South Dakota

New political scorecard looks at South Dakota lawmakers on voting issues

Published

9 months ago

April 29, 2025

New political scorecard looks at South Dakota lawmakers on voting issues

Following legislative session, a lot of political activists and organizations look at how the lawmakers align with their respective beliefs.

One new “scorecard” is aiming to do just that on voting issues.

The scorecard is created by the Voter Defense Association South Dakota. Group leaders say their goal is to protect voter rights, which they believe are under attack.

The VDA looked at bills pertaining to the Initiated Process and scored legislators on how they voted on each bill aligning with the organization’s beliefs.

Legislators were scored by either gaining or losing “points” based on a yes or no vote on either their respective chamber’s floor or in committee.

Matt Schweich is the President of VDA. He said though Democrats have traditionally voted more in favor of the organization’s beliefs, three Senate Republicans scored the highest.

Those three Republicans were Senators Kyle Schoenfish, David Wheeler and Michael Rohl. On the House side, the top three scores were given to Democrat Representatives Nicole Uhre-Balk, Kadyn Wittman and Erin Healy.

“We as an organization do not think that the Initiated Process should be a partisan issue. It’s a question of process and it’s a question of the Constitutional rights of the people of South Dakota,” Schweich said. “It shouldn’t be a red or blue issue at all. And so, it’s very encouraging that the three top Senators are all Republicans, and that’s something we want to build on.”

Schweich said he expected the Senate to align closer to the views of VDA than the House based on his experiences in Pierre, but once he looked at all the data the gap between was larger than anticipated.

“I was little surprised it was different to such a degree. When you look at the Senate there’s quite a few As and Bs and B+s relative to the size of the overall size of the chamber with 35 members,” Schweich said. “The House, it’s a lot of Ds and a lot of Fs. We expected a difference, we expected the Senate to better. I don’t think we expected the Senate to be this much better.”

The scorecard can be found on the VDA’s website.

Source link

South Dakota

Pictures of semi-truck, name of woman released in Minnehaha County fatal crash

Published

3 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Pictures of semi-truck, name of woman released in Minnehaha County fatal crash

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has released the name of the woman who was killed in a fatal crash in Minnehaha County last week.

64-year-old Patricia Archambeau of Mitchell died on January 5 due to her injuries in a crash that took place in the early hours of Saturday, January 3.

Archambeau’s 2012 Chevrolet Traverse was traveling eastbound on I-90 near mile marker 379, about four miles west of Humboldt, when she attempted to pull off on the side of the road.

At the same time, the Traverse was struck by a semi-truck, also traveling eastbound, and pulling a trailer. The truck continued driving east after the crash and has yet to be located.

On Sunday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol released two images of the semi-truck suspected of hitting Archambeau’s Traverse. The two photos were taken on I-29 near 41st Street in Sioux Falls at 2:25 a.m., about 12 minutes after the crash west of Humboldt.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol has released two images of a semi-truck believed to be involved in a fatal crash that took place last Saturday in Minnehaha County.(South Dakota Highway Patrol)

Highway Patrol is seeking more information about a red Freightliner Cascadia semi-truck, missing its passenger-side headlight. If anyone has information, they’re asked to contact Highway Patrol at 605-367-5700.

Source link

South Dakota

South Dakota knocks off Denver 82-72

Published

16 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Cameron Fens scored 23 points as South Dakota beat Denver 82-72 on Saturday.

Fens also contributed 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Coyotes (9-9, 1-2 Summit League). Isaac Bruns scored 20 points while going 8 of 12 and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds. Jordan Crawford went 5 of 11 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) to finish with 13 points.

Gabe Oldham led the Pioneers (8-11, 1-3) in scoring, finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. Denver also got 19 points from Zane Nelson. Carson Johnson also put up 11 points and six assists.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Source link

South Dakota

SD Highway Patrol releases new details on hit and run, asks for public’s help

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

SD Highway Patrol releases new details on hit and run, asks for public’s help

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Highway Patrol is continuing to look for the suspect in a deadly hit-and-run near Humboldt, SD.

In a Facebook post, the SD Highway Patrol has released new details regarding the semi suspected of committing the hit and run.

According to police, the semi is a red Freightliner Cascadia semi, missing its passenger-side headlight.

The semi was traveling eastbound from the Humboldt area on I-90 in the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2026.

Police are seeking information, video, or pictures from 2:13 a.m. – 3:00 a.m. along I-90 and I-29 from the public.

If you have any tips or footage, contact the South Dakota Highway Patrol District 2 Office at (605) 367-5700.

Source link