The South Dakota Attorney General is bringing charges against another a former state employee who has been arrested on forgery charges.
It’s the fourth case the Republican Attorney Marty Jackley has brought against former state employees this year.
Rene Strong was indicted on 13 felony counts. Strong is accused of falsifying food service inspection reports while working for the Department of Public Safety and performing contract work for the Health Department
During a press conference, Jackley said a Hughes County Grand Jury issued the indictments. He said this case is another reason why he’s encouraging lawmakers to focus on whistle blower protections, and require mandatory to the AG office of all felonies by state employees.
“This case began as a whistle blower case, back on October 8th, 2024. It’s progressed very quickly. Both the department of health and Department of Public Safety have correlated," said Jackley.
Jackley said Strong was a state employee for just over a year. Strong is accused of not conducting public health inspections, but signing off as she did, in 13 instances.
“Those inspection records were filed and relied upon by state agencies,” said Jackley.
Late last month, Gov. Kristi Noem announced an executive order requiring state employees to take annual ethics and financial stewardship training.
*Additionally, some small business owners are worried about the future of their stores after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to levy tariffs. A 25 percent tariff may be placed on Mexico and Canada.
2024 has already been a slow year for Cindy Boeyink, the owner of the clothing store Sassy’s Boutique in West Des Moines.
Rather than being excited for the new year, Boeyink said she feels cautious.
Ever since COVID, shipping costs keep going up. She says tariffs would make rising costs even more difficult to navigate.
“I've put my own personal money into the business this year just to keep some months afloat, and never really had to do that that much in the past,” Boeyink said.
Boeyink says her best sellers are from Canada, so if she passes on the cost of tariffs to her customers, there’s no guarantee they would keep buying.
*Additionally, less than one year since she concluded her stellar college basketball career, University of Iowa player Caitlin Clark will return to Iowa City to have her #22 jersey retired.
That special event will take place on February 2, 2025, when the Hawkeyes host the University of Southern California.
“I’m forever proud to be a Hawkeye and Iowa holds a special place in my heart that is bigger than just basketball,” Clark said in a press release.
“It will be a great feeling to look up in the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long.”
Clark will be there for the day, when fans will hear some of her many accomplishments, which include being the NCAA all-time leading career scorer for both men and women, and leading the Hawkeyes to the national championship game for the past two years.
Clark recently completed her first season in the WNBA for the Indiana franchise, and has drawn huge crowds for her games.
*In other news, the city of Storm Lake has received a $160,800 state grant and will use it for more recreation pieces on the lake that is the fourth-largest in the state of Iowa.
The water recreation grant will be used at the Sunrise Park Boat Ramp to install a new dock and a restroom facility that connects to a lakefront recreation trail. Seven grants totalling $400,000 were approved by the Iowa Natural Resources Commission, and the one to Storm Lake was by far the largest, according to a city release.
Amenities for boaters is seen as critical for growing Iowa's tourism appeal. An Iowa State University study showed more than 190,000 households visit the lake in Storm Lake annually. It is also estimated that anglers spent over 28,000 hours fishing during the open water season.
Those improvements are scheduled for the summers of 2025 and 2026.
