, but he is excited about the possibility of hosting a downtown professional motorcycle race during one of the world’s large motorcycle gatherings.

Sturgis Mayor Mark Carstensen has said he would like to bring the excitement of such racing to Sturgis.

 

FT. PIERRE, SD – An 18-year-old man from Fort Pierre died and three men were injured in a UTV accident early Saturday morning (Sept. 9, 2023) in Stanley County.

Sheriff Brad Rathbun says two 18 year olds, a 19 year old and a 20 year old were riding through a pasture in a side-by-side about one mile west of Fort Pierre when the machine rolled around 1:43am. One of the men was able to call 911, but didn’t know their location.

Rathbun says emergency responders located them around 3:20am. He says 18 year old Hayden Monson, a passenger in the side by side, was dead at the scene. An 18 year old and a 19 year old were taken by AMR ambulance to the hospital in Pierre. The 19 year old was then flown to a hospital in Sioux Falls and is in critical condition. The 20 year old was taken by private vehicle to the hospital in Pierre.

Rathbun says who was driving and other details of the accident are under investigation.

Also responding to the scene were the Fort Pierre Volunteer Fire Department and Pierre Rescue.

 

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Sanford USD Medical Center has been certified as a Level I Adult Trauma Center. This verification is awarded by the American College of Surgeons and is the highest level of trauma care.

This achievement makes Sanford Health the only health care system in the state of South Dakota with a Level I Adult Trauma Center.

This means that the trauma team and its capability of providing total care for every aspect of injury is present and consistent at the facility. A Level I trauma center provides the highest level of surgical care to trauma patients and has a full range of specialists and equipment available 24 hours a day.

Sanford USD Medical Center provides Level I trauma care for a broad region of the upper Midwest including South Dakota, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota. Sanford Medical Center Fargo is also verified as a Leve I Adult Trauma Center, providing trauma care for North Dakota as well as parts of Minnesota and Montana.

A Level I trauma center is required to have a certain number of surgeons and anesthesiologists, specialty services and other services on duty 24/7.