KELO anchor to speak on opioids May 15 | News

BOYDEN—A KELO-TV news anchor will broadcast the story of her daughter’s death in a special presentation at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, at the Demco Community Center in Boyden.

Angela Kennecke is co-anchor of KELOLAND News at 5 and has worked for the Sioux Falls, SD, television station for nearly three decades.

She had done multiple stories on the opioid epidemic over those years.

Then her 21-year-old daughter, Emily Groth, died May 16, 2018, from a fentanyl overdose.

Since then, Kennecke has used speeches as a way to eliminate the stigma of addiction and to bring attention to the problems that accompany addiction, specifically to opioids, commonly used for pain relief. Fentanyl is a type of opioid.

The event is free to the public and is sponsored through Boyden Public Library, Premier Communications and a State Opioid Response Grant.

Boyden Public Library director Shari Fedders said all are welcome to attend Kennecke’s speech. There will be a time for questions afterward, and refreshments will be available.

“There’s probably a bigger problem out there than we realize,” Fedders said. “I kind of felt a nudging to contact her and see if she’d be interested in coming and started a correspondence back and forth.

“I think everyone knows of people who might have problems with addictions, and I think it’s important for the community to be aware of it.”