Politics

Poll Part 3: South Dakotans support ballot initiative process and oppose lawmaker interference

Poll Part 3: South Dakotans support ballot initiative process and oppose lawmaker interference

Many South Dakotans feel that democracy is not working very well in America right now, but those same people are highly supportive of their own right to make law directly from the voting booth. According to a recent statewide poll, a wide majority of South Dakota residents supports the citizen-led

Poll Part 2: Why some South Dakotans are pessimistic about the future

Poll Part 2: Why some South Dakotans are pessimistic about the future

Long-standing economic hardships have prevented a sizable segment of the South Dakota population from achieving financial stability and prosperity, and those hurdles have resulted in a sense of pessimism for what awaits future generations, according to two experts who study the state economy. State and federal data routinely show that:

New poll reveals economic pessimism and dissatisfaction with democratic institutions

New poll reveals economic pessimism and dissatisfaction with democratic institutions

As the state emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, some residents of South Dakota are uneasy about what life holds for future generations and have only limited confidence in the effectiveness of some democratic institutions. The findings are part of a large set of results from a recent poll of 500

Civics/history Part 2: How new civics and history program will be developed

If all goes as planned, South Dakota public school teachers and students should find it easier to teach and learn social studies topics in the coming years. The proposed South Dakota Civics and History Initiative is just getting started, but hopes are high that the effort will result in deeper,

Educators and historians want politics kept out of new history and civics initiative

Educators, historians and some elected officials are urging South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and the state Department of Education to keep politics and personal bias out of the process to develop a new and enhanced civics and history initiative for public K-12 schools across the state. In her State of

Medical marijuana in Oklahoma: ‘A mess’ or a potential model for South Dakota?

As South Dakota moves forward on creating a regulatory system for medical marijuana by the end of 2021, some people have looked to Oklahoma for guidance on how — or how not to — develop a functioning framework. Oklahoma voters approved the legal sale, possession and use of medical marijuana on a

How medical marijuana is playing out among South Dakota’s neighbors

If medical marijuana becomes legal starting July 1, 2021, in South Dakota, as proposed so far, the state will join 36 other U.S. states where medicinal pot is legal, including neighboring states North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. Nebraska does not allow marijuana in any form, while Iowa has a