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delayed Northern Beef Packers beef-processing plant finally opened in 2012, it lacked the funds to ramp up to full production -- and its owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2013.
• But as creditors were jockeying for position to get repaid, the state's former economic development director, who had ties to the plant, committed suicide in October. Richard Benda had left that state job to monitor the millions of dollars in loans that the plant was receiving from the federal EB-5 program, which provides green cards to foreigners who make large investments in U.S. businesses.
• An investigation, announced by the governor after Benda's death, later found that $550,000 of a $1 million state grant given to Northern Beef had been improperly diverted to Benda's new employer, SDRC Inc., which was handling the state's participation in the EB-5 program.
• A federal investigation into EB-5 finances is continuing as the plant is being bought by a creditor that gave Northern Beef a loan to stay afloat.
• ___
• October blizzard
• An early-season blizzard dumped up to 4 feet of snow in western South Dakota in October, knocking out power to about 30,000 people and killing between 15,000 and 30,000 cattle.
• State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven said many of the cattle died of congestive heart failure brought on by stress.
• South Dakota cattle groups set up a fund that raised more than $2.5 million to help ranchers with their losses from the Oct. 4 blizzard, which also damaged numerous buildings, brought travel to a standstill and shut down schools. The storm contributed to at least one death -- a man in the Lead-Deadwood area who collapsed while cleaning snow from his roof.
• The 19 inches of snow that fell in Rapid City broke the city's nearly century-old one-day snowfall record for October by about 9 inches, according to the National Weather Service. The city also set a record for snowfall in October, with a total of 23.1 inches during the storm. The previous record was 15.1 inches in October 1919.
• ___
• Sen. Tim Johnson retirement
• U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson announced his retirement in March, setting off immediate rumors about who might fill South Dakota's lone Democratic-controlled seat on the national stage.
• Speculation about Democratic candidates turned to Johnson's son, U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, and former South Dakota U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. But neither stepped into the race, leaving Sioux Falls businessman Rick Weiland

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