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New trial date set in SD deputy shooting
Friday, September 3, 2010

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Trial has been set Jan. 18 in Sioux Falls for a man charged in the fatal shooting of a South Dakota deputy sheriff.

Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the date Friday in the case of Ethan Johns, who faces a murder charge.

Johns had been scheduled to go to trial Aug. 23 in last year's shooting death of Turner County Deputy Sheriff Chad Mechels. The trial is delayed while his attorneys try to find someone to replace a ballistics expert they had planned to use but who will be unavailable to testify.

The 32-year-old Mechels was shot and killed when sent to Johns' rented farmhouse in March 2009 to check on his well-being. Johns' lawyers have said he acted in self-defense.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for a first-degree murder conviction.

Sioux Falls sewer repair ahead of schedule
Friday, September 3, 2010

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Repairs to the Sioux Falls sewer line that collapsed in early August are expected to be done about two weeks ahead of schedule.

Assistant City Engineer Shannon VerHey says the installation of about 850 feet of pipe will be completed Tuesday. The entire project should be done by month's end.
The wettest summer on record in Sioux Falls caused flooded lift stations and sewage backups and forced officials to dump sewage into the Big Sioux River.

Minnehaha County is seeking federal help for the estimated $1.2 million in damage to the sewer system.

Two city employees were burned Monday when hot water sprayed from a malfunctioning pump near the sewer repair site. City Risk Manager Reagan Smith says one was treated at a local hospital and released and the other was flown to a Minneapolis-area hospital.

SD AG: deputies justified in fatal shooting
Friday, September 3, 2010

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says the sheriff's deputies who fatally shot a Sioux Falls man last month were justified.

Minnehaha County deputies Craig Butler and Joe Bosman were trying to arrest 55-year-old Thomas Webster when the shooting happened on Aug. 13.

Jackley said Thursday that Webster tried to flee after the deputies identified themselves, and then pointed a handgun at Butler. He was shot six times.

Jackley says Butler and Bosman were protecting their own safety when they fired at Webster. Both deputies were involved in a previous standoff with Webster in January when he threatened to kill himself.

Tractor upgrades reduce farm deaths from rollovers
Friday, September 3, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - Deaths from tractor rollovers have been dropping in the
U.S. as farmers buy new tractors equipped with roll bars, reinforced cabs and seat belts or upgrade older ones with those features.

Tractor rollovers have long been the leading cause of death on U.S. farms. But a study published last year by federal researchers found that rollover deaths fell 28 percent over the past two decades, dropping from 5.5 deaths per 100,000 workers in 1992 to 3.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2007.

John Myers, a health statistician with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, says that's partly because many farmers upgraded their equipment during a flush period in agriculture from 2004 to 2007.

He says it's not clear yet how the recession might have affected that trend.

Sugar beet co-ops anticipating record yields
Friday, September 3, 2010

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Sugar beet cooperatives in the Red River Valley of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota say yields this year could set records.

That means farmers might not be allowed to harvest all of their acres. American Crystal Sugar Co. tells the Grand Forks Herald that yields are averaging 20 tons per acre. Yields for Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative are running in the mid-20s. Those are high numbers for this early in the harvest.

Factories can process only so many beets, so sometimes beets have to be plowed under.

Crystal spokesman Jeff Schweitzer says that co-op will decide whether all of the planted acres will be harvested after the harvest is fully under way. Minn-Dak spokesman Tom Knudsen says that co-op's growers were cautioned early that cutbacks might be necessary.

Drake's new "D+" campaign earns failing grade
Friday, September 3, 2010

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Drake University's new marketing campaign that features a "D+" logo is getting a failing grade from some faculty, students and alumni.

They say it's offensive and embarrassing and tarnishes the university's reputation.
Leaders at the Des Moines school say regardless of how people react, they are reacting and that's what they wanted to accomplish.

The Des Moines Register reported Friday that Drake hired Cedar Rapids-based company to help develop the new "Drake Advantage" recruitment campaign. The university recently unveiled it to prospective students through brochures and its website.

Drake spokesman Tom Delahunt says while the "D+" comes across as a grade at first glance, it's meant to represent all the opportunities Drake offers students.

VeraSun asking farmers for repayment of funds
Thursday, September 2, 2010

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Farmers who sold corn to bankrupt ethanol producer VeraSun Energy Corp. have been receiving letters asking for repayment of funds due to "bankruptcy preference."

The Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation says the letters are telling growers who sold corn to VeraSun in the 90 days before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that they have until Sept. 30 to repay 80 percent of what VeraSun paid them for their corn.

National and state corn growers associations are telling their members they might have defenses and they should consult with an attorney.

Sioux Falls-based VeraSun filed for bankruptcy in October 2009 after tightening credit markets erased its lifeline to weather the swings in corn and fuel prices.

Army: Chaplain is 1st killed in action since '70
Thursday, September 2, 2010

DENVER (AP) - The military says a chaplain who died in Afghanistan is the first Army clergyperson killed in action since the Vietnam War.

Capt. Dale Goetz of the 4th Infantry Division at Colorado's Fort Carson was among five soldiers killed by an improvised bomb on Monday.

A spokesman for the chief of chaplains says Goetz was the first Army chaplain killed in combat since October 1970. It wasn't immediately clear whether any Air Force, Marine or Navy chaplains have been killed in action since then.

The 43-year-old Goetz listed his hometown as White, S.D., and served as a pastor at First Baptist Church there. He joined the Army in 2000 and previously deployed to Iraq in 2004.

SD governor and chief justice praise drug court
Thursday, September 2, 2010

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds and state Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson say South Dakota's drug court program has helped people with drug problems overcome their addictions so they can continue working in the community.
The governor and chief justice have proclaimed Saturday as Drug Court Day in South Dakota to recognize the Northern Hills Drug Court Program that has been operating in Sturgis.

They say the program helps people with drug problems remain in their jobs and with their families. Rounds and Gilbertson say drug courts also reduce government spending by keeping people out of jail.

The South Dakota Legislature approved the drug court in Sturgis in 2007 as a pilot project.

Landfill fire in Pierre extinguished twice
Thursday, September 2, 2010

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A fire at the Pierre City Landfill flared up Thursday morning, after firefighters had used 65,000 gallons of water and 35 gallons of foam to extinguish the blaze the previous afternoon.

Gusty winds reignited some areas of the fire scene shortly after 6 a.m., forcing crews to return. It took them more than four hours to extinguish the blaze a second time. The fire burned for more than three hours Wednesday afternoon.

Fire Chief Bill Alexander said the rubble pile included home construction materials such as Sheetrock, wood and lumber, and flames sometimes shot 20 feet into the air.

Firefighters used two bulldozers and an excavator to push other garbage piles away from the fire and to pull apart the burning pile. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined. No one was hurt.

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