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

Long-held rural values at odds in South Dakota gun range debate

Long-held rural values at odds in South Dakota gun range debate

RAPID CITY, S.D. – An effort to build a huge gun range and shooting complex north of Rapid City has created divisiveness and hard feelings between two of South Dakota’s most iconic populations. The values run deep and histories stretch long among people in the two groups – those devoted

Updated: Tension between governor and GOP-led Legislature stalls $200 million workforce housing program

Steve Westra, head of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, announced in April that he is resigning from his position effective May 22, 2023. No formal reason for the resignation was given, though Gov. Kristi Noem said in a statement: “South Dakotans are building the strongest economy in America

Nonprofit aims to help South Dakota businesses sell products internationally

Nonprofit aims to help South Dakota businesses sell products internationally

TEA, S.D. – Alisa Turner can readily remember the trepidation she felt a decade ago when her company made its first international sale to a Cabela’s retail store in Canada. Turner is a co-owner and CEO of Ruff Land Kennels in Tea, which makes industry-leading, one-piece molded plastic kennels.

Fatal train crash highlights lack of railroad crossing protections in South Dakota

Fatal train crash highlights lack of railroad crossing protections in South Dakota

HARRISBURG, S.D. – Jodi Kuipers learned the hard way how much time, work and determination it takes to get safety improvements made at a railroad crossing in South Dakota, even at the site of a tragedy that took the lives of two of her closest family members. Driven first by

Easter Sunday offers break in church attendance decline

Easter Sunday offers break in church attendance decline

South Dakota churches will undoubtedly see attendance jump during Easter services on Sunday as Christians come out in large numbers to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But behind the scenes, many church leaders will worry whether they can maintain the holiday momentum as religious affiliation and church attendance continue

How some South Dakota churches are adapting to attendance declines

How some South Dakota churches are adapting to attendance declines

Falling attendance and membership at many South Dakota churches has prompted pastors, leaders and elders to look for creative ways to keep people engaged and pursuing a larger purpose. Constanze Hagmaier, bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said that includes using technology to

Serenity Dennard disappearance: 2019 mystery still causing misery

Serenity Dennard disappearance: 2019 mystery still causing misery

One of the biggest mysteries in all of South Dakota — the unknown fate of 9-year-old Serenity Dennard — elicits one singular emotion more than any other for those who loved, cared for or searched for the precocious girl who disappeared from a Black Hills youth home more than four years ago.