Stories

A South Dakota News Watch investigation based on first-hand accounts, public records and independent reviews of injuries has uncovered a decade-long pattern of physical, mental and sexual abuse of residents at the privately run Aurora Plains Academy in Plankinton, S.D.

Past experiences still haunt those who spent time behind the fences of Aurora Plains Academy in Plankinton, S.D., a privately run youth treatment facility that has a history of abusing residents.

Efforts to prevent the proliferation and spread of potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant diseases increased after two outbreaks of resistant diseases sickened several people in South Dakota.

With the recent discovery of the easternmost case of Chronic Wasting Disease in South Dakota, state officials are embarking on a new plan to control the contagious brain illness that kills deer and elk and is threatening the state's multi-million dollar hunting industry.

Recent extreme weather -- and possibly more to come -- has caused flooding that decimated eastern South Dakota farms and its rural transportation network. As a result, significant costs await townships and counties that already face fiscal challenges, possibly leaving some roads never fully repaired.

Thirty-four districts have adopted alternative schedules to save transportation and other costs. Administrators and parents like flexibility and access to individual time with teachers.

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota shares his views on legal immigration programs that Rounds says could be improved but are now mired in the intense debate over illegal immigration in America.

Facing a low unemployment rate and an inability to fill open jobs, many seasonal South Dakota businesses rely on visa programs that provide temporary foreign workers. But the intense debate over illegal immigration has cast a pall of uncertainty over the programs that help some businesses survive.

All-terrain machines are legal on most state roads even though manufacturers warn against on-road use and studies show injuries and deaths are more frequent than during off-road use.

Recruitment is particularly difficult in rural areas, but low pay, high stress and image issues have affected the number of law enforcement applicants in larger cities across the state and nation.