Daily Republic · Pierre, SD
I had the opportunity 25 years ago to interview several military veterans as South Dakota prepared to unveil a memorial to state residents who served in World War II. The other day, as Nov. 11 and Veterans Day neared, I leafed through some of my story clips to remind myself of some of those interviews and of what those vets told me about their time in uniform, their thoughts on war and what it meant to have a memorial near the Flaming Fountain on Capitol Lake in Pierre. The memorial, as anyone knows who attended the September 2001 celebration or who has visited the Capitol in the past 25 years, has six sculptures representing each branch of the armed service. Republican Gov. Bill Janklow was in office at the time. He spearheaded the project and the weekend celebration that drew an estimated 25,000 people to the capital city. If you look at the six figures, you’ll see that the one representing the U.S. Marine Corp is just a little bigger than the others. Well, sure.
South Dakota Searchlight · Pierre, SD
A South Dakota state senator employed by a utility company criticized a legislative staff report on large data centers as “very opinionated,” drawing pushback from some fellow lawmakers who said the report fulfilled its purpose. Sen. Steve Kolbeck, R-Brandon, is an executive for Xcel Energy, a multi-state provider of electricity and natural gas. He is also a former member of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities. During a Tuesday meeting in Pierre of the Legislature’s Executive Board, Kolbeck criticized Legislative Research Council staff attorney Rachel Hale’s 17-page “Hyperscale Data Centers” issue memorandum. Kolbeck went on to cast the lone no vote against accepting the memorandum.
South Dakota Searchlight · Pierre, SD
An impending South Dakota Supreme Court decision stands between a man who’s spent 42 years in prison for a double murder and his chance to convince a jury he never should’ve been there. The decision and underlying case will offer guidance on how judges are meant to apply a South Dakota law. The statute lets them grant a new trial if new DNA evidence “would result in acquittal” when considered alongside “all other evidence” in a case. A Rapid City judge granted 84-year-old George Luna a new trial based on that 2009 law. The Attorney General’s Office appealed, setting up Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing in Pierre. Tony Mangan, spokesman for the attorney general, told South Dakota Searchlight that, “to the best of our knowledge,” Luna is the only person to have been granted a new trial based on that law.
South Dakota Searchlight · Pierre, SD
The South Dakota Supreme Court heard concerns Monday at the Capitol in Pierre from people who said the proposed merger of two western judicial circuits could leave rural communities behind. The proposal would combine the state’s 4th and 7th Judicial Circuits into a single 12-county 4th Circuit headquartered in Rapid City, reducing the number of judicial circuits in South Dakota from seven to six. The 4th Judicial Circuit encompasses the northwestern part of the state, including Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins and Ziebach counties. The 7th Judicial Circuit includes the southwestern corner: Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington counties. State Court Administrator Greg Sattizahn told justices more than 90% of court business in the affected counties occurs in just Pennington, Meade, Butte and Lawrence counties. He said the merger would allow the courts to share personnel and resources more effectively, and eliminate duplicate positions.