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John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight The citizens of the Rapid City area have gone without full representation now for more than half of the 2024 legislative session – and may well go without until the [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight During testimony Thursday on a bill to ban ownership of agricultural land by foreigners from six countries, a state official told lawmakers that Chinese spies visited South Dakota two years ago. Hunter [Read More…]

Bart Pfankuch / South Dakota News Watch PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota lawmakers, state agency leaders and water system managers are hustling to spend roughly $700 million in COVID-era funding on water and sewer projects [Read More…]

BROOKINGS — South Dakota is home to more than 80,000 miles of roads and over 5,000 public bridges. Maintaining and preserving all the state’s infrastructure on a year-to-year basis can be both challenging and time [Read More…]

Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota has $130 million of federal pandemic aid left and an abundance of ideas about how to spend it. The requests from legislators are more than double the available funding. [Read More…]

A road rage incident in western Sioux Falls escalated into gunfire on Wednesday evening. Two drivers engaged in a dispute near 12th Street and Valley View Road, with one driver eventually pursuing the other to [Read More…]

Aberdeen Fire Rescue responded to a report of natural gas odor at International Kitchen on 6th Avenue SE on Thursday morning. Investigation revealed high levels of natural gas within the restaurant. Fire crews secured the [Read More…]

Senate Bill 6 in South Dakota proposes stricter penalties for individuals distributing fentanyl resulting in death. Sponsored by Republican Sen. David Wheeler, the bill aims to address the growing fentanyl crisis, doubling potential prison sentences [Read More…]

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces a 2.57% decrease in overall criminal offenses reported in 2023 compared to 2022, attributing the decline to proactive law enforcement efforts. Serious crimes like homicides, sex offenses, and [Read More…]

A recent surge in traffic along 214th Street, particularly due to the new Exit 130 connecting to 20th Street South off Interstate 29, has prompted discussions within Brookings County Commission regarding the potential transfer of [Read More…]

Funeral arrangements for Kenneth Prorok, the Moody County Chief Deputy Sheriff who tragically passed away while on duty, have been updated. The service will now be held at Dakota State Fieldhouse in Madison on Thursday, [Read More…]

John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight An effort to open up certain kinds of medical care for transgender youth whose parents consent to the treatment failed in a state Senate committee on Wednesday morning. Parents of [Read More…]

Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight PIERRE — Republican lawmakers declared their opposition Wednesday to a potential November ballot question that would reinstate abortion rights. Rep. Gary Cammack, R-Union Center, introduced a resolution raising concerns about the ballot measure, [Read More…]

McCook County, S.D.- Two people died late this morning in a two-vehicle crash in McCook County. The names of the persons involved have not been released pending notification of family members. Preliminary crash information indicates the driver of a 1991 [Read More…]

Shalom Baer Gee, Rapid City Journal Three of the six Mitchell Post 18 American Legion baseball players accused of rape in Pennington County are set for a transfer hearing in July. The hearing will determine [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight PIERRE — A legislative budget committee endorsed a bill Tuesday that would repeal $7.5 million in state funding for South Dakota State University to construct a new dairy research and training facility. The [Read More…]

John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight The state House of Representatives endorsed a bill that would require sentences of life without parole for people convicted of raping young children. The version of House Bill 1192 passed Tuesday afternoon [Read More…]

John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight Inebriated drivers who kill parents with their vehicles would be on the hook for child support under a bill that cleared the state House of Representatives 67-0 Tuesday afternoon. House [Read More…]

Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch South Dakota educators have pointed to dramatic literacy successes in the state of Mississippi as evidence for lawmakers to support a proposed $6 million investment into expanded phonics-based reading [Read More…]

Stu Whitney / South Dakota News Watch SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Another candidate has emerged in the quest to seat two new federal judges on South Dakota’s U.S. District Court, adding momentum to filling vacancies [Read More…]