South Dakota
Lawmakers approve subpoenas for DOR leaders amid fake titles investigation
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – As the investigation continues into a fake title scheme within the South Dakota Department of Revenue, leaders within the department will soon be on the receiving end of a subpoena to testify before state lawmakers.
The Legislature’s Executive Board on Tuesday approved the request from the Government Operations and Audit Committee (GOAC) to subpoena Department of Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell and Department of Motor Vehicle Director Rosa Yaeger.
A two-day GOAC hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12 in Pierre.
The subpoena request followed a GOAC hearing last week where members of the oversight committee sought answers about changes and security measures the department is implementing after multiple investigations uncovered schemes with fake titles allegedly involving three former employees. That hearing went into executive session, where DOR leaders refused to provide more details, citing pending criminal litigation.
“Essentially, we need to be able to have a legislative investigation occur at the same time as the judicial branch is doing its functions also,” Sen. David Wheeler (R-Huron), a GOAC member, testified on Tuesday. “We have a session coming up in January. We need to know what, if any, corrective actions the Legislature needs to take. And it’s difficult to do that when we can’t get firsthand knowledge about what happened, why it happened, and what have they done to remedy it.”
Executive Board Chair Sen. Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown) echoed that sentiment, saying that a state law dealing with trial publicity only applies to the attorneys involved, which in this case, applies to the Attorney General.
“It would be a dangerous precedent to allow the rules of ethics that apply to an attorneys interfere with the legislative process in almost any respect, other than the attorneys that are involved in some litigation. It binds them,” said Schoenbeck. “But you would never want the Legislature to be in a situation where they couldn’t have a hearing on a bill or an issue.”
Any further testimony from DOR leaders in December is likely to come behind closed doors in executive session.
The two-day hearing will begin with questions for the Department of Revenue on Dec. 11. GOAC will also continue its probe into the Department of Social Services, following an investigation that alleges a former DSS stole $1.8 million from the state.
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
South Dakota
Kraft ‘can’t say enough good things about the place I came from’ on NFL Network
Tucker Kraft gave his hometown of Timber Lake, South Dakota, a shoutout on national television Friday.The Timber Lake High School graduate and Green Bay Packer tight end made an appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. The second-year tight end fielded a number of questions during the 11-minute interview, including growing up in tiny Timber Lake (population: 500).“The population is 500…
South Dakota
Western South Dakota Community Action saves money, lives with home weatherization
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Western South Dakota Community Action welcomed the community to view demonstrations of their weatherization processes to celebrate the 48 anniversary of weatherization programs with the Department of Energy on Wednesday.
Demonstrations included how carbon monoxide moves through a house, insulation blowing and how to prevent catastrophic events like fire in homes.
WSDCA has many programs for those working their way out of poverty, the weatherization of homes is just one. Auditors will check doors, windows, insulation, HVAC systems and more. After the audit is done, auditors put all the information from the audit into a computer software system created by the Department of Energy to find the most cost-effective way to improve the home if necessary. They will finish with installing the material and final inspection.
The weatherization is not just to save money, but also to keep people healthy.
“Low-income people survive by making things happen, and sometimes that’s not up to code. In other words, they make themselves in dangerous situations. As part of the final inspection is making sure everything is operating the way it’s supposed to be as far as HVAC goes and making sure no carbon monoxide is going to happen in that home,” William Thompson, an energy auditor with Western South Dakota Community Action, said.
Thompson added saving energy is huge for people with low income, so the organization tries to save the homeowner at least 15 percent their first year after weatherization.
WSDCA’s operations manager, Laura Fletcher, said weatherization of homes doesn’t just benefit the current occupant but also the community.
“Rapid City has increasing aging housing stock and the more we can keep these older homes livable, the longer that those homes are available to live in,” Fletcher said.
Thompson said he knew of many people who had their lives saved by the weatherization work WSDCA provides.
“It‘s one of the most gratifying things you can do, especially when you find life safety issues, and you actually save peoples’ lives. Personally, I know of at least five to 10 people that we’ve actually saved their lives. They medically had carbon monoxide poisoning and by our process we ended up making their homes safe after that. It’s a very gratifying job,” Thompson said.
Fletcher is hoping to put on another day of demonstrations for the 60 anniversary of Western South Dakota Community Action.
For more information about Western South Dakota Community Action and their programs like weatherization, visit WSDCA’s website.
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Copyright 2024 KOTA. All rights reserved.
South Dakota
SDHP announces November sobriety checkpoints
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Sobriety checkpoints will be conducted in 17 counties in November.
Checkpoints will be conducted in the following counties:
- Bennett
- Brule
- Codington
- Davison
- Hanson
- Jones
- Lake
- Lawrence
- Lincoln
- Meade
- Moody
- Pennington
- Roberts
- Sanborn
- Spink
- Walworth
- Yankton
The monthly checkpoints are designed to discourage people from driving impaired.
The checkpoints are funded by the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety and conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol with the help of local law enforcement.
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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