Latest South Dakota Headlines

All the headlines from our South Dakota Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Rough Year for South Dakota Event Organizers, Insurance Helped

Oct 2 2014 // Event organizers often do more than hold their breath and hope for success. Sometimes, they hedge their bets when they plan an entertainment venture. Insurance seems like such a dull subject that it would have no place in...

South Dakota’s Brown County Gets $150K Grant for New Floodgate

Sep 16 2014 // Brown County is receiving more than $150,000 in grant funding to help install a new floodgate where Crow Creek meets the James River. The American News in Aberdeen reports that Brown County has been planning for several...

S. Dakota Director: Don’t Charge Work Comp Premiums for Independent Contractors

Sep 9 2014 // Merle Scheiber, director of South Dakota’s Insurance Division, has issued a reminder to workers’ compensation insurers that bona fide independent contractors are not required to carry workers’ comp...

South Dakota Division of Insurance Moves Offices

Sep 8 2014 // The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation’s Division of Insurance (DOI) office has relocated to 124 S. Euclid Avenue, 2nd floor in Pierre. The office was previously located at 445 E. Capitol Ave. Official...

States Still Grappling with Surplus Lines Tax Sharing

Aug 15 2014 // Things have changed a bit for the surplus lines industry since the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, (NRRA) part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation, passed in 2010. The NRRA’s implementation has...

Weak Tornado Confirmed in South Dakota

Aug 14 2014 // The National Weather Service says a weak tornado caused minor damage at Lake Cochrane in South Dakota’s Deuel County over the weekend. The afternoon twister had estimated peak winds of 75 mph and was rated an EF-0,...

Surplus Lines Tax Sharing Solution Still Up for Debate

Jul 21 2014 // Things have changed a bit for the surplus lines industry since the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, (NRRA) part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation, passed in 2010. The NRRA’s implementation has...

Flood Losses Loom for Some South Dakota Farmers

Jul 14 2014 // Soybean and corn crops are progressing well in South Dakota, agriculture officials said, though farmers in the eastern part of the state could suffer some losses after heavy rains flooded portions of many fields. Gregg...

Flood Damage in South Dakota’s Lincoln County Estimated at $2M

Jul 10 2014 // Officials in Lincoln County estimate recent flood damage to roads and bridges at more than $2 million, and they’re hoping for federal aid. “The damage is massive,” County Emergency Manager Harold...

South Dakota Lawmakers Seek Federal Help for Flooding and Tornado

Jul 7 2014 // South Dakota’s three members of Congress have asked President Barack Obama to declare a major disaster for three counties hit last month by a tornado and flooding. In a letter to the president, Rep. Kristi Noem and...

Indian Activist Widow Files Suit Against New Mexico Doctors

Jun 25 2014 // The widow of Native American activist Russell Means has filed a lawsuit accusing doctors in New Mexico of overlooking his esophageal cancer. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the lawsuit by Pearl Means in state...

Wellmark Opts Out of South Dakota Health Insurance Marketplace

Jun 23 2014 // The largest private health insurer in South Dakota has opted to not sell plans through the federal marketplace during the open enrollment period that begins in November. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield says it will...

South Dakota Agency Owner to Fill Vacant House Seat

Jun 18 2014 // South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard has appointed Mark Willadsen, owner of Willadsen Insurance Agency in Sioux Falls, to the state House of Representatives. The governor’s office announced that Willadsen, 59, will...

Federal Oil Well Inspections Lag in Dakotas

Jun 17 2014 // Federal oilfield inspectors are hustling to clear a backlog of hundreds of uninspected well sites on public and tribal lands in North Dakota, amid the explosion of drilling activity. The Bureau of Land Management, which...

Hailstorm Pummels Hundreds of Vehicles in South Dakota

Jun 9 2014 // Sioux Falls, S.D., auto body shops are in for a busy summer after a storm that pelted the metro area with pea- to golf ball-size hail, damaging hundreds of vehicles. No injuries were immediately reported from the afternoon...

Weather Service: Straight-Line Wind Damaged South Dakota Manufacturing Facility

Jun 5 2014 // The National Weather Service says a storm that damaged a manufacturing facility in southeastern South Dakota was the result of straight-line wind and not a tornado. The Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan reports that the...

Midwest Hit by Damaging Hail Storms, Tornadoes

Jun 5 2014 // Baseball-sized hail pummeled homes and cars in Nebraska and Iowa on June 2 as powerful thunderstorms moved through a swath of Midwest states, also causing severe flooding and prompting reports of tornadoes. The National...

Dr. Phil Show Appearance Lands South Dakota Woman in Prison

May 27 2014 // An appearance on the Dr. Phil television show has cost a South Dakota woman her freedom. Mandi Jackson, 38, was on probation for forging checks from a Rapid City cosmetology school and defrauding an insurance company when...

South Dakota Judge: No Dismissal of $1.2B ‘Pink Slime’ Defamation Suit

Mar 31 2014 // A South Dakota judge has refused to throw out a defamation lawsuit against ABC related to its coverage of a meat product called lean, finely textured beef, which critics have dubbed “pink slime.” Beef Products...

South Dakota Legislature Approves Texting While Driving Ban

Mar 24 2014 // After years of debate on the issue, the South Dakota Legislature has finally approved a statewide ban on texting while driving. The state House voted 52-18 in favor of the measure and senators approved it by a 28-7...