Latest News

An incident of vandalism accompanied by a written threat specific to a future date occurred at Brookings High School on Thursday, prompting an investigation by the Brookings Police Department. The suspect, who is underage, was [Read More…]

Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight – A bill to permanently set South Dakota’s state sales tax rate at a reduced 4.2% sailed through its first committee hearing Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre with an 11-1 [Read More…]

John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight – Concerns about staffing, costs and local control combined Thursday morning to spell defeat for a bill that aimed to force schools to employ armed guards. The 4-2 vote in the [Read More…]

State prison offender Benjamin Block has died of a suspected suicide. Block, age 30, was transported January 9th from the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls to an area hospital. He passed away January [Read More…]

Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight – South Dakota’s population will continue to grow, but at a slower rate, while continuing to become more diverse and elderly in the next couple of decades, according to state demographer [Read More…]

Jonathan Alexander Warren received a life sentence without parole for his involvement in the death and disappearance of Morgan Bauer, a 19-year-old missing since 2016. Warren, who pleaded guilty to charges including malice murder and [Read More…]

Amelia Schafer/Rapid City Journal/ICT RAPID CITY — More than 150 recently repatriated artifacts from the Wounded Knee Massacre were set to be burned. Instead, tribal leaders from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and later the Standing [Read More…]

A program meant to help low-income families pay for child care changed this month to better support providers. The change to the South Dakota Department of Social Services’ Child Care Assistance Program moved from an [Read More…]

Governor Kristi Noem delivers her State of the State speech at the Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 9, 2024. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight PIERRE — Governor Kristi Noem recounted her administration’s [Read More…]

Supporters of the gymnastics program are urging the dismissal of an amicus brief filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation and American Sports Council on December 21. The gymnastics advocates argue that the assertions made in [Read More…]

PIERRE, SD – The Governor’s Office of Economic Development Board of Economic Development approved multiple loans totaling more than $5.6 million at their monthly meeting. These projects will reflect a capital investment total of over $15.1 [Read More…]

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission approved a rate increase for NorthWestern Energy’s electric customers in South Dakota at the commission’s regularly scheduled meeting in Pierre today, Jan. 9, 2024. The rate [Read More…]

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) reminds the public and commercial snow removal operators that it is illegal to place or dump excess snow on highway right-of-way, which includes driving surfaces, shoulders, and [Read More…]

Stu Whitney/South Dakota News Watch Nearly half of registered voters support changing the way primary elections are conducted in South Dakota, but many others remain undecided, according to a statewide poll co-sponsored by South Dakota [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight PIERRE — A former Noem administration employee told legislators Monday that a politically connected, out-of-state marketing firm seemed predestined for selection to carry out a state advertising campaign. “It was pretty [Read More…]

John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight PIERRE — The South Dakota Supreme Court might soon offer clarity on what it means for a lawmaker to have a conflict of interest on state contracts. Or it won’t. On [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight PIERRE — About 200 landowners braved the winter weather Monday to descend on the state Capitol and demand greater property rights protection and local control in the face of a proposed [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight – Teacher pay, tax relief, election processes, and tweaks to medical marijuana laws are among the topics of bills filed ahead of the annual legislative session. More than 100 bills have [Read More…]

A murder/suicide incident occurred in Lake Benton around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 4, resulting in the deaths of 81-year-old Sandra Wilson Goertz and 80-year-old Edward Goertz. Sandra’s death was ruled a homicide due to [Read More…]

The Harrisburg School District sent an email to parents on Saturday informing them of a recent threat made toward the Freshmen Academy. Despite the threat being specific to the academy, the district assured parents that [Read More…]