Joshua Haiar

1 week ago | bhpioneer.com | Joshua Haiar

PIERRE — Grant Vander Vorst is at the epicenter of vaccine hesitancy in South Dakota: Just 56 percent of incoming kindergartners in Faulk County, where he lives, were up to date on their measles, mumps and rubella vaccination during the 2023-24 school year, which was the lowest rate of any county in the state with available data. Vander Vorst is the superintendent of Faulkton Area Schools.

1 week ago | southdakotasearchlight.com | Joshua Haiar

by Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight May 29, 2025 A group of South Dakota health care advocates launched a “Hands Off Medicaid” coalition Thursday, pleading with the state’s all-Republican congressional delegation to avoid proposed cuts. Medicaid is a federal-state health care program for low-income people. A U.S. House-approved budget reconciliation bill would reduce the program by $625 billion over 10 years under an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

1 week ago | argusleader.com | Joshua Haiar

Members of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors raised alarms during a virtual roundtable Tuesday, May 27 about volatile Trump administration tariff policies, saying they’re driving up costs, stalling housing developments, and threatening key sectors of South Dakota’s economy. “It’s a really regressive tax,” council member John Hemmingstad, of Avalon Capital Group, said of tariffs.

1 week ago | bhpioneer.com | Joshua Haiar

PIERRE — Members of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors raised alarms during a virtual roundtable Tuesday about volatile Trump administration tariff policies, saying they’re driving up costs, stalling housing developments, and threatening key sectors of South Dakota’s economy. “It’s a really regressive tax,” council member John Hemmingstad, of Avalon Capital Group, said of tariffs.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Joshua Haiar

Toby Doeden announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of South Dakota during an event on May 28, 2025, in Aberdeen. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)ABERDEEN — Toby Doeden, an Aberdeen businessman, officially launched his campaign for governor of South Dakota on Wednesday evening, promising a sweeping overhaul of state government including the elimination of property taxes.