Sarah Raza, Author at The Rapid City Post

Newspapers are rescued from closure in Wyoming and South Dakota as buyers swoop in

August 19, 2025

A dozen newspapers in Wyoming and South Dakota are set to publish again after buyers stepped in to keep the communities from becoming news deserts where little or no local media remains. This quick action is notable in an industry where, according to a 2024 report from the Medill School of Journalism, more than two newspapers close each week. Illinois-based News Media Corporation had announced the closure of 31 outlets in five states. Within two weeks, new buyers in Wyoming and North Carolina purchased 12 of these papers, offering staff a chance to return.

Another gold rush could bring open pit mines to South Dakota’s Black Hills

August 16, 2025

It has been 150 years since miners first flocked to South Dakota’s Black Hills in a gold rush that displaced Native Americans. Now that gold is selling for more than $3,000 an ounce, corporations are seeking approval to explore for and extract the mineral by digging vast pit mines that strip the land bare. The Black Hills Clean Water Alliance says that could mean long-term damage to the environment and tourism. But the effort also promises an economic boost. Jack Henris, president of Dakota Gold, estimates the open pit mine his company is working on would create up to 250 jobs and pay the state up to $400 million in taxes.

FILE - Then-President Donald Trump stands at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2020, near Keystone, S.D. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

South Dakota eager for Trump’s statue garden near Mount Rushmore despite local opposition

June 23, 2025

Officials in South Dakota are pushing hard to build President Donald Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes in the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore. But the effort has sparked a backlash from Indigenous groups who see the area as sacred. Trump announced the project five years ago during his first term, and he signed an executive order for the project earlier this year. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has offered Trump land owned by mining company Pete Lien & Sons for the project. It doesn’t have funding yet, though the U.S. House has allocated $40 million for it.

The South Dakota State Penitentiary sits north of downtown Sioux Falls on Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Sarah Raza)

South Dakota is on track to spend $2 billion on prisons in the next decade

June 7, 2025

South Dakota is on a path to invest $2 billion into its corrections facilities in the next decade as a result of its stringent crime laws. The inmate population is projected to soar 30% in the next 10 years because of recent laws that keep people behind bars for longer. Now the state is expected to make decisions about where these prisons will go and how much to spend. Lawmakers have yet to reconsider the laws driving the inmate population surge or suggest prison alternatives. Without those, experts say the state is sure to run out of prison space soon.

FILE - South Dakota state Democratic Sen. Shawn Bordeaux, left, and Rep. Eric Emery hold the flag of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe on Jan. 10, 2024, at the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D. At right is South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, file)

South Dakota tribe declares state of emergency over crime

May 28, 2025

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is declaring a state of emergency on its reservation. The tribe announced the decision Tuesday. It’s contending with drug use, trafficking and gun violence on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Members are seeking more law enforcement resources from the federal government. They currently have only a dozen officers for a space spanning almost 1 million acres across five counties. This marks the tribe’s third emergency declaration in six years and follows lawsuits against the federal government by other tribes in the Dakotas also asking for more law enforcement resources.

A banner on a television monitor in the student senate office is displayed in Dakota State University's Trojan Center, calling for students to protest Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's commencement speech, Monday, April 28, 2025, in Madison, S.D. (AP Photo/Sarah Raza)

South Dakota students weigh protest against university honors for homeland security chief Noem

May 5, 2025

Students and faculty at Dakota State University are facing free speech concerns for the first time now that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is set to deliver the commencement speech May 10. The university president also nominated former South Dakota governor to receive an honorary doctorate. While there is support on both sides, faculty and students have been fearful to express opinions on Noem’s nomination publicly, fearing retaliation from DHS and the university. The school hosts hundreds of international students who fear their student status could be revoked.

Sarah Raza.