In Worthington, Minnesota, where roughly 1 in 3 residents is an immigrant, the Trump administration's immigration operation has changed the feeling around the city: “You can feel it, the sadness from town. There’s no people walking around." Via @minnesotareformer.com

Episode 5 of the 🎧️ Searchlight Report 🎧️ podcast: Lab-grown meat, lawsuits over abortion ads, prenatal videos for students, verifying employees' citizenship, a health care conscience exemption, a brighter state budget outlook, and a new Democratic candidate for governor. Listen ⬇️ buff.ly/LSulSmc

Barring the use of food stamp benefits for soda purchases would cost South Dakota about $248,000 annually, according to a legislative estimate. The state would have to hire a new employee and obtain software to track sales, file reports and help retailers. #SNAP

South Dakota regulators approved a permit for a $750 million, 333-megawatt #WindFarm spread across 110 square miles of private land. The project is expected to be the largest wind facility in the state.

The second partial government #shutdown in 2026 is set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, after lawmakers left the nation’s capital without reaching a deal on changes to immigration enforcement tactics at the Department of #HomelandSecurity. Via @statesnewsroom.com

Tribal insurance programs give Native Americans access to affordable health care when the Indian Health Service falls short. Those plans are threatened by the expiration of enhanced #AffordableCareAct subsidies. Via @kffhealthnews.org buff.ly/eTd0p13

Members of Congress sought a ruling from a federal judge to block yet another Department of Homeland Security policy that required a notice for lawmakers to conduct oversight visits to immigration detention facilities. The policy is the third from DHS Secretary #KristiNoem.

The state House of Representatives voted 41-21 to reject a bill that would have required #DataCenters in South Dakota to obtain an additional permit from a neighboring city or county, if the city or county line is within 1 mile of the facility.

President Donald Trump and his top environmental policy officer finalized a move to undo an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that laid the foundation for federal rules governing emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause #ClimateChange. Via @statesnewsroom.com

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill remained at a stalemate over bans on face masks and other immigration tactics as a deadline to fund the Department of #HomelandSecurity quickly approached. Via @statesnewsroom.com

Responding to concerns from residents near a controversial mine on the edge of the Black Hills, a committee of South Dakota lawmakers advanced legislation that would subject mining explosives to tighter regulation.

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted 49-13 for a bill that would require the use of #EVerify by employers in the state to check employees’ eligibility to work in the United States.

After a debate colored by views on #abortion, the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives voted 52-10 to advance a bill requiring South Dakota public schools to teach students about prenatal human growth and development, including the use of specifically defined videos.

The top leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee showed a video leading up to the fatal shooting in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection officers, as they grilled the heads of two federal immigration agencies.

President Trump’s border czar announced an imminent end to Operation Metro Surge, claiming success from a federal incursion that brought thousands of immigration officers to Minnesota, ignited massive resistance and resulted in two killings of Americans. Via @minnesotareformer.com

There will be enough money on hand to give teachers, state employees and Medicaid providers more funding next fiscal year, lawmakers on South Dakota’s budget committee expect. It’s just a matter of how much lawmakers choose to provide, utilizing higher-than-expected revenue.

Millions of #immigrants who have crossed the border with Mexico since 2020 could change the balance of political power in Congress — but in a way likely to boost Republican states that emphasize border security, at the expense of more welcoming Democratic states. Via @stateline.org

Native activists, including Crow Creek Sioux tribal members, put up tipis and set a small fire at a sacred site along the Mississippi River to pray for the people held in an ICE detention center a mile-and-a-half away.

With South Dakota's Dusty Johnson voting yes, the U.S. House passed legislation that would require the public to produce a passport or birth certificate in most cases to register to vote, less than a year out from November midterm elections. Via @statesnewsroom.com

South Dakota's Dusty Johnson voted no, but several other House Republicans joined Democrats in passing a resolution to terminate the president’s national emergency at the northern border that triggered #tariffs on Canada. Via @statesnewsroom.com

The South Dakota Senate voted 23-10 to approve a resolution that would ask voters to legalize mobile #SportsBetting and capture tax revenue from it to reduce #PropertyTaxes.

Debates about which types of authority figures should be #MandatoryReporters of child abuse and neglect ended in one proposal’s failure and another’s advancement at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre.

A federal judge declined to intervene against the South Dakota Republican attorney general's attempt to shut down a national nonprofit’s #AbortionPills ad campaign in the state. The judge said "I trust that the South Dakota court will get it right."

A legislative proposal related to a situation in the Sioux Falls area would require #DataCenters in South Dakota to obtain an additional permit from a neighboring city or county, if the city or county line is within 1 mile of the facility.

Leaders from several agencies within the Department of Homeland Security testified before a U.S. House panel about how a shutdown would affect the programs they oversee, though Democrats argued the hearing was a “show” that wasn’t going to get lawmakers any closer to agreement.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed bills transferring an old hydroelectric plant in Spearfish Canyon to a nonprofit for potential conversion to an interpretive center, and appropriating millions for work at a fish hatchery in Waubay.

"No matter how you slice it, the impact of Medicare’s inability to keep up with practice costs has an impact on patient care." Commentary from Dr. Keith Hansen, president of the South Dakota State Medical Association, about the #Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. ⬇️

A handful of U.S. House Republicans tanked a procedural vote that would have kept intact a ban on congressional action against President Donald Trump’s emergency #tariffs. Via @statesnewsroom.com

Legislation that would have allowed South Dakota health care providers to refuse to perform services that violate their conscience failed in the state House of Representatives.

Bringing a Democrat back to the South Dakota Governor’s Office will mean building a coalition of support for education, small business, family farms and affordable health care, the party’s highest-profile entrant into the 2026 governor’s race said.

The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined during a U.S. House hearing to apologize to the families of #AlexPretti and #ReneeGood, the victims of fatal shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis. Via @statesnewsroom.com

South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill that deregulates gun #silencers by removing them from the state’s definition of a controlled weapon.

A bill aiming to ban student use of #cellphones in South Dakota schools has a chance to be debated on the state Senate floor after the Senate Education Committee voted 5-2 to send it there without recommendation.

The rapid growth of electricity-hungry #DataCenters will extend the life of existing fossil-fuel power plants and result in more being built, according to NorthWestern Energy's president and CEO, who spoke at a public event in Sioux Falls.

"The beauty of local school boards," writes Dana Hess, "is that they reflect the wants and needs of their communities." But every year, some education bills are introduced at the state Capitol that are "just legislative interference." Commentary:

A bill that would bar the practice of jailing people who can’t afford to pay sobriety program fees sailed through a South Dakota House of Representatives panel at the Capitol in Pierre.

An attempt to make it easier to refer excess school property taxes to voters passed a South Dakota legislative committee, and a bill to set a floor for annual state education funding increases also advanced.

South Dakota officials should talk to tribal leaders more often, but lawmakers aren’t prepared to make them. That was the message from two bills considered by a legislative committee.

Gov. Larry Rhoden vetoed a bill that would effectively ban #LabGrownMeat in South Dakota, but also suggested a moratorium on the products as a compromise approach.

President Trump decided to exclude Democratic governors from a traditional annual meeting at the White House and to disinvite several others from a black-tie dinner, according to the White House, the governors and the National Governors Association. Via @statesnewsroom.com

A pair of bills aimed at strengthening emergency medical services in South Dakota have earned Gov. Larry Rhoden’s approval. One clarifies liability for nurses serving in ambulances, and the other expands the legal definition of ambulance drivers.

Dan Ahlers, the executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, said he plans to run for governor.

Over the next decade, #obesity rates across the nation could surge to close to half of U.S. adults, a new study published in the medical journal JAMA estimates. Via @stateline.org

Women with #BreastCancer living in states that expanded #Medicaid eligibility were less likely to die from the disease — but not everyone benefited equally, according to a recent study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. Via @stateline.org

South Dakota #prison officials have quietly stood up a program they view as a win for some inmates and their families: Since 2022, qualifying inmate mothers have lived full-time with their children in a house on the campus of the Women’s Prison in Pierre.

"I've been sick these last few days, because I did forget to take one specific drug that I bring here every year that I've been in the Legislature. And that is #ivermectin." That comment kicks off the latest episode of 🎧️Searchlight Report, which reviews a lively legislative week. buff.ly/apDlFTN

COMMENTARY: A South Dakota lawmaker was right to think America’s Founding Fathers would be “rolling over in their grave” because the state’s legislators recently debated whether to pass a formal resolution urging South Dakotans to invoke God. But he was wrong about why he was right.

A focus on addressing climate change, including by producing wind and solar energy, has not helped Americans keep their electricity and heat on during winter storms, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday.

Legislation dealing with lab-grown and direct-to-consumer meat is dividing South Dakota ranchers. “If you have two ranchers, you've got four different opinions," one lawmaker said. Both bills await action by Gov. Larry Rhoden, who's a rancher himself.

A bill to require high school coaches to report abuse and neglect earned the full support of a South Dakota House of Representatives panel.