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announced Monday.
• Attorney General Marty Jackley said participants using the ignition interlock devices passed with a 99.5 percent rate.
• The ignition interlock device is installed in a motor vehicle, and a defender is required to test twice a day, whether they drive the vehicle or not. Participants must pay for the devices.
• "The 24/7 Sobriety Program has shown to be an effective means to combat drunk driving using technological advances such as the ignition interlock device," Jackley said. "This offender pay program takes the burden off taxpayers by keeping qualifying offenders out of jail yet holding them accountable for their actions. This in turn can have a long-term positive impact on their lives, their families and their employers."
• Participants in the program must pay for the ignition interlock device, which has a daily average cost of $4.25 for a six-month time frame. This compares to $6.44 per day for an alcohol ankle monitoring bracelet, $2 for a twice-a-day breath test, $10 per drug urinalysis test and $4 per day for a drug patch.
• The 24/7 Sobriety Program was started as a pilot project in 2005 in three South Dakota counties. In 2007, the state Legislature approved creating a formal program. Currently, 67 agencies are participating in the program.
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Above-normal temps, dry soil help SD farmers
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Above-normal temperatures and drier soils accelerated spring planting across South Dakota.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its weekly crop report that producers had on average 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork.
• Winter wheat conditions were rated 31 percent very poor, 28 percent poor, 33 percent fair, 8 percent good and 0 percent excellent.
• Calving was 94 percent complete and lambing was 96 percent complete.
• Cattle and calf conditions were rated 0 percent very poor,4 percent poor, 25 percent fair, 63 percent good, and 8 percent excellent.
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Larson to be School and Public Lands commissioner
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Gov. Dennis Daugaard says he will appoint Vern Larson of Vivian as South Dakota's commissioner of school and public lands.
• Larson, a former state treasurer and state auditor, will replace Jarrod Johnson as head of the agency that administers state lands set aside to support schools and (Continued on page 21)
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