Articles by Travis Kriens

PIERRE, S.D. – Amy Verhelst, a kindergarten teacher at Sioux Valley Elementary School in Volga, has been named the 2025 South Dakota Teacher of the Year.  Secretary of Education Joseph Graves made the announcement at [Read More…]

Kristi Hine/ South Dakota News Watch MITCHELL, S.D. – While reflecting on the need to build her own network within the South Dakota agriculture industry, Rebecca Blue began to wonder if other women in ag [Read More…]

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) announced the Board of Water and Natural Resources has approved $24,416,257 in loans and grants for drinking water, wastewater, and solid [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight The three members of Congress representing South Dakota introduced House and Senate bills Wednesday to require a federal feasibility study for a potential water pipeline from the Missouri River to the Black Hills. The legislation would [Read More…]

Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota Lottery revenue is expected to drop by $4.7 million this fiscal year, largely due to falling sales of number-picking lotto games. Lottery sales are typically the state government’s third largest source [Read More…]

South Dakota’s technical college system is experiencing a five-year high in headcount, with 7,407 students enrolled in one of the state’s four technical colleges this fall. Numbers are bolstered by a strong class of first-year [Read More…]

Minnehaha County, S.D.- A 39-year-old man died early Sunday morning after colliding with a semi on Interstate 29 in Sioux Falls, SD. Preliminary crash information indicates Ghazi Jan Mangal, the driver of a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia, was traveling [Read More…]

Korisa Haak, a mother from the Howard School District, is voicing safety concerns over her kindergartener being picked up and dropped off by a school bus along busy Highway 34. Haak believes the highway location [Read More…]