The latest news about South Dakota News Watch for our community of subscribers, donors and media partners
Molly Wetsch earns investigative reporting fellowship
Molly Wetsch, who reports rural and Native American issues for South Dakota News Watch as a Report for America corps member, has been awarded the Jennifer Leonard Fellowship to attend the 2026 NICAR Conference March 5-8 in Indianapolis.
NICAR is the Investigative Editors and Reporters' annual conference that focuses on all aspects of data journalism.
The fellowship provides paid registration to the conference, a one-year IRE membership renewal, lodging and a travel stipend.
Sioux Falls 5th grader wins state bee
Twenty-four elementary and middle school students competed Feb. 7 in the state spelling bee that was won by 11-year-old Oscar Quezada, a 5th grade student from Challenge Center Elementary School in Sioux Falls.
It was the second year South Dakota News Watch and Dakota Wesleyan University sponsored the competition, which was held at DWU in Mitchell. Financial support for Black Hills area students also came from the Independent Insurance Agents of Rapid City.
Oscar claimed the state championship in the 19th round after correctly spelling "arrearage." He'll move on to the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington in May.
If you or your organization are interested in co-sponsoring next year's event, please reach out or make a one-time or recurring donation. Thank you to those of you who already have!
Voter guide and civics and media series
South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota will again sponsor scientific polls ahead of the primary and general elections.
It's part of our coverage that will include candidate and ballot measure profiles as well as other stories about voting and the election.
We're also working with several other nonprofits to produce a series of events around the role of civics and media. Read the latest on that effort at the link below as well as our voter guide that will be updated as the election matures.
Alexander Rifaat
Carson Walker
$100,000 for housing solutions stories
South Dakota News Watch was honored Jan. 23 to formally receive a $100,000 grant from the South Dakota Community Foundation for its ongoing series of solutions-focused stories on the state's housing crunch. It was part of the SDCF's 2025 Big Idea Grants awards for community-based problem-solving.
SDNW was one of just eight newsrooms nationally to be accepted into the first cohort of the Solutions Journalism Revenue Accelerator program that provided training and guidance on the storytelling approach.
Most popular stories last month
Here are the most-read stories from the past month with links to each:
- Fact brief: Have ICE agents detained Native Americans?
- Fact brief: Can trees 'explode' during extremely cold weather?
- Prominent Native American activist's trial ends with a hung jury
- A guide to South Dakota's 9 Native tribes
- Fact brief: Can people hunt on South Dakota's tribal lands?
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South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact CEO Carson Walker: 605-610-9366/carson.walker@sdnewswatch.org.
