Pandemic

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 […]