SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Education announced that Eight students have received Richard Hagen-Minerva Harvey Memorial Scholarships.

The scholarships provide up to $6,000 over four years to members of American Indian Tribes to pursue a college education at an accredited institution in South Dakota.

The scholarship program is funded by the estate of Minerva Harvey, in memory of Richard Hagen, who was a state legislator from Pine Ridge.

Scholarship recipients for the 2024-25 school year include:

• Linkin Ballard, Caputa
• Kira Dermatis, Edgemont
• Alejandra Juarez, Fort Pierre
• Makana Little Sky, Porcupine
• Nevaeh Morgan , Armour
• Alexander Poitra, Sioux Falls
• Hannah Tronvold, Lake Andes
• Caleb Zephier, Pickstown.

You can learn more about the scholarship here.

Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A year that is on it’s way toward becoming the worst season in the 24-year history of the Sioux Falls Storm officially saw it’s faint playoff hopes extinguished by the team that entered the game with, ironically, the worst record in the Indoor Football League.

The Jacksonville Sharks scored nine points in the fourth quarter to upend the Storm 36-28 and officially eliminated them from IFL playoff contention on Saturday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

It might be the lowest point of the season for a Sioux Falls (3-10) who, having won May 18th 52-42 at Jacksonville (3-10), knew they needed a victory tonight against the Sharks at home to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, and instead join them with what now is the second-worst record in IFL (only Tucson and Duke City are worse in the Western Conference with 2-11 marks).

Things got off to a wild start even before kickoff when EVERY player on each team was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty due to a pregame altercation.

The start of the game would see the teams trading touchdowns with Sioux Falls starting a new quarterback for the first time in seven games. Louisiana-Monroe alum Jiya Wright replaced Lorenzo Brown and led the Storm to touchdowns on their first three drives to help them open up a 21-13 lead.

The Sharks proved just as efficient with touchdowns on their first three drives too and, when the Storm failed to convert a fourth and six, Jacksonville made it 4-4 on opening drives when Kaleb Barker hit DJ Stubbs with for an eight yard touchdown with 11 seconds to go in the second quarter to give the Sharks a 27-21 halftime lead.

Surprisingly the game would turn into a defensive battle in the second half thanks to several long, clock-eating drives. Sioux Falls started things by blocking a Jacksonville field goal following a 5:06 minute opening drive. Sioux Falls took advantage with a ten play, 45-yard drive that chewed up 5:30 of game time and was capped off with a Wright to Kentrez Bell four-yard touchdown pass that put the Storm in front 28-27.

Jacksonville’s next possession stretched between the end of the third quarter and into the fourth and would end when Kaleb Barker was sacked on fourth down at the Storm 15 by Dajon Emery and fumbled into the waiting arms of Logan Swanson.

The Storm failed to get any points, though, when Sarris missed a 31-yard field goal. The Sharks marched down field 45 yards in 5:50 and went back in front when, on 4th and 3, Barker connected with Jaedon Stoshak for an 18-yard touchdown. To make matters worse for the Storm on the ensuing kickoff Kevin DiDio-Weber was able to boot it through the uprights for a “deuce” (additional two points) which upped the Sharks lead to 34-28.

Starting at their own five Sioux Falls drove down to the Jacksonville four only to see Wright stuffed on a 4th down and 1 run. The Sharks took over and ran out the clock.

In his debut Wright went 12-18 passing for 146 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing 9 times for 22 yards and a score. Lorenzo Thompson hauled in five passes for 51 yards while Bell and Draysean Hudson each caught touchdowns.

The Storm visit Quad City next Saturday at 7:05 PM.

Click on the video viewer for tonight’s highlights.

Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.

A new law barring the production or sale of high-inducing, hemp-derived cannabis products will take effect Monday after a judge declined to block it.

Hemp Quarters 605, a Pierre-based shop that sells those products, filed a lawsuit earlier this month in U.S. District Court in South Dakota. The business claims the new law’s provisions are unconstitutional and in conflict with federal law.

The 2018 federal farm bill legalized the production and sale of industrial hemp and hemp-derived products, provided they contain less than 0.3% of the intoxicating compound delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC, by dry weight. 

House Bill 1125, signed into law in March by Gov. Kristi Noem, targets five types of chemicals that appear at low levels in hemp plants. The chemicals can be synthesized and added in amounts large enough for hemp products to ape the intoxicating effects of the delta-9 THC found in marijuana. 

Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, even though it’s legal in some states and medical marijuana is legal in South Dakota. 

A violation of the new law will be a class 2 misdemeanor, the state’s lowest-level criminal offense. Like most laws adopted by the Legislature, its effective date is July 1.

Products like gummies, vape pens and smokable hemp containing the chemicals targeted by the new law are widely available across South Dakota. They’re sold in gas stations, grocery and liquor stores and in specialty smoke shops like Hemp Quarters 605.

The company had asked U.S. District Judge Eric Schulte to issue a preliminary injunction to block the law from taking effect as the case plays out in court. 

At a hearing on that injunction Thursday in Pierre, Hemp Quarters 605 representatives testified that hemp-derived products constitute more than two-thirds of their retail business. 

State Senate votes to back stricter version of ban on sale of ‘diet weed’

They argue the state is violating the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause by interfering with the sale of federally legal products across state lines. An injunction is appropriate, they said, because they will suffer irreparable harm – namely the potential closure of their business – when the law takes effect. 

To earn a preliminary injunction, plaintiffs must first prove they’re likely to “prevail on the merits,” according to an opinion that Judge Schulte filed electronically on Saturday. If the plaintiff – the hemp store in this case – is able to hit that mark, a judge must then find that the plaintiff would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction. The judge must also consider the wider implications of an injunction on other “interested parties” – in this case, the state and those affected by the new law.

A preliminary injunction denial does not settle the lawsuit or guarantee a win for the state, represented in the case by Attorney General Marty Jackley’s office.

Judge Schulte wrote that Hemp Quarters’ arguments weren’t enough to earn an injunction, even if the law might cause its business irreparable harm. 

The 2018 farm bill did not expressly prohibit states from enacting laws regulating the hemp trade. In fact, Schulte wrote, it did just the opposite, allowing states to impose “more stringent” regulations for hemp.

“The Legislature’s passage of HB 1125 falls squarely within the police powers traditionally reserved to states, as it is intended to promote the health and welfare of South Dakota’s citizens,” Schulte wrote.

Schulte cited a case challenging a Virginia law regulating hemp in which the judge came to a similar conclusion.

On the commerce clause question, Hemp Quarters had argued that a truck driver from Minnesota carrying federally legal hemp through South Dakota could be subject to state prosecution. 

Schulte disagreed. He wrote that the law wouldn’t apply in such a scenario, because it doesn’t criminalize the possession of hemp products. It only bans their production or distribution. 

The opinion also noted that the Hughes County state’s attorney has said it has no plans to immediately prosecute the owners of Hemp Quarters. The Attorney General’s Office has made no such promise, Schulte wrote, but lawyers for the state pointed out that “The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office does not typically prosecute misdemeanor offenses such as those contained within HB 1125.”