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South Dakota Searchlight – The typical South Dakota teacher’s pay fell by 7.6% over the past six years when adjusted for inflation, according to a new report from a nonprofit economic research and analysis organization. The [Read More…]

A Puffy’s Dispensary location is pictured on Oct. 1, 2024, on West Main Street in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight VERMILLION – A Rapid City medical marijuana dispensary wants [Read More…]

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a former prison employee has pleaded guilty to one count of a Prohibited Sexual Act Between a Prison Employee and a Prisoner. Cassandra Jelsma, 36, [Read More…]

Rapid City Police confirmed the death of 18-year-old Marquise Walker following a Monday night shooting near an apartment on the 4000 block of Range Road. Walker, a senior and football player for Central High School, [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight Students who see a school threat on social media should report it to authorities, but those same authorities want students to know that sharing threats on social media could be [Read More…]

A home explosion in Gary, South Dakota, left two individuals seriously injured on the morning of September 30, 2024. Emergency crews were dispatched to the 800 block of Lac Qui Parle Street, where the two [Read More…]

The fastest growing occupation through 2032 in South Dakota will be wind turbine service technicians, according to new projections from the state Department of Labor and Regulation. The department recently released its occupational employment projections for the [Read More…]

South Dakota Searchlight – A statewide advocacy group has launched a petition urging Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to reconsider her rejection of nearly $69 million in federal energy rebates for South Dakotans. The national Home Energy Rebates [Read More…]

Dakota State University’s Paulson Cyber and Economic Development Center has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot Program. This grant will help small businesses enhance their [Read More…]

Watertown’s Bramble Park Zoo has been denied accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), primarily due to outdated animal enclosures and holding areas that no longer meet AZA’s updated standards for size, complexity, [Read More…]

Six people were injured in a fiery two-vehicle crash near Larchwood, Iowa. The accident occurred when Lance Haugen of Glendive, MT, failed to stop at a stop sign and struck a Chevy Traverse driven by [Read More…]

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…]