SDPB • 18th August 2022

Company plans 260 new exploratory holes in search of Black Hills gold

A company exploring for gold in the northern Black Hills has attracted millions of dollars from investors and plans to add hundreds of new test holes to its exploration program. The company is Dakota Gold, which has offices in Lead and Canada. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in April. Chief Operating Officer Jerry Aberle said the company is emulating the late George Hearst, who scooped up land and mining rights in the 1800s to create the Homestake mining empire in Lead.

SDPB • 18th August 2022

Who was Joe Forman? A fresh look at one of South Dakota's most infamous prison escapes

• Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Google Play. • Have an idea for the show? Email us or text - 605-956-7372. On this date in 1922, a convict named Joe Forman led an escape from the penitentiary in Sioux Falls. It became known as one of the most infamous prison escapes in state history. The fugitives got as far as Murdo until the chase ended with shots fired. Now, thanks to a recently uncovered journal, film producers take a fresh look at the case and Joe Forman. Also today, SDP

SDPB • 13th August 2022

Ron Reed: an advocate for South Dakotans with special needs

• Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Google Play. • Have an idea for the show? Email us or text - 605-956-7372. We continue our series of interviews with the state's new hall-of-famers. Ronald Reed is being honored for his contributions to education, including his implementation of a disability civil rights law. SDPB's Marissa Brunkhorst takes a closer look at a prosecuting attorney who captured the state's attention during the Jason Ravnsborg impeachment trial. We continue our M

SDPB • 12th August 2022

Daughter motivated SD Hall of Fame inductee Ron Reed's life of service to disabled people

The interview posted above is from SDPB's daily public affairs show, In the Moment with Lori Walsh. The South Dakota Hall of Fame has enshrined more than 700 South Dakotans. Its mission is to champion a culture of excellence and to preserve the stories of South Dakotans who played a big part in that culture. Ron Reed is an advocate for South Dakotans with special needs. He joins us today from the Black Hills Surgical Hospital studio at SDPB in Rapid City.

SDPB • 28th July 2022

New documentary explores history of Native American boarding school in Rapid City

Bev Warne’s mother attended a boarding school on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the early 1900s. “She said, ‘Well, it was a quiet place. Because we couldn’t speak in our language and we didn’t know English. And if we spoke our language, we were struck.’” Those experiences are receiving more attention after hundreds of unmarked graves were found last year at a former boarding school for Indigenous children in Canada. The pope visited Canada this week and apologized to Indigenous people for past

SDPB • 22nd July 2022

Episcopal Church commits to study of Indigenous boarding schools, including SD sites

The national Episcopal Church wants to research the history of its Native American boarding schools — including some in South Dakota. Episcopalians convened recently for their 80th General Convention, where they adopted a resolution calling for a fact-finding commission. The resolution says the commission will work toward truth-telling and reconciliation around the church's former role operating boarding schools for Native American children. The issue leapt into the headlines last year with th

SDPB • 10th July 2022

Crowds rally for abortion rights in Sioux Falls and Rapid City

Rallies for abortion rights drew hundreds of people Sunday in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. There were about 200 demonstrators at each of the events. Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union organized the Sioux Falls rally, and the state chapter of the National Organization for Women organized the Rapid City rally. Mia Rivera attended in Rapid City and said the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion has her worried about the coun

NPR • 9th July 2022

She was already battling cancer. Then she had to fight the bill collectors

A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that among Americans who go into debt because of their cancer or a family members', about 1 in 4 declare bankruptcy or lose their home to eviction or foreclosure. Seth Tupper of South Dakota Public Broadcasting has this report about a woman trying to avoid that fate.

SDPB • 8th July 2022

Drillers win draft approval to explore for gold near Pactola Reservoir in Black Hills

A draft decision from the U.S. Forest Service would allow a Minnesota company to conduct exploratory drilling for gold within a half-mile of the Pactola Reservoir in South Dakota's Black Hills. Minneapolis-based F3 Gold has been seeking approval of its drilling plan for several years. The affected land is publicly owned by the federal government in the Black Hills National Forest. The Forest Service issued a final environmental assessment and a draft decision this week that would allow the dri

SDPB • 3rd July 2022

Group moves to put abortion on the ballot, while Thune says battle could land in Congress | June 29

See the audio attached above to listen to the full news update/podcast. Each day, SDPB brings you statewide news coverage. We then compile those stories into a daily podcast. Some South Dakotans plan to gather petitions for a ballot question seeking to make abortion legal again in the state. U.S Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, says the abortion battle could move to Congress. The new interim attorney general fires two aides who worked for the recently ousted attorney general.

SDPB • 3rd July 2022

Abortion-rights protesters clash with police, and physician group protests Sanford's use of pigs | June 30

See the audio attached above to listen to the full news update/podcast. Each day, SDPB brings you statewide news coverage. We then compile those stories into a daily podcast. A physicians' group protests Sanford Health's use of pigs in training courses. South Dakota college students place third in an international competition. A group files an election-related lawsuit against Gov. Kristi Noem and other state officials.

SDPB • 3rd July 2022

Examining votes against a gun-safety bill, looking ahead to farm legislation, and a skateboard festival preview | July 1

See the audio attached above to listen to the full news update/podcast. Each day, SDPB brings you statewide news coverage. We then compile those stories into a daily podcast. SDPB's Lee Strubinger asks South Dakota's members of Congress why they voted against historic gun-safety legislation. Farmers and ranchers tell a pair of congressmen what they want in the next farm bill.

SDPB • 28th June 2022

Political maneuver saves the VA hospital in Hot Springs, and South Dakotans protest the abortion decision | June 27

See the audio attached above to listen to the full news update/podcast. Each day, SDPB brings you statewide news coverage. We then compile those stories into a daily podcast. A political maneuver saves the Veteran Affairs hospital in Hot Springs, for now. South Dakotans take to the streets to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Minnesota's governor moves to protect out-of-staters seeking abortions in his state. Republicans in South Dakota toss out an incumbent as they pick nominees for

SDPB • 25th June 2022

South Dakota's abortion trigger law and Supreme Court decision reaction | June 24

See the audio attached above to listen to the full news update/podcast. Each day, SDPB brings you statewide news coverage. We then compile those stories into a daily podcast. Reaction from South Dakotans to the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, plus an explanation of the state's trigger law that immediately made abortion illegal in most cases.

SDPB • 25th June 2022

Crowds protest Supreme Court abortion decision: 'Bring your rage with you to the ballot box'

Crowds gathered Friday evening in locations including downtown Sioux Falls and Rapid City to protest the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old legal precedent that protected the right to an abortion. In downtown Sioux Falls, former legislator Casey Murschel was among those decrying the decision. "This is devastating," Murschel said. "But my first reaction right now is deep sadness, deep grief for women out there who are left with extraordinary kinds of alterna

SDPB • 8th June 2022

Words that changed Rapid City: 'We cannot sentence the survivors to one more night on the suicidal floodplain'

The attached audio above is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment. The 50th commemoration of the 1972 Black Hills Flood is Thursday. It’s a time to honor the 238 people who died, and it also brings a flood of memories for those who survived. Since February, SDPB has been sharing stories from those survivors, in their own words. Today, in the final installment, we hear from Don Barnett. He was the 29-year-old mayor of Rapid City in 1972. Two days after the flood, he called a meet

NPR • 6th June 2022

South Dakota residents reflect on one of the nation's deadliest floods

Last year, I went for a run while visiting Rapid City, S.D. I ran this path along Rapid Creek in the middle of town. The riverside path led through green parkland, which, according to a sign, used to be neighborhoods until a flood destroyed them 50 years ago. Seth Tupper of South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports on what that flood changed. SETH TUPPER, BYLINE: On a June night in 1972, up to 15 inches of rain fell on the Black Hills. It collected in Rapid Creek and roared downhill straight int

SDPB • 4th June 2022

Ep 4: Rebuilding Lives and Redesigning Rapid City

In the days, weeks and years after the 1972 Rapid City flood, lives change, memories linger and Rapid City rebuilds. Mayor Don Barnett, in office during the flood, recounts June 9, 1972, and the important decisions made during the following few days to change the face of the city. Flood survivors share memories of the flood five decades later.

SDPB • 1st June 2022

Ep 3: Baken Park to Downtown Rapid City

A torrent of water rushes out of the Black Hills and through western Rapid City. A Native American woman is warned to leave for higher ground, but some family members try to ride out the flood and perish. Two couples escape their car and stay above the rising water by jumping onto floating rooftops. A welding supply business is inundated, so employees spend the night on top of a display counter. And National Guard soldiers are called to life-saving duty.

SDPB • 30th May 2022

Ep 2: Canyon Lake to Baken Park

A torrent of water rushes out of the Black Hills and through western Rapid City. The son of a funeral director is called in to help his dad when they are overwhelmed with the bodies of flood victims. A pastor and his family are trapped in flood waters. A young man takes refuge with his parents in one of the few homes that withstands the flood. A department store owner loses everything as the flood takes his merchandise away and leaves several feet of mud behind.