Government and Politics

Abnormally dry conditions and a persistent risk of summer wildfires in the Black Hills of South Dakota make the fireworks display planned for July 3 at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial an unnecessary, potentially devastating and expensive event, according to one fire expert with intimate knowledge of the region. Bill

Amid growing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, South Dakota lawmakers will consider a bill to postpone upcoming city elections in Sioux Falls, Brookings and other cities at least until June, and to allow Gov. Kristi Noem to delay the presidential primary from June 2 to July 28. The elections bill

The South Dakota Legislature will likely hold a special session by the end of June to address financial uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to potentially remake the coming year’s spending plan passed earlier this month, legislative fiscal leaders say. Members of the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee

PIERRE, S.D. – For someone who doesn’t hold elected office, attorney Matt McCaulley of Sioux Falls has amassed a significant amount of political clout, and he is among the most influential people in Pierre during South Dakota’s annual legislative sessions. Throughout his more than 14 years of lobbying,

A new online system for drafting, co-sponsoring and tracking bills through the South Dakota Legislature has some people concerned that the modernized system has made the legislative process less transparent and has removed some of the human element from lawmaking. State officials said the new system was needed to update

North American elk are returning to the prairies of western South Dakota after more than 100 years of absence, a migration seen as a win for wildlife conservation but which has farmers and ranchers bothered by feed losses and property damage. The herding of Rocky Mountain elk as far east

As the property tax takes a larger share of their incomes — and at a time when many are hurting financially — South Dakota farmers and ranchers are pushing for reform of the state’s system of valuing and taxing their lands. But as a decade-long process of updating the system nears