Total arrests coming through the Union County Jail in December: 75
Total number of individuals incarcerated in jail awaiting trial, sitting out sentences, or awaiting extradition: 28
Below are the charges for the month stated above. You may notice that there may be more charges than arrests. This is due to individuals facing multiple charges. Continue reading Union County Sheriff’s department arrest data for December 2023
The new five-year federal farm program, which was due on the president’s desk no later than Sept. 30, 2023, is missing. Republicans, who run the U.S. House of Representatives, don’t have a good answer about why it is missing.
In fact, the explanation for what happened to it is little more than a reworking of the age-old “the dog ate my homework” excuse used to “explain” missing arithmetic homework assignments by school kids for years. Continue reading The dog ate my farm bill and other Republican excuses
According to a recent poll conducted by News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota, nearly half of registered South Dakota voters support the creation of a school voucher program in the state.South Dakota is not one of the 16 states that offer school vouchers. A legislative measure to enact a voucher system failed by a wide margin in its first committee stop in 2023.
As of Jan. 10, a voucher bill had not yet been filed for the 2024 legislative session, which just began, though some backers do expect some form of legislation will be filed this session.
The poll showed that 48.8 percent of respondents support the development of a voucher system, while 45.6 percent do not, with 5.6 percent undecided. Continue reading School voucher program backed by many South Dakota voters: poll
The following disposed cases were provided to the Siouxland Observer by the South Dakota Unified Judicial System on 1/2/2024. They are reprinted in the same order as they appear on the Unified Judicial System’s report.
Cases Disposed: December 25 – December 29, 2023 Continue reading Union County court: Dec. 25 – Dec. 29
The following disposed cases were provided to the Siouxland Observer by the South Dakota Unified Judicial System on 12/26/23. They are reprinted in the same order as they appear on the Unified Judicial System’s report.
Cases Disposed: December 18 – December 22, 2023 Continue reading Union County court
According to a news release from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s, three Sioux County men were arrested Thursday, Dec. 28 for attempted burglary of a church in rural Lincoln County.
Over the last month, Lincoln County deputies have been investigating several burglaries of rural churches in the county. They have been working with neighboring agencies in both South Dakota and Iowa in counties experiencing similar church burglaries. Continue reading 3 Iowa men arrested by Lincoln Co. sheriff’s deputies for S.D. church burglaries
In September, Gov. Kristi Noem carried the American flag on horseback into a Sioux Falls arena full of fans.
Several months earlier, Noem had decided to use tax dollars from South Dakota employers to help pay for the event.
In June, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development awarded a three-year contract worth up to $2.5 million to rodeo announcer Rorey Lemmel’s Dean Entertainment Group, to promote and conduct the annual event. The contract said Sioux Falls would contribute additional matching funds.
It was the Cinch Playoffs Governor’s Cup, advertised as “the richest rodeo in South Dakota history,” with $1 million in prize money. Noem handed out awards, posed for photos with the winners, and shared the images with thousands of followers on her social media accounts.
A new brochure from Secretary of State Monae Johnson aims to address common election integrity questions in advance of the 2024 election, according to a Tuesday news release.
The brochure, titled “A Guide to Secure Elections in South Dakota,” is designed to explain “different security measures South Dakota has put in place to protect our elections,” according to the release. Continue reading Secretary of State releases election integrity brochure, urges voters to trust officials
South Dakota keeps adding video lottery machines, with 567 more terminals and over $1.17 billion gambled this year, earning a record-setting $163 million in revenue for the state.
As the games continue their sprawl and the Legislature weighs an increase in betting limits, some South Dakota communities are trying to figure out a middle-of-the-road solution for the future of the 34-year-old games. Continue reading South Dakota cities cap video lottery as state eyes betting increase
It was Tuesday morning, November 28th, and I was running late. I peeked out the living room shades and saw through the dark that the northeastern sky was starting to get bright. Carmelo Lattuca, the morning meteorologist on KTIV was explaining it was 9 degrees in Sioux City and 16 degrees up in Le Mars, Iowa. He said with the wind it felt like a negative 2 degrees. He proceeded into something called his “Dog Walk Forecast” saying the temperatures were going to increase to 32- 39 degrees by afternoon.
This was the day the commissioners were going to decide the fate of the county’s lone medical cannabis license.
I looked at my agenda, then at the commissioners, and discovered they had just approved the hiring of a new part-time jailer Claudia J. Chasing Hawk at $18.62 an hour. She started on Nov. 14. Before the agreement to hire Chasing Hawk, who had already started, a quorum was established, allegiance to our flag was pledged, today’s agenda was approved, and the last meeting’s minutes were approved. Continue reading Adventures at the county courthouse: How ’bout that medical weed license?
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