Ellen Bardash
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Farmers got a chance to bring their concerns about the year's weather to the experts of SDSU Extension on Monday morning at Mitchell Technical Institute's Nordby Trades Center. During the two-hour open-house event, anyone in attendance was able to talk one on one with specialists in cover crops, livestock, plant diagnostics and more. Sara Bauder, an agronomy field specialist with SDSU Extension, said the event came together after crop insurance deadlines arrived at the end of May and many farmers still hadn't done much, if any, planting.
Dawn Long and Mark Cook's cases may not have had much else in common, but they did begin and end with the same charges. Both were at one point charged with attempted murder and, like many across the state who faced similar charges, ultimately accepted plea bargains and are now in prison for aggravated assault. That outcome has been the most common among the state's attempted murder cases in recent years.
LAKE ANDES—A man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in April in Lake Andes was released on bond for the second time this week. Devonta Brown, 33, pleaded not guilty to first-degree rape and aggravated incest the same day. Brown was arrested on May 3 and was originally held on a $20,000 cash-only bond. On May 31, following an informal bond hearing, he was released on a $1,000 cash bond, and a temporary protection order was put in place that required Brown to stay at least 600 feet away from the girl.
TYNDALL—Two Mike Durfee State Prison inmates were sentenced Monday for drug charges brought against them in September. Benjamin Carter and James Shaw, both of whom were given 90-day sentences by a Bon Homme County court after pleading guilty to one count each of inhabiting a room where drugs are illegally stored or used, are the final two of the 17 inmates charged on Sept. 12 to be sentenced.
The treasurer for the Crow Creek Tribal Council, who was charged with three sexual offenses by a federal court in April, is wanted for the 2017 sexual assault of a minor in Las Vegas. An arrest warrant for 50-year-old Roland Hawk was filed with the Las Vegas Justice Court on March 19. Hawk has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact before a federal court, which is charging him in connection with separate incidents that allegedly occurred in Fort Thompson between August and December of 2018.
A Huron man was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for taking nearly $5,000 from Mitchell residents and telling them he was going to take them hunting. Roger King, 51, was ordered by a Davison County court to pay $4,815.34 in restitution to the people he defrauded last fall. According to court documents, Mitchell police were informed on Oct. 3 that King had taken money from five Mitchell residents, telling them that in exchange, he would take them on guided trophy game hunts for deer, elk and buffalo in Lower Brule.
The Mitchell School District may decide to expand upon a new policy on sexual misconduct to be more comprehensive than what's federally required. The issue was discussed Monday at the Mitchell Board of Education's regularly scheduled meeting Monday at the Mitchell Career and Technical Education Academy. The policy in question is required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. It prohibits school district employees from endorsing other employees known or believed to have engaged in sexual misconduct.
The members of the Dante Fire Department see themselves as a family. Earlier this year, that family decided to honor the family of one of their own by dedicating its newly-purchased brush truck to Josie and Mikey Van Duysen, who died in a car crash in October near Leola at the ages of 4 and 2, respectively.
KENNEBEC—A Presho man charged with attempted murder in October after shooting a man in the leg was sentenced Thursday afternoon to 24 months in prison. Mark Cook, 56, was convicted of the reduced charge of aggravated assault, to which he pleaded guilty but mentally ill in April. He was given credit for the 223 days he's served in the Brule County Jail since his arrest, and he will likely be parole eligible before the end of the year.
PLANKINTON—Two days past the one-year anniversary of police finding David Hart dead in his apartment, a Chamberlain man pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity Wednesday afternoon at the Aurora County Courthouse. The trial of 20-year-old Nicholas Yellow Lodge, which was previously scheduled to begin on July 8, will be delayed in order to give both sides time to adjust their cases to the new plea and to allow extra time for jury selection and medical testimony.