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State board gives blessing to Black Hills gold mine expansion
The state Board of Minerals and Environment unanimously endorsed the expansion of the Coeur Wharf Resources mine, just north of Terry Peak and west of Lead, during its Thursday meeting in Pierre. The action is contingent on the later submission of surety bonds and conditions that the mining company address and mitigate a surface water […]
Regents prioritize tuition freeze, civics & quantum computing in 2025 budget request
The South Dakota Board of Regents will ask Gov. Kristi Noem and the Legislature to freeze public university tuition for a fourth year in a row, the organization decided in a special Zoom meeting Wednesday, in addition to requesting funds for other priorities such as a system-wide center for civic engagement. Noem has been a […]
International hires & ‘grow your own’ programs: Schools seek solutions to teacher shortage
Oglala Lakota County schools had zero applications for more than 25 open teacher positions earlier this year. Superintendent Connie Kaltenbach said the school district advertised the positions for months locally, across the state and nationally. But there weren’t any bites. So she turned to the international market. Starting this fall, 26 Filipino teachers will likely […]
Park Service opposes Johnson’s Mount Rushmore Protection Act, calling it ‘unnecessary’
The National Park Service, which manages the preservation and upkeep of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, testified in opposition to South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson’s “Mount Rushmore Protection Act” on Thursday — not because the agency disagrees with the bill’s intent, but because the agency views the bill as “unnecessary.” NPS Deputy Director for […]
Lakota is critically endangered. Elder retreats preserve, build road maps to revive it.
FORT YATES, North Dakota — Dozens of Native American elders from South Dakota tribal nations gathered in the Prairie Knights Casino on the Standing Rock Reservation earlier this month. Sitting at tables armed with pens and composition notebooks, they wrote about memories from their childhoods and shared their stories orally with each other in Lakota […]
Statewide high school course trains students to become child care workers
There are 12,260 licensed child care slots in Sioux Falls, but 64% of child care centers can’t enroll their licensed capacity because they don’t have enough workers, according to the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative. That cuts actual available slots by hundreds — and it’s a familiar situation across the state. The collaborative presented the results […]
Federal study detects ‘forever chemicals’ in three SD private wells
Rural water systems across the United States are less likely than urban areas to be contaminated with “forever chemicals” that may lead to health problems such as cancer, thyroid disease and high cholesterol, according to a study from the U.S. Geological Survey released Tuesday. But the same study detected those chemicals in rural private wells […]
Pine Ridge nonprofit awarded $1.5M grant to train Indigenous women for solar energy jobs
Pine Ridge-based solar energy nonprofit Red Cloud Renewable was awarded a $1.5 million federal grant to increase the number of Native American women working in the solar industry. The grant is part of the Biden Administration’s “Investing in America” agenda aimed at achieving a 100% clean electricity grid by 2035 while boosting economic growth across […]
Tribal leaders urge legislators to support reestablishment of Lake Traverse Reservation boundaries
AGENCY VILLAGE — The Lake Traverse Reservation, home to the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, doesn’t appear on official South Dakota state maps. Literally, the oyate (a Dakota word meaning “people” or “nation”) was wiped off the map because of a 1975 U.S. Supreme Court decision. That decision has made tribal members feel erased in the last […]
Opioid treatment prescriptions quadruple in SD over 5 years
The number of patients prescribed an opioid dependency medication has nearly quadrupled in South Dakota in the last five years, according to data collected by the state’s prescription drug monitoring program. Melissa DeNoon, director of the program, presented the data to the South Dakota Board of Pharmacy at its meeting on Friday. The increase in […]
After Noem’s criticism, legislators and regents discuss solutions for higher ed
Another tuition freeze is at the top of the South Dakota Board of Regents’ legislative wish list for next year — but that’s at the same time the state expects a return to normal revenue numbers. That emerged Wednesday from a roundtable discussion among the regents and some legislators at Dakota State University in Madison. […]
Native-led tourism alliance launches ‘economic catalyst’ tours on reservations
South Dakota has fed off the state’s connection to Native American history and heritage for decades, helping to propel the state’s tourism industry to a reported $7.6 billion economic impact in 2022. The tourism crown jewel of South Dakota, the Black Hills, is a sacred place for the tribes that make up the Great Sioux […]