The Daily Slice, your Black Hills news podcast in under 10 minutes. Delivered every morning Monday-Friday at homesliceaudio.com/dailyslice
Fire restrictions increase to Stage 2 across Black Hills National Forest
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Stage 2 fire restrictions will take effect Monday, July 27, across the Black Hills National Forest due to severe fire weather and extended drought conditions. Open fires, campfires, charcoal grills and outdoor smoking are prohibited, with limited exceptions for liquid- or gas-fueled devices used in cleared areas. Welding, explosives and off-road vehicle travel are also restricted. Hiking, biking and travel on established Forest Service roads and trails remain allowed. Violations may result in fines of up to $5,000 for individuals, $10,000 for organizations and up to six months in jail. (Full story)
Rosebud Sioux Tribe to build $4.6 million behavioral health treatment facility
ROSEBUD, S.D. — The Rosebud Sioux Tribe plans to build a $4.6 million, 8,400-square-foot outpatient behavioral health treatment facility adjacent to its detoxification center and near the Indian Health Service emergency department. The facility will provide mental health, suicide prevention, crisis intervention and substance use treatment services and house the Wiconi Wakan Health and Healing Center. The project is funded by nearly $5.4 million in grants from the Thomas W. Haas Foundation and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, including first-year operating costs. Construction will expand behavioral health services in one centralized location. (Full story)
Badlands National Park earns International Dark Sky certification
INTERIOR, S.D. — Badlands National Park has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park, becoming the first and only designated Dark Sky Place in South Dakota, the Badlands National Park Conservancy announced. The conservancy led the multi-year effort by providing private funding to increase dark-sky compliant lighting in the park from 33% in 2018 to more than 93% today. The designation places the park among about 10% of National Park Service sites with the certification and is expected to strengthen astrotourism, which often increases visitation by 20% to 40%, benefiting nearby communities. (Full story)
Highway 16 interchange project, Healing Way development move forward in Rapid City
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Construction continues on Dream Design’s 25-acre Healing Way development at Catron Boulevard and U.S. Highway 16, where paving and utilities are expected to be completed by Thanksgiving to prepare the site for future hotels, restaurants, commercial and medical facilities. Meanwhile, the South Dakota Department of Transportation plans to reconstruct the Highway 16/Catron interchange from 2026 to 2031 with multiple phases, including overpass construction, resurfacing and detours. SDDOT will hold a public information meeting on the project at 5 p.m. Aug. 4 at Black Hills Energy, 7001 Mount Rushmore Road. (Full story)
US and Iran pause their attacks after days of escalation
CAIRO (AP) — The United States has not attacked Iran for a second day, and Tehran says it has also halted attacks. This pause comes amid efforts to resume negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal. The U.S. previously targeted Iranian coastal areas after Iran fired at ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon has not commented on the pause. Mediation efforts by countries like Pakistan and Qatar remain unclear. Concerns about shipping in the region persist, especially with threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Talks with Oman about safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz are ongoing, with some progress reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to Washington and meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday. (Full story)
Cheaper, open and intelligent: Chinese AI models gain ground, as they make inroads in the US
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese AI models are gaining popularity in the U.S. for their affordability and efficiency. More American executives and companies are switching to Chinese models by startups such as DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and Z.ai for daily tasks. These models are way cheaper and nearly as advanced as those of their U.S. rivals, technology analysts say. The rapid rise of Chinese AI this year, with stronger players beyond last year’s DeepSeek moment, highlights the increasingly competitive AI race between the U.S. and China. Despite blocks on their access to some advanced technologies, Chinese models have become serious global competitors to their U.S. counterparts. Analysts say U.S. models are still superior overall, but Chinese open-source models are closing the gap. (Full story)
For some, so-called ‘Skynet Day’ came too close to sci-fi after a rogue agent hacked into a startup
In 1984, the Skynet of “The Terminator” films were science fiction. But it looks more and more realistic in 2026 after OpenAI agent broke out of a test corral, traveled the internet and hacked into Hugging Face, another company, to solve a problem. The company said the breach was “unprecedented,” heightening fears of AI acting outside human control. Experts see it as a cautionary tale on the need for more AI defense engineering. But popular culture influences how people think. And people have been debating the ethics of AI for generations. (Full story)
