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John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight Alan Welsh wasn’t just a cop. He was a Very Important Cop. The kind of cop who gets a legislative commemoration for an outstanding career upon retirement. Now he grows marijuana for a [Read More…]

Mariia Novoselia/South Dakota News Watch HARRISBURG, S.D. – This bedroom community just south of Sioux Falls transformed over the past couple of decades into the fastest-growing South Dakota city of more than 5,000 people, according [Read More…]

A federal judge denied Hemp Quarters 605’s request to block South Dakota’s new law banning certain hemp-derived products, allowing the law to take effect on Monday. House Bill 1125, signed by Kristi Noem, prohibits the [Read More…]

Marcus Heerdt/South Dakota Searchlight HOT SPRINGS — Wind Cave in South Dakota’s Black Hills is now the sixth longest cave in the world as explorers have discovered new passageways, bringing the total length to 167 [Read More…]

On Monday morning, Sioux Falls police responded to a bank robbery that occurred at 9:15 a.m. on the 1400 block of E 10th Street. A suspect entered the bank, demanded money from a teller, and [Read More…]

Blair Miller/Daily Montanan HEBGEN LAKE, Montana — The birth of a sacred white buffalo calf earlier this month in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley fulfills a tribal prophecy, according to Native American spiritual leaders. The prophecy means people [Read More…]

John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight A new law barring the production or sale of high-inducing, hemp-derived cannabis products will take effect Monday after a judge declined to block it. Hemp Quarters 605, a Pierre-based shop that [Read More…]

Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight Much of South Dakota’s drinking water has more naturally occurring lithium in it than the federal government preliminarily advises as a healthy level, according to numbers in a recent study released by the [Read More…]

Butte County, S.D.- A 69-year-old man died Tuesday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash near Belle Fourche, SD. Preliminary crash information indicates Randy A. Dockendorf, the driver of a 2017 Toyota Sienna was traveling eastbound on SD Highway [Read More…]

John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that shields emergency room doctors from prosecution under Idaho’s near-total abortion ban won’t have any immediate impact on South Dakota, according to Republican Attorney General Marty [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight After ordering National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border three times, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is defending her decision to avoid sending troops to flood-ravaged areas in South Dakota, saying [Read More…]

Clark Kauffman/Iowa Capital Dispatch A cheese manufacturer is suing the Iowa city of Sanborn for water contamination that allegedly infiltrated the plant and caused $4 million in damages. The Minnesota dairy cooperative Associated Milk Producers [Read More…]

Seth Tupper, South Dakota Searchlight Severe weather brought a deluge to southeast South Dakota recently and exposed Gov. Kristi Noem’s faults. While the rain fell, she abandoned the state for a political conference and television interview. When catastrophic floodwaters surged [Read More…]

Robbie Sequeira/Stateline A new, permanent summer grocery program will help nearly 21 million kids across 37 states get enough to eat this year while school’s out. But 13 states with Republican governors have opted out of the [Read More…]

National Grid Renewables has launched Wild Springs, South Dakota’s largest solar farm, in Pennington County. The 128-megawatt (MW) solar farm, part of the Southwest Power Pool, includes a 114 MW power purchase agreement with Basin [Read More…]

The South Dakota Air and Space Museum celebrated its reopening on Wednesday, June 26, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony after a two-year closure. The event was attended by airmen, Ellsworth community leaders, and other guests who [Read More…]

As South Dakota communities face flooding and begin rebuilding, Governor Kristi Noem announced she is not activating the National Guard. Emergency management teams, the American Red Cross, and local fire rescues are responding. Noem stated [Read More…]

Stu Whitney/South Dakota News Watch South Dakota’s most populous county, Minnehaha, was in the spotlight this week after its top election official ordered the county’s post-election audit to consist of all 2024 primary ballots being [Read More…]

John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight Authorities have released the name of the person killed in the only known fatality from the flooding that’s ravaged southeastern South Dakota over the past week. Merlyn D. Rennich, 87, was killed Saturday [Read More…]

On Tuesday morning, Rapid City Police responded to a call on the 5000 block of Dane Lane, where they discovered a Native American woman deceased. Assistant Police Chief Scott Sitts described the death as suspicious. [Read More…]