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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, July 28, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 028 ~ 13 of 54
in Vermillion. An obituary said Benzel was an activities coordinator at the care center and took pride in bringing joy to the residents. Her children are ages 11, 8 and 3, the obituary said.
Friends who spoke at a vigil for the family Tuesday in Harrisburg described Benzel as always happy and smiling. Her oldest child, Bram, told those gathered at the vigil that his mother was always helping others, even in her last moments.
“We went to the care center, where it happened,” he said. “We met the person who was with her when she died.”
His voice breaking, he relayed what that person had told him about his mother. “She pushed people out of the way. She saved people’s lives,” he said.
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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com
Drought conditions mostly unchanged in South Dakota
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Drought conditions in South Dakota haven’t changed much over the past week.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows 80 percent of the state in some stage of drought, down from 82 percent last week.
However, 15 percent of the state is now listed in extreme drought, up from 11 percent last week. Those pockets are in the central and northwest regions.
Nearly all of the state remains in some stage of drought or abnormally dry.
Farmers and ranchers in several counties are eligible for aid due to disaster declarations in the Dakotas by the federal government.
Authorities ID Belle Fourche motorcyclist killed in crash
HILL CITY, S.D. (AP) — The Highway Patrol has identi ed a motorcyclist from Belle Fourche who died in a crash last weekend.
Authorities say the motorcycle driven by 54-year-old Julia Myers collided with a car at a U.S. Highway 385 intersection northeast of Hill City on Sunday afternoon. Myers was pronounced dead at a Rapid City hospital.
The 82-year-old Rapid City woman driving the car wasn’t injured. Charges are pending against her.
Sioux Falls man gets lengthy prison term on child sex charge
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls man who had sex with a teenage girl and recorded it on his cellphone has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Authorities arrested 38-year-old Terance Highbull in February 2015 after discovering evidence of the as- sault against a 13-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty last April to sexual exploitation of a child.
U.S. Attorney Randolph Seiler says Highbull will be on supervised release for 15 years following his prison term.
Scaramucci tirades ignite smoldering White House tensions By JULIE BYKOWICZ and JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new communications director exploded the smoldering tensions at the White House into a full- edged con agration Thursday, angrily daring Trump’s chief of staff to deny he’s a “leaker” and exposing West Wing backstabbing in language more suitable to a mobster movie than a seat of presidential stability.
In a pull-no-punches, impromptu CNN interview that he said was authorized by the president, Anthony Scaramucci went after chief of staff Reince Priebus in graphic terms. “The sh stinks from the head down,” he said. “I can tell you two sh that don’t stink, and that’s me and the president.”
Not even a week into his new job, Scaramucci accused unidenti ed senior of cials of trying to sabotage