PIERRE, S.D. – (DRG News) South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Vice Chairman Chris Nelson has been chosen to serve as chairman of a national committee of utility regulators.  Nelson’s appointment to chair the Committee on Telecommunications for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners was announced last week by NARUC president Colette Honorable of Arkansas. ...

MOBRIDGE, S.D. — (DRG News)  On January 3rd at approximately 6:15 p.m. staff of the Windjammer Lounge, located on the second floor on the south side of the complex, noticed smoke coming in from the hallway.  It was then found that a smoldering fire had started under the stairway in the north east corner...

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Motorists in the Dakotas are being urged to take precautions if they’re traveling in the extreme cold pushing through the region. Wind chills in some areas are in the minus 30s, 40s and 50s. National Weather Service meteorologist Philip Schumacher says motorists should carry winter survival kits and a charged...

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Board of Regents hopes to increase the number of Native Americans who attend state colleges. The Rapid City Journal reports the regents plan to launch a program soon based on a study of American Indian attitudes toward higher education. Based on the results, they voted to...

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Schools are closed throughout the Dakotas as life-threatening cold weather pushes through the region. The National Weather Service reports overnight lows in the two states in the minus teens and 20s, and wind chills in the minus 30s, 40s, and even 50s. Meteorologist Philip Schumacher says frostbite can happen in...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The cold weather blanketing the Dakotas is dangerous not only for people but also for animals. Cattle are hardy animals and can survive extreme cold as long as they have adequate feed and shelter. But the cold can kill calves. South Dakota rancher Jack Dye tells KOTA-TV in Rapid...

IPSWICH, S.D. – (SD State News) Two Eureka, S.D., women died in a three-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 12 about six miles east of Ipswich on Friday, Jan. 3. Lavinena E. Guthmiller, 78, was westbound driving a 1998 Ford Explorer. Her vehicle slid sideways on an icy patch of highway into the eastbound lane...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense lawyers will be able to submit filings in South Dakota courts online by the end of January. The move to optional electronic filing in criminal cases will be followed in March by the online filing in civil cases, such as divorces, lawsuits or protection orders. State...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Highway Patrol is getting $8,500 to buy a police service dog that will be used in drug investigations. Attorney General Marty Jackley says the money comes from the state Drug Control Fund, which holds money taken from people engaged in criminal activities. Jackley says the addition of...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A secretive U.S. spy court has ruled again that the National Security Agency can keep collecting every American’s telephone records every day, in the midst of dueling decisions in two other federal courts about whether the surveillance program is constitutional. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Friday renewed the NSA phone collection...