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Counselor Angelena Plummer sits in a room used for therapy at her private practice, A Positive Life, on March 3, 2023, in Rapid City. (Nicole Schlabach/For South Dakota Searchlight)

Need mental health care in SD? You may have to get in line

BY: - April 1, 2023

Angelena Plummer, owner of a counseling practice in Rapid City, knows what it’s like to wait for mental health care. A few years ago, she called a therapist after a distressing life event. When she found out the wait was three months for the next available appointment, Plummer recalled, “it was a literal jaw drop.” […]

The Brown County Courthouse is located in Aberdeen and is connected to other county offices, such as the Auditor's Office, and the Brown County Jail. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

South Dakota one of few states to saddle counties with public defense costs

BY: - March 31, 2023

All U.S. citizens have a right to an attorney when charged with a crime, even if they can’t afford one.  Only 11 states, including South Dakota, use local rather than state dollars to pay for the vast majority of public defense. Just one state relies more heavily on counties to pay the cost than South […]

The Nebraska Board of Education discusses which of its three finalists it should offer the job of education commissioner. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Former head of SD university system selected as Nebraska education commissioner

BY: - March 31, 2023

OMAHA — The Nebraska Board of Education looked north for its next education commissioner Friday, but not before exposing board divisions over his selection and how he was chosen. A 5-3 majority chose Brian Maher, former executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents and a former superintendent in Kearney, Neb.; Utica, Neb.; and […]

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Social Security trustees predict benefit cuts in 2033 without congressional action

BY: - March 31, 2023

WASHINGTON — Social Security will no longer be able to pay full benefits in 2033, a year earlier than previously expected, according to a report released Friday.  The updated projections, in the annual trustee report, mean that without action to stabilize the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, Social Security would have enough money to […]

Grace Larson, former licensed practical nurse with Planned Parenthood North Central States and bargaining member of SEIU Healthcare MN & IA, poses for a portrait outside of the SEIU offices of St. Paul on March 30, 2023. Larson is challenging her termination from Planned Parenthood. (Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Planned Parenthood affiliate fires two union leaders, disciplines entire bargaining team

BY: - March 31, 2023

Planned Parenthood North Central States has fired two members of the elected bargaining team in charge of negotiating wages, benefits and working conditions for hundreds of newly unionized employees across five states, including South Dakota. The other 11 bargaining team members have received “final written warnings,” which says they can be terminated immediately if they […]

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House, Aug. 27, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury, according to reports

BY: - March 30, 2023

UPDATED 7:30 p.m. Central, 3/30/23 WASHINGTON — A New York criminal grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed following news reports.  A former president has never been indicted before. Trump is also a Republican candidate in the 2024 race for the presidency. “This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s […]

The Humbolt Fire Department, as seen on Nov. 18, 2022. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

County commissioner: Carbon pipelines should outfit volunteer fire departments

BY: - March 30, 2023

A Minnehaha County commissioner wants volunteer firefighters in the state’s most populous county to ask for safety equipment from two carbon pipeline companies for use in the event of a pipeline failure — something the companies say they’re willing to do. The suggestion from Commissioner Joe Kippley came last week on the heels of a […]

An officer guards the entrance to the Federal Reserve’s William McChesney Martin Building on March 13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House calls on financial regulators to bring back safeguards for regional banks

BY: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON —  The Biden administration, placing blame on Trump-era rollbacks, Thursday called on federal banking regulators to reinstate safeguards for regional banks after the record-setting collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York earlier this month. The White House wants the agencies to revive regular stress testing at banks in the $100- […]

An oil pumpjack casts a shadow on a wall as it pulls oil from the Permian Basin oil field on March 14, 2022, in Odessa, Texas. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

U.S. House passes sweeping energy bill pushing back against Biden climate policies

BY: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Thursday approved a bill packed with Republican energy priorities meant to counteract the Biden administration’s approach and boost U.S. oil and gas production. Numbered H.R. 1 as a signal that energy policy is the House majority’s top legislative priority, the bill includes a package of GOP proposals, ranging from […]

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U.S. judge rules insurers don’t have to cover many free preventive health services

BY: , and - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer […]

The Board of Regents meets Dec. 8, 2022, at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Board reviews ‘minors on campus’ policy in response to drag show

BY: - March 30, 2023

The state Board of Regents reviewed a draft policy Thursday in Aberdeen responding to public concerns about minors attending a drag show on a college campus.  “I think we are at a good place here, but we expect some tweaks around the margins,” said Nathan Lukkes, the board’s chief of staff. “The policy essentially establishes […]

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders conducts a U.S. Senate hearing March 29, 2023, to examine charges that the Starbucks coffee chain has engaged in union-busting. (Committee video screenshot)

Bernie Sanders confronts former Starbucks CEO over union-busting allegations

BY: - March 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators at a hearing on Wednesday grilled the former CEO of Starbucks over allegations that the giant coffee company intimidated, harassed and fired workers who tried to form unions. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and former presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, focused on Starbucks’ […]