South Dakota
Tribe disbands security task force, cites financial struggles • South Dakota Searchlight
FORT THOMPSON — The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has disbanded a security task force formed a year ago after the homicide of a young man in Fort Thompson.
Task force members were not sworn law enforcement officers, but responded to public safety incidents to de-escalate situations and provide aid.
The Crow Creek tribe doesn’t have its own police force. Many of South Dakota’s tribes do have their own police departments, but Crow Creek is among the tribes without one.
Crow Creek Tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek said the hope was to transition the task force into a federally funded, tribally managed police force.
“That was one of the goals of this,” said Lengkeek, who added that the tribe remains interested in moving toward a local force.
Noem’s ‘banish the cartels’ obscures statewide drug problem, tribal leaders say
Officers with the federal government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services provide law enforcement services for Crow Creek and the neighboring Lower Brule Reservation. But Crow Creek leaders have argued that BIA officers aren’t always able to respond to calls in a timely fashion. The tribe declared a state of emergency after the killing of a young man in 2023 and launched its task force.
Task force members were paid by the tribe and received training from a private security firm headquartered on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The dissolution of the task force follows the election of three new members last month to the tribe’s seven-member council. Lengkeek, who retained his seat, confirmed this week that the security task force has been disbanded.
In May, Lengkeek told South Dakota Searchlight he’d hoped to be able to fund the force through the tribe’s marijuana dispensary business and its farming operations. But he also said that “we need to get some funding” to keep the force going.
This week, Lengkeek said the endeavor was not fiscally sustainable without federal support.
Lengkeek said he met with the state’s congressional delegation, and “made them well aware of the situation in the state of emergency and asked them to take the state of emergency where it needs to go for consideration and funding.”
“None of this has happened and no communication has come back to the tribe on the status of this,” Lengkeek said.
Congressional reaction
The Department of Interior’s BIA, Lengkeek said, has yet to address the issue. Questions sent by South Dakota Searchlight to the BIA on the matter early this week had not been returned as of Friday.
Members of the state’s congressional delegation have addressed public safety in tribal areas directly in several forums and formats over the past year.
Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson and Republican Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for more public safety funding for tribes in a June 2023 letter.
Rounds sent another letter to Interior in December, and another to the Government Accountability Office in March, in that case asking a series of pointed questions about budgets and calls for service he said have been left unanswered by Interior. In April, he sent a letter requesting a meeting on a regional BIA law enforcement training center, and he signed on to a bipartisan letter from senators in May asking for a budget increase for tribal public safety.
Also in May, he talked about tribes setting up their own ad hoc security forces during a congressional hearing.
“In response to the police shortages, some residents of tribal communities have even resorted to establishing citizen patrols to look out for crime,” Rounds told Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland during a May oversight hearing by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Rep. Johnson had a virtual meeting with Crow Creek leadership last August. A spokesperson for his office pointed out that while the emergency declaration had no specific ask for funding, Johnson has also pushed for a regional law enforcement training center, and has called for a congressional field hearing on tribal land.
“Tribal communities are desperate for relief … The federal government [should honor] the commitment we made and work to meet the law enforcement needs of Indian Country,” Johnson said in a press release on the field hearing request.
Johnson’s office also referenced letters to the House Interior Appropriations Committee that directly referenced public safety emergency declarations from Crow Creek and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Backdrop of controversy
The launch of Crow Creek’s task force came about seven months before Gov. Kristi Noem gave a speech to lawmakers linking illegal border crossings to alleged drug cartel activity on reservations. Lengkeek and other tribal leaders pushed back on the speech and Noem’s later comments suggesting that some tribal leaders are “personally benefiting” from a drug cartel presence on their lands.
Yolanda Aguilar, Crow Creek tribal secretary, was a member of the task force and remains a member of the tribe’s suicide response team, a volunteer group that came before the security task force and will continue on in its wake.
Tribal members divided about banning Noem, united in need for better public safety
Aguilar said it’s unfortunate that the task force is over, but said she and other members won’t waste their training. If she sees a situation and she feels that she can help, she doesn’t plan to ignore it.
“I’m still going to help out,” she said. “It’s about being a good neighbor.”
Jennifer Wounded Knee, who lives near the location of the 2023 homicide that preceded the task force’s creation, said it’s a shame the group has disbanded. Wounded Knee didn’t see it as an adequate replacement for law enforcement, but it helped.
“When they would drive by, people would kind of disperse,” Wounded Knee said.
Fort Thompson resident Alphonso Drapeau said in the end, the force wasn’t able to move the needle on violence in the community.
“We’ve still got gang violence over here,” Drapeau said.
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BURKE, S.D. – A Nebraska man who died in a single vehicle crash Tuesday evening, 10 miles east of Burke has been identified.
Preliminary crash information from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety indicates Roy Robert Cadwallader, 71, of Stuart, Nebraska, the driver of a 1939 Chevrolet JB Coupe, was traveling eastbound on Highway 18 when the vehicle left the roadway and entered the ditch. The vehicle struck an approach, went airborne, then rolled.
Cadwallander died at the scene.
The crash occurred at approximately 7:24 p.m. Tuesday, June 9 near mile marker 296, about 10 miles east of Burke in Gregory County. Seat belt use remains under investigation, according to the SDDPS.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. All information released so far is only preliminary. The Highway Patrol is an agency of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “Mitchell Republic.” Often, the “Mitchell Republic” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 13, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 13 drawing
03-13-44-50-53, Powerball: 02, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from June 13 drawing
06-13-31-35-48, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 05
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Dakota Cash numbers from June 13 drawing
04-10-18-28-30
Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 13 drawing
03-05-11-13-49, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
America is in a race, one that will define global economic leadership for the next decade. China is aggressively
positioning
itself as a center for artificial intelligence development and deployment. The winner will capture enormous competitive advantages in innovation, job creation and geopolitical influence. But there’s a detail often overlooked in this high-stakes competition. None of it happens without reliable critical infrastructure, such as power and data centers.
Winning the AI race is fundamentally about establishing the critical infrastructure that powers innovation. AI systems rely on data centers, and data centers require electricity. If the United States intends to remain competitive, we must be able to build and power that infrastructure efficiently and affordably. That requires thoughtful policy, modernized permitting and a clear commitment to growth.
Data centers are not secondary to the tech economy. They are the foundation. The nation that builds and controls the most advanced, reliable and affordable data center infrastructure will lead in AI development and deployment.
Here in South Dakota, we have the essential components to build this critical infrastructure. Our affordable energy, vast land and strong workforce create the necessary conditions for establishing data center facilities that can compete globally. Tech employment in our state has grown
17 percent
in recent years, outpacing many parts of the country. This is a signal that South Dakota can support and sustain the specialized environment required for advanced infrastructure development.
But having these advantages is not enough. The window of opportunity is finite, and other states are mobilizing their own competitive advantages. If we want South Dakota to be where America builds the critical infrastructure that powers the AI future, we must act decisively. Supporting and enabling this infrastructure development is not a favor to industry. It is imperative for our state and our nation.
Establishing critical data center infrastructure in South Dakota delivers immediate and long-term benefits for our communities. Big Watt alone currently contributes roughly $900,000 a year in kilowatt-hour taxes directly to local schools and could eventually provide more than $160 million annually as future phases come online. Its payroll already totals several million dollars a year, with nearly all staff drawn from within the region. This kind of investment can strengthen schools, support local businesses and create lasting economic opportunity.
Additionally, construction and development of this infrastructure alone can support hundreds of electricians, contractors, engineers and skilled trades workers. These are good-paying jobs that circulate dollars through local businesses. For rural parts of our state, that kind of investment can be transformative.
At Oahe Electric Cooperative, we see how thoughtful planning and load growth can support grid upgrades while protecting affordability for the families and small businesses we serve. We also know South Dakota is already a leader in renewable energy, with 29 wind projects totaling 3,476 megawatts, along with growing solar capacity and grid storage resources. As demand for electricity grows, we are taking on new generation responsibly through an all-of-the-above energy strategy that rests on a reliable foundation of natural gas and coal, accompanied by wind and solar resources. Just as importantly, data centers should be required to pay the upfront costs associated with their onboarding so existing consumers are not left subsidizing the infrastructure needed to support large-scale new load. When planned responsibly, this approach can support grid upgrades and new generation in ways that maintain reliability and protect affordability for South Dakota’s households and small businesses.
The broader significance is strategic. By establishing critical infrastructure for the technology economy, South Dakota positions itself as essential to American competitiveness. We attract complementary investment, develop specialized workforce expertise and build advantages that strengthen our state’s position in the global economy for decades. If our policies create uncertainty or make infrastructure development
financially unworkable
, capital will flow to other states where the path is clearer and the commitment is stronger. We must transform from a state watching the technology race to a state where the race is won.
Our state must act now to establish the critical infrastructure that will power American innovation for the next decade. This is our moment to position South Dakota as essential to winning the technology race. With practical regulations and a clear commitment to supporting data center infrastructure development, we can ensure that South Dakota is where America builds the advanced infrastructure that leads the world in artificial intelligence. The technology shaping the global economy will be powered by the infrastructure we build today. South Dakota can be that foundation.
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