Pandemic

The South Dakota Capitol grounds and lake in Pierre. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Feds say state overpaid $36 million in unemployment benefits during pandemic

BY: - October 1, 2023

A federal report says at least $36 million in unemployment benefits were wrongfully distributed to South Dakotans, fraudulently or mistakenly, from March 2020 to March 2023. The state has recovered a third of the money. Much of the money flowed from federal legislation designed to mitigate the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal […]

(Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images)

New round of COVID-19 booster shots on the way after CDC recommendation

BY: - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — Americans older than six months should get an updated COVID-19 booster this fall, according to a recommendation the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Tuesday. The vaccine should be available by later this week, the CDC said in a statement. “We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes from […]

Registered Nurse Orlyn Grace administers a COVID-19 booster vaccination to Jeanie Merriman at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on April 6, 2022, in San Rafael, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Food and Drug Administration approves COVID boosters for upcoming season

BY: - September 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest round of COVID-19 boosters, as public health officials brace for another cold and flu season. An advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to vote on recommendations Tuesday, the final step in the process before people will […]

Registered Nurse Orlyn Grace administers a COVID-19 booster vaccination to Jeanie Merriman at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on April 6, 2022, in San Rafael, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Updated COVID-19 vaccines expected to be available in September, federal officials say

BY: - August 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is gearing up for a fall vaccination campaign that not only includes updated COVID-19 boosters, but the annual flu shot and the newly approved RSV vaccine. “We’re going to be encouraging Americans to get their COVID-19 vaccine in addition to their annual flu shot, as well as the immunizations for […]

COMMENTARY
Gov. Kristi Noem speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a meeting about the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Dec. 16, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Noem, Trump and the politics of inaction

BY: - August 3, 2023

Gov. Kristi Noem’s rise to national prominence began on March 23, 2020. Fear and speculation were rampant as the coronavirus swept into the state. Noem issued an executive order with instructions for South Dakotans and held a press conference to discuss it.  Her choice of language was peculiar. She told South Dakotans what they “should” […]

Photo of the Brown County office building, which is connected to the Brown County courthouse and jail.

How SD counties are spending $250 million in COVID relief money

BY: - June 14, 2023

The majority of $250 million in COVID relief money South Dakota counties received from the state and federal government during the pandemic has been spent or obligated to replace payroll for county employees or stashed into county general funds, according to tracking documents from the state and federal government. Members of the South Dakota Legislature […]

(Getty Images)

22,000 South Dakotans could lose Medicaid now, about half could get it back later, state says

BY: - April 18, 2023

Roughly 22,000 South Dakota Medicaid recipients are “likely to be ineligible” in the coming months as pandemic protections expire, but perhaps half of them could qualify again in July when a voter-approved expansion takes effect, Deputy Director of Medical Services Sarah Aker told the state Board of Social Services at its Tuesday meeting. The decline […]

Dave Lacknauth, director of Pharmacy Services, Broward Health Medical Center, shows a bottle of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a press conference on Dec. 23, 2020, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Moderna plan to hike COVID vaccine price to $130 a dose rebuked at U.S. Senate hearing

BY: - March 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The CEO of Moderna on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to drastically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine warrant the higher cost.  That decision was met with bipartisan condemnation from […]

Sculptures by Peggy Detmers stand outside Tatanka: Story of the Bison near Deadwood. The sculptures include 14 bison being chased by three Lakota hunters on horseback. (Courtesy of South Dakota Department of Tourism)

State Supreme Court hears Kevin Costner dispute, pandemic relief case

BY: - March 22, 2023

The state Supreme Court examined disputes over sculptures commissioned by the actor Kevin Costner and pandemic benefits paid to a business owner as justices heard arguments in several cases Wednesday. The court held its first of two days of oral arguments for its spring term on the South Dakota State University campus in Brookings. The […]

Dr. Paul Auwaerter testifies to the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. (Screenshot/subcommittee hearing video)

Lawmakers hear theories on COVID-19 origins in U.S. House hearing

BY: - March 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans mostly agreed Wednesday that scientists and the intelligence community should fully investigate the origins of COVID-19 without political interference over whether the virus emerged from nature or through a lab leak. Members from both political parties said throughout the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing that determining […]

Harvesters, a private food bank, saw the amount of food distributed increase from 54 million pounds in 2019 to 65 million in 2020. In this picture, food is distributed at a drive-in in Kansas City, Kansas. (Harvesters — The Community Food Network)

Families are taking a hit as pandemic aid ends, inflation continues

BY: - February 24, 2023

Forty million people in the U.S. are having difficulty affording household expenses, and a little more than 25 million people say they sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey data.  The survey is designed to collect data on household experiences during the […]

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

U.S. Supreme Court temporarily keeps Title 42 immigration program in effect

BY: - December 19, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is keeping Title 42 in place until the justices can review whether the pandemic-era program should be lifted or continue. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in an order on Monday stayed a lower court’s ruling that would have allowed the program, which was put in place by the […]