Rapid City

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.” […]

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Black Hills foundation awarded $3 million for housing work

BY: - February 7, 2023

The Bush Foundation, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, is awarding more than $3 million to the Black Hills Area Community Foundation to address affordable housing problems in Rapid City, according to a news release. The award includes a $1 million grant to support a Strategic Housing Initiative, a $2 million investment in the Rapid City […]

Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks about Pivot Point, a crisis stabilization center set to open in 2023 in Rapid City. (Photo courtesy of Pennington County Sheriff's Office)

Crisis care centers to seek aid from state lawmakers in 2023

BY: - December 31, 2022

Three crisis care centers in South Dakota that got a boost from federal funding are likely to seek additional state money for ongoing operations, and that could spark debate among legislators. The centers in Rapid City, Yankton and Watertown will help locals avoid trips to the state-run Human Services Center (HSC) in Yankton, the only […]

This is an image of the McLaury Building on the campus of South Dakota Mines built inside the video game Minecraft. (Courtesy of SD Mines)

Mines in Minecraft: Student renders Rapid City university campus in video game

BY: - December 20, 2022

South Dakota Mines computer engineering major Jaxxen Cheney has built a model of the university campus inside the popular video game Minecraft, according to a news release from the university. The game allows users to create worlds inside the platform with sets of digital building blocks. A video of the rendering is here, and an album of […]

A photo of Abbey Lynn Steele on display during a vigil on Dec. 6, 2022, outside the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City. (Photo by A.J. Etherington/Rapid City Journal)

‘Treated like a criminal’: Native woman’s death sparks questions

BY: - December 16, 2022

In May of 2021, Abbey Lynn Steele gave birth to her first child, a baby boy. A urine test showed methamphetamine in his system. Steele, who turned 19 that month, also tested positive for meth.  The drug’s detection in the baby’s urine assured that Steele would not keep full custody under South Dakota law. Its […]

The exterior of Monument Health in Rapid City, pictured on Dec. 16, 2022. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Advocates: South Dakota has ‘counterproductive’ approach to drug use by mothers

BY: - December 16, 2022

Abbey Steele found herself facing a felony drug ingestion charge in 2021, based on a urine test collected after she gave birth to her first child. Steele was among two dozen mothers whose maternity ward drug test sparked a call to the Rapid City Police Department in 2021.  The RCPD has collected the metric since […]

Employees and their children pose for a photo in front of a Pioneer Bank & Trust branch. The company offers each of its employees $5,000 to pay for licensed child care. (Courtesy of Pioneer Bank & Trust)

How South Dakotans are making child care affordable and available

BY: - December 14, 2022

South Dakota has a tight labor market. It’s even tighter as parents struggle to find available and affordable child care. To bolster recruitment and retention among parents, some employers and organizations are taking matters into their own hands. One major employer in Rapid City has a day care center in-house, and a contract with a […]

Lower Brule boys basketball coach Brian LaRoche gives pointers to his team during a timeout at a game against Marty Indian School on Dec. 10, 2022, in Marty. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Lakota Nation Invitational brings unique energy to Rapid City area

BY: - December 13, 2022

Ask Sage Brings Plenty what basketball means to Marty Indian School, and the boys varsity coach will give you a blunt answer. “If we did not have a basketball program, I don’t know if we’d have enough kids to have class,” said Brings Plenty, who also serves as the school resource officer. “I keep track […]

Left: The flow on Rapid Creek while a dam gate was closed at Pactola Reservoir. Right: The bypass pipe used to keep some water flowing at Pactola while the dam gate was closed. (Photos courtesy of David Hanna)

Sudden low water in Rapid Creek frustrates anglers, water users

BY: - December 9, 2022

Anglers and water users are criticizing a Black Hills dam’s government managers for a lack of communication about sudden low-water flows threatening downstream fish and domestic water supplies. Rapid Creek flows dropped from 40 to 12 cubic feet per second on Nov. 30. That imperiled brown trout spawning, which occurs during the fall, and created a […]

Photo of the MIssouri River in Chamberlain South Dakota (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Western SD needs more water. Could a $2B Missouri River pipeline be a solution?

BY: - November 11, 2022

The western side of Pennington County doesn’t have enough water to last through an extended drought, according to a 2019 study by the South Dakota School of Mines. The region, which includes Rapid City, relies on ground and surface water to supply its city populations, commercial districts and agricultural needs. But given the increase in […]