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South Dakota News Watch
Referred pipeline law puts company's permit quest in limbo
An Iowa company seeking regulatory approval to run a carbon dioxide pipeline through South Dakota and four other states said a delay in its plan to re-apply for a permit has nothing to do with a November vote on the project. After Summit Carbon Solutions gained approval from the Iowa...
Gravel road with higher risk awaits Sturgis rally bikers
SILVER CITY, S.D. – On a recent drive through this super scenic area of the Black Hills, Ron Waterland saw with his own eyes the potential risks bikers will encounter when riding on gravel sections of U.S. 385 during the upcoming 2024 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Waterland has a cabin...
Anti-abortion group appeals judge's ruling to South Dakota Supreme Court
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Anti-abortion group Life Defense Fund has filed an appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court in its latest attempt to keep an abortion rights amendment from reaching the November 2024 ballot. The appeal comes after Monday’s decision by Circuit Court Judge John Pekas to dismiss...
South Dakota's mosquito war
A South Dakota county with the second-highest national rate of lethal West Nile virus in humans shares a border with a county that has never reported a single case. Between 1999 and 2023, Dewey County recorded 13.74 neuroinvasive cases per 100,000 people, just behind King County in Texas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neuroinvasive refers to those more serious cases that can affect the brain and can be deadly.
City of Faith to scrap code enforcement crackdown
Applause rang out among residents at the city council meeting in Faith on Tuesday when the council voted to begin the process of rescinding a new code enforcement policy that has drawn the ire of some locals. After weeks of negative feedback over a recent property code enforcement crackdown, the...
Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to keep South Dakota abortion measure from ballot
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The campaign to put South Dakota abortion rights before voters on the November 2024 ballot claimed a major victory in state court Monday morning. Circuit Court Judge John Pekas ruled in favor of Dakotans for Health, the grassroots organization behind Amendment G, by granting a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion group Life Defense Fund that sought to keep the measure from the ballot.
Embattled CEO of major SD social services agency steps down
The CEO of one of the state's largest nonprofit social services agencies, who was the subject of a federal sexual harassment and toxic workplace settlement in 2022, has quit his position. The July 1 resignation of Peter Smith from the top leadership post at the Rural Office of Community Services...
Property code enforcement a sore spot in some SD towns
FAITH, S.D. – A few months ago, the city council in this ranching town in remote northwestern South Dakota decided to join dozens of other communities across the state and hire an outside contractor to enforce property codes. But in a pioneer town built on a rugged history of...
South Dakota clashes with Minnesota on clean energy, coal plant closures
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A political border war between South Dakota and Minnesota on how to handle tax policies, abortion and the pandemic response could spill over into renewable energy and the future of coal plants. At issue is the pace with which gas and electric companies can transition...
High school journalism removed from Opportunity Scholarship
High school journalism courses no longer count toward South Dakota's general merit-based scholarship, though schools can seek a waiver, and teachers in the state haven't been told why. "There was never any knowledge of this being an issue, and the school district didn't know about it either, as far as...
Harrisburg, Tea, Box Elder lead booming South Dakota cities
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 to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau and Population Division report. Harrisburg's population ballooned by 37.8%, or more than...
Hand counting errors muddle post-election audit in McPherson County
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 counted by hand. But the debate over counting votes by hand vs. machines found a more decisive venue 250...
South Dakota No. 1 state in nation for hemp production
WAKONDA, S.D. – South Dakota recently became the No. 1 producer of hemp fibers in the nation after being the third-to-last state to make it legal just three years ago. "We're the highest production and the highest in yield-per-acre, both of those," said Bill Brehmer, board member of the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association (SDIHA). "We are going to try to hold that for next year. This will be our first year to dominate that category."
Rural and reservation health providers face major hurdles in South Dakota
HURON, S.D. – The patchwork nature of the rural and reservation health care system in South Dakota sometimes requires compassion, innovation and a healthy dose of teamwork to keep people healthy. While the existing health care network contains numerous barriers of access to care and troubling negative health outcomes,...
Lawsuit over abortion amendment challenged in federal court
The organization behind a constitutional amendment to legalize abortion in South Dakota has asked a federal judge to prevent an anti-abortion group from pursuing action against the ballot measure in state court. Dakotans for Health, which sponsored the Amendment G petition drive, filed a motion Tuesday to enforce a 2023...
Access to health care limited in SD rural and reservation areas
SISSETON, S.D. – All it took in spring 2024 was two small, unrelated medical service interruptions to put women’s health at risk and expose the fragility of the health care system in rural and reservation communities across South Dakota. First, the local public hospital in Sisseton, the Coteau...
Poll: Most South Dakota voters oppose recreational marijuana measure
Most South Dakotans oppose the latest attempt to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, according to a scientific poll of 500 registered voters co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch. The statewide survey, also sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota, showed that 52% of...
Poll: Majority of South Dakotans want new system for primary elections
South Dakotans by a wide margin support a constitutional amendment that would change the way the state conducts primary elections, according to a scientific poll of 500 registered voters co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch. The statewide survey, also sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of...
Poll shows support for grocery tax repeal, but critics warn of budget crunch
Two-thirds of South Dakotans support an initiated measure that would prohibit the state from collecting sales tax on "anything sold for human consumption, except alcoholic beverages and prepared food,” according to a scientific poll co-sponsored by News Watch. The statewide survey of 500 registered voters, also sponsored by the...
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South Dakota News Watch, founded in 2017, is an independent non-profit committed to reporting the most important statewide stories, from agriculture to education, public safety to politics.
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