South Dakota News

Fargo area schools step up security in response to threats on TikTok

FARGO (KVRR) – Extra police are on patrol at Fargo and West Fargo public schools today in response to TikTok posts warning of shooting and bomb threats at schools around the nation on Friday, Dec. 17. The social media threats had many educators on edge as they circulated in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Michigan which has…

Three people dead, suspect in custody in Milbank, S.D.

Brent HansonMILBANK, S.D. (KVRR/KWAT) – A man is in custody in the apparent murders of three people, including an unborn child, in Milbank, S.D. The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation says Milbank police were dispatched to a residence Wednesday to conduct a welfare check.  When they got there, they found two dead people, one of which was a pregnant woman….

Fargo emergency rooms unusually busy, demand may be unprecedented

FARGO (KVRR) – An extraordinary number of patients are stretching resources to the limit at local emergency rooms. “We are at — and often beyond — capacity every single day” according to Essentia Health spokesman Louis St. George. “This is due to a combination of COVID-19 patients and non-COVID patients. Unfortunately, throughout this pandemic people have delayed seeking care and…

South Dakota ex-boarding school for Native children owning up to its past

The Red Cloud Indian School in South Dakota has undertaken a reckoning with its troubled past

PINE RIDGE, S.D. – Middle schooler Rarity Cournoyer stood at the heart of the Red Cloud Indian School campus and chanted a prayer song firmly and solemnly in the Lakota language — in a place where past generations of students were punished for speaking their mother tongue. Her classmates stood around her at a prayer circle designed with archetypes of…

South Dakota senator names lawmakers who called special session

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A South Dakota state senator has defied the wishes of his counterpart in the House and released the names of House lawmakers who had earlier called for a special legislative session to consider impeaching Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg. Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck presides over the Senate as its pro tempore. He received the names of the…

Future of controversial murals at U of M Crookston to be decided soon

CROOKSTON, Minn. (KVRR) – In a few months, a special committee is expected to recommend what will happen to a controversial, but historic collection of murals at the University of Minnesota-Crookston. The committee, comprised of campus, community and tribal members will determine the future of the John Martin Socha Murals, which have been on display in the Kiehle Auditorium since…

Major outage hits Amazon Web Services, many sites affected

Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage Tuesday, the company said, disrupting access to many popular sites. The company provides cloud computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including The Associated Press. Amazon said in a post an hour after the outage began that it had identified the root cause and was “actively working towards recovery.” The issue primarily…

101-year-old Navy veteran recalls Pearl Harbor attack

David Russell (Fox News)HONOLULU – U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class David Russell sought refuge below deck on the USS Oklahoma when Japanese bombs began falling on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. But a split-second decision changed his mind, and likely saved his life. “I thought, ‘What am I doing down here?’ I was trained to be an anti-aircraft loader,”…

Owner of closed photography service apologizes for ‘upheaval and damage’

BISMARCK, N.D. (KVRR) – The owner of a Bismarck photography service that abruptly closed in October, leaving customers with no way to get a refund, says his actions were not malicious. Jack Glasser issued a statement on social media Friday that says his actions were “the result of underestimating just how difficult a situation I put myself in over the…