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Rapid City Area Schools Superintendent Placed on Leave Over Comments on Native American Students
Rapid City Area Schools Superintendent Nicole Swigart has been placed on a 30-day leave, the district announced Monday. This decision follows Swigart’s comments in a letter to the Office of Civil Rights in May regarding [Read More…]
Emerald Ash Borer Infestation Confirmed in Brookings; Quarantine Expanded
The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in Brookings. This invasive beetle, which feeds on North American ash species, has prompted the [Read More…]
Regulators begin study of NorthWestern’s proposed 9% natural gas rate increase
Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight State regulators will take six months to study NorthWestern Energy’s proposed 9% natural gas rate increase, which the company says would cost a typical residential customer an additional $8.38 per month, or $100.56 [Read More…]
Parole denied for Indigenous activist convicted of killing FBI agents
South Dakota Searchlight – A Native American man convicted of killing two FBI agents 49 years ago in South Dakota has lost what could be his final chance at parole, after widespread activism in support [Read More…]
More states consider voter ID laws amid conflicting research on their impact
Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline Nevada voters may decide in November whether they should join three dozen other states in requiring voters to present valid identification before casting a ballot. And Maine may not be far behind, as [Read More…]
Biden administration announces new rule to protect workers from heat-related illnesses
Lia Chien/States Newsroom WASHINGTON – Senior Biden administration officials announced a proposed rule Tuesday to prevent heat-related illness in the workplace, as climate change brings hotter temperatures around the nation. In a call to reporters [Read More…]
Final Codefendants in Mitchell Legion Baseball Assault Case Accept Plea Deals
The last three codefendants in the alleged sexual assault of a Mitchell Legion baseball teammate have reached plea deals with the state. Karter Sibson, 18, Hudson Haley, 19, and Landon Waddell, 20, pleaded guilty to [Read More…]
Law banning sale of some near-pot products takes effect, but won’t prevent every legal high
John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight As of today, several varieties of intoxicating hemp products are illegal to sell or produce in the state of South Dakota. That doesn’t necessarily put them out of reach for South [Read More…]
Ex-trooper, now a cannabis grower, wants answers on fake weed inaction
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…]
Harrisburg, Tea, Box Elder lead booming South Dakota cities
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…]
Federal Judge Denies Injunction Request, Allows South Dakota’s New Hemp Law to Take Effect
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…]
South Dakota’s Wind Cave is now the world’s sixth longest
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…]
Suspect in Custody Following Sioux Falls Bank Robbery
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…]
‘Sacred Return’: Tribal ceremony honors birth of prophesied white buffalo calf
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…]
‘Fake weed’ ban will take effect Monday as lawsuit against it proceeds
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…]
South Dakota water has lots of lithium, study says, as research into health effects continues
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…]
Name Released in Butte County Fatal Crash near Belle Fourche
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…]
Idaho abortion ruling doesn’t affect South Dakota law, attorney general says
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…]
Noem, who sent Guard troops to Texas, resists using them for her own state’s flooding
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…]
Iowa city, South Dakota company face suit alleging contaminated water, $4 million in tainted cheese
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…]
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