Nick Lowrey

Nick Lowrey, based in Pierre, is an investigative staff reporter for South Dakota News Watch. A South Dakotan for more than 20 years, he is a former editor of the Pierre Capital Journal.

SD lawmakers off to slow start in regulating legal weed, but industry ramping up

Entrepreneurs across South Dakota are already taking steps to claim a share of the state’s soon-to-be-legal marijuana market, but legislators and regulators are off to a slow start in crafting laws and rules to govern the controversial new industry. The sale, possession and use of recreational and medicinal marijuana

Pandemic pushes more SD reservation residents to seek homeownership

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed more Native Americans living on reservations in South Dakota to seek homeownership, a potential step toward greater family financial security and community stability in some of the state’s most impoverished regions. But long-standing institutional, economic and geographic barriers continue to block some reservation residents

Outdoor recreation in SD sees big boost during pandemic

South Dakota’s billion-dollar outdoor recreation economy boomed in 2020, providing a much-needed economic boost in several business sectors while giving hope to wildlife management agencies that they can reverse a long-term decline in the number of licensed hunters and anglers. As movie theaters closed, concerts were canceled, stores shut

Colleges part 5: Town Hall panelists push for greater degree access for all

Colleges part 5: Town Hall panelists push for greater degree access for all

South Dakota’s colleges and universities face a delicate balancing act as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout, a group of state higher education officials said during a virtual town hall meeting held Dec. 17. One major theme emerged from the town hall: that in order to maintain

COVID-19 vaccine distribution will be challenging in South Dakota

Ensuring widespread distribution, usage and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine in South Dakota will be challenging, health experts say, due to the rural nature of the state, the difficulty in storing and distributing doses of the vaccine and concerns that some people will be reluctant to be vaccinated. South Dakota

Some COVID patients flown out of state as SD hospital ICU capacity dwindles

South Dakota’s largest hospitals are at or above their capacity to care for critically ill COVID-19 patients, forcing some of the sickest patients to be flown out of state to receive care. The strain of a months-long surge in coronavirus cases has reduced hospital capacity to care for those

Legalization votes bring worries of increased youth marijuana use, but evidence remains murky

One major concern of South Dakotans who opposed legalization of medical and recreational marijuana was that it could lead to an epidemic of youth use of the drug. Drug-abuse prevention advocates and law enforcement officials said greater availability of marijuana would almost certainly lead to an increase of use among