Cancellation of festivals costing SD communities money and momentum
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of dozens of fairs, festivals and other events in South Dakota in 2020 that typically provide a significant revenue boost and foster community cohesiveness in cities and counties across the state.
As of early June, nearly four dozen community events, many of
Grain bin accidents and deaths rising due to poor crop conditions
Wet and cold weather in 2019 have created a dangerous situation this year for South Dakota farmers who store grain in bins, heightening a risk of entrapment or death that has existed on farms for generations.
The number of reported grain entrapments across the country rose by 27% from 2018
Beyond the checkpoints: How a SD Native American tribe protects its people from COVID-19
Editor’s note: This article was produced through a partnership between South Dakota News Watch and the Solutions Journalism Network, a national non-profit group that supports rigorous journalism about responses to problems.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in north-central South Dakota has received extensive state and national press coverage in
SD colleges prepare for logistical and financial unknowns for next academic year
The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed the way colleges and universities are teaching students, forcing a move this spring and summer away from in-person classroom learning to remote education.
Moving forward, the virus and the unknowns surrounding it have the potential to fundamentally alter the short-term and long-range future of
Communities rally to launch SD weekly newspaper with volunteer labor
A group of business leaders and volunteers with almost no journalism training or experience has banded together to launch a local weekly newspaper in Kingsbury County, S.D., where two weekly papers were closed on April 1 due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Armed only with an untested business
‘Uncounted’ unemployed workers taking brunt of COVID-19 hardships in SD
Stacey Twiggs is one of the “uncounted” unemployed people in South Dakota.
Twiggs, 35, is a massage therapist from Black Hawk who has seen COVID-19 turn her life upside down. She hasn’t gotten sick, but the pandemic has destroyed her once-thriving business, forced her to live off credit cards
South Dakota News Watch wins national and regional reporting awards for work in 2019
South Dakota News Watch won several awards this month from two journalism organizations for work produced in 2019, with special recognition given to the staff’s coverage of agriculture.
Content Director Bart Pfankuch won First Place in the News Category in the annual contest held by the North American Agricultural