The highway checkpoints implemented by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in north-central South Dakota have been all over the news as Governor Kristi Noem has threatened legal action unless the tribe removes them. But the roadblocks are only a small part of the efforts by the tribute to protect its people from the COVID-19 pandemic.  The stalemate between the governor and the Cheyenne River and Oglala Lakota Sioux tribes remains, with checkpoints on state and federal highways still in place and Noem seeking but not yet finding a resolution to the conflict.

A group of business leaders and volunteers with almost no journalism training or experience has banded together to launch a local weekly newspaper in Kingsbury County, S.D., where two weekly papers were closed on April 1 due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stacey Twiggs is one of the “uncounted” unemployed people in South Dakota.

The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed the U.S. meatpacking industry, but public health experts say the risks posed to workers and the U.S. food supply chain by airborne viral infections were readily apparent and could have been addressed years ago.

This one-block stretch of road on the west side of the Freeman Public School campus remained closed Tuesday morning as city workers continued the repair at the intersection of College and Walnut streets. Additional concrete is being poured to fix the broken street caused by the hard winter and spring of 2019.

It was windy but warm in Freeman on Sunday night, which saw a handful of swimmers enjoy the second evening of the swimming pool season locally. The pool opened to the public Saturday, June 13 following the action of the Freeman City Council earlier that week.

Flags at the Freeman Area Veterans Memorial blow in the strong winds Sunday morning, June 14. Windy conditions have been the norm for much of the month and are expected to continue to the days to come. Sunday is also Flag Day, which is celebrated in the United States every June 14 to commemorate the day in 1777 that the Second Continental Congress resolved to adopt the country’s flag.

When the Freeman School Board meets for its monthly meeting Monday, June 15, it will be the last one for Kerry Hofer, who first took a seat on the board in 2005 and spent four of his 15 years as president.  Hofer was defeated by challenger Cody Fransen in last week’s June 2 election. Fransen won 294-233, earning 55.7% of the vote. He will take office at the July meeting and join Slade Ammann, Corey Gall, Mark Miller and Kyle Weier on the five-member board.

It’s a new-look Freeman City Council. Twenty-eight years and two weeks after first taking the oath of office as Freeman mayor, Michael Walter is back in the chair after winning election over Terry Waterman in last week’s June 2 election. The 64-year-old was sworn in as the city’s highest elected official as the council reorganized at the Freeman Community Center meeting room for a new year Monday night, June 8.  Blaine Saarie also joined the council Monday night after running unopposed for the expiring Ward 2 seat held by Russ Becker.

To accurately and completely realize the impact the Freeman Community Foundation has had on local non-profits, all you have to do is look at the numbers: • $8,000 for the Freeman Public Library’s building project in 2004; • $2,000 to the Freeman Baseball Association to help with start-up costs for four new teams in 2006; • $2,000 to the Freeman Regional Health Services Auxiliary for a new stove in the dietary department at Oakview Terrace in 2008; • $5,000 for a new play system at Freeman Elementary in 2010;