SEARCHLIGHT NEWS
(Photo illustration by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
By Makenzie Huber
South Dakota has awarded more than $630,000 in the last year to facilitate three emergency dispatch consolidations, using funds from a statewide fee increase on phone lines that lawmakers approved to support efficiency and equipment upgrades.
The consolidations were recommended in a 2025 efficiency report commissioned by the South Dakota 911 Coordination Board.
COMMENTARY
A sign stands alongside delegates seated at the South Dakota Republican Convention on June 27, 2026, in Rapid City. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
By Dana Hess
Throughout my career in journalism, as an editorial writer and now as a columnist, I never seriously considered belonging to a political party. As an opinion writer, those political parties were subjects and sometimes targets but never any place I wanted to call home.
My voter registration as an independent was something I wore like a badge of honor.
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
Voters line up outside Shiloh Hills Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Election Day, May 19, 2026. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
By David Lightman
WASHINGTON — Political party poll watchers are showing up more and more, usually outside polling places.
They have a different mission than the nonpartisan election observers long regarded as bulwarks of credibility, and there’s concern that voters will be confused who’s there to influence them and who’s there to protect them.
NATIONAL NEWS
Measles cases have reached a 35-year high | Stateline
Cyclosporiasis cases continue to rise, as Michigan remains hardest hit state | Michigan Advance
A third person has died in the Texas floods, Greg Abbott says | Texas Tribune
AROUND THE REGION
Researchers identify thousands more Iowa livestock facilities than state database shows | Iowa Capital Dispatch
SD NEWS FROM OTHER MEDIA
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DWU professor takes research to next level with AI coding | Mitchell Republic
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