The Daily Slice, your Black Hills news podcast in under 10 minutes. Delivered every morning Monday-Friday at homesliceaudio.com/dailyslice
Western Dakota Regional Water System plans campaign as West River water concerns grow
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Western Dakota Regional Water System (WDRWS) will be launching a public facing campaign in January to bring awareness to water availability in Western South Dakota’s future. Studies show population growth and the expansion at Ellsworth Air Force Base will contribute to the straining of the region’s water supply. To address this need, Western Dakota Regional Water System has spent five years working on a multifaceted plan to construct a 165-mile pipeline from the Missouri River to Western South Dakota to provide bulk water to local systems which has both state and federal support. The proposed pipeline would cost about $4.5 billion dollars. (Full story)
West River ranchers, rural residents face water shortages
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Some West River ranchers and rural residents are facing challenges due to their water wells running slow or in some cases, not at all. Three years of drought and limited winter snowfalls – coupled with increased demand by a growing population – have put pressure on underground aquifers that provide well water to thousands of rural South Dakota ranches and residences. Some rely on water haulers, who are having an extremely busy summer, filling cattle tanks and cisterns at homes where wells are slow or dry. Others are tapping into a little-known series of self-serve water stations provided by municipalities across the Black Hills and at an asphalt company in Rapid City. Recent rains in West River have moistened the ground somewhat, but experts say long-term, steady precipitation is needed to recharge aquifers that are running low. (Full story)
Huante sentenced in death of Dallas Quick Bear
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Timothy Huante WAHN TEH has entered an Alford plea to accessory to murder in connection with the February 2022, death of 30-year-old Dallas Quick Bear at Teddy’s Bar in Rapid City. Huante WAHN TEH was sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law. The plea follows more than four years of litigation as the State sought to hold Huante WAHN TEH accountable for Quick Bear’s death, including an appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court that resulted in a ruling favorable to the State. Huante WAHN TEH has been incarcerated in the Pennington County Jail since his arrest in 2022. Following today’s sentencing, he was remanded for transport to the South Dakota State Penitentiary to serve the remainder of his five-year sentence. (Full story)
Rapid City Arts Council invites photographers to submit work for Afterimage
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Rapid City Arts Council (RCAC) invites photographers to explore the relationship between photography and memory in Afterimage, a juried exhibition examining what lingers after a moment has passed Photographers in three age categories are invited to submit work through the Dahl Arts Center website by January 8 for the opportunity to be exhibited in spring 2027. The juried exhibition will offer cash prizes across categories. More information is available at thedahl.org/photoshow. (Full story)
Family identifies Texas man among those killed in Grand Canyon flood as rescuers search for missing
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — The bodies of a Texas chiropractor and at least one other person have been found after a major weekend flash flood swept through the Grand Canyon, and forecasters warned more flooding was possible as heavy rain shrouded the canyon walls. Saturday’s flash flood severely damaged the only water pipeline into the canyon. Officials have barred tourists from staying at lodges and hotels inside Grand Canyon National Park and issued emergency water restrictions for year-round residents. More than a dozen hikers, including two on a dream trip with their chiropractor friend, remain missing Monday following waves of rain in the Bright Angel Creek area of the tourist destination that hosts 4.4 million visitors a year. (Full story)
DA says a teen who recorded San Diego mosque shooting livestream has been charged with murder
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A North Carolina district attorney says a 17-year-old girl who recorded a livestream of a shooting that killed three people at a San Diego mosque and who disseminated the attackers’ white-supremacist writings has been charged with murder by aiding and abetting. The charges were announced Monday at a news conference. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill says the girl was arrested last week and indicted by a grand jury Monday, just before she was due to begin the school year. The girl’s attorney says in an email that his client is innocent of the charges. The teen was identified in court records as Sarah L. Santiago. (Full story)
Amid backlash, museum cancels planned Met Gala exhibit on fashion designer John Galliano
NEW YORK (AP) — The Metropolitan Museum of Art is canceling its planned exhibit honoring British designer John Galliano, which had led to severe backlash in the Jewish community and beyond because of the designer’s past antisemitic and racist statements. The museum said Monday the exhibit, which had been planned as the May 2027 spring Costume Institute show launching the annual Met Gala, will be replaced by another show to be announced later. Galliano was long recognized as one of the fashion world’s biggest talents and was at the pinnacle of that world for years as creative director of Christian Dior. He was fired from the post when a series of racist and antisemitic comments from 2010 and 2011 surfaced and went viral, leading to his conviction in an antisemitism trial in France. (Full story)
