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Meade County Deputies Find Abandoned Gun Safe Along Country Road
STURGIS, S.D. — Meade County Officials say they found a gun safe dumped on the side of a country road. The Meade County Sheriff’s Office says they found the safe on the side of Ricard Road during a patrol on Wednesday morning. They believe it was stolen because a hole had been cut out of the bottom of the safe. They also said the safe was too heavy to be moved with a pickup truck. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who is missing a gun safe to contact them immediately. (Full story)
Mary Hall Park Restrooms Closed After Extensive Damage
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The restroom facilities at Mary Hall Park are closed indefinitely after considerable damage was discovered at the west side park Wednesday afternoon. Rapid City police are investigating the incident. The facilities were among many opened for the summer season last Friday in the City’s park system. Toilets and sinks were damaged beyond repair and debris was strewn throughout the facilities. Officials are asking the public’s assistance and to report if they witnessed any suspicious activity at the park Wednesday afternoon. (Full story)
Pennington County Launching Monthly Community Newsletter
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Pennington County is introducing a new monthly e-newsletter designed to help residents stay informed about county news, updates, events, and department happenings across the county. The free e-newsletter will be released during the first week of each month, beginning in June, and will serve as an additional way for citizens to receive timely information from Pennington County departments and offices. The newsletter will feature updates as information becomes available from departments throughout the county. (Full story)
City Hall Becomes Permanent Drop Off Site for 911 Cell Phone Bank
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The City Hall lobby in Rapid City is now serving as a permanent drop-off location for the public to drop off cell phones, tablets, chargers and cords for the 911 Cell Phone Bank. The City of Rapid City is coordinating the effort with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office Victim’s Specialist Program. In December and January, the City Hall lobby served as a drop-off location for cell phones and related items. A total of 419 phones were donated by the public and Victim’s Specialist Program turned the items over to the 911 Cell Phone Bank. It was the second consecutive year the City of Rapid City participated in the holiday donation program. City Hall will now serve as one of the permanent donation locations for the program. The used items will be repaired, refurbished, recycled and securely erased, then provided to partnering agencies to be given to victims of violent crimes. (Full story)
Health officials track dozens who left hantavirus-stricken ship after first fatality
MADRID (AP) — Oceanwide Expeditions has revealed that 30 passengers disembarked from its cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak on April 24. They left the ship on the remote island of St. Helena, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died. The company had previously said that a Dutch man’s body was removed there, and that his wife also disembarked. She later died in South Africa. Authorities across four continents are tracing contacts of passengers who left the ship. Three passengers have died in the outbreak, and several others are sick. Argentina’s Health Ministry tells The Associated Press that a team of investigators has yet to leave for the southern town they suspect is where a Dutch couple contracted the virus. (Full story)
US will start revoking passports for thousands of parents who owe child support, AP learns
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department will begin revoking passports Friday for about 2,700 Americans who owe $100,000 or more in unpaid child support, according to the department. Officials said the program will soon expand to include anyone owing more than $2,500, the threshold set by a 1996 law that had previously only applied to passport renewals. The Department of Health and Human Services will now provide the State Department with records of all qualifying arrears, allowing officials to revoke active passports. The State Department said the policy is intended to encourage parents to resolve unpaid child support debts and noted states have collected about $657 million in arrears since the program began in 1998. Those abroad at the time of revocation will need to obtain emergency travel documents from a U.S. embassy or consulate to return to the United States. (Full story)
A note a former cellmate says he found after Epstein’s suspected suicide attempt is released
NEW YORK (AP) — A note Jeffrey Epstein’s former cellmate claimed he found after the financier’s first jail suicide attempt has been made public after it had been sealed and locked in a courthouse vault for nearly five years as part of an unrelated legal dispute. A judge released the note Wednesday after The New York Times petitioned last week to unseal it and other documents in a case involving the cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione. Among other things, the note contains the phrase “time to say goodbye.” Tartaglione is a former police officer who is serving a life sentence for killing four people. It isn’t clear who wrote the note Tartaglione claimed he found. It wasn’t mentioned in the lengthy government reports examining the circumstances of Epstein’s death. (Full story)
