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Survivors of South Dakota Plane Crash in Stable Condition, Midwest Economy Slowing Down

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The three survivors of a South Dakota plane crash that killed nine members of an extended family from Idaho were in stable condition today, a family representative said.

The survivors were being treated at Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls. The family was returning from an annual pheasant-hunting trip when the plane crashed Saturday in a cornfield near Chamberlain shortly after takeoff during a snowstorm.

Brothers Jim and Kirk Hansen, who founded the nutritional and wellness products company Kyani, were killed. The crash also killed their father, Kirk Hansen’s children, his sons-in-law, and Jim Hansen’s son and grandson.

A new monthly survey of business leaders suggests the economy is slowing down in nine Midwest and Plains states as the U.S. trade war with China continues. 

The overall index for the region slipped into negative territory at 48.6 in November from October’s 52.6. A Nebraska-based natural gas company is aiming to replace an aging pipeline that runs through eastern South Dakota to Sioux City. 

The project could disturb more than 1,000 acres of public and private land. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will conduct an environmental assessment and discuss the impacts of the abandonment, construction, and operation of the lines that run from Sioux Falls to Sioux City during a public comment period. 

Northern Natural Gas Company based in Omaha is planning to abandon about 79 miles of an existing pipeline that runs through Lincoln and Union Counties and build a new pipeline 25 feet away. The new line would be two inches smaller in diameter, so NNGC is proposing about 84 miles of new pipe to make up for the lost capacity.  

Northern says it intends to offer the abandoned pipeline to a salvage company.  According to the FERC, about 1,048 acres of land would be disturbed by the project.  The project could earn approval or denial by March 2021 with the project completion anticipated in fall 2021.

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