Lifestyle

outdoors, arts, culture, religion, sports

Harrisburg, Tea, Box Elder lead booming South Dakota cities

Harrisburg, Tea, Box Elder lead booming South Dakota cities

Eighteen South Dakota municipalities now top 5,000 residents, and all grew in 2020-23 except for Brandon, Aberdeen, Madison, Mitchell, Pierre and Sturgis: "It's rural America at as good as it can get."

Black Hills highway closure to upend summer holiday traffic

Black Hills highway closure to upend summer holiday traffic

Motorists trying to cruise through the central Black Hills this summer will encounter a long detour because U.S. Highway 385 is closed.

Opera students practice at the University of South Dakota

Opera on the prairie? University of South Dakota program raises its voice

Traceyln Gesteland arrived in Vermillion in 2008 with doubts about whether opera could thrive on the prairie. Now she knows that the show will go on.

A mural from the Just Us Mural Project (JUMP) in Pennington County, South Dakota.

Painting a better picture: More funding, partnerships could boost juvenile diversion services

Diversion programs can help low-offending juveniles avoid getting entangled in the criminal justice system. Lawmakers recently upped the reimbursement rate to counties for these programs, but not every community has the same resources.

A pheasant is shown standing on a South Dakota road.

South Dakota road hunting laws the most lax in the Great Plains

“It’s kind of been a strong issue with me, that it may be legal but it’s not smart,” said Ron Kolbeck of Salem, who has taught state HuntSAFE programs for more than 20 years.

Indigenous artists in S.D. travel new paths to prosperity

Indigenous artists in S.D. travel new paths to prosperity

WHITECLAY, NEB. – Within concrete walls that once housed a liquor store that fueled alcoholism and death among residents of the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, renowned Native American artist Evans Flammond Sr. deftly draws lines on a huge buffalo hide. Sitting at a table in the building in this small

Delta David Gier lifts South Dakota Symphony Orchestra to national stage

Delta David Gier lifts South Dakota Symphony Orchestra to national stage

Maestro with New York City cred redefines the role: ‘When I first picked up the stick, it was like the heavens opened and said, ‘You will now do this.’