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National political winds blew away some opposition to SD transgender athlete legislation

Much of the political momentum behind South Dakota’s transgender sports ban, signed into law by Gov. Kristi Noem in February, can be traced not to the legislative process in Pierre but to national athletic competitions and the controversy involving University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. Thomas swam collegiately as

Decline in freshwater mussels an indicator of poor river and stream health in South Dakota

Nestled in the silt, sand or fine gravel of South Dakota’s rivers and streams live some of the state’s least appreciated yet most ecologically important creatures — freshwater mussels. Their names spark the imagination: Fatmucket, White Heelsplitter, Higgins Eye, Round Pigtoe, Giant Floater, Plain Pocketbook, Fawnsfoot. Usually hidden beneath

South Dakota veteran denied benefits after exposure to toxic burn pits

WEBSTER, S.D. – When President Joe Biden mentioned the term “burn pits” while discussing health benefits for military veterans during his State of the Union address March 1, many Americans heard of the issue for the first time. Congress is crafting legislation to assist post-9/11 combat veterans exposed to

South Dakota News Watch Board of Directors welcomes three new members

South Dakota News Watch is pleased to announce that three new members have joined its Board of Directors, which governs News Watch, the state’s only non-profit journalism content organization. The new board members, each appointed to a three-year term, include Stephany (Beshara) Chalberg; Nick Kotzea and Serene Thin Elk.

Garretson, Rapid City incidents expose loophole excluding comment at public meetings

Two seemingly harmless words added to a state open meetings law in 2019 have sparked a debate over the rights of citizens to publicly comment at official government meetings in South Dakota, with several school boards at the center of the conflict. The state open meetings law, enacted in 1965,

Despite legislative defeat, backers of Native education reform in SD will press forward

The latest setback in a bid to create state-funded Lakota immersion schools in South Dakota will not deter Native American educators from pursuing that vision in the future, according to one of the proposal’s key supporters. State Sen. Troy Heinert, D-Mission, expressed disappointment after the March 2 failure of

As Native students struggle in SD schools, a Lakota-immersion model emerges

For the third time in five years, Native American legislators and supporters of improving Native education in South Dakota have proposed legislation that would allow for creation of state-funded charter schools aimed at immersing students in Lakota Indian language, culture and history. And once again, the measure has failed in