SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - UPDATE: The individuals involved in the deadly paragliding accident have been identified as Aberdeen mayor Travis Schaunaman and his two children, according to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

As a result of the accident, Schaunaman’s 8-year-old child was killed. Meanwhile, Schaunaman and his 10-year-old child received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Aberdeen have requested the public extend privacy to the Schaunaman family during this difficult time.

Senator Mike Rounds also issued his condolences to the family in a Facebook post.

This is a developing story.

PREVIOUS: Three people have been hospitalized after a paraglider accident northeast of Aberdeen.

On August 19, Brown County Communications received a 911 report of a paragliding accident from witnesses in the area.

As a result of the accident, two people were transported to Avera St. Luke’s and one person was found unresponsive.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Frederick Fire Department, Aberdeen Medics, Careflight, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol all responded to the accident. The FAA and NTSB have been contacted to investigate.

ORDINANCE PROPOSALS:

-Ordinance 1565: Defines a data center as a facility of 10 acres or less and a large data center as one over 10 acres. Prohibits facilities made from connected shipping containers or similar modules, and allows limited home-based operations under 720 square feet.

-Ordinance 1566: Creates citywide operating standards, including 50-foot buffers near residential or commercial property, screening and landscaping, closed-loop water cooling, and a prohibition on cooling systems that continuously use water for evaporation. Facilities next to residential would limit noise to 40 dBA at night, 50 dBA during the day.

-Ordinance 1567: Allows data centers of 10 acres or less in General Business districts only through the conditional-use process. New facilities would generally require 50-foot front, side, and rear yards.

-Ordinance 1568: Allows data centers of 10 acres or less in Light Industrial districts only through the conditional-use process, with similar 50-foot yard requirements.

-Ordinance 1569: Makes data centers of 10 acres or less a permitted use in General Industrial districts. Facilities over 10 acres would require conditional-use approval.

-Ordinance 1570: Makes data centers of 10 acres or less a permitted use in Heavy Industrial districts. Facilities over 10 acres would require conditional-use approval.

Adam & Dyana are reviewing movies at the local town theater. If you're a movie buff I highly recommend them. They did Spider-Man and The Odyssey recently.

The South Dakota Department of Corrections has lost its fourth penitentiary warden since 2021 amid staffing changes that also include the departure of two other high-ranking officials.

Joseph Roemmich, who came to South Dakota from New Mexico just over a year ago to oversee the employees and inmates at the oldest parts of the penitentiary in Sioux Falls, is no longer employed by the state, according to department spokesman Michael Winder. He also confirmed the departures of Director of Prison Operations Amber Pirraglia and Maj. Cody Hanson.

Pirraglia was Roemmich’s superior. In addition to Sioux Falls, Pirraglia oversaw prisons in Springfield, Yankton, Pierre and Rapid City. She had previously worked in corrections in Colorado, and came to South Dakota shortly after the hiring of another Colorado transplant, former Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko.

Wasko hired Roemmich last year, a few months before she resigned. Gov. Larry Rhoden hired Secretary Nick Lamb, who’d worked most recently in Iowa, to succeed Wasko. 

Hanson, who worked for the prison system prior to Wasko’s arrival, was an administrative major at the prison who’d testified to lawmakers as an advocate for a new men’s prison. He’d also helped lead media tours of the penitentiary.

Tabatha Benting, warden of the maximum security Jameson Annex, located on the state penitentiary campus, is now serving as penitentiary warden.

Winder did not offer departure dates or other details on the circumstances surrounding the exit of the three employees. 

A statement from Lamb on Wednesday said staffing changes are part of a broader effort to improve operations across the prison system, though he did not mention any staff members by name. The statement noted the expansion of community service work by inmates, the adoption of a prison seminary program and additional training programs, the expansion of educational partnerships with Southeast Technical College and Western Dakota Technical College, and a tightening of parole supervision.

“I have been evaluating the agency operations, and we are making some personnel changes consistent with the agency’s mission and the steps we’re taking,” Lamb wrote.

Rhoden, in a separate statement, said he’s “proud of the work” Lamb’s done in his first nine months on the job and called him “a strong leader” who “clearly shares my mission to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.”

History of shake-ups amid debate over new construction

The state split warden duties in Sioux Falls into two positions last year. Prior to Roemmich’s arrival, the entire state penitentiary campus — which includes the 1881 penitentiary complex, the Jameson Annex and a separate work release center — was supervised by a single warden.

Roemmich’s predecessor, Teresa Bittinger, served less than two years and oversaw a period of controversy and unrest, which included lockdowns and a temporary shutdown of tablet-based inmate communications. She was appointed in 2023 to replace Dan Sullivan, who also served fewer than two years. He replaced Darin Young, ousted in a staff shake-up initiated by then-Gov. Kristi Noem in 2021.

State lawmakers voted last fall to replace the oldest parts of the penitentiary, which was built prior to South Dakota statehood, with a $650 million facility now under construction on the eastern side of Sioux Falls. The other two prison buildings on the penitentiary campus, located on a hill overlooking Falls Park less than a mile from downtown Sioux Falls, will continue to house inmates when the new prison complex opens in 2029.

Commission member: Loss of institutional knowledge is concerning

Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, is chair of the state’s Corrections Commission. The group is meant to offer guidance on corrections policy, and to approve any spending decisions on prison industries.

The loss of so many leaders is a concern for Wittman. Beyond the wardens, other long-term employees — including Doug Clark, the former deputy corrections secretary who served as interim warden after Young’s departure — have left the prison system over the past five years.

“There’s no real institutional knowledge left,” Wittman said. 

Wittman would like to see the commission move toward monthly meetings and address questions about leadership and institutional knowledge, as well as employee retention more broadly, but said it had been difficult to get traction during Wasko’s term.

The former secretary had sought to limit the commission’s scope of discussion and access to information, and some of the commission’s work has been taken on by the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force. 

The latter group was formed following the Legislature’s prison funding vote, with a promise from Gov. Rhoden to address the state’s high reoffense rate. 

Lamb has appeared at both of the Corrections Commission meetings held since Wasko’s departure, introducing himself in the first and offering rundowns of the task force’s discussion points during the second.

Wittman said she expects the next Corrections Commission meeting to take place within the next few months. The next meeting of the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force is scheduled for Aug. 19. 

"Data Centers in Vermillion & Clay County"

Vermillion Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting

August 10, 5:30 pm, City Council Chambers, 25 Center Street

The P&Z Commission will meet to hear, consider & act upon amendments enacted by the City of Vermillion to include data centers in the following districts:

General Business District (GB) Data Center as a conditional use

General Industrial District (GI) Data Center as a permitted use,

Large Data Center as a conditional use

Heavy Industrial District (HI) Data Center as a permitted use, Large Data Center as a conditional use

Light Industrial District (LI) Data Center as a conditional use

In addition, the P&Z will hear, consider & act upon an amendment initiated by the City of Vermillion to create a new section (in City ordinances) called "Data Centers" stating the criteria for data centers.

The P&Z has written an ordinance governing data centers. Up to this time the ordinance has not been published or made readily available to the public.

Note: Data Center refers to a small data center, 5 Megawatts or less. Large Data Center is anything above that, including hyperscale data centers.

Here is an opinion piece submitted anonymously by a member of the Vermillion community.

"A question raised during last nights Vermillion City Council meeting deserves far more attention than it received. The issue is not about personalities or politics. It is about public trust. Currently, Councilmember Lias is writing article for the Vermillion Plain Talk. Can someone simultaneously serve as an elected member of the Vermillion City Council while also working as a reporter covering the very city they help lead? That question deserves an honest public discussion because confidence in both local government and local journalism depends on.

When one person occupies both positions, the line between participant and observer becomes blurred. Even if every decision is made with complete integrity, the public is left to wonder whether reporting is fully independent or influenced, even unintentionally, by the reporter’s role as an elected official.

This discussion is especially important in Vermillion, where the Plain Talk serves as the city’s newspaper of record and publishes legal notices on behalf of local government. That relationship is entirely lawful and common across South Dakota, but it also makes editorial independence even more important. The community deserves confidence that government decisions are being reported without political influence and that the people making those decisions are not also shaping the news coverage surrounding them.

This is not about questioning anyone’s character or motives. It is about recognizing that some positions are simply incompatible because of the public confidence they require. Vermillion deserves a city council that is subject to independent scrutiny and a local newspaper that is unquestionably independent from the government it covers. That is not an unreasonable expectation. It is the standard the public should expect from both institutions."

VERMILLION — The Scotland-Menno-Freeman-Canistota 79ers scored four runs in the first inning and didn’t look back, claiming a 14-3 victory over Vermillion in the fifth-place game of the South Dakota State Class B 14-Under American Legion Baseball Tournament, Sunday, July 26, in Vermillion.

Dylan Dvorak went 3-for-3 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored for SMFC. Destry Hough also had three hits. Hayes Sorensen posted a double. Max Unruh, Parker Streyle, Asher Sykora, Tommy Robb and Liam Loofbourrow each had a hit in the victory.

Eddie Orr, Sam Quail and Sam Vitt each had a hit for Vermillion.

Hough picked up the win, striking out three in his two innings of work. Unruh struck out three in 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Colton Searcy took the loss, with Knox Buckman striking out two in two innings of relief.

Vermillion was presented with the tournament’s sportsmanship award after the game.

Madison won the championship, 12-2 over Winner-Colome. Dell Rapids beat Lennox 8-1 for third.

Vermillion 11, Elk Point-Jefferson 4

VERMILLION — Vermillion used a late rally to surge past Elk Point-Jefferson 11-4 in consolation play at the South Dakota Class B 14-Under American Legion Baseball Tournament, Saturday, July 25, at Vermillion’s Prentis Park.

Sam Vitt had three hits and Reid Reuvers doubled for Vermillion. Evan Flaherty-Beem, Colton Searcy, Eddie Orr, Sawyer Lee and Braxton Moeller each had a hit in the victory.

Kyson Crippen had three hits for Elk Point-Jefferson. Jaice Lynch posted two hits. Jacob Casper, Brock Rozell, Haukar Skaar and Oliver Hurlbert each had a hit in the contest.

Moeller picked up the win in relief of Vitt, who struck out four in his 4 1/3 innings of work. Rozell took the loss in relief of Casper, who struck out six in his six innings of work.

First Round: Madison 14, Vermillion 0

VERMILLION — Madison took control after the first inning on the way to a 14-0 victory over host Vermillion in the opening round of the South Dakota American Legion State Class B 14-Under Baseball Tournament, Friday, July 24, at Vermillion’s Prentis Park.

Luke Luvaas went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs for Madison. Kodi Lawrence had three hits and three RBIs. Lincoln Kratovil posted two hits and three RBIs. Bryson Miller and Callan Crabtree each had a hit in the victory.

Evan Flaherty-Beem had the lone Vermillion hit.

Brigham Lindley struck out 10 in the five-inning contest for the win. Finnian Fulton took the loss, with Fulton and Sam Quail each recording three strikeouts in the contest.

Tonight’s Menu:

Lasagna

Vegetable salad

Garlic toast

Dessert