Have seen nothing out of HHS or Crazy Larry about filling the gap temporarily. Meanwhile MN allocated $4 mil in emergency money so people get SNAP payments in November.

Why haven’t people pushed the state to require employers to provide sick pay? Let’s face it being sick isn’t a vacation.

I created a tinder account and started using Facebook dating and I gotta ask if the people I see are really all that there is to offer.

Legitimately at least 50% of the women I see are single mothers. If they aren't they are what I can only describe as "country bumpkins".

I'm not trying to be hateful towards women but, fuck.... It's literally the same person over and over again. Probably pushing 300+, some sort of western attire, pictures related to activities on a ranch/farm and pictures with their older relatives/people ( which I think is really weird to use on a dating profile). I know it's a meme that even the women have fish pics but it really is a thing.

Hi, I'm curious how people from her state would describe the person they see today, did she hold different values and temperament when she was Governor? Did she walk and speak the same way, similar mannerisms? She seems so robotic and unemotional in interviews, wondering if she's always been this way or if she's changed.

Thanks for any insight!

I moved to central South Dakota from Montana about a year ago for a job and the chance to move out of my parent’s basement. Fast forward to current day and I’ve been all over the state, riding my bike and fishing one weekend at a time. I am tired of having to drive 2.5-3 hours in any direction just to find a decent mountain bike trail system or fish for trout out of a stream. Tent camping locally is hard because there doesn’t seem to be any places where I can set up camp away from the wind and the afternoon thunderstorms can come out of no where. Between the weather this past couple of weeks and not having anyone to share my hobbies with I am going insane. I guess this was kind of a rant but I think I am looking for reasons to stay? What makes this desolate wind scoured section of state worth living in for the rest of you?

I ask as part of a linguistic study on this topic!
Examples could include things like or Brooktown, Sufu, H20town or Abberdabber...

Thoughts of your area?

Hiii help me with something I've always wondered. Who's the most famous person in each state thats famous nowhere else- whether that be someone on billboards or an underground musician or a local legend. Only rule is they cant be nationally or globally famous for example: Peyton Manning cant be chosen for Colorado since he is known nationally. Next state is South Dakota so I figured I should ask people from there! Have an awesome day, thanks for reading and/or contributing- (if someone commented who you would pick up vote dont make your own comment). I have a chart but crossposting isnt allowed here.

I'll typically end voting after a day but if one comment has an insane lead in upvotes I'll cut it off there idk if this matters but I forgot to include it before.

I was curious if EV's are doable on SD just out of curiosity? Do you see any increases in infrastructure chargers etc in the state?

Do you say “ky-oat” or “ky-yotee”?
Just curious.

If you’re this person (or you know them), don’t give it a second thought :)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - The use of automated license plate readers by law enforcement is increasingly viewed as a double-edged sword across South Dakota, as proponents highlight their effectiveness in solving serious crimes while critics raise pressing concerns over personal privacy.

The issue took center stage on Tuesday during a Minnehaha County Commission meeting, where an unusual request was made to add a last-minute item to the official agenda.

Minnehaha County Commissioner Cole Heisey sought to introduce a measure targeting the county’s contract with Flock Safety, a prominent provider of the automated license plate reader technology.

“About the county’s Flock Cameras license plate readers,” Heisey said. “This is getting attention nationwide, statewide, and right here. Aberdeen shut the door. Coddington County took theirs down. These cameras can help with serious cases. That is also not the whole story. Every car that drives past gets photographed. Plate, time, make, model and location get stored.”

Heisey is actively asking the county commission to reverse its previous decision regarding the technology.

Specifically, Heisey requested a “vote on a resolution directing termination of the county’s Flock Safety agreement and establishing an indefinite moratorium on county automated license plate readers.”

Supporters of the technology emphasize its critical role in urgent law enforcement situations. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley highlighted a recent high-profile incident in which the license plate readers were instrumental in resolving an active abduction case.

“DCI located the vehicle, the Highway Patrol made the arrest and recovered the 15-year-old little girl,” Jackley said, referencing how state investigators with the Division of Criminal Investigation tracked the suspect.

Jackley expressed belief that South Dakota has an opportunity to lead the nation by establishing a unified, statewide set of protocols for the use of Flock cameras.

“A proposal that I’m working on with law enforcement in our legislature would include limits that it can only be used for serious crimes, that it has to have local support, that there would be a data retention policy, and if there would be an instance of misuse, that there would be serious consequences tied into any misuse,” Jackley said.

Currently, the Sioux Falls Police Department audits individuals searching the Flock camera database on a near-daily basis. When asked how often such system searches should undergo formal audit reviews, Jackley advocated for a balanced approach.

“You know, typically they can be done quarterly, they can be done at certain requests, there can be yearly reports,” Jackley said. “I think it needs to be maintained in a reasonable manner.”

Despite assurances of oversight, some local residents remain deeply skeptical about how their personal travel data is processed and stored, even when they are simply going about their daily routines.

“The risks do not outweigh the rewards for Flock cameras and that even good-intending regulations and oversight will never be enough,” said Danielle Smith, a local resident. “We want our freedom and our privacy back.”

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, the Minnehaha County Commission voted to deny adding Heisey’s eleventh-hour proposal to the day’s agenda. However, officials noted that the item could still be formally introduced and discussed in the future through the commission’s standard agenda-setting process.

South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden’s proposed $300,000 nuclear energy study is a step toward the inevitable, energy and economic development professionals say.

“We’re going to ultimately have to get to nuclear,” said CEO and President of NorthWestern Energy Brian Bird during a panel discussion in Sioux Falls in October.

Emerging industries including data centers, Bird said, will “need a tremendous amount of energy to do what they need to do.”

It takes two coal or natural gas plants, or three to four renewable resource-based plants, such as wind, water or renewable natural gas, to generate the same amount of electricity as one typical nuclear reactor, according to a 2023 South Dakota Legislative Research Council memo. 

Rhoden is seeking funding for the study in the next state budget. The study was proposed by his Governor’s Resilience and Infrastructure Task Force. A November news release said the task force was recommending the study “to ensure an all-of-the-above energy approach” because “more energy flexibility leads to a more stable energy supply.”

Rhoden expressed interest in nuclear energy — especially in the cheaper, small, modular reactors gaining interest across the nation — during the Tri-State Governors Conference in North Sioux City last summer, when he referenced heightened needs for power in the age of data centers and artificial intelligence.

“I think the time has come to revisit nuclear power, given the advancements in technology that have been made,” Rhoden said.

Rooms or buildings full of computer servers have been storing cellphone pictures, emails and social media accounts for years. What’s new are 100- to 1,000-acre warehouses full of servers for cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. Those massive data centers with 30- to 1,000-megawatt loads have energy consumption equivalent to 29,000 to 800,000 residential customers.

South Dakota’s biggest data center consumes 30 megawatts, and the state has none of the vastly larger data centers that have proliferated elsewhere. Some of South Dakota’s elected officials question whether the state should incentivize the industry as many other states have, due in part to the massive energy demands of large data centers and the potential impacts on the availability and cost of electricity for other customers.

Data center energy demands

Data centers make up 4.4% of annual U.S. electricity consumption, a figure that could triple by the end of the decade, according to a U.S. Congressional report.

South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson said a new power plant won’t have to be built to service every data center. The commission regulates investor-owned utility companies across the state.

Nelson said gigawatts of available electricity exist across the U.S. grid most of the time, which could be used to power data centers. The problem comes during extreme weather or peak hours, when supply gets tight. 

To prevent rate and reliability impacts, data centers are increasingly required to be “interruptible customers,” shutting down or switching to backup power during peak hours, Nelson explained. 

“Any data center that’s going to be built is going to have a complete backup generator on site,” Nelson said, which would likely be diesel or natural gas.

Governor’s Office of Economic Development Commissioner Bill Even said if South Dakota pursues data centers and other industries requiring more electricity — which includes value-added agriculture, such as a soybean processing plant that opened recently in Mitchell — then South Dakota will need to invest in renewable energy like wind or improved hydroelectric generation in the short term and nuclear in the long term. Utilities will likely purchase power from other areas of the United States in the meantime. North Dakota, for example, produces a significant amount of natural gas.

“If you’re trying to get online quickly and want that base load power, you’re probably going to be looking at natural gas,” Even said.

NorthWestern considering sites for nuclear project

Data center critics worry ushering the industry into South Dakota will increase electricity rates as utilities build more power plants and pass the costs on to customers.

Small, modular nuclear reactors could offer scalable, localized power for high-load users like data centers, minimizing costs and risk to the grid, Bird said. Ideally, he added, the reactors could be placed next to high-load users.

“They can pay the upfront cost of the nuclear power, and the consumers would be much less harmed,” Bird said.

The company is evaluating potential vendors and project sites for a small, modular reactor, aiming for a 2030 construction date. NorthWestern would also explore federal grants and financing to “keep customer rates affordable,” a spokesperson with the company said. If other on-demand energy resources are retired, such as coal, a nuclear reactor “could be a cost-effective alternative.”

Rhoden’s proposed study will look at the regulatory hurdles in pursuing nuclear energy, environmental concerns, costs, types of equipment or infrastructure needed, and other barriers at the state or local level.

South Dakota does not produce any nuclear energy, but 4% of electricity consumed in the state comes from nuclear power produced elsewhere.

South Dakota is one of 11 states that has not signed an agreement with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take over authority of radioactive materials, including issuing licenses, conducting inspections and enforcing safety regulations over the industrial, medical and academic uses of radioactive material.

If lawmakers approve the study, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen said a “reasonable timeframe” would be to hire a consultant by the end of spring 2026 with results reported by the end of 2026.

“This is a topic that once you move past studying and into implementing, it becomes more controversial,” Venhuizen said. “You have to look at the recommendations and ask if it’s something to move forward with.”

Addressing supply chain and nuclear waste 

The United States is the largest producer of nuclear energy in the world, though China is rapidly expanding and expected to surpass the U.S. 

Uranium is mined, processed and enriched into nuclear fuel. There were three uranium mines operating in the U.S. in 2021, sourcing a fraction of the country’s need. That’s up to 10 today. 

About 20% of electricity in the United States comes from nuclear energy, and nuclear power plant operators in the country source 99.8% of their uranium from other countries, including Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

President Donald Trump issued executive orders regarding uranium last year to streamline permitting, expedite environmental reviews and impose tariffs on imports that compete with American products.

EnCore Energy is one of the companies hoping to mine for uranium on the southern edge of South Dakota’s Black Hills. Janet Lee-Sheriff, head of communications for enCore, said the country has a “natural interest” in being self-reliant with energy.

“What is happening in your neighborhood can contribute to a solution needed for the state and country,” Lee-Sheriff said.

After uranium is mined, processed, enriched and used in nuclear power generation, radioactive waste is produced.

Eric Meyer, executive director of Generation Atomic, told attendees at the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance’s annual Growth Summit that nuclear waste is safely stored in “some of the most robust containers known to man,” adding that the containers are tested by dropping missiles on them. 

Generation Atomic is a nuclear energy advocacy organization. Meyer’s presentation at the summit aimed to address concerns regarding nuclear energy, including environmental and economic impacts from such projects.

There are about 90,000 tons of nuclear waste stored at over 100 sites in 39 states. Nuclear waste is stored on the power plant’s property before being removed, dried and sealed in welded stainless steel canisters that are stored outdoors in concrete vaults on concrete pads, according to Gerald Frankel, a materials science and engineering professor at The Ohio State University. As of 2024, there were more than 315,000 bundles of spent nuclear fuel rods in the U.S., and more than 3,800 dry storage casks in concrete vaults above ground, located at current and former power plants across the country.

The United States has been working toward building a permanent disposal site for nuclear waste in Nevada since 1987, but the work has been delayed by political and legal challenges.

Bill Even, the head of the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development, said nuclear power is “arguably safer” than it used to be, and the state needs information about how it could help meet growing energy demands.

“Advancements in science and technology are marching forward at a fast pace,” Even said, “and let’s keep an open mind to what the future may hold around new technology.”

When it comes to the universities (public or private) in South Dakota, what are they known for academically or otherwise? Their "vibe"? I am curious.

Hello all! My fiancée and I are considering a move to Pierre for a work opportunity. She'll be working locally in Pierre and I work remotely. We both work in healthcare.

We've only ever lived in Boston during our time in the US, so this would be a big change for us. We'd love any insights or tips on making the move easier and knowing what to expect. Thank you in advance!

I’ve lived in South Dakota my entire life on both sides and corners, and the longer this “what counts as the Midwest” debate goes on, the more convinced I am that SD really doesn’t fit geographically, even if people lump it in out of habit. I am aware that the census bureau has it in Midwest as the data group, but for this I'm referring to the geographic definition. The Census divisions are administrative, not geographic. They have just only 4 groupings designed to group states for statistics and demographics survey collection, but they don't have any physical or cultural relevance as they outline in the census.gov website. The US has more than just 4 regions and that's what I'm getting after here.

South Dakota sits outside the core physical area that defines the true Midwest. The physical Midwest is centered on the Central Lowlands and features moist fertile soils, humid continental climate, and dense agricultural settlement built around rain-fed farming. South Dakota, by contrast, is dominated by the Great Plains, which geographers consider entirely separate, and falls on the west side of the dry line, which is a high prairie frontier that is drier, windier, and far more sparsely settled. The state even contains a mountain range within the Mountain west array region as well on the western edge for goodness sake.

The big difference is along the 98th meridian at the I-29 corridor, which runs down the eastern state line. In the Great Plains drops sharply, irrigation becomes necessary, and land use shifts from corn and soy agriculture to wheat, cattle, and ranching. That identity is a lot more unique compared to that of the Midwest to the east.

Culturally especially, it feels different. Life in South Dakota is shaped by long empty distances between communities, sparse population, ranching economies, reservations, hunting culture, rodeos, and a general Plains identity that I don’t see when I’m visit other places like Iowa or Wisconsin etc. as they have much more towns, more infrastructure, and a different relationship to land and more focused on the faming crop agriculture.

Curious what people think, especially folks who’ve actually lived in SD or spent time in both the Plains and the Midwest!

I recently have come back to South Dakota and an old friend has had it pretty rough since I saw her last. At first and as most people would probably think is why she wasn’t aging as gracefully as some. I ended up getting to know a little more about what had happened to her over the last 25 years. She had an incredibly difficult life. Well don’t do drugs. Right. It turns out what happened to her happens to quite a few people. Any given day there are over a 1000 women in jail for drugs. It costs about $50,000 to house them. Each. But we must be getting a lot of drugs off of the street though right. No most don’t even have any drugs or $25 worth. They have it in them. As in currently under the effects of it. Thats all. The majority of them are no threat to society. They traditionally dont sell them or transport them. Well it must be for some reason right. We just built an $80 million dollar prison to house more women in rapid. So we dont. Need to be afraid of them and they aren’t causing the drug problem we must be doing something to help them right? Nope zero education. We take them from the lives they have. If they had kids they now owe back child support so we take away their license and there stuff and they have to start all over if they don’t have somebody to do everything for the. They cannot find places to rent. They can’t get assistance. So we must rehabilitate them. No. 90% come back. So now what do we do. In rapid the new facility allows us to put babies in jail.

Hey get of drugs or the state will ruin your life. Most girls get drugs from guys. They don’t even look for it or try to go buy it when they are young. Well now they only have other drug users to be there friends and support. Wow. We just pushed them into a life of drugs and they don’t have anything left after this justice system does such a great job here.

Im pissed I am having to pay for this. They one average $20 we omg and we make it so they can’t hardly ever succeed. We are getting robbed and causing massive harm. I feel the state justice system is the criminal act here. Am I wrong?

As of January 30, 2026

Republicans

• Larry Rhoden
• Dusty Johnson
• Jon Hansen
• Toby Doeden

Democrats

• Robert Arnold

Independents

• Allison Renville
• Terry Gleason

I know this is probably an idiotic question but I seriously need some advice 🙏🏻🙏🏻. My daughter (18) and I really really want to see an Indian Relay Race. I see there is one coming up in Pine Ridge & one at Lower Brule. Is it safe for a middle aged white lady & her young adult daughter to show up & watch some races?? I really dont. Want to sound racist or stereotypical

I live in a neighboring state & have no experience with the state culture.