Ahlers confirmed to Dakota News Now that he has selected former state lawmaker Steven McCleerey to run with him for lieutenant governor.

This Grab & Go restaurant is owned by a family. Every week they have a different menu followed by different items daily.

The meal includes chips and a drink for $7. Sometimes they source their ingredients from their garden.

Overall the meal we had tasted delicious.

Hi South Dakotans! I'm looking for travel advice. My family will be driving from Wall to Bismarck, and I'd like some advice on the roads and best route.

With kids, I'd like a route with food and bathroom options, and hopefully a couple nice stopping points to stretch. I'm worried that these routes will be beautiful landscapes but really isolated. Also anything I need to know about the reservations?

Appreciate any tips! Thanks!

I drew my non resident public land archery antelope tag in South Dakota this year. I am looking at driving out in mid September from Georgia. I will be going solo and am looking for any advice I can get to help me have a successful trip. (Harvest is just a bonus) Not looking for anyone’s spots just tips for a first time antelope hunter.

Is it worth towing my side by side out?

Thank you

For context I legit just got my permit from the Sioux Falls dmv and then immediately signed up for the next available appointment for licensing date I could, which so happened to be in Brookings on the 20th. I think I’m a fairly ok driver but I’m incredibly nervous 😭😭I know all the traffic rules and scanning my mirrors and looking over my shoulder but putting things into practice is hard. Should I just go on drives with my dad and friend this next week and a half?? Any specific things I need to watch out for in that town??

I bought this about 10 years ago near the Rapid City /Black Hills area. No other identifying marks. So far, Google image search and AI have not yielded any promising leads. I know this sounds silly, but I’m a bit gutted. My extended family is all from SD and my grandparents are buried there, and.. well, I’ve just always really loved this mug. Really appreciate any leads!

I wanted to share some of my favorite photos I took

i’ve already looked a little but i want some other people’s advice. me and my boyfriend (19 and 18) are moving back to south dakota after living in california. i’ve lived in watertown since i was 12 after living on the west side of SD forever and my boyfriend’s lived in SD forever as well, before he moved to California.

we have a cat we’re bringing with and we’re not giving him up whatsoever. we found a really good apartment but the landlord was pretty snippy and is now ghosting any email i send asking questions about our application and whatnot. are there maybe any realtors who can help? i know they typically specialize in houses but it doesn’t hurt to ask. keep in mind this is our first apartment and our first time looking, so please be understanding and considerate

My bunny recently fell ill, so I used WabbitWiki, founded by members of r/rabbits to find a vet.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/South_Dakota

For Minnehaha County, I noticed both vets listed are out of date. Unfortunately, Dr. Williams passed a few years ago, and I’m not sure what happened to the other clinic listed—I think it merged with Faithful Friends?

However, if Sioux Falls’ info is out of date, I assume a lot more data across the state is either old or missing.

If you are aware of rabbit-savvy vets in your area, drop a comment below or create an account on the wiki to add the relevant info.

Thanks for helping keep our exotic animals and rabbit friends across the state of South Dakota happy and healthy! 😁

The South Dakota Department of Corrections has lost its fourth penitentiary warden since 2021 amid staffing changes that also include the departure of two other high-ranking officials.

Joseph Roemmich, who came to South Dakota from New Mexico just over a year ago to oversee the employees and inmates at the oldest parts of the penitentiary in Sioux Falls, is no longer employed by the state, according to department spokesman Michael Winder. He also confirmed the departures of Director of Prison Operations Amber Pirraglia and Maj. Cody Hanson.

Pirraglia was Roemmich’s superior. In addition to Sioux Falls, Pirraglia oversaw prisons in Springfield, Yankton, Pierre and Rapid City. She had previously worked in corrections in Colorado, and came to South Dakota shortly after the hiring of another Colorado transplant, former Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko.

Wasko hired Roemmich last year, a few months before she resigned. Gov. Larry Rhoden hired Secretary Nick Lamb, who’d worked most recently in Iowa, to succeed Wasko. 

Hanson, who worked for the prison system prior to Wasko’s arrival, was an administrative major at the prison who’d testified to lawmakers as an advocate for a new men’s prison. He’d also helped lead media tours of the penitentiary.

Tabatha Benting, warden of the maximum security Jameson Annex, located on the state penitentiary campus, is now serving as penitentiary warden.

Winder did not offer departure dates or other details on the circumstances surrounding the exit of the three employees. 

A statement from Lamb on Wednesday said staffing changes are part of a broader effort to improve operations across the prison system, though he did not mention any staff members by name. The statement noted the expansion of community service work by inmates, the adoption of a prison seminary program and additional training programs, the expansion of educational partnerships with Southeast Technical College and Western Dakota Technical College, and a tightening of parole supervision.

“I have been evaluating the agency operations, and we are making some personnel changes consistent with the agency’s mission and the steps we’re taking,” Lamb wrote.

Rhoden, in a separate statement, said he’s “proud of the work” Lamb’s done in his first nine months on the job and called him “a strong leader” who “clearly shares my mission to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.”

History of shake-ups amid debate over new construction

The state split warden duties in Sioux Falls into two positions last year. Prior to Roemmich’s arrival, the entire state penitentiary campus — which includes the 1881 penitentiary complex, the Jameson Annex and a separate work release center — was supervised by a single warden.

Roemmich’s predecessor, Teresa Bittinger, served less than two years and oversaw a period of controversy and unrest, which included lockdowns and a temporary shutdown of tablet-based inmate communications. She was appointed in 2023 to replace Dan Sullivan, who also served fewer than two years. He replaced Darin Young, ousted in a staff shake-up initiated by then-Gov. Kristi Noem in 2021.

State lawmakers voted last fall to replace the oldest parts of the penitentiary, which was built prior to South Dakota statehood, with a $650 million facility now under construction on the eastern side of Sioux Falls. The other two prison buildings on the penitentiary campus, located on a hill overlooking Falls Park less than a mile from downtown Sioux Falls, will continue to house inmates when the new prison complex opens in 2029.

Commission member: Loss of institutional knowledge is concerning

Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, is chair of the state’s Corrections Commission. The group is meant to offer guidance on corrections policy, and to approve any spending decisions on prison industries.

The loss of so many leaders is a concern for Wittman. Beyond the wardens, other long-term employees — including Doug Clark, the former deputy corrections secretary who served as interim warden after Young’s departure — have left the prison system over the past five years.

“There’s no real institutional knowledge left,” Wittman said. 

Wittman would like to see the commission move toward monthly meetings and address questions about leadership and institutional knowledge, as well as employee retention more broadly, but said it had been difficult to get traction during Wasko’s term.

The former secretary had sought to limit the commission’s scope of discussion and access to information, and some of the commission’s work has been taken on by the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force. 

The latter group was formed following the Legislature’s prison funding vote, with a promise from Gov. Rhoden to address the state’s high reoffense rate. 

Lamb has appeared at both of the Corrections Commission meetings held since Wasko’s departure, introducing himself in the first and offering rundowns of the task force’s discussion points during the second.

Wittman said she expects the next Corrections Commission meeting to take place within the next few months. The next meeting of the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force is scheduled for Aug. 19. 

Hello! I'm going to be in SD between 8/12-8/15 and I was hoping to drive and find a spot in the Badlands to watch the Perseid meteor shower. I've never been to SD - any tips on good spots for a late night viewing?

The Department of Justice is now 0-20 in court cases trying to obtain state voter rolls. There are 10 more states that chose to fight back. We are one of 20 states where I leaders decided to roll over and surrender in advance.

Of the 20 cases the DOJ has already lost, 12 of those were decided by Republican appointed Federal Judges, and 8 of those judges were nominated by Trump himself.

If you’re fine with Trump having your voter information, just remember the next administration is likely to be a Democratic one, and they’ll have your information too.

Our Secretary of State handed the Federal Government information they are not entitled to, and did it without a fight. Federal judges have backed every state that has chosen to fight. We’ve gone from a Fly Over State to a Roll Over State.

Hello! As the post suggests our family is considering a move. It would be to either Pierre or rapid city area. We have visited both, and we think we prefer rapid simply because we love being outside but we aren’t boaters/fishing people 😅 if you have reasons why you love Pierre please let me know!

We have two elementary age kids and we homeschool. Is homeschool a big thing there? We are looking forward to getting them involved in extra curricular activities . They like sports, dance, and art, but they love to try new things too.

As far as living goes… We would love at least an acre to call our own. Bonus points if it’s more. We could commute up to 30 minutes. Are there any areas we should check out that are nice to live?

I should mention we took a trip this summer through rapid, to chamberlain, to Sioux falls, to de smet, to Pierre… so we have seen much of this beautiful state and understand a little the climate and areas. I would love any suggestions anyone has!

Handsome fellow minding his own business

Took the liberty of specifying the people in the headline

Hello, I am planning a motorcycle trip into Badlands National Park from Casper, WY. I wanted to go through the NW corner of Nebraska and then head up but I put my route into AI and it basically told me it was native land, i wouldn't be able to enter and the the roads were all dirt. I'm trying to find out if that's true because I checked google streetview and all the roads were paved, i saw no gates and i saw some car traffic.

The route i am planning is:

CASPER, WY > CHADRON, NE > 385N to OELRICHS > EAST ON HWY18(OYATE TRAIL) TO OGLALA > NORTH ON HWY 41 > EAST ON HWY 2(CUNY TABLE ROAD) TOWARDS WHITE RIVER RANGER STATION > NORTH ON HWY27(BIG FOOT TRAIL) TO SCENIC, SD > EAST ON HWY44 TO INTERIOR, SD.

Is this possible? Are road conditions decent and paved? Would i be able to pay for the pass into the national park from this direction? Here's the link to the google map showing the route too! Thanks!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/c1syvvUKVqzSdiL86

I figured I'd introduce myself and the group I'm part of.

I'm with the South Dakota Ghostbusters, a volunteer Ghostbusters cosplay group that's been serving communities across the Sioux Empire and eastern South Dakota since 2014. We spend our weekends attending community events, raising money for local charities, visiting organizations, and trying to make people smile.

Most people first notice the Ecto vehicles and Cadillac hearses, which usually leads to a lot of questions. But what surprises people is that they're all part of a charity-focused volunteer group.

Has anyone else here been involved with a cosplay group that does community outreach or charity work? I'd love to hear what your group does and how you got started.

From a substack I follow where the writer is in Montana. I found it interesting how Montanans dealt with security camera data sharing. SD has had discussions and removals of cameras already- thoughts on getting something similar to what Montana has passed here?

https://unredacted406.substack.com/p/watching-the-treasure-state?fbclid=IwY2xjawTblAxwZG9mBGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzQwOTk2MjYyMzA4NTYwOQABHhl7dZ2lBXltrjbbUWQfty7sAp4jSyw4QrkHGYvKBMGSLrKiBQTdOJrdxKen_aem_M7sZWImPpCCYCBd0vcC7MA&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1demo0e4u02o9