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Campaigns make final pitches to South Dakota voters
Campaigns made their final pitches to voters on Monday ahead of an election that will see South Dakotans decide on a governor and other statewide offices, as well as the legal status of recreational marijuana and the expansion of Medicaid. Incumbent Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and her opponent, Democrat Jamie Smith, traversed the state over […]
Homeless task force votes to send recommendations to city leaders in Sioux Falls
The question of how best to respond to homelessness – and the cost of doing so – will soon land in the lap of the Sioux Falls City Council. The Sioux Falls Homeless Task Force, made up of city and county officials and community representatives in the state’s largest city, signed off on its recommendations […]
‘No one’s going to save us. We have to save ourselves’
Organizers with Dakotans for Health used a Saturday morning rally at Icon Lounge in Sioux Falls to kick off a petition drive aimed at putting a Constitutional right to abortion on the 2024 ballot. The event brought together well over 100 volunteers to train them on how to circulate petitions on behalf of the organization, […]
‘Three strikes’ rule for young offenders endorsed by legislative panel
A legislative panel wants to make it easier for judges to detain juveniles, require school resource officers to report suspected drug use to school officials, fund community response teams to deal with low-level offenders and offer a new path to graduation for troubled youth. Those were among the proposals that emerged during the final meeting […]
Circuit court bench in SD struggles to diversify
Just under half the people in state prisons in South Dakota are people of color, but none of the judges who sent them there are. The general election on Nov. 8 won’t change that. Circuit judges in South Dakota, who preside over the felony criminal cases that can send a defendant to prison, come up […]
Five aim to fill West River judicial post Nov. 8
Contested circuit judge elections are a rarity in South Dakota. Just one sitting judge, Robert Spears in central South Dakota’s Third Circuit, faces a challenge this year. Another open seat in the Sioux Falls area has two candidates. The Fourth Circuit, however, will make history on Nov. 8, when voters will choose from five judicial […]
SD State Fair attendance nears pre-pandemic levels
More than 192,000 people attended the South Dakota State Fair in Huron in 2022, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels. The exact attendance figure released Monday by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources was 192,279 guests across the five-day event in early September, with nearly 2,000 campers staying on the fairgrounds. Fairgoers […]
$200 million for housing infrastructure in holding pattern
South Dakota developers hoping to access $200 million in infrastructure funding to fill a 10,000-home gap in workforce housing will have another winter to wait. The reason? Lawmakers passed a bill last winter intended to encourage new housing with no income restrictions, but voted to deposit the lion’s share of the money into a fund […]
Analysis: 80% of Noem’s reported individual donations are from out-of-state
Around 80% of the individual donor addresses listed on Gov. Kristi Noem’s most recent campaign finance filing are out-of-state, according to an analysis of public records by South Dakota Searchlight. The tally of out-of-state addresses listed in Democratic challenger Jamie Smith’s records was 5%. The Noem campaign has a large lead in fundraising. The Republican […]
$17 million in federal funding headed to Cheyenne River telecom for rural broadband
Hundreds of people on the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock reservations will soon have high-speed internet access thanks to a $17 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant award to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority represents the largest amount offered anywhere in South Dakota through the USDA’s ReConnect Program. The […]
Noem campaign leads statewide candidates in fundraising
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem leads her Democratic challenger Jamie Smith by a wide margin – at least in terms of cash on hand. That’s one takeaway from the release of campaign finance reports for South Dakota political candidates on Monday, the deadline for pre-election disclosures. Noem started the reporting period in May with nearly $7.8 […]
Street teams, ‘housing first’ among recommendations from Sioux Falls homeless task force
Street teams of social workers and volunteers would be the first to respond to panhandling and loitering if the Sioux Falls City Council heeds the advice of its homeless task force. The task force met Monday for one of its final meetings before pitching its suggestions to the council. The group emerged earlier this year […]