Rural
Total 188 Posts
Half of the state's residents live outside of Sioux Falls and Rapid City, and South Dakota News Watch is the only news organizations with a full-time reporter dedicated to covering those regions with stories that highlight its people.
Financial literacy aims to boost tribal sovereignty on Pine Ridge
With the 3rd-highest poverty rate in the country – behind only 2 other South Dakota counties – an organization based in Oglala Lakota County seeks to improve tribal sovereignty by teaching youth about finances.
Poll: Support for Trump tariffs uneven in South Dakota
While opinion of the president's aggressive policies is mixed among voters, some businesses and agricultural producers are put off by the volatility. "The uncertainty is what causes disruption," one rancher said.
Hemp industry grows amid federal legality battle
South Dakota is No. 1 in hemp fiber production. But as its farmers and processors grow the industry, federal legislation threatens some sectors of it. 'We just want to know, where are we at?"
Salem residents invest own money in new subdivision
After 2 damaging derechos, 50 individuals and business owners donated $250K toward new housing with no promise of a return on their investment. 'Nothing creates buzz in a town like moving dirt.'
Effort to highlight Midwestern history and academia comes to South Dakota
Can studying a region's past help to understand it in the present? The Lost Region Recovery Project attempts to answer that question for the Midwest, the only part of the U.S. without robust academic study dedicated to it.
'Real-life science experiment' fills critical legal gaps in rural SD
After more than a decade, a financial incentive program in South Dakota has placed 36 lawyers in areas that lack access to critical legal services.
Piedmont residents shocked by new mine coming to their city
A lax state mining law and lack of county land-use regulations allowed the operation to be approved without input from the public or local government.