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.

Reform of agricultural land taxation could help farmers but shift burden to homeowners and businesses

As the property tax takes a larger share of their incomes — and at a time when many are hurting financially — South Dakota farmers and ranchers are pushing for reform of the state’s system of valuing and taxing their lands. But as a decade-long process of updating the system nears

SDSU study shows world’s most common pesticide a danger to deer

A groundbreaking study conducted by scientists in South Dakota has found that the world’s most widely used family of pesticides — neonicotinoids — is likely causing serious birth defects in white-tailed deer, deepening concerns over the chemical’s potential to harm large mammals, including humans. A subsequent study by the wildlife

Only half of SD students proficient in English; less than half in math and science

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said she is disappointed in recent statewide standardized test scores indicating that just over half of students were proficient in English language and fewer than half showed proficiency in math and science. The results of the South Dakota Department of Education 2019 Report Card, based

Many crime victims in SD not being paid restitution they are owed

In South Dakota, people convicted of crimes owe their victims millions of dollars in court-ordered restitution, but most of that debt is going unpaid and there is little remedy available for those harmed to get their money. In theory, ordering criminals to pay for damages they caused gives courts a

SD slow to vaccinate children against HPV, a virus that can cause cancer

South Dakota lags behind the rest of the nation in vaccinating children and youths against the Human Papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease in America that can cause a range of potentially fatal cancers. HPV can exist without symptoms and is a leading cause of throat cancer in men

Poor SD residents hit hardest by state debt collection efforts

Thousands of South Dakotans have lost their privileges to hunt, fish, or drive in the state since 2016 because they owe money to government agencies for unpaid fines, fees or even college tuition, but often the people hardest hit by state debt collection efforts are low-income residents who are the

SD among worst for ‘brain drain’ as highly educated people continue to flee the state

Despite years of effort to reverse the trend, South Dakota remains among the worst states in the nation in terms of losing its most highly educated citizens to other areas of the country, according to a new report from Congress. The loss of skilled, educated residents can slow the state’