The Daily Slice, your Black Hills news podcast in under 10 minutes. Delivered every morning Monday-Friday at homesliceaudio.com/dailyslice
Rapid City’s Population Tops 84,000 With Steady Growth Since 2020
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Rapid City’s population is now estimated at 84,930, a solid 3.05 percent increase from the previous year. City officials estimate Rapid City’s population has increased by more than 10,000 people since 2020. Each year, the City’s Long Range Planning Division prepares a population estimate for Rapid City, utilizing data including approved building permits, housing demolitions, the 2020 Census occupancy rate and the 2020 Census persons per household rate for Rapid City and Pennington County.
South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine Kern to Retire in December 2025
RAPID CITY, S.D. — South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine Kern announced that she will retire on Dec. 8, 2025. Kern, who was appointed in 2014 by Gov. Dennis Daugaard, represents the First Supreme Court District, which includes Custer, Lawrence, Meade and Pennington counties. Kern was appointed a circuit court judge in 1996 in the Seventh Judicial Circuit comprised of Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington counties. Before serving as a judge, she worked in the Attorney General’s office from 1985 to 1996.
Pavement Restoration Project Underway in Black Hills Region
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The South Dakota Department of Transportation has started a pavement restoration project around Rapid City, Deadwood and Lead. The $1 million project is expected to be completed by Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. During the work, drivers can expect to encounter lane closures. The work began Wednesday on U.S. Highway 85 near Park Avenue and Enos Street, Lead. It will then move to Deadwood on Monday, June 16, before heading into Rapid City in late summer.
Tenth Inmate Death of 2025 Reported in South Dakota Prison System
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Another state prison offender has died. Nicholas Skorka, age 42, passed away at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls on Wednesday, a news release from the Department of Corrections said. At the time of his death, Skorka was serving sentences for second-degree escape, receiving/transferring a stolen vehicle, and grand theft. Skorka is the tenth inmate to die in DOC custody this year.
Springfield Woman Sentenced for Forging Health Inspection Reports
PIERRE, S.D. — Renee Strong, 55, of Springfield, has been sentenced in Hughes County Circuit Court for forging food service inspection reports while contracted with the South Dakota Department of Health. The former Department of Public Safety employee pleaded guilty to two counts of Offering False or Forged Instruments and two counts of Forgery, receiving two-year suspended prison terms on each count, $2,000 in fines, court costs, and five years of probation. She was also ordered to complete 40 hours of community service. “This defendant jeopardized public health when she forged health inspection records,” said Attorney General Marty Jackley. The Division of Criminal Investigation led the investigation, with prosecution handled by the Attorney General’s Office.
Los Angeles-area mayors demand that Trump administration stop stepped-up immigration raids
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region banded together to demand that the Trump administration stop the stepped-up immigration raids that have spread fear across their cities and sparked protests across the U.S. They also called on President Donald Trump to pull back from using troops alongside immigration agents during the raids. Meanwhile, the commander in charge of the troops said about 500 National Guard soldiers deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations. And while some troops have already gone on such missions, he said it’s too early to say if that will continue, even after the protests die down.
Russian attacks kill 3 and wound 64 as drones hit Kharkiv and other parts of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces have launched a large-scale drone assault across Ukraine, where officials said three people were killed and 64 others wounded. The overnight strikes caused widespread destruction in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where apartment buildings, private homes, playgrounds, industrial sites and public transportation were hit. Moscow’ has deployed high numbers of drones and missiles in recent days. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by reiterating calls for greater international pressure on Russia.
Google offers buyouts to more workers amid AI-driven tech upheaval and antitrust uncertainty
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google has offered buyouts to another swath of its workforce across several key divisions in a fresh round of cost cutting coming ahead of a court decision that could order a breakup of its internet empire. The company confirmed the streamlining that was reported by several news outlets. It’s not clear how many employees are affected, but the offers were made to staff in Google’s search, advertising, research and engineering units, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google employs most of the nearly 186,000 workers on the worldwide payroll of its parent company, Alphabet Inc. Google has been periodically jettisoning workers since 2023 after the pandemic drove feverish demand for online services.
Disney and Universal sue AI firm Midjourney for copyright infringement
NEW YORK (AP) — Disney and Universal sued popular artificial intelligence image-generator Midjourney on Wednesday, marking the first time major Hollywood companies have taken legal action against a maker of generative AI technology that could upend the entertainment industry. The complaint in a Los Angeles federal court claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios to generate and distribute “endless unauthorized copies” of their famed characters, such as Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise and the Minions from “Despicable Me.”
