Bart Pfankuch

Bart Pfankuch

Title: content director; expertise: agriculture, state government, education, rural issues, Indigenous people, poverty; language spoken: English; contact: 605-937-9398 / bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org

Kylie Carlson named 2022 Nelson reporting intern at South Dakota News Watch

South Dakota News Watch is proud to announce that Kylie Carlson, a senior at South Dakota State University, has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the Jeffrey B. Nelson Investigative Journalism Endowed Internship. Kylie will work as a paid, full-time reporter for News Watch during the internship, which will

Special report part 2: CO2 pipelines could affect the land, lives and livelihoods of SD property owners

Special report part 2: CO2 pipelines could affect the land, lives and livelihoods of SD property owners

Editor’s note: This article was produced through a partnership between South Dakota News Watch and the Solutions Journalism Network, a national non-profit group that supports rigorous journalism about responses to problems. This is Part 2 of a two-part series; Part 1 published on May 2, 2022. Peggy Hoogestraat is

Special report: Proposed CO2 pipelines thrust South Dakota into billion-dollar debate over carbon capture technology and climate change

Special report: Proposed CO2 pipelines thrust South Dakota into billion-dollar debate over carbon capture technology and climate change

Editor’s note: This article was produced through a partnership between South Dakota News Watch and the Solutions Journalism Network, a national non-profit group that supports rigorous journalism about responses to problems. This is Part 1 of a two-part series; Part 2 publishes May 10, 2022. So far, most of

Pending closure and poor care at Ipswich nursing home latest outcomes of staffing crisis

Pending closure and poor care at Ipswich nursing home latest outcomes of staffing crisis

IPSWICH, S.D. – A crisis at the nursing home in Ipswich illustrates the two worst potential outcomes of staffing shortages affecting long-term care facilities across the state: possible nursing home closures and troubling incidents of inadequate resident care. A shortage of staff was given as one reason that officials for

As Native students struggle in SD schools, a Lakota-immersion model emerges

For the third time in five years, Native American legislators and supporters of improving Native education in South Dakota have proposed legislation that would allow for creation of state-funded charter schools aimed at immersing students in Lakota Indian language, culture and history. And once again, the measure has failed in

Rising anger and violence toward healthcare workers hampering patient care in SD

Increasing anger and even violence toward healthcare workers in South Dakota and across the U.S. is adding great stress on practitioners who are already enduring the pain and hardship of providing care during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers in South Dakota have been called offensive names, faced threats

News Watch to host panel discussion March 3 on proposed Native-focused charter schools in S.D.

Use this link to register to listen live to the March 3 Native education panel Click THIS LINK to be taken to a web page where you can sign up to watch the March 3 panel discussion live. South Dakota News Watch is convening a panel of experts for an