Historically low interest rates, a rush of out-of-state homebuyers, limited inventory and higher construction prices for new homes have made for a frenzied housing market that has put homeownership further out of reach for some South Dakota residents. The highly competitive housing market is leading to a range of outcomes

South Dakota News Watch won a first-place award and three finalist citations in the annual Great Plains Journalism Awards for work produced in 2020. News Watch competed against newspapers of all sizes in an eight-state region that includes the Dakotas, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Content Director Bart

Child protection advocates are worried that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in child-abuse cases in South Dakota and that the abuse of children was more severe than in the past. They are also concerned that the pandemic led to an increase in child-on-child abuse that was more rare

Rural ambulance services in South Dakota are having an increasingly hard time recruiting volunteers and generating revenues, putting the stability of the services at risk and making it more likely that rural residents will endure longer response times in emergencies or possibly lose ambulance service altogether. While most larger cities

South Dakota News Watch won three national agricultural journalism awards in the 2021 annual contest sponsored by the North American Agricultural Journalism Association. In results released on April 26, News Watch won the top awards in the Technical Writing and Ongoing Coverage contest categories for work written in 2020 by

Civic centers and arenas across South Dakota suffered significant financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic but are seeing indicators of the potential for a return to profitability. Auditoriums sat empty for a few months or more in the early days of the pandemic in early 2020, and bookings remained slow

South Dakota educators who were part of a recent statewide panel say a new initiative regarding civics and history education proposed by Gov. Kristi Noem should increase the focus on teaching of Native American history and culture in the K-12 public school system. In a panel discussion hosted by South