SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A longtime Chief Warden for the State of South Dakota has asked legislators to reconsider spending nearly a billion dollars on a new men’s prison in Lincoln County.

Douglas Weber retired from his position as chief warden for the South Dakota Department of Corrections in 2013 after working at the State Penitentiary for 32 years. With 16 years in the position, Weber is the second-longest-serving warden in the history of the state pen.

In a letter released on Friday and obtained by Dakota News Now, Weber wrote that he acknowledges there is a need to build new incarceration facilities in the state, but he does not agree with the current $825 million plan to build a new men’s facility in rural Lincoln County to replace the prison in Sioux Falls, which Weber refers to as “The Hill.”

Weber stated that the proposal for the new, 1,512-bed facility has “excessive initial estimated building costs” and the remote location will hinder prison services and create financial and logistical challenges.

Weber said the state should instead focus on Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield.

The facility was originally built as college dormitories, and Weber said Mike Durfee does not provide “adequate or appropriate safety and security features,” which was demonstrated with prison unrest last summer. He claimed the buildings are “extremely vulnerable” to damage from both weather disasters and inmate actions.

Both Mike Durfee and The Hill were originally built in 1881, but Weber said The Hill has maintained continuous upgrades in the main facility and with the addition of the Jameson Annex in 1993. This has allowed the Sioux Falls prison to “maintain its effectiveness as a safe, secure, and modernized linear style prison,” according to Weber.

Weber then suggested the possibility of state-owned land in both Minnehaha and Yankton County where a new facility could be placed that could “address the needs that are currently being debated.”

Weber advises the citizens of South Dakota to request their legislators pause additional funding and construction on the project this year and complete a summer study on other options.

Weber then called on the DOC to release transparent financial breakdowns on the funds requested for the project as well as cost estimations for the project and its ongoing operations, including the cost of connecting the proposed prison to Lennox by 14 miles of sewer pipelines.

Read Weber’s full letter below.

Copyright 2025 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.

GRAND FORKS — UND men’s basketball forward Mambourou Mara threw down back-to-back dunks to open the second half, building on the Fighting Hawks’ lead in Thursday night’s game against South Dakota at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

The Hawks, who led the Coyotes 51-49 at halftime, held onto a lead over South Dakota for over 27 minutes of game time – until the 8 minute, 44 second mark.

South Dakota, which led for one minute in the first half, connected on 6 of 10 field goals and went 12-for-14 from the free-throw line to lead for the final eight minutes down the stretch to beat UND 102-93.

“They got downhill on us a lot,” UND coach Paul Sather said. “I thought against a pretty athletic, similar team in Kansas City — as far as having attacking guards that go downhill a lot — we did a better job. Tonight, (Chase) Forte got loose a little bit, and (Kaleb) Stewart got loose as well. Then, some of those threes started raining down a little bit, too.”

UND shot 33.3% in the final eight minutes. The Hawks were on pace for their best shooting percentage of the season (56.6%) before the late implosion.

“Just be grown men at the end of the day,” UND guard Treysen Eaglestaff said. “Just not make so many mistakes. For example, today, I played into their hands at the end of the game, took a couple of tough shots. That’s just my maturity. I should shoot better than that. I have to be a grown man. I can’t let that happen, and that’s just part of the game. We just have to be ready to grow up and take that next step. I think it’s coming, for sure.”

The Hawks’ 51 first-half points matched their highest output in the opening half this season, which came in their first Summit League win at Denver. UND shot 51.6% at Denver in the win.

On Thursday night, UND shot 50.7% against South Dakota and lost.

The Coyotes, behind double digit scoring nights from six of their nine players, shot 58.5%.

“You can’t give up 58% and think you’re going to win,” Sather said. “It’s good to know exactly what it is, but the effort, the willingness, the eagerness to really put everything into (defense) is what we have to do. That’s got to be where our mind is. Our concerns are at other places. … If we can solve this in time, I like what we could become. But the defensive part of it’s frustrating right now. I’m sure our players are frustrated, but it’s something we have to really pay a lot more attention to and continue to grind on it. We’re not connected and engaged at times, and we just give up easy stuff.”

UND has allowed over 100 points to two opponents this season: South Dakota State and South Dakota.

The Hawks travel to Fargo to play North Dakota State and its top-3 offense, led by Summit League leading scorer Jacksen Moni, at 4 p.m. Saturday.

“My thing is just grow up,” Eaglestaff said. “We have to stop playing soft like that. That can’t happen. It’s just an on and off thing and it has to be consistent. I think consistency is a big part of basketball, so I think we just have to grow up and go play as hard as we can.”

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A non-profit organization that provides mental health support to teenagers and college students is rebranding.

Long Live MC is changing its name to Better South Dakota to extend its reach in the state and raise awareness for mental health.

The non-profit was created to honor the life of Manny Christopher.

Better South Dakota will focus on three missions: a scholarship, counseling, and a faith program.

This Saturday is Better SD’s first event at the El Riad Shrine, as they host a Counseling for Kids fundraiser. The event will award a scholarship to a public school in the Sioux Falls community.

“Being a safe space at school that allows students to know it’s okay to not be okay and to be able to provide those resources is something I am really excited about. Ultimately, I feel in every school, public school, the counseling program is what’s lacking, not that counselors themselves are lacking, but just funding and resources they have available to them. Being able to be a little part in that and provide some resources where they can utilize the funds,” said board member McKenzie Erickson.

“We still have Manny as the foundation. Long Live MC is still where we came from and we will never forget that. The only reason we exist is because of Long Live MC but the reason for Better SD is we wanted to expand our reach, open our arms out, and be able to touch anyone and everyone in the state of SD making a difference in raising awareness for mental health,” said Manny Christopher’s brother Denet.

The Counseling for Kids fundraiser at the El Riad Shrine is open to the public and will have an auction, keynote speaker, and scholarship presentation.

Copyright 2025 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.