South Dakota Searchlight

The late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, at the time a candidate for president, rides on the back of a golf cart with his sister Darline Graham Nordone, center, during the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 17, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Monday he would like the South Carolina governor to select the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister to fill the Republican’s seat for the remainder of his term. “I recommended, to Gov

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026 in Keystone, South Dakota. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) President Donald Trump said Friday morning he would not sign federal legislation aimed at lowering the cost of housing, but the bipartisan package became law at 12:01 a.m. Saturday anyway. In a post to his social media site, Trump again said that as a protest against Congress not passing an elections bill known as the SAVE America Ac

Nineteen-year-old Madison Grimm, of Wallace, South Dakota, tends to ducklings at Second Chance Flight. (Courtesy of Madison Grimm)South Dakota farmers who run into the nests of pheasants, grouse or prairie chickens in their fields can now call someone to rescue the eggs, thanks to a teenager and a new state law. Nineteen-year-old Madison Grimm, of Wallace, started Second Chance Flight to rescue viable wild duck eggs from nests destroyed when farmers harvest hay from a field. She hatches and rais

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden prepares to sign three anti-abortion bills into law on March 20, 2026, at the Alpha Center in Sioux Falls. Also pictured, from left, are state Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule, Alpha Center founder Leslee Unruh, House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, Rep. Les Heinemann, R-Flandreau, Rep. Jon Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, and Dale Bartscher of South Dakota Right to Life. (Photo by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)South Dakota House Bill 1313 is a coyote in sheep’s c

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks as South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster looks on during a press conference in the governor’s office at the Statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, on Aug. 9, 2022. (File photo by Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)WASHINGTON  — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham died on Saturday night of a “brief and sudden illness,” the South Carolina Republican’s office announced early Sunday. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and as

Ziebach County Courthouse in Dupree, SD. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)South Dakota’s court system intends to merge the Fourth and Seventh judicial circuits, creating one that will cover nearly a third of the state’s land area.  The Fourth Judicial Circuit encompasses the northwestern quarter of the state, including Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins and Ziebach counties. The Seventh Judicial Circuit includes the southwestern corner: Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota a

A man stands in the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque, N.M., after summer storms briefly bumped up flows in mid-June. New research suggests climate change could nearly double the costs of household water in some American cities. (Photo by Laura Paskus/Source New Mexico) Household water costs could nearly double in some American cities, new research suggests, as climate change further stresses municipal water systems.  Researchers at Stanford University and other institutions studied how a hotter,

A mail-in ballot dropbox on P Street Northwest in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s latest shot in a relentless war on how elections are conducted has triggered enormous concern among voting rights activists. As of Thursday night, the U.S Election Assistance Commission has no members. The White House in an email dismissed Democrats Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. Republican Christy McCormick resigned, an

A laptop shows Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI. The Trump administration is continuing its pushback against state AI laws that it views as ideologically biased. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline) The Trump administration is continuing its pushback against state artificial intelligence laws that it views as ideologically biased, proposing a new Federal Trade Commission policy. The proposed policy statement, which is open for public comment through J

A section of Blue Dog Lake shoreline before and after the implementation of a South Dakota state government program paying for buffer strips to improve water quality. The program covered the Big Sioux River watershed. (Photos courtesy of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources)A state program that pays landowners to plant vegetation along streams now has 130 buffer projects spanning 379 miles of shoreline statewide, and more landowners are waiting to enroll. The update, presented Fr

Student backpacks seen on the first day of school last year at Harborview Elementary School in Juneau, Alaska. Fifteen Democratic-led states are suing the Trump administration over cuts to a $1 billion school mental health grant program. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) Fifteen states on Friday sued the Trump administration to prevent millions of dollars in cuts to school-based mental health funding. The new lawsuit is part of an ongoing legal battle between Democratic-led states and the U

A spring 2020 view of a sinkhole in Black Hawk that opened near homes built atop a former gypsum mine. (Courtesy of Dan Austin)Homeowners in Black Hawk whose properties were damaged by a sinkhole are not entitled to compensation from the state, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Friday. The 30-foot-deep sinkhole yawned open in April 2020 in a neighborhood called Hideaway Hills, which was built on land reclaimed after a gypsum mine closed. It was the largest sinkhole to appear in the developmen

A housing unit at the new women's prison in Rapid City, SD. Women will begin moving into the facility in August. (courtesy South Dakota Department of Corrections)Incarcerated women will start moving into a new $87 million prison in Rapid City next month, a South Dakota Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed this week. The medium-security prison will be the state’s second for women. The South Dakota Women’s Prison in Pierre has operated beyond its capacity for years, with dozens of peop

Firearms for sale are displayed at the Centennial Gun Club in Centennial, Colo., in June 2026. Nearly 45,000 people died from firearm-related injuries in 2024, down about 5% from the previous year, according to a new analysis of CDC mortality data. (Photo by Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline) Firearm homicides in the United States fell sharply in 2024, but gun suicides reached a record high, according to a new analysis of federal mortality data by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Viol

Booths await voters during the May 19, 2026, primary election at Temple View Elementary School in Idaho Falls, Idaho. (Photo by Pat Sutphin/Idaho Capital Sun) The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s guidelines to states on how to request funding under counterterrorism grant programs include potentially illegal demands related to election administration, Democrats on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee said Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA, sent states l

Toby Doeden, left, and Gov. Larry Rhoden deliver speeches to the South Dakota Republican Convention on June 26, 2026, at The Monument events center in Rapid City. (Photos by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)Leadership begins with intellectual honesty—the basic skill of describing reality before claiming the authority to fix it. Anyone asking to lead South Dakota should first demonstrate the ability to read a chart without turning it into performance art.  Which is why a recent claim by guber

Voters fill out their ballots at a Sioux Falls polling place during the South Dakota primary election on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)The stakes are high enough in the race for the South Dakota Republican Party’s nomination for governor that Nancy Turbak Berry became a Republican, at least temporarily. The former Democratic state lawmaker intends to rejoin her preferred party after the July 28 runoff election. “I wish we would elect Democrats,” said Turbak Berr

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources submits an annual report on safe drinking water violations in the state. (Photo by Cami Koons / Iowa Capital Dispatch)A report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows Iowa had 36 nitrate-related drinking water violations in 2025, which is more than double the number reported in 2024.  Each year, DNR submits a compliance report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency detailing violations of federal drinking water standards, from excessive c

Graduate-level programs such as nursing are, for now, considered “professional” degrees by the U.S. Department of Education after a court order in late June halted the agency’s new “professional” definition while a legal challenge unfolds. (Photo by Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Students pursuing several advanced degree programs can now access higher loan caps, but the temporary relief has ushered in a wave of uncertainty amid an ongoing legal battle.   Graduate-level programs such as nursing, occu

The National Museum of American History sits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy National Museum of American History) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s latest attack on the Smithsonian Institution represents an attempt to replace a shared American history with his own ideology, academics said as the Smithsonian defended its longstanding position as a nonpartisan actor. A July 4 White House report accused the Smithsonian Institution and its National Museum of American His