Attorney General Jackley Announces Former DSS Employee Found Guilty of Stealing $1.8 Million From Child Protection Services

 PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a former state Department of Social Services employee was found guilty Thursday of stealing an estimated $1.8 million in state and federal funds from the department’s Child Protection Services.

Lonna Carroll, 68, of Algona, Iowa, was found guilty by a Hughes County Jury of two felony counts of Aggravated Grand Theft. The maximum sentence for Count One is 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. The maximum sentence for Count Two is 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

“This was a violation of trust by someone who had access to public funds,” said Attorney General Jackley, who was co-prosecutor in the trial that started Tuesday, April 1. “She stole money from the accounts of children who were in the custody of DSS, and now she is being held accountable for her actions.”

The state Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Legislative Audit led the investigation. The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

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Thune, Durbin Ask Trump to Permit the Nationwide, Year-Round Sale of E15 Fuel

“Utilizing American ethanol year-round is a direct solution to reinforcing our energy supply and reducing consumer costs, and the issuance of a nationwide waiver for the 2025 summer driving season is a clear path toward these shared goals.”

 WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) today led a bipartisan group of their colleagues in asking President Trump to permit the year-round sale of E15 fuel through the summer of 2025 in order to enhance America’s energy security and lower fuel costs for consumers while leveraging American agriculture.

“To meet our nation’s energy needs and decrease the cost of fuel, we must deploy an all-of-the-above energy strategy, which includes leveraging domestic biofuels,” the senators wrote. “As affirmed by the actions you took to first allow year-round E15 in 2019, and those approved for the summers afterward, the sale of higher blends of biofuels like E15 through the summer months supports the domestic fuel supply, reduces consumer costs, and promotes American biofuels and agriculture feedstocks.

“Utilizing American ethanol year-round is a direct solution to reinforcing our energy supply and reducing consumer costs, and the issuance of a nationwide waiver for the 2025 summer driving season is a clear path toward these shared goals,” the senators continued.

The senators’ bipartisan letter requests that President Trump use the nationwide temporary waivers provided under the Clean Air Act to extend the Reid vapor pressure waiver through the 2025 summer driving season.

The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.).

Full letter below:

Dear President Trump:

We write to request that you again permit the sale of E15 fuel during the 2025 summer driving season by extending the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver, nationwide, from June 1 through September 15.  Through nationwide temporary waivers under Clean Air Act Section 211(c)(4)(C)(ii), the year-round sale of E15 has allowed for lower gas prices for consumers and stronger support of domestic biofuels and U.S. agriculture for three consecutive years.

These waivers will allow our domestic energy supply chain to continue to quickly and reliably respond to fuel supply challenges brought on, in part, by the war in Ukraine, which unfortunately continues to weigh on global energy and security.  Furthermore, this effort is in line with your executive order “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” that implores Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Zeldin and Department of Energy Secretary Wright to consider issuing these emergency waivers.  And finally, this action will give the agriculture economy much needed certainty by increasing the domestic demand for American commodities.

To meet our nation’s energy needs and decrease the cost of fuel, we must deploy an all-of-the-above energy strategy, which includes leveraging domestic biofuels.  As affirmed by the actions you took to first allow year-round E15 in 2019, and those approved for the summers afterward, the sale of higher blends of biofuels like E15 through the summer months supports the domestic fuel supply, reduces consumer costs, and promotes American biofuels and agriculture feedstocks.

Currently, the eight Midwestern governors’ petitions to sell E15 year-round has allowed for an agreement between both ethanol and petroleum stakeholders in support of a permanent legislative solution to allow nationwide, year-round E15 sales.  In the interim, taking action to permit the sale of E15 nationwide during the 2025 summer driving season also will be beneficial for consumers, the domestic energy industry, and agricultural producers. And to ensure nationwide uniformity in the gasoline market, we urge you to apply the temporary emergency waivers to E15 in all states as well as to E10 in the eight states who petitioned EPA to opt out of the RVP waiver program.

Utilizing American ethanol year-round is a direct solution to reinforcing our energy supply and reducing consumer costs, and the issuance of a nationwide waiver for the 2025 summer driving season is a clear path toward these shared goals.  Thank you for your timely consideration of this request.

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Rounds Introduces Legislation to Prevent Rural Hospital Closures
Legislation would codify a USDA pilot program that provides technical assistance to hospitals

 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today introduced legislation to help rural hospitals that are at risk of being closed. The Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act would codify an existing pilot program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to rural hospitals to prevent closures, improve their financial and operational performance and strengthen essential healthcare services in rural communities.

“Rural hospitals are a lifeline for the communities they serve, and far too many are struggling to keep their doors open,” said Rounds. “Providing technical assistance to rural hospitals at risk for closure gives providers and administrators a fresh set of eyes on their operations and allows for new ideas to help stabilize their operations. The Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act would codify this pilot program and help rural hospitals continue to provide the critical care that South Dakotans need.”

“The health and wellbeing of Vermont’s rural hospitals impact the health and wellbeing of every Vermonter—but our rural hospitals need help to keep their doors open for our patients,” said Welch. “I’m proud to partner with Senator Rounds on this bipartisan bill, which will strengthen hospitals across the United States and help rural hospitals improve their care and services.”

Through an agreement with USDA, the National Rural Health Association provides several types of technical assistance to include expert guidance on optimizing billing processes, addressing reimbursement delays, improving collections and maximizing available reimbursement opportunities. Any rural hospital is eligible under this program, with preference given to hospitals in persistent poverty communities of less than 20,000. Participating hospitals are provided with a contractor specializing in rural health care delivery, who then reports back on goals and next steps to get the hospitals to financial and operational stability.

To date, 17 hospitals have participated in the pilot version of the program, including four in South Dakota: Bennett County Hospital in Martin, Freeman Regional Health Services in Freeman, Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital in Scotland and Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Viborg. The program has been highly effective in assisting rural hospitals.

“The South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations would like to thank Senator Rounds for introducing this important legislation to support South Dakota’s rural hospitals,” said Tim Rave, President and CEO of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations. “In a state where our population density is 12 people per square mile and 57% of our residents live in a rural area, it is critical to ensure access to quality health care for our rural and medically underserved communities. The Rural Hospital TA Program Act will help our hospitals identify needs, access resources and strengthen their operations to maintain essential health care services.”

“As a rural CEO, I am incredibly pleased with the process and action plan developed to help ensure our continued viability,” said Melissa Gale, CEO of Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital Avera. “It was uniquely tailored to our facility, addressing the specific concerns raised during the site visit. The recommendations are both practical and achievable for our small, rural community in Scotland. This approach truly reflects a deep understanding of our needs and challenges.”

“The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) applauds Senator Rounds for his introduction of the Rural Health Care Facility Technical Assistance Program Act to expand and codify the existing USDA pilot program,” said Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association. “This legislation will help prevent hospital closures, improve financial and operations performance for facilities, and strengthen essential healthcare services in rural communities. NRHA looks forward to working with Congress to keep hospital doors open and continue providing care for the 60 million residents living in rural America.”

BACKGROUND:

Since 2005, 186 rural hospitals have closed nationwide, and over 400 rural hospitals are currently vulnerable to closure. 28 percent of hospitals in South Dakota are considered vulnerable to closure. Many rural hospitals face significant infrastructure needs, including updates on aging facilities, implementation of electronic health records and expansion of facilities to meet the changing needs of their service area.

Click HERE to read full bill text.

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Last fall, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken had expressed that he wished that the South Dakota Legislature would focus on real issues, and not the culture war nonsense that was tending to be brought up by legislators.

“We’re in a divisive time right now. Politics is gross and people are mad,” TenHaken said. “How do we put just put some of that anger aside, culture issues aside, what’s the basic tackling and blocking we have to do to keep up with a city growing 5-6,000 people year. Keeping a couple books out of our library is not high on our priority list.”

and..

TenHaken said “culture war issues” take a lot of time and the return on investment isn’t there to benefit the community.

Read that all here at KELOland.

Of course, the legislature did the opposite, and people like Rep. Bethany Soye pushed forth efforts to lock up librarians, etc.

Today in the Argus Leader, Mayor TenHaken reflected back on the failure of a legislative session we just had:

“I don’t think bills that force the hanging of Ten Commandments in school classrooms is a priority in our state right now,” TenHaken said. “As a guy who tries to live his life by the Ten Commandments and thinks it’s a fantastic, fantastic set of words to live by, I think it’s a dangerous precedent when you start saying, ‘I’m going to impose my religious values at a legislative level into my public school base.’ I think we’re kind of messing with fire a little bit there.”

TenHaken bemoaned that bills regarding school lunches and public school initiatives were “quickly discounted” while legislators spent “a lot of time dealing with library issues” and not with housing, public safety and other things that the mayor said “I hear about in my office way more than some of the stuff that ate up a lot of the time in the session.”

and..

“They love local control until we don’t take cash and then they want to step on local control,” TenHaken said. “And they love local control until they want to tell you when to have your elections. And they love local control until they want to tell you you can’t be a sanctuary city or whatever the topic might be.”

He also said he felt there had been a lack of communication between the city and legislators, saying that he had struggled to get responses from legislators when he reached out about questions or concerns on bills.

Read that here.

And that was the 2025 South Dakota State Legislative session.

From Facebook, former State Representative Cooper Garnos has thrown his hat in the ring for a seat on the Lyman County School Board.

Thune Statement on the Budget Resolution

 “It is now time for the Senate to move forward with this budget resolution in order to further advance our shared Republican agenda in Congress.”

 WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement:

“Republicans in the Senate and the House are committed to working with President Trump to stop Democrats from imposing an automatic $4 trillion tax hike on the American people at the end of this year,” said Thune. “Democrats’ knee-jerk opposition to President Trump nearly caused a government shutdown weeks ago, and now it threatens economic catastrophe for the country as Democrats want to allow the pro-growth Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to expire. This would mean higher tax rates for families, slashing the standard deduction claimed by roughly 90 percent of tax filers, and cutting the child tax credit in half – per child. We cannot allow this to happen.

“In addition to preventing an automatic multi-trillion-dollar tax increase on the American people, this budget resolution will pave the way for a generational investment in border security and national defense and unleash American energy dominance,” continued Thune. “This budget also demonstrates a commitment to reducing the size and scope of the federal government by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, while we stand with President Trump to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

“The Senate parliamentarian has reviewed the Budget Committee’s substitute amendment and deemed it appropriate for consideration under the Budget Act,” continued Thune. “It is now time for the Senate to move forward with this budget resolution in order to further advance our shared Republican agenda in Congress.”

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A recent announcement from Governor Rhoden marked the end of a long road for Senate Bill 14, an act to revise and repeal provisions related to agricultural production facilities and to provide a penalty therefor.

The measure was designed to protect information from being released to those who would do ag producers harm, including eco-terrorists and foreign adversaries, and was supported by most of the ag establishment including SD Farm Bureau, Coops, Dairy Producers, Pork Producers, the Cattleman’s Association, etcetera.  It also included provisions to criminalize using deception to “access an ag facility that is not open to the public, with the intent to cause physical or economic harm or other injury to the agricultural production facility.“

The measure had sailed through the Senate with only token opposition from 2 of the Democrats in that chamber.. but then ran into a buzzsaw in House Ag where the bill codifying what the Depatment of Ag was already doing – protecting family agriculture producers –  found itself killed as several hard-right Republicans as led by Julie Auch linked arms with the hard-left, represented by the lone Democrat on the panel, Dakota Rural Action and former Democrat Senator Frank Kloucek. And they killed the measure.

Rep. Auch and Jana Hunt teamed up to kill the bill protecting information on ag producers and was joined by Travis Ismay, Kaylee Nolz, Kathy Rice, Spencer Gosch and Democrat Kadyn Wittman.

The bill was changed later to remove the protections that would have been put in place where the Department of Ag & Natural Resources would be barred from releasing aggregated lists to groups who would target animal operations. One can only assume PETA sent the naysayers thank you notes.

After the protective language against releasing aggregate lists was stripped, the bill eventually passed. But it was another example where the hard right joined the liberal left to fight agriculture in South Dakota.

SOUTH DAKOTA BOARD OF REGENTS ANNOUNCES NEW OFFICERS

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Today, the South Dakota Board of Regents (BOR) announced board officers, reaffirming experienced leadership while welcoming a new Regent to its ranks.

Tim Rave has been re-elected as president, continuing his leadership in guiding the state’s public higher education system. Jeff Partridge will also remain as vice president, providing continued strategic oversight. Additionally, Randy Frederick has been elected as secretary for his first term, bringing a fresh perspective to the board’s leadership team.

“I am honored to continue serving as the president of the Board of Regents,” said Rave. “We have significant responsibilities ahead to ensure that South Dakota’s public universities remain accessible, affordable, and focused on student success. I look forward to working with my fellow board members to build on our progress.”

The April meeting also marks the first meeting for newly appointed Regents, Miles Beacom of Sioux Falls and Griffin Petersen, a University of South Dakota student from Onida.

The BOR April Meeting is currently in session at Northern State University this Wednesday – Thursday, April 2-3.

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Looks like bad Shad Olson is going to ask a jury to decide his fate in Meade County for the domestic assault charges, after backing out of an earlier plea agreement:

In February of last year, 52-year-old Shad Olson was accused of assaulting a woman at her home in Meade County. Olson allegedly grabbed the woman by the shoulders and threw her to the ground multiple times.

He was charged with aggravated assault-domestic violence. However, that charge was dismissed back in November, and he still faces a charge of simple assault-domestic violence.

Read that here at KOTA news.