Government and Politics

Jason Connelly is exactly the kind of young educator the South Dakota public school system would love to add to its depleted teacher workforce. Connelly grew up in Sioux Falls and attended Catholic schools before pursuing a history and teaching degree at Augustana University, which he obtained this year. Connelly

Wildlife and water quality in South Dakota are sometimes put at unnecessary risk due to a lack of oversight and accountability of farmers who illegally drain their properties or convert protected wetlands into farmable acreage. In addition, those who violate the law frequently avoid punishment when they are caught or

Pro-choice advocates say overturning Roe v. Wade would place greater strain and hardship on Native American women in South Dakota, who are twice as likely as other races to be the victims of sexual assault, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Overturning the landmark abortion decision — as leaked

South Dakota’s political landscape will enter uncharted territory over the next two months as uncertainty over the Attorney General’s Office tests party loyalties and candidate qualifications heading into the Republican state convention June 23-25 in Watertown. The question of who will serve as the state’s chief law

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

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,

South Dakota has some of the weakest laws in the nation when it comes to regulating who decides what should happen to the body of someone who dies, and the vague laws are causing greater expense for survivors, creating emotional trauma for grieving families and funeral directors, and occasionally leading