Mitchell Daily Republic

FREEMAN, S.D. β€” Coming off a state championship as the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy co-op in 2025, the standalone Freeman football program garnered the preseason No. 1 ranking for Class 9A in the South Dakota Prep Media poll issued Monday. The 2026 preseason poll for all seven classes of South Dakota high school football was released on Monday, Aug. 17, with the first games on Friday, Aug. 21.

MITCHELL — As the Mitchell High School boys golf program opens its 2026 season, there are opportunities available for the taking at the top of the roster. Blessed with high levels of continuity and experience in recent years, the Kernels graduated four of the six players they took to the Class AA state tournament in 2025. Of those four, three were regular varsity golfers since they were freshmen.

MINNEAPOLIS — Byron Buxton returned on Thursday, just in time to be added to the roster ahead of the Field of Dreams game. The Twins’ center fielder, who was sidelined for the second time with a hip issue, doubled in his return and used his speed to beat out a potential double-play ball in the loss.

MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University’s Campus Ministry will conduct the annual New Student Orientation Food Drive from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23. All new Dakota Wesleyan students, along with upper class leaders and employees, will be collecting non-perishable food items from the community by going door to door. All food items will be donated to the Mitchell Area Food Pantry. Feel free to leave your items by your front door if you will not be home.

A South Dakota Health Department official told lawmakers Monday that the number of medical marijuana patients in the state who are licensed to grow medical cannabis at home has grown by more than 1,000% over the past four years.

PIERRE — A Rosebud man and Parmelee woman have been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2019 killing of a 15-year-old boy on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation. Dillion Millard, 27, and Charmaine Medicine, 31, were sentenced Aug. 10 by U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Millard pleaded guilty Aug. 13, 2025, while Medicine pleaded guilty May 12, 2026.

MITCHELL — As Joe Childs talks about the upcoming school year at the Mitchell School District, he glances out his office window at the demolition crews who continue to take down the former Mitchell High School building across the street. The workers have been at it for months, and they finally appear within reach of bringing down the last of the old school walls.

MITCHELL — Mitchell Public Works Department will host an informational meeting for homeowners in the Mitchell Boulevard area at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, at Mitchell City Hall. Affected property owners received notice about the project. Five-foot concrete sidewalks are planned on Mitchell Boulevard between South Minnesota Street and Kynette Place, on South Minnesota Street from Williams to Norway avenues, and parts of South Miller Avenue.

MITCHELL — There’s a renewed energy in the form of a familiar face on the sidelines for the Mitchell High School girls soccer team this fall. Bob Lemon, who formerly coached the Kernels for six years until stepping away after the 2022 season, is back leading the program, and he inherited a squad eager to climb the Class AA ranks.

WESSINGTON SPRINGS, S.D. — Kathy Dean was still in her work clothes, tending Shakespeare Garden, less than two hours before Sunday’s celebration honoring her 37 years of service. Her daughter, Gwyneth Fastnacht, had to remind her that Aug. 16 was not a day for weeding. “Mom, this is not a weeding day. This is a celebration of all your work day. Go home and put a dress on,” Fastnacht told her.