The Daily Slice, your Black Hills news podcast in under 10 minutes. Delivered every morning Monday-Friday at homesliceaudio.com/dailyslice
American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota Plans Election Observer Training
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota plans to deploy trained volunteer election observers in Aberdeen, Rapid City and Sioux Falls for the Nov. 3 general election. Observers will document issues including voter intimidation, inaccessible polling places, long lines, ballot shortages and voter registration challenges. The organization is offering training this month in the three cities and online. New South Dakota election laws include provisions involving federal only voters and challenges to voters’ citizenship. During the 2024 general election, the organization deployed 40 trained observers in the state’s three largest cities. (Full story)
Sturgis Police Officers Honored for Life-Saving Actions
RAPID CITY, S.D. — In honor of National Heroes Day, two Sturgis police officers are being recognized for their persistence and quick action that helped save the life of an elderly U.S. Air Force veteran during a welfare check this summer. Sgt. Dylan Goetsch and Officer Matthew Jacobs were recognized with the Lifesaving Award for their actions at the Sturgis City Council meeting Monday, Oct. 5. The two responded to the home of a veteran in Sturgis on Sunday, July 19. After investigating, they found the veteran lying on the floor of an upstairs bathroom. Because of their determination to continue the welfare check rather than leave when they initially could not make contact, the veteran received the emergency medical care he needed and survived. (Full story)
Main Street Square Celebrates 15 Years With Free Anniversary Event
RAPID CITY, SD — Main Street Square is celebrating 15 years with a free anniversary celebration planned for today from 4-7 p.m. The event will include magic shows, face painting, balloons and Tito, the beverage burro. What started as an underutilized parking lot in the heart of Downtown Rapid City is now a place where the community gathers and enjoys more than 200 days of programming each year. More information about Main Street Square and downtown can be found at VisitRapidCity.com. (Full story)
Rapid City Teen Arrested Following Two Incidents Involving AR-15-Style Rifle
RAPID CITY, SD — Eighteen-year-old Riley Youngman of Rapid City was placed under arrest for Aggravated Assault, Second Degree Eluding, 2nd Degree Vandalism, and a Warrant, after two incidents Tuesday night and Wednesday morning involving an AR-15-style rifle. The first occurred around 7 PM on Tuesday when police responded to reports of a passenger in a vehicle who pointed an AR-15 style rifle at another vehicle. Police located and stopped that vehicle, detained the driver, but the passenger moved to the driver’s seat and drove away, avoiding pursuit. Later that night, reports of gunshots heard in the area of the 200 block of Bald Eagle Lane and a person with an AR-15 style rifle resulted in police locating Youngman and the rifle as well as witnesses who confirmed Youngman was the passenger who jumped into the driver’s seat of the vehicle during the earlier pursuit. Youngman was transported to the Pennington County Jail. (Full story)
Rapid City Women’s Prison Begins Gradual Inmate Transfers
RAPID CITY, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — South Dakota’s new women’s prison in Rapid City held 79 inmates at the end of September as the state gradually transfers women from facilities in Pierre. The $87 million, 288 bed prison began accepting inmates in September. Meanwhile, 208 women remain in a minimum security unit in Pierre that state officials have said has structural deficiencies and is not suited for occupancy. The Legislature approved $682,825 to demolish the building, but the Department of Corrections said no timeline has been set and demolition will occur when the unit is no longer needed. (Full story)
FBI says it thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teen it supplied with an assault rifle
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The FBI says it thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teenager after agents supplied him with an assault rifle. Authorities announced Wednesday that the 18-year-old had been under investigation for nearly two years, trading messages with a confidential informant. A federal complaint says Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was arrested Tuesday in a public park after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition. It accuses Mohamud of repeatedly telling the informant that he wanted to kill non-Muslims. It was not immediately known if he has a lawyer to speak for him. (Full story)
Christa Pike survived 2 doses of an execution drug. How is that possible?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Christa Pike has regained consciousness and is speaking a week after receiving two doses of execution drugs in Tennessee. Her attorneys called her recovery “medically unprecedented” after she was placed on a ventilator following the bungled Sept. 30 attempt to make her the first woman put to death in Tennessee in 200 years. Many details of the execution process remain secretive. Tennessee officials say they are investigating what went wrong. Medical experts raised a few possibilities that could explain how Pike was able to survive the injection. Those include the potential drug quality and the placement of IV lines. (Full story)
Scientists win chemistry Nobel for discoveries about mirrored molecules that led to many drugs
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs and transformed modern medicine. Many molecules come in versions that look alike but are not exactly identical, like right and left hands. When designing drugs to treat diseases, scientists want to be choosy about which mirror image they get. Kagan, who is from France, and Soai, from Japan, found ways to make chemistry pick a side, designing and describing reactions to produce the desired mirror image. (Full story)
