TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalMount Rushmore protest leader faces felony charges
RAPID CITY (AP) – The leader of a July 3 protest before President Donald Trump's visit to Mount Rushmore is facing added charges that bring his potential prison sentence to 17 years.
Pennington County prosecutors have added a felony and misdemeanor charge to their case against Nick Tilsen, who helped lead a demonstration that blocked a road leading to Mount Rushmore, the Rapid City Journal reported. He had already been charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors.
Law enforcement officers, including the South Dakota National Guard, confronted the protesters after they used vans to form a blockade to call for the Black Hills to be returned to the Lakota people. As law enforcement officers advanced on the blockade, protesters scuffled with the officers and took one of their shields.
Tilsen is charged with assault and robbery for allegedly attacking a law enforcement officer and stealing the shield. The new charges stem from his alleged assault of a Pennington County Sheriff's Office detective.
Read more: https://brookingsregister.com/article/mount-rushmore-protest-leader-faces-felony-charges
Officials: Some who went to huge Sturgis rally have COVID-19
SIOUX FALLS (AP) – South Dakota health officials warned Thursday that a number of people who attended the 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this month, including some who came from out of state, have come down with COVID-19.
Department of Health officials did not give an exact number of rallygoers who tested positive, but they said it was under 25. The rally, which ended Sunday, brought hundreds of thousands of people from far and wide to the city in the western part of the state. Even before it kicked off, some locals and officials expressed concern that COVID-19 could spread rapidly at the rally and that it would be hard to track rallygoers who got infected before heading home.
The state's health department has received reports from other states that people who traveled from the rally have tested positive, state epidemiologist Josh Clayton said.
Contact tracers have been able to work with most people to determine who they were around and may have infected. But the health department has issued public warnings for two bars – one in Sturgis and the other at a popular stop for riders along U.S. Highway 385 near Mount Rushmore. Clayton said they did not know how many people were exposed at the bars.
Read more: https://brookingsregister.com/article/officials-some-who-went-to-huge-sturgis-rally-have-covid-19
Another report that I read stated that one of the artists at a tattoo parlor also tested positive for COVID-19.
Financially strapped renters in SD seek help avoiding eviction amid pandemic
Many people who rent homes or apartments in South Dakota are hurting financially during the pandemic, causing large numbers of renters to ask for public assistance or charitable help to stave off eviction and maintain a stable residence.
More than twice as many South Dakotans have looked to taxpayers or charities to cover at least one month of rent in the first half of 2020 compared to all of 2019, and new surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest the need for rent assistance will rise as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
In the middle of July, the Census Bureau, which has been conducting weekly pulse surveys of U.S. households since April, estimated 30%, or about 42,000 of South Dakota’s roughly 139,000 renters had little or no confidence that they’d be able to make their August rent payment.
Meanwhile, the 211 Helpline Center has fielded more than 7,000 calls from people needing help making a rent or mortgage payment during the first seven months of the year, more than double the number of rent-assistance calls the organization saw in all of 2019.
Read more: https://www.bhpioneer.com/covid-19/financially-strapped-renters-in-sd-seek-help-avoiding-eviction-amid-pandemic/article_3d692b86-e3f5-11ea-9c0c-cbf525cab7d5.html
(Black Hills Pioneer)
In western North Dakota, oil workers try to survive hard times in a pandemic
WATFORD CITY, N.D. — Soon after graduating high school, Garrett Dodd took up welding in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, doing hard work for $16 an hour. It didn’t take long, though, for him to recognize that he could do the same work for a lot more money if he moved to North Dakota.
So in 2017, Dodd, now 22 years old, came to Watford City to begin welding in the oil fields, and before long he was pulling in more than $200,000 a year. Dodd now lives in a comfortable RV, pays $550 a month for a plot in one of Watford City's centrally-located trailer parks, and sports amenities like a sleek flat-screen television and RZR off-road vehicle.
Last November, he decided to splurge for a bigger investment: a brand-new, dual-wheeled, Dodge pickup truck. "I enjoy what I do very much, but that's part of the reason I enjoy it, if I'm being honest," Dodd said. "It, you know, it pays off.”
But almost as soon as Dodd pulled the trigger on his new truck — just before Thanksgiving of last year — he was laid off from a welding project. Undeterred at first, he worked irregular shifts in the new year, as the spread of the coronavirus in other parts of the world began to drag down oil prices. Then the pandemic hit the United States, the oil market tanked, and the jobs in Watford City dried up almost completely.
Read more: https://www.inforum.com/business/energy-and-mining/6622660-In-western-North-Dakota-oil-workers-try-to-survive-hard-times-in-a-pandemic
North Dakota's lawsuit seeking $38M in DAPL protest cleanup costs can proceed, judge rules
BISMARCK — A judge has rejected the federal government's request to throw out North Dakota's lawsuit seeking $38 million in cleanup reimbursements related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
The decision, announced Wednesday, Aug. 19, by Judge Daniel Traynor of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, is the latest development in a years-long dispute between North Dakota and the Army Corps of Engineers over responsibility for damages caused by the 2016-2017 protests at DAPL's Lake Oahe crossing near the Standing Rock Reservation.
The two sides debated the requested dismissal in a Bismarck courtroom last month, where the state attorney general's office claimed that the Army Corps "invited" protesters onto federally-managed lands, an act of negligence that resulted in millions of dollars in damages.
Multiple protester camps were located on Corps-managed lands, and while the Corps claims that it established so-called "free speech zones" to help contain the demonstrations, Traynor ruled that the federal agency skipped a crucial permitting process when it allowed protesters onto its land.
Read more: https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/6624821-North-Dakotas-lawsuit-seeking-38M-in-DAPL-protest-cleanup-costs-can-proceed-judge-rules
Active COVID-19 cases statewide hit new high
State health officials on Saturday reported the 13th death in Burleigh County related to COVID-19, and the first such deaths in two northeastern North Dakota counties.
The man in his 80s from Burleigh, the man in his 70s from Rolette and the woman in her 60s from Walsh all had underlying medical conditions, according to the state Department of Health. Their deaths brought the statewide total since the start of the coronavirus pandemic to 135.
Officials reported 262 new cases in 29 counties, including 48 cases in Burleigh and 12 in Morton. That brought the state total to 9,736, with 7,968 recoveries and 499 hospitalizations. Fifty-three people remained in the hospital, down one from the previous day.
Active cases rose to 1,633, the third consecutive day of a new daily high for the state. Active cases have risen by 424 since Wednesday. Burleigh County continued to lead the state in active cases, with 403. Morton County slid to sixth, with 115.
Read more: https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/health/burleigh-county-has-13th-covid-19-death-active-cases-statewide-hit-new-high/article_a7fd1817-2634-54e6-a96f-17f29e53ccee.html
Morton County wind farm could be built by end of 2022
Project manager Jeffrey Bryce recently updated the Morton County Commission about the work the company has done to promote the project to landowners. He also presented a projected timeline for the project.
The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented NextEra from holding in-person meetings with landowners. The company has been reaching out to landowners and holding open house meetings online. NextEra also will be sending out mailers with employee contact information for landowners who would like to learn more about the project.
It potentially will go before the county planning and zoning board and the state Public Service Commission next year, with construction beginning around 2022 and wrapping up by the end of that year.
NextEra received permission from the county in June to construct one test tower and plans to apply for a permit to build a second tower within the next few months.
Read more: https://bismarcktribune.com/business/morton-county-wind-farm-could-be-built-by-end-of-2022/article_c05c7dee-a8c9-5b95-9a6b-5b6db4535cb6.html
Corpus Christi pipeline explodes, USCG searching for missing crew members
A barge that struck a pipeline prompting an explosion Friday in Corpus Christi left several people with burns and prompted first responders to close nearby roads as they battled the blaze.
Emergency crews blocked several roads near Lantana Street and Up River Road after being called to the scene that sent six people to hospitals. Friday afternoon, the Coast Guard was still searching for four missing people.
Eighteen people were working in the area.
In a news release, the Coast Guard said it was searching for four missing crewmembers from dredging vessel "Waymon L. Boyd."
A Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was launched and hoisted two injured crewmembers. The crewmembers were taken to Corpus Christi Medical Center-Bay Area, the release states.
Read more: https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2020/08/21/corpus-christi-explosion-crews-respond-grain-bin-near-lantana-st-and-up-river-road/3406755001/
(Corpus Christi Caller-Times)
When you mark your ballot this year, Vladimir Putin will be on it
Vladimir Putin is on the ballot this November.
You won’t see his name or watch his ads. But make no mistake, Putin has a lot riding on this election and he’s counting on your vote.
What will a vote for Putin mean?
First, Putin is looking to reshape the world order in a way that benefits Moscow, builds his personal power and establishes him as the world’s toughest leader capable of outrageous cunning, manipulation and disruption.
A successful outcome — meaning President Donald Trump is reelected — means his Russia will be able to wantonly throw its weight around globally. He will assertively create unseen but ever-present fear and dependence in neighboring nations including Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic states and Georgia. Russia’s renewed and enhanced influence also will be felt in countries farther away and immediately affected by America’s acquiescence to Putin’s newfound power. Countries such as Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.
Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/article245129475.html
(Fort Worth Star Telegram)
Conservatives, GOP candidates sue to block early voting extension
Conservative leaders and two Republican candidates have filed suit to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that added six days of early voting for the November election as a pandemic-inspired safety measure.
The extension, they argued, must be struck down as a violation of the Texas Constitution and state law.
“This draconian order is contrary to the Texas spirit and invades the liberties the people of Texas protected in the constitution,” the lawsuit argued. “If the courts allow this invasion of liberty, today’s circumstances will set a precedent for the future, forever weakening the protections Texans sacrificed to protect.”
The lawsuit was the latest attempt by prominent conservative activist Steven Hotze to overturn Abbott’s executive orders and proclamations in response to the coronavirus.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200821/conservatives-gop-candidates-sue-to-block-early-voting-extension
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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