Articles by J.P. Skelly

Communities across South Dakota are coming together in April to raise awareness of the harms abuse and neglect can cause to our state’s greatest resource: our children. Through prevention efforts, South Dakotans are being invited [Read More…]

Each year the South Dakota Council of Teachers of Mathematics gives out a Friend of Mathematics to recognize an individual or organization for their commitment to the discipline in the state. This year’s award winner [Read More…]

Josh Haiar-SD Searchlight When Republican state Sen. Joy Hohn, a pilot from Hartford, asked a state department head if he consulted with South Dakota’s Aeronautics Commission about an upcoming $5 million airplane purchase, the department [Read More…]

A week after lifting a county-wide burn ban, Davison County unanimously agreed to reinstate the ban during Tuesday’s meeting. Acting Davison County Emergency Manager Karen Wegleitner consulted with county fire officials who supported reinstatement. A [Read More…]

The South Dakota Department of Corrections is reporting an inmate at the Mike Durfee State Prison at Springfield has died. The DOC says 57 year old Joaquin Ramos died March 22nd in the comfort care [Read More…]

The Division of Criminal Investigation, at the request of the South Dakota Highway Patrol, is investigating an officer involved shooting that occurred Saturday, March 21, in Box Elder. “The Attorney General’s Office and DCI approach [Read More…]

A 65 year old man from Centerville has been convicted by a McCook County Jury, for a 2024 triple homicide that occurred in Centerville. Jay Ostrem was found guilty Friday of three counts of First-Degree [Read More…]

Cami Koons-SD Searchlight Corn farmers in the U.S. are bracing for even higher fertilizer prices as conflict in the Middle East impacts the globally traded commodity, according to leaders with the National Corn Growers Association. [Read More…]

The South Dakota Supreme Court has affirmed the convictions of Kelly D. Warfield for simple assault against a Department of Corrections correctional officer and intentional damage to property, stemming from a 2021 incident at the [Read More…]

SD Searchlight-Makenzie Huber and John Hult The South Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments for the first time Wednesday on whether a voter-backed amendment to the state constitution prevents the public disclosure of victims’ names, including [Read More…]

Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a bipartisan group of 13 Attorneys General in suing OneMain Financial, Inc. for illegally misleading its customers and trapping tens of thousands of borrowers in expensive loans with hidden [Read More…]

The final defendant convicted in a 2022 double homicide in Rapid City has been sentenced to life in prison. The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office reported 29 year old Montell Olivera of Rapid City, received [Read More…]

SD Searchlight-Josh Haiar Economic developers in South Dakota say they’ve been under “attack,” and while they failed in their efforts to incentivize data centers this legislative session, they mounted a counter-campaign that warded off many [Read More…]

Authorities have released the name of a 56 year old man from Aberdeen who died last Thursday in a two-vehicle crash on I-29, four miles north of Sioux Falls, SD. The South Dakota Department of [Read More…]

A wildfire that’s grown to more than 11 square miles near the city of Custer in South Dakota’s Black Hills had not caused any injuries as of Saturday night but had damaged about 10 properties, [Read More…]

Attorney General Marty Jackley says two of three defendants convicted in a 2022 double homicide in Rapid City have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 22 year old Dillon Wilson [Read More…]

Attorney General Marty Jackley says a Huron Middle School staff member has now been indicted on 20 total Child Pornography charges following an investigation by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against [Read More…]

The Mitchell School Board voted to accept the findings of the 2024-2025 fiscal year audit during Monday’s meeting. Superintendent Joe Childs was pleased with the findings. “The multiple people that looked at it had no [Read More…]

Attorney General Marty Jackley says South Dakota has settled its lawsuit with Mayday Health, and the New York company has agreed to remove any signs with deceptive and unlawful advertisements of abortion pills in the [Read More…]

A woman from Mission died and three others were seriously injured Sunday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash 13 miles southeast of White River. The South Dakota Department of Public Safety reported around 3:51 pm a [Read More…]