Bart Pfankuch

Editor’s note: This article is the second of three parts of a special report by South Dakota News Watch. The “Small Towns, Big Challenges” series was supported in part by a grant from the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program sponsored by Facebook. Part three will appear next

Small towns across South Dakota are at a crossroads, facing historic declines in population and economic activity but also seeking new ways to thrive and grow. The COVID-19 pandemic, while not significantly infecting rural populations, has indirectly affected both potential paths. While the pandemic has hurt the agricultural economy and

Editor’s note: This article is the first of three parts of a special report by South Dakota News Watch. The “Small Towns — Big Challenges” series was supported in part by a grant from the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program sponsored by Facebook. Parts two and three will

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of dozens of fairs, festivals and other events in South Dakota in 2020 that typically provide a significant revenue boost and foster community cohesiveness in cities and counties across the state. As of early June, nearly four dozen community events, many of

Wet and cold weather in 2019 have created a dangerous situation this year for South Dakota farmers who store grain in bins, heightening a risk of entrapment or death that has existed on farms for generations. The number of reported grain entrapments across the country rose by 27% from 2018

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. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in north-central South Dakota has received extensive state and national press coverage in

The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed the way colleges and universities are teaching students, forcing a move this spring and summer away from in-person classroom learning to remote education. Moving forward, the virus and the unknowns surrounding it have the potential to fundamentally alter the short-term and long-range future of