PIERRE, South Dakota, May 22 -- South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg issued the following news release on May 21: Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is joining a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general urging Congress to pass S.3607, the Safeguarding America's First Responders (SAFR) Act. The SAFR Act would permit the families of first responders, who die or are permanently and totally disabled as a result of COVID-19, to receive the same federal benefits extended to first respon  more

PIERRE, South Dakota, May 22 -- The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation issued the following news release: The Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) reminds unemployment insurance claimants to request a weekly benefit payment by calling 605- 626-3212 after 6 p.m. CDT or by filing online at RAclaims.sd.gov any time. Benefits are not automatically paid out, even though the work search requirement is currently waived until May 31. "We have been seeing increased numbers of claimant  more

PIERRE, South Dakota, May 22 -- The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation issued the following news release: During the week of May 10 through May 16, a total of 3,806 initial weekly claims for unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is a decrease of 1,463 claims from the prior week's total of 5,269. A total of $4.7 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $13.7 million paid out in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (  more

PIERRE, South Dakota, May 19 -- Gov. Kristi Noem, R-South Dakota, issued the following news release: Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order to give flexibility in South Dakota's fight against the spread of COVID-19. Executive Order 2020-24 suspends the rule governing on-site visits of Level IV and Level V trauma hospitals during the emergency. The Department of Health may instead grant "provisional" trauma designations. The EO also suspends the statute for the annual inspection of fun  more

RAPID CITY, South Dakota, May 22 -- The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology issued the following news release: Robert Hall, Ph.D., P.E., is the new head of the Department of Mining Engineering and Management (MEM) at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Hall completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at the University of New Brunswick, Canada, and followed up with a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. He went on t  more

VERMILLION, South Dakota, May 23 -- The University of South Dakota issued the following news: The University of South Dakota will offer an online Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) and online Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.), both recently approved by the South Dakota Board of Regents, to meet growing demands for nursing leadership and informatics at an advanced level. The D.N.P. degree with a specialization in organizational and system leadership prepares nurses for a high-level career   more