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

Weekly newspapers in South Dakota bucking national news trend

Weekly newspapers in South Dakota bucking national news trend

One heartbreaking phone call in November 2021 sums up the depth of devotion Jill Meier and other weekly newspaper editors across South Dakota feel toward keeping their communities informed. Meier took the call while working at the Brandon Valley Journal and learned that her 83-year-old mother had died at a

Weekly papers: How these South Dakota communities are keeping local news alive

Weekly papers: How these South Dakota communities are keeping local news alive

As South Dakota News Watch prepares to host a panel discussion on recent trends in journalism and the importance of factual reporting at the Black Hills Playhouse in Custer State Park on Sunday, June 25, here are three stories of the people behind the pages who are keeping the tradition

Dangerous wild animals encroaching on South Dakota neighborhoods

SPEARFISH, S.D. – Holly Hansen doesn’t have hard data to prove that potentially dangerous wild animals are entering residential areas with greater frequency, but she does have some pretty strong anecdotal evidence. In early May, a black bear entered her suburban Spearfish property and killed 16 ducks, chickens and

Camp Lejeune contamination leaves South Dakota Marines with cancer — and resentment

Camp Lejeune contamination leaves South Dakota Marines with cancer — and resentment

STURGIS, S.D. – When he left the U.S. Marine Corps in 1983, after spending six years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, Ronald Lawson was a strong, healthy man with a barrel chest, strong arms and a solid frame that carried his 220 pounds with ease. He was a

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.