VIRUS OUTBREAK-SOUTH DAKOTA-SCHOOLS

Sioux Falls schools develop plans for returning students

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Sioux Falls schools are finalizing plans for returning students to their classrooms next month with modifications to prevent contracting the coronoavirus. The Sioux Falls School Board is to consider the plan and other options at a meeting Monday. Planners say classes are to begin Aug. 27 with the “full intention” of holding them in person. The board is to hear about teaching plans, personal protective equipment guidelines and other changes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Argus Leader reports planning members consulted teachers, parents, school administrators, Avera and Sanford pediatric infectious disease doctors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota reports 45 new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota health officials report 45 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus. That raises the total number of cases in the state to 7,499. But that does not include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. The South Dakota Department of Health on Sunday reported no new deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, so the state’s death toll remains at 109. South Dakota has 868 active cases. A total of 53 patients are currently hospitalized, down 12 since Saturday. The Argus Leader reports the number of confirmed cases in Minnehaha County increased by five to 3,756. Lincoln County added six new cases while Pennington County added five.

MOUNT RUSHMORE-PROTESTS

South Dakota sheriff, protest organizer differ on escalation

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — The Pennington County Sheriff and an organizer of a July 3 demonstration near Mount Rushmore have continued to clash over their accounts of who escalated confrontations between protesters and law enforcement. The Rapid City Journal reports that Nick Tilsen, a protest organizer who is facing felony charges for his actions during the protest, accused law enforcement of mismanaging the situation and committing violence. But Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said demonstrators broke the plans they had communicated to him and escalated the protest to confront law enforcement. A group of protesters blocked the road leading to Mount Rushmore ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit.

AP-US-CORONAVIRUS-RELIEF-SPENDING-TRIBES

Tribes struggle to meet deadline to spend virus relief aid

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Tribes across the country are wrestling with competing needs, restrictive laws and inadequate staffing as they try to meet a tight federal deadline on spending billions of dollars in virus relief funds. Congress set aside $8 billion for tribes that must be spent by the end of the year and meet strict federal guidelines. Otherwise, the tribes risk having to send it back. Officials on the vast Navajo Nation have received $714 million in aid but approved just $60 million for health care, protective equipment and front-line workers against the virus. Rifts between the tribal government’s legislative and executive branches have delayed putting more of the money to use.

BASEMENT BODY

South Dakota teen gets 55-years for killing of Wyoming girl

STURGIS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota teenager was sentenced to 55 years in prison after admitting he fatally shot a Wyoming girl last fall. The 17-year-old Sturgis boy was sentenced after pleading guilty in May to first-degree manslaughter for killing Shayna Ritthaler, a 16-year-old from Upton, Wyoming. The boy’s attorney told the Rapid City Journal that Judge Kevin Krull sentenced the teen Friday. The teen was charged as an adult. Both the prosecutor and the defense agreed to ask the judge to sentence the teen to 55 years in prison. He will be able to seek parole after 27 years, at age 44.

AP-US-BULL-RIDING-CROWDS

Professional Bull Riders welcome fans back into arena

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — As bull riders attempted to hang on for eight seconds Friday night, they were encouraged by something they hadn’t heard in months _ the cheers of a crowd. A little more than a thousand fans were on hand in a 9,000-seat arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to watch one of the first indoor professional sporting events since the coronavirus pandemic began. Professional Bull Riders welcomed just over a thousand people to cheer the culmination of a month-long competition that until Friday has played out before silent stands