Sd Newspapers News Today

Last November, the SDHSAA board of directors officially adopted girls high school softball as a sanctioned sport in South Dakota, and then in January of this year, a decision was made to make it a spring sport. The Mt. Rushmore state was the last state in the nation to sanction high school girls softball. In its inaugural season, Tea Area High School’s softball team claimed State A runner-up honors at the first-ever sanctioned State A Tournament held in Aberdeen June 1-3. The Titans began thei...

The academic achievements of the best and brightest students from the Class of 2023 were recognized recently at the 33rd annual Academic Excellence Recognition luncheon. Gov. Kristi Noem and the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD) honored students who were identified as the top 1% of their senior class, from the state’s Public, Private and Tribal/BIE schools on Monday, April 24. Students designated as their high school’s honorees received a certificate, South Dakota pin and the ...

University of South Dakota students took up a significant presence in the South Dakota State Capitol this past legislative session, holding 12 out of 22 internship positions with the state legislature. Among them was Taylor Van Emmerik, a freshman double majoring in Economics and Political Science at the University of South Dakota. “I think this is a real testament to the aptitude, diligence and aspirations of our students,” said Eric Jepsen, Ph.D., coordinator of undergraduate studies and a...

Taylor Ernster turned a hobby into a business so successful it was one of 10 South Dakota companies to make the Inc. 5000 list of fastestgrowing private companies in the U.S. in 2022. “We never in a million years thought we’d be building a brand versus just selling something,” he says. “Now, we’re thinking about the next five or 10 years.” Vanilla Bean Kings started in the basement of Taylor’s home almost a decade ago. Today it distributes premium vanilla and other similar products...

In January of 2022, the South Dakota High School Activities Association Board of Directors decided that South Dakota would hold its first-ever softball season in the spring of 2023. While the weather doesn’t exactly scream spring, the inaugural season of high school softball is underway. History was made on Monday, Apr. 3 when the Tea Area High School girls’ softball competed in their very first game of the season. The Titans started the season in fashion, getting the 17-2 victory over Elk P...

The Tea Area Community Foundation recently awarded nearly $9,000 in grants to help local nonprofit organizations. “Our endowment fund continues to grow because of strong community support, allowing us to award grants for a variety of exceptional projects and causes that will truly make an impact,” the TACF announced. “Interest in our grants was exceptionally high, with applications far exceeding the amount of money that was available.” The TACF typically presents the grants to recipients...

Tea Community Food Distribution Feb. 25 Food Response team began providing supplemental food to members of the community in need. At that time it was a subcommittee of the Tea Area Food Pantry. Although the stress of Covid continues to affect a large group, the reality is that food insecurity in the area is something that will likely not go away. According to feedingsouthdakota.org, food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy lif...

Family owned sanitation business finding success in Tea Ruby and Justin Zuraff of Tea, South Dakota have been operating Roo’s Sanitation business out of Tea for the last four years. While some might not be too excited about starting their own business or diving into the sanitation business it has worked out well for the Zuraff family. Justin Zuraff grew up with parents who ran their own business, that inspired him to own his own business one day. Zuraff never knew what he wanted to do but a...

Two healthcare workers share COVID-19 vaccine experience South Dakota received its first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines in December. According to the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, those first doses were for individuals in priority group Phase 1A, which included frontline healthcare workers and long-term care facility workers. Independent Publishing Reporter Crystal Dickelman, who also works full-time in healthcare, qualified. “Frontline workers everywhere were given the option to rec...