Will ex-official clear up Noem nepotism probe?

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota lawmakers are preparing to hear from a former state employee at the center of questions over whether Gov. Kristi Noem interfered in an agency that was evaluating her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license. It could be the first time that longtime agency director Sherry Bren speaks publicly about a meeting in the governor’s mansion last year since The Associated Press reported on it in September 2021. The Republican governor held the meeting just days after Bren’s agency moved to deny Noem’s daughter an upgrade to her appraiser license. The legislative committee’s inquiry has stretched nearly two months.