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South Dakota Searchlight
100 more, and still short: State money helps Mitchell build houses for workers
About a tenth of the 450 employees at Trail King in Mitchell drive 100 miles a day to get there and back from Huron. The pay is worth the drive, according to Trail King’s Lee Anderson, but that doesn’t mean they like it. Most would happily move to Mitchell, he said – at least they would if the city had a few more houses for them.
Landlords for teachers: Housing projects aim to keep pace with reservation school expansion
One of the newest, most modern tech high schools in South Dakota is in one of the poorest counties in the United States. Lakota Tech High School, the only public high school in Oglala Lakota County, didn’t exist until a few years ago. It owes its existence to a $50 million flurry of activity that […] The post Landlords for teachers: Housing projects aim to keep pace with reservation school expansion appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Housing infrastructure funding helps Chamberlain over the hill
Chamberlain’s greatest asset is the Missouri River, whose choppy, sea green waves paint picturesque scenes within walking distance of downtown and a fair share of its established homes. Chamberlain’s also landlocked, to an extent. The ground best suited for building was built upon decades ago, forming a teardrop-shaped thicket of urban activity along the river’s […] The post Housing infrastructure funding helps Chamberlain over the hill appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Anti-abortion groups shrug off election losses, look to courts, statehouses for path forward
Anti-abortion groups are firing off a warning shot for 2024: We’re not going anywhere. Their leaders say they’re undeterred by recent election setbacks and plan to plow ahead on what they’ve done for years, including working through state legislatures, federal agencies, and federal courts to outlaw abortion. And at least one prominent anti-abortion group is […] The post Anti-abortion groups shrug off election losses, look to courts, statehouses for path forward appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
State’s $3 million Big Sioux cleanup project is slow to catch on
A $3 million program created by the state in 2021 to reduce agricultural pollution in the Big Sioux River has attracted two sign-ups, while drawing criticism for duplicating existing local projects. Meanwhile, the state has doubled the financial incentives for landowners in an effort to attract more interest. Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, introduced the […] The post State’s $3 million Big Sioux cleanup project is slow to catch on appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Governor shouldn’t be the one to choose replacement legislators
Two Republican legislators from Rapid City have resigned. Sen. Jessica Castleberry of District 35 had to resign so she can get busy repaying $600,000 in pandemic relief funding she received through state government, in violation of the Legislature’s ethics rules. Rep. Jess Olson of District 34 said she resigned for health reasons. According to The […] The post Governor shouldn’t be the one to choose replacement legislators appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
City leaders fund child care center with tax district typically used for roads, sewer
Brooke Rollag cannot work without child care. The mother of four is the economic development director for the Lake Area Improvement Corporation in Madison. Her job is to understand what businesses need to locate and expand in the area. And in Madison, those businesses need child care. “Child care is infrastructure,” Rollag said. “When you […] The post City leaders fund child care center with tax district typically used for roads, sewer appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
New policy leads to settlement in ballot petitioner rights lawsuit
SIOUX FALLS — Minnehaha County commissioners signed off on a settlement agreement Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of violating the First Amendment rights of people collecting signatures for ballot questions. Dakotans for Health sued the county this spring after the commission passed a policy on May 2 that restricted petitioning to a small […] The post New policy leads to settlement in ballot petitioner rights lawsuit appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Severe weather becoming larger factor for concert-goers, fair director says
SIOUX FALLS — Insurance coverage allowed South Dakota’s most well-attended fair to avoid the sting of financial loss in 2023. Sioux Empire Fair Director Scott Wick told Minnehaha County commissioners on Tuesday that a severe weather shutdown on two separate days could have tanked the fair’s profitability, but a $313,000 insurance payout and strong attendance […] The post Severe weather becoming larger factor for concert-goers, fair director says appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
The cost of free land and either-or history
Some white South Dakotans love to talk about their generational connection to the land. I’m one of them: a proud, fifth-generation descendant of Dakota Territory homesteaders. The federal government awarded nearly 100,000 parcels of free land to South Dakota settlers via the 1862 Homestead Act and successive rounds of related legislation. Modern South Dakotans celebrate […] The post The cost of free land and either-or history appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Quiet scanners add another layer of opaqueness to law enforcement
Police are called on to “protect and serve.” In South Dakota that’s what they do, but they do it on their own terms. Too often those terms lack transparency. This became apparent again recently with the announcement that on Nov. 13, privately owned police scanners in the state’s two largest counties would go quiet as […] The post Quiet scanners add another layer of opaqueness to law enforcement appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Migrant officers flock to South Dakota police departments
Hours before the sun rose over Champaign, Illinois, on the morning of May 19, 2021, Champaign Police Officer Chris Oberheim and his partner were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance. Darion Lafayette was there to meet them and exchanged fire with both officers, killing Oberheim. Lafayette was also killed. Within a day, the […] The post Migrant officers flock to South Dakota police departments appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
A story told in data: Overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the SD foster care system
Native American children are overrepresented in South Dakota’s child welfare system — accounting for nearly 74% of foster children in the state at the end of fiscal year 2023, despite making up 13% of the state’s child population. That means Indigenous children have a 22% chance of being removed from their families and placed in […] The post A story told in data: Overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the SD foster care system appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
How the Argus Leader and South Dakota Searchlight reported The Lost Children series
Children can quickly lose interest in you when you’re helping them stack blocks, but also when you’re speaking with their grandmother about why she’s caring for them. They fall asleep in her arms as you witness her choke up, flashing back to when she and her younger brothers were split as young siblings at a […] The post How the Argus Leader and South Dakota Searchlight reported The Lost Children series appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
What’s being done to address the high number of Native children in foster care in SD
South Dakota government officials, tribal leaders, tribal child welfare coordinators, foster families and legislators agree: The overrepresentation of Native American children in the foster care system is a problem. Indigenous children made up nearly 74% of foster children in the state by mid-2023 — five times the actual representation of Native American children in South […] The post What’s being done to address the high number of Native children in foster care in SD appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Look beyond the ads and be cautious with Medicare Advantage
Television is flooded these days with commercials encouraging everyone to sign up for Medicare Advantage. What is it, and why are they doing this? First of all, a bit of history. For more than 30 years Congress has debated whether the private insurance industry could deliver Medicare benefits more efficiently than the federal government. In […] The post Look beyond the ads and be cautious with Medicare Advantage appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Cultural connection for Native foster children in South Dakota is lacking, foster parents say
Jennifer Johnson wondered if her boys hated her. She and her husband fostered and adopted the three brothers — all under 3 years old — in the early 2000s. The couple provided a safe, stable and loving home for the children, she recalled, but it seemed like the boys would try to sabotage their relationships […] The post Cultural connection for Native foster children in South Dakota is lacking, foster parents say appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Congress sends stopgap spending bill to Biden’s desk, averting shutdown for now
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators voted 87-11 to approve legislation Wednesday that would fund the government into next year, clearing the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. The stopgap spending bill, sometimes called a continuing resolution or CR, would fund part of the government until mid-January and the rest of the programs within the annual appropriations […] The post Congress sends stopgap spending bill to Biden’s desk, averting shutdown for now appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Noem announces second phase of workforce campaign after legislators question first phase
Governor Kristi Noem on Wednesday announced a $1.5 million second phase of a national workforce recruitment campaign that has featured her as the star, after lawmakers expressed concerns earlier this week about a $5 million contract for the first phase. “We are continuing to recruit Freedom-loving Americans from across the country to come live and […] The post Noem announces second phase of workforce campaign after legislators question first phase appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
VA secretary says agency will cooperate with investigation into veterans crisis line
WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough sought to defend the veterans crisis line Wednesday in a letter to the Kansas senator who has raised concerns with how some veterans are treated after calling it. McDonough wrote in the three-page letter to Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran that the VA “takes any allegations […] The post VA secretary says agency will cooperate with investigation into veterans crisis line appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
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We use our journalistic searchlight to illuminate critical issues facing South Dakota, dissect the decisions made by state leaders, and explain the consequences of their policies and the role of politics on South Dakotans. We publish news and commentary that prioritizes accuracy, fairness, insight and civility. There is no charge to access our content, or to subscribe to our email newsletter. We invite and publish guest commentary that contributes to productive public discourse and adheres to our editorial policies. South Dakota Searchlight launched in 2022. We’re an affiliate of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. The staff of the Searchlight retains full editorial independence.
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