Argus Leader
Newest Augustana housing honors trustee’s legacy
On the first day of fall classes at Augustana University, the newest student housing option, Foundation Heights, was already at full capacity with more than 100 students as university leaders cut the ribbon on the apartment complex Wednesday, Aug....
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Local film is helping residents better understand homelessness
“24 Hours on 8th Street,” a local documentary focused on homelessness in Sioux Falls, has sold out not one, not two, but eight showings at The State Theatre downtown in less than a month. And according to the film director and producers, the...
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Schools will see new literacy program, CTE expansions this fall
There’s a lot of new developments taking shape for the new school year in the Sioux Falls School District, which kicked off with the first day of school on Thursday, Aug. 27. In addition to some new school meal pilots and a new location for Community...
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SFSD marks first day of school for 2026-27
More than 24,000 K-12 students returned to Sioux Falls’ public schools Thursday, Aug. 27, an already sunny morning made brighter by the shine of yellow school buses and schoolgoers’ smiles. Students reunited with old friends and made new ones;...
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Brandon marks first day at Burkman Valley Elementary
Wednesday, Aug. 26, marked the first day at Burkman Valley Elementary School for first through fourth graders on the east side of Brandon at 300 North Sunshine Avenue, in the Brandon Valley School District — the fifth elementary school in the town...
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New guidelines might be costly for student meals
The Trump administration’s goal to “Make America Healthy Again” could prove costly for the Sioux Falls School District. District Child Nutrition staff will test out some of those changes in pilot programs this school year at two elementary schools....
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Trump: Rejecting data centers ‘a mistake’
President Donald Trump said communities rejecting data centers are “making a mistake” in an interview that aired Aug. 23. Data centers have become a political flash point in local elections across the country. While speaking with his former lawyer and...
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SD leaders ask for prayers for Schaunaman family
South Dakotans are offering condolences to Mayor Travis Schaunaman and his family after a paraglider crash injured him and his 10-year-old daughter and killed his 8-year-old son Emerson. Former gubernatorial candidate Toby Doeden of Aberdeen said what...
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Jackpine Gypsies a generational legacy in Sturgis
STURGIS, SD – No sport sustains itself more than the one with a coach who was there first. And in Sturgis, South Dakota, dirt tracks live on. The Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club was first to host a race during the 1938 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on a...
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Sanford, Avera keep vaccine schedules
Sioux Falls providers from both Avera and Sanford Health say they will continue to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) childhood vaccine schedule, despite a recent executive order from President Donald Trump that calls for separating doses...
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Aberdeen grieves after mayor’s son dies
Aberdeen Mayor Travis Schaunaman suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries in a paragliding accident that killed his 8-year-old son Wednesday night, Aug. 19. His 10-year-old daughter also sustained minor injuries in the crash. Schaunaman and...
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How many people attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally?
The largest motorcycle rally in the world brought in the lowest number of attendees seen in the past 15 years. According to the South Dakota Department of Transportation, a total of 448,166 vehicles were counted at traffic monitoring locations from...
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Tribes, Arizona agree to help those hit by mine closures
Amid uncertainty surrounding the future of the coal industry, tribal leaders met with Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Aug. 11 to sign a memorandum of understanding focused on strengthening economic resilience for tribal communities in the Four Corners...
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Future Southeast Technical College site set to open in ’28
Lawmakers, politicians and educators alike broke ground Friday, Aug. 14, on the future site of the James Abdnor Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Southeast Technical College. Named for former U.S. Sen. James Abdnor from South Dakota, who mentored...
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The humble family running the oldest biker bar in Sturgis
STURGIS, SD – What’s it take to get a biker bar around here? Forget the razzle dazzle and the disco ball, an off-pitch live band in the corner or a $17 margarita. Give an honest rider a cheap Bud, no overhead light, a no-BS bartender and a damn break...
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Inside the first day at newest private high school
A dozen freshmen students made history Thursday, Aug. 13, as the first students at St. Joseph Classical, a Chesterton Academy. The newest private high school option in Sioux Falls is an expansion of the St. Joseph Classical Academy, which opened for...
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‘This place is absolutely crazy’
Honestly, you don’t often see Harleys on two wheels at The Buffalo Chip during Rally week. h Known as “The Best Party in America,” the campground and concert venue a few miles east of Sturgis is also home to stunt contests, barrel racing and street...
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Fatal crashes match 2025 numbers for Sturgis rally
STURGIS – The number of fatalities at the 86th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally so far has reached the same number of fatalities as this time last year, despite less traffic than the 2025 record-breaking milestone anniversary. Three people have died...
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STURGIS SALUTES VETERANS TO MARK AMERICA’S 250TH
STURGIS – To know a veteran is to know their accomplishments. Often, a serviceman or a servicewoman won’t talk about the moments in Desert Storm or Iraq or Vietnam that made them a decorated soldier years ago, but today we can often recognize it in...
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Outdoor public pools close for summer this weekend
This is the last week to enjoy Sioux Falls’ public pools this summer. On July 31, the city announced that most of its pools would remain open until Aug. 16, extending the original closing date of Aug. 9. City council staff alerted Parks and Recreation...
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WALL OF DEATH Ives Brothers have been riding sideways since childhood
STURGIS – If it’s not enough to ride the open road, then you could always ride the wall sideways. It’s an easy feat for Cody and Kyle Ives, two brothers who’ve been racing inside their 20-foottall, rickety wooden sphere called the Wall of Death since...
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‘Know the road before you ride it’
STURGIS, South Dakota — Aug. 7 brought a late start to the 86th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which usually begins the first week of August. Eager motorists tore in early anyway, crowding the highways even longer than a rally usually would. With it...
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State drops charges in case of missing, presumed dead, woman
It took over 22 years after 43-year-old Beverly Ann OzunaUlrich went missing from Belle Fourche for two men to face charges for her presumed death. The state has dropped the charges, at least for now. “Following a review of the evidence currently...
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New Sturgis mayor says he will keep the rally safe and city finances honest
STURGIS – He may be new to the mayor’s desk, but lifelong resident and longtime businessman Rod Bradley is no stranger here. He’s an old friend. Since his landslide win after a special election in June, Sturgis Mayor Bradley has inherited a city of...
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Reports: U.S. missile supply badly depleted
The war on Iran has severely depleted key U.S. missile stockpiles and left the nation and its allies in a vulnerable position for potentially years to come, several experts and reports say. U.S. missile stockpiles were low before President Donald...
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There was ‘blood everywhere’
Editor’s note: Portions of this story contain details that may be disturbing to some readers. A search warrant affidavit detailed a violent crime scene and the pursuit of a man in the stabbing death of a Sioux Falls business owner. Nysam Chagi was...
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Beaudion dropping out of U.S. Senate race
Julian Beaudion, the Democratic candidate for South Dakota’s open U.S. Senate seat, has announced he is dropping out of the race. In a statement posted to his Facebook page Tuesday, Aug. 4, Beaudion said his personal financial hardships, recently...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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TIME TO RALLY
We wait all year for this. Beginning Friday, Aug. 7, and continuing for 10 disorderly days straight, the 86th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will once again rattle the rocks off the Hills as over half a million people rev it up and party down. Here...
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Mayor Erickson proposes $794M budget for 2027
Sioux Falls Mayor Christine Erickson delivered her first budget address to a packed city council chamber Thursday, July 30. Announced on her 13th day in office, Erickson’s proposal totaled $794 million for the 2027 budget and $1.1 billion for the...
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Chamberlain riverfront bar named one of best in U.S.
Maybe you’re on the water, boating till the sunburn stings or reeling in your last walleye. Maybe you’re coming in for a dill pickled beer on tap after a morning pheasant hunt, not even worried about taking off the blaze orange vest and musty chaps. h...
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Tea ‘definitely has a different look today’
TEA, SOUTH DAKOTA − Neighborhoods and businesses are now in the recovery process after a fast-moving Saturday, July 25, storm caused widespread damage. The system produced winds between 60 and 80 mph; none greater than the 92 mph wind gust recorded in...
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MONOPOLY: SIOUX FALLS STYLE
Goodbye, Atlantic City. Hello, Sioux Falls! A Sioux Falls edition of the classic board game Monopoly is coming soon, Mayor Christine Erickson announced alongside Mr. Monopoly at a Tuesday, July 28, press conference in Falls Park.
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Gov. Larry Rhoden lands Republican nomination
After a long and historic gubernatorial runoff for South Dakota, Election Night was over in a sprint. h As of 8:08 p.m. CT, the Associated Press called the race with only 230 out 647 precincts complete, declaring incumbent Larry Rhoden as no longer...
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Construction workers feeling big pay bump
When it comes to salary boosts, the “it” career of the year is construction, a new survey shows. h Construction job changers have out-earned every sector every month since August 2023, except in February and March 2026, when pay for job changers in...
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Historic setting, new vision
For over a decade now, The Event Co. in Sioux Falls has hosted nearly 500 events nationwide, including weddings, galas, conferences, dinners and fundraisers, helping organizations raise over $12 million and they themselves donating over $1.2 million to...
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South Dakota gets education waiver
South Dakota became the sixth state to receive a “Returning Education to the States” waiver. Given Friday, July 24, the RES waiver from the U.S. Education Department (ED) allows the state to consolidate more than $19 million in federal funds for...
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Striking up some fun
Jack Radel being selected 28th overall in the 2026 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros was more than just a milestone for himself. He became the second Sioux Falls native in two years to be picked in the first round, following his best friend, former...
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‘A PASSION AND A PRIVILEGE’
For over 30 years, Dave Bordewyk has brought an unmatched advocacy for “authentic” local journalism, open government and rural weekly newspapers that “matter dearly these days.” Under his wand at the South Dakota News Media Association, over 100...
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New Tea program prevents ‘summer slide’ for students
A new program at Frontier Elementary School in Tea is helping prevent the “summer slide” among this fall’s firstsixth graders. Bridges brings together students who were in kindergarten-fifth grade this past school year to keep reading in the summer...
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Summer, but no break for these Minnehaha educators
School may be out for summer, but that doesn’t mean that educators stop working, or that students aren’t still learning. The work of education continues on, even in the hottest months of the year, with free meal programs, summer school, academic...
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Convicted sex offender faces 19 new felonies
A Sioux Falls man, once found guilty of criminal sexual conduct involving a 16-year-old in Minnesota, has been indicted on two counts of rape and three counts of abuse or cruelty to a minor younger than 7, among 14 other felony and two misdemeanor...
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Billionaire T. Denny Sanford dies at 90
Editor’s Note: The article below about T. Denny Sanford’s impact on South Dakota includes never-before published reporting from former Argus Leader journalists who helped cover Sanford in the decades prior to the billionaire’s passing. The scope of...
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Erickson sworn in as 1st female mayor
It all led to this. From months of door knocking, multiple runoff races, record-breaking margins and a two-day recount that made the whole city sweat, four newly elected city officials have been promised their own seat in Carnegie Town Hall for the...
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‘Our parks are what keep people in Sioux Falls’
Sioux Falls received a $15 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund’s Greening America’s Cities initiative to revitalize and reconstruct the quarry property east of Falls Park into a new park called the Quarry at the Falls. h Mayor Paul TenHaken made...
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Treehouse expansion shaping up for 2029
The Sioux Falls business scene is bustling, regularly showcasing a dynamic blend of new ventures, expansions and next chapters that reflect the city’s everevolving economic landscape. Staying in the know about it all can prove challenging for the city...
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Airshow takes off at Joe Foss Field this weekend
Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane! It’s the Sioux Falls Airshow. Billed as “Power on the Prairie,” the free event is landing at Joe Foss Field this weekend, July 18-19, to celebrate the South Dakota Air National Guard’s 80th birthday, as well...
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Jamie Smith concedes mayoral race
It is a historical mayoral race that undoubtedly exposed ballot integrity in Sioux Falls, with results of which could have been challenged in court, but to concede instead is “exactly the type of decision” unsuccessful candidate Jamie Smith would make,...
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Ready on ‘day one’
After Sioux Falls mayor-elect Christine Erickson prevailed in a monthlong election saga with a four-point recount win Thursday, July 9, she’s holding true to one of her first promises: Ready on “day one.” Ahead of her pending inauguration ceremony...
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Incumbents hold seats in school board race
Thousands of dollars went into the Sioux Falls school board race that saw incumbents Dawn Marie Johnson, Gail Swenson and Marc Murren keep their seats on the board. Newcomer candidates Jean Childs, Michael Stangeland and Stuart Willett lost out,...
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Historical recount moved the margin to 4
The city really made her work for it, but she won’t be one to revel too long in the win. The first-ever female mayor-elect in South Dakota’s largest city has said doggedly she will be “ready to lead on day one” during what turned into a taxing,...
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Language program has ‘rigor and heart’
The first full academic year offering an Oceti Sakowin language minor at South Dakota State University has already produced two graduates and is assisting in statewide efforts to preserve and revitalize Lakota, Dakota and Nakota language. h South...
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School District awarded out-of-school program funds
The Sioux Falls School District has received a $1,195,321 grant for its Community Learning Centers to expand afterschool and summer learning for middleschoolers. This grant is one of 11 awarded from the South Dakota Department of Education to...
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Lallycooler is coming to Birdcage for 2nd festival
Lallycooler is back and better than ever this Friday and Saturday, July 10-11. Darius Rucker and Jason DeRulo will be headlining the second-edition festival at its new venue at the Birdcage. Last year’s inaugural event was at Great Bear Ski Valley and...
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Sioux Falls has big crowds, no citations
City officials and business leaders on Monday, July 6, confirmed a safe and successful three-day Fourth of July weekend in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls Police Department public information officer Aaron Benson cited 25 fewer firework complaints than last...
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Thunderstorms fail to dampen Mount Rushmore celebration
KEYSTONE – It started out with sunshine, then there was hail. Then it all ended with a staunch message that Americans “must always remember who they are” before a reverberating pyro musical capped what some called an “awesome, awesome” pre-Independence...
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Safety issues beset Silicon Valley defense startup
Ayear ago, Ryan Tseng, the head of U.S. defense tech startup Shield AI, announced his company had turned a new page. After a gory incident that partially severed a U.S. Navy official’s fingers during a test of its V-BAT drone, Shield AI had addressed...
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Trump : ‘Identity of a nation is the destiny of a nation’
KEYSTONE, S.D. − President Donald Trump used the unmistakable faces of Mount Rushmore on July 3 to talk about another important identity - that of America. “The identity of a nation is the destiny of a nation,” he told the crowd gathered for his 250th...
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‘Science of reading’
Three school years have passed since the South Dakota Department of Education announced the launch of a statewide literacy initiative “designed to build better readers” with an emphasis on the science of reading (SOR). Secretary Joe Graves has sung...
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CELEBRATE SAFELY
City leaders at a One Sioux Falls press conference this Wednesday stressed the importance of fire and firework safety and being prepared for summer heat as Sioux Falls gears up to celebrate an extra-special, extra-hot Fourth of July. “In honor of our...
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Sioux Falls Fireworks show adds skydiver, food trucks
Already planned as their “largest one yet,” the Sioux Falls Fireworks organization has added more activities to their Fourth of July festival at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds. The free, family-friendly Fourth of July celebration will offer more food...
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STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
Although school’s out for summer, dozens of students stop by the Roosevelt High School weight room to train, strengthen and condition themselves for school athletic activities, including for show choir. While not a traditional sport, show choir...
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AI can lead to false arrests and wrongful convictions
In Baltimore County, Maryland, on Oct. 20, a 17-year-old student named Taki Allen was sitting outside his high school after football practice when an artificial intelligence-enhanced surveillance camera falsely identified the Doritos bag in his pocket...
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Project hopes to reduce traffic, improve walkability
A new traffic calming pilot project has been installed on 10th Street in downtown Sioux Falls. Beginning at 2nd Avenue and extending to the 10th Street viaduct, the pilot will run from June 29 until July 31. It was conceived through a partnership...
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4th of July events in and around Sioux Falls
Wondering where you can celebrate America’s 250th without making the drive six hours west to Mount Rushmore’s planned fireworks display? Well, you are in luck because there will be a plethora of events spread across Minnehaha and Lincoln counties on...
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Trump blames Iran for attack on ship
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump victories in two immigration cases June 25. In the divide between gun rights and gun violence, the justices struck down another state law, this one in Hawaii, aimed at curbing guns in public...
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Fire transforming West’s public lands
Wildfires are affecting our public lands at an accelerating scale and increasing intensity. Yet how fire affects recreation has remained poorly understood. Colorado’s two largest fires on record, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires, burned...
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EVERY VOTE COUNTS
First a runoff, now a recount. After a classic cliffhanger in an already “exhausting” race, the Sioux Falls mayoral runoff election was within two votes. Turns out every single vote counts after all. As of midnight Tuesday night, and all 79 precincts...
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MCKENNA’S DEATH
The body of 14-year-old McKenna Wendel of Sioux Falls was recovered March 19 along Six-Mile Creek, somewhere near 214th Street west of Brookings. Some, but not all, first responders participating in the water recovery included the Sioux Falls Police...
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Opening night of fair will offer fireworks
As a special celebration for America 250, the Sioux Empire Fair organizers announced Tuesday, June 15, that they will put on their first-ever fireworks show on opening night. The event on July 31 will be reduced admission for “Sneak Peek Night,” an...
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City introduces natural solutions to manage stormwater, flooding
Two new green infrastructure pilot installations are helping reduce urban flooding and keep waterways clean, Sioux Falls city officials said at a press conference Wednesday morning, June 17. These natural stormwater management systems use rain gardens...
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‘It was pretty awesome to watch how the idea grew’
Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken aired some of his frustrations Monday, June 15 during a public Q&A with the Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary Club. Asked to share advice for the next mayor of South Dakota’s largest city, TenHaken suggested building a...
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Uncle, one other charged in case of Wendel’s death
She was missing for five days then found dead on March 19 in South Dakota, miles from home. Now her uncle has been charged in her death. On Thursday, June 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced after three months of...
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LOWER CRIME RATES AT RISK
The United States is experiencing one of the steepest declines in violent crime in modern history, including a murder rate at its lowest point in more than a century. Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer...
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‘Time has come to say goodbye’
They started with a humble flyer on MySpace 20 years ago, printing pink and black shirts and empowering women in Sioux Falls to lace up their skates, call on their confidence and compete in bouts worldwide. After 50 recruits in their first year alone...
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