South Dakota
Abortion rights initiatives make the ballot in South Dakota and Colorado
(AP) – Voters in Colorado and South Dakota will have a say on abortion rights this fall after enough signatures were collected to put measures on the ballots.
South Dakota voters will get a chance at direct democracy on the contentious issue in a conservative state where a trigger law banning nearly all abortions went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Colorado’s measure, which made the ballot Friday, would enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution. Colorado already has broad protections for abortion, becoming a haven for those in states that have restricted abortion, particularly Texas.
South Dakota’s top election official announced Thursday that about 85% of the more than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the ballot initiative are valid, exceeding the required 35,017 signatures.
Voters will vote up or down on prohibiting the state from regulating abortion before the end of the first trimester and allowing the state to regulate abortion after the second trimester, except when necessary to preserve the life or physical or emotional health of a pregnant woman.
Dakotans for Health, which sponsored the amendment, said in a statement Thursday that the signatures’ validation “certified that the people of South Dakota, not the politicians in Pierre, will be the ones to decide whether to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of South Dakota.”
Abortion rights are also on the ballot in Florida and Maryland, and advocates are still working toward that goal in states including Arizona, Montana and Nebraska in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe.
Voters of seven other states have already approved abortion access in ballot measures, including four that wrote abortion rights into their constitutions.
Supporters for Colorado’s ballot measure said they turned in over 225,000 signatures, nearly double the required number of just over 124,000. Amending the state constitution will require the support of 55% of voters.
“In this time of uncertainty, we need to secure abortion rights and access in the Colorado Constitution, beyond the reach of politics and politicians,” Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt Abortion Fund based in Colorado, said in a statement Friday.
South Dakota outlaws all abortions, except to save the life of the mother.
Despite securing language on the ballot, abortion rights advocates in South Dakota face an uphill battle to success in November. Republican lawmakers strongly oppose the measure, and a major abortion rights advocate has said it doesn’t support it.
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota warned when the signatures were submitted that the language as written doesn’t convey the strongest legal standard for courts to evaluate abortion laws and could risk being symbolic only.
Life Defense Fund, a group organized against the initiative, said they will continue to research the signatures.
Opponents still have 30 days — until June 17 — to file a challenge with the secretary of state’s office.
“We are grateful to the many dedicated volunteers who have put in countless hours, and we are resolute in our mission to defend unborn babies,” co-chairs Leslee Unruh and state Rep. Jon Hansen said in a statement.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.
Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.
She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.
“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”
Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.
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South Dakota
USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.
“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.
FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.
“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.
For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen unveil a plaque for retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams in the Hall of Honor at the Capitol in Pierre on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — There’s a new name in the South Dakota Hall of Honor at the state Capitol building.
One-hundred-year-old South Dakota native and retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was celebrated at a Wednesday ceremony where a plaque honoring him was unveiled, although Williams did not attend.
“In spite of being outnumbered and facing incredible danger, Captain Williams engaged the enemy with courage and skill,” said Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. “Our state has always had a strong tradition of service, and Captain Williams is the very best of that tradition.”
President Donald Trump awarded Williams the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, at the State of the Union address earlier this year. The medal honors actions by Williams that had been classified for decades.
“His story was secret for over 50 years, he didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew,” Trump said during the speech in February. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”
On Nov. 18, 1952, over Korean coastal waters during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams, from Wilmot, South Dakota, led three F9F Panthers against seven Soviet MiG-15s. He disabled three enemy jets and damaged a fourth.
The Soviet jets, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, were “superior to the F9F in almost every fashion.” The mission was the only direct overwater combat between U.S. Navy fighters and Soviet fighters during the Cold War.
Williams, one of 11 Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota, now lives in California. The Hall of Honor at the South Dakota Capitol is located in the hallway that visitors enter immediately after going through security.
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