PRESHO, SD – Presho is a small town looking for big things from its gravel-runway municipal airport. The city requested the South Dakota Aeronautics Commission put the airfield on the state’s Aviation System Plan. John Becker with the Department of Transportation says Covid-19 grant funding opened the door for Presho to seek Airport Improvement Grant funding and the city is working with Helms and Associates of Aberdeen to help bring the facility up to the current standards the state requires.
Presho Mayor Angela Ahlers says there are more concerns than just the gravel runway which is hard on airplanes. A physical move of the airport may be a part of future planning in an effort to bring more fixed base operators to the facility along with services which would serve the area around Presho.
Ahlers says there is interest in having aerial applicators based out of Presho as those services currently come from White River. She added that Presho is halfway between Sioux Falls and Rapid City and that there is a need for medical transport especially for dealing with serious injury crash along Interstate 90.
SIOUX FALLS, SD – A Wagner woman was found guilty on seven counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of felony child abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact.
53 year old Tina Sully was a foster parent and adopted mother to several children. Between 1993 and 2021, Sully assaulted and cruelly punished three of the children, beating them with belts and hangers and withholding food from them for days. She also sexually abused one of the boys.
A four-day jury trial was held in federal district court in Sioux Falls with the guilty verdict read on September 15, 2023.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years and maximum penalty of life in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and the defendant was released pending sentencing. The sentencing date has not been set.
RAPID CITY, SD – Carl Relf was sentenced Thursday, September 21st to 45 years in prison on each of seven counts of aggravated assault.
In March, 2023, a Pennington County jury found Relf guilty of threatening multiple people with a gun on June 6, 2022.
Some of the victims believed they were going to die when Relf threatened them. Relf, of Rapid City, chased and shot a round at one of the victims.
Senior Deputy State’s Attorney Jason Thomas said “Random acts of gun violence are among the most terrifying crimes. Because we know that no matter what we do as citizens and parents, there is nothing we can do to protect ourselves or loved ones from falling victim to a madman with a gun.”
Thomas stated that Relf has had a lengthy criminal history and was on methamphetamine when he was arrested.
The maximum penalty for aggravated assault in South Dakota is 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine for each count; however, due to Relf’s criminal history, the maximum penalty increases to a maximum of 50 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Relf will have credit for the 472 days he has already served. Additionally, Judge Wipf Pfeifle suspended 10 years of his sentence and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
**From the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Northeast Weed Management Area and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will have a contractor spraying phragmites on Niobrara Confluence and Bazile Creek WMAs, and private land in the Niobrara area during the week of September 25. Applicators will be utilizing a helicopter and drones to apply herbicides.
