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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 165 ~ 14 of 44
35-year-old Renton, Washington, man faces attempted rst-degree murder, aggravated assault and drug charges stemming from the October 2015 traf c stop on Interstate 90 east of Rapid City.
Prosecutor Mark Vargo told jurors that Willingham and three friends were driving from Seattle to Chicago with a large amount of the drug and $30,000 in cash in the car when Trooper Zachary Bader pulled them over for speeding and asked to search the vehicle because he smelled marijuana. He said Willingham severely beat Bader before he and his friends drove off, leaving the trooper lying along the side of the highway and “ ghting for his life.”
Defense attorney Dennis Doherty told jurors to keep an open mind and not form an opinion until they’ve heard all the testimony.
Last year, Willingham’s friends pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and be- ing an accessory to a crime. They agreed to testify against Willingham as part of their plea deals. They’re expected to be sentenced this week.
The attempted murder and assault charges against Willingham each carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Nebraska task force outlines priorities for Whiteclay
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A legislative task force has released a list of goals to improve life in Whiteclay, a Nebraska village that sold massive amounts of beer near a South Dakota Indian reservation until state regulators intervened.
The report issued Wednesday calls for a new, permanent cellphone tower in the area to replace one that was vandalized and destroyed by a windstorm. It also suggests nding land for a possible treatment and detox center, a memorial for Whiteclay and additional economic development efforts.
Four stores in Whiteclay sold the equivalent of 3.5 million cans of beer annually next to South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation until April, when the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission voted not to renew their licenses. Whiteclay has a population of nine and no full-time law enforcement.
Correction: Buffer Strips story
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — In a Dec. 19 story about a South Dakota’s tax break program that rewards farmers for planting buffer strips between their crops and polluted bodies of water, The Associated Press misspelled South Dakota Farm Bureau Executive Director Krystil Smit’s name. The of cial’s surname is “Smit,” not “Smith.”
A corrected version of the story is below:
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Few South Dakota farmers have taken advantage of Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s tax break program that rewards those who plant grass or wild owers between their crops and polluted lakes, rivers or streams.
The state’s Department of Revenue received only 30 applications in the rst year of the buffer strip program, the Argus Leader reported.
The governor’s program permits farmers who put runoff-absorbing grass or wild owers between crops and certain water bodies to have their land taxed at 60 percent of its value.
The buffer strip applications amount to about 300 acres of the state’s more than 338,000 eligible acres of land. The sparse number of applicants suggests that many quali ed landowners were either unaware of the tax break or didn’t see enough value to bother signing up.
“Why they didn’t all come in and apply, I don’t know,” said Mike Houdyshell, director of the South Dakota Department of Revenue.
David Ganje is a Rapid City lawyer who specializes in natural resources. Ganje called the buffer strip program “a good idea with weak muscles” in part because it’s managed by the Revenue Department.