A growing body of research into the rising number of concentrated animal feeding operations across the United States reveals deepening concerns over impacts on human health and the environment. The high concentration of manure and other wastes created by animals housed in confined areas — and the storage and spreading of

A widespread shortage of primary care physicians in rural South Dakota is putting many of the state’s residents in danger of not being able to access the regular, preventive healthcare they need to live healthier lives. The shortage is being driven, in part, by a lack of post-graduate training

South Dakota News Watch Content Director Bart Pfankuch discusses some of the challenges of producing in-depth articles about significant statewide topics.

Legislation passed in 2017 in South Dakota opened the door to licensing of a new classification of “professional midwives,” who can become certified to perform home births with less training and education than “nurse midwives” who have been regulated in South Dakota for 40 years. While midwives with the new

Editor's note: This is the third of three articles that make up Part 2 of a two-week special report in which South Dakota News Watch is examining the failure of the state’s public school system to adequately educate Native American students. Last week, News Watch examined the

A push is underway for legislation to allow creation of charter schools that would integrate Indian culture, language and history into a curriculum designed to improve academic achievement among Native American children, who have historically underperformed in South Dakota. Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools run independently of traditional