Man Denied liquor license near SD reservations

The Mellette County Commission has rejected a liquor license request by a Pennington County sheriff's deputy who wanted to sell liquor in a town near the Pine Ridge and Rosebud American Indian reservations.
 
The last bar in the small town of Norris closed about six years ago. Dallas Kendrick wanted to reopen a gas station in the town of 150 people and section off part of it to serve alcohol.
 
The Oglala Sioux Tribe recently sued some of the world's largest beer makers, saying they are knowingly contributing to alcohol-related problems on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Norris is only about a mile from the reservation.
 
Kendrick says he would not be advocating drunkenness by selling alcohol. But his plan met with opposition.