South Dakota

Final Day: Almost Arkansas

Published

2 years ago

July 4, 2024

I don’t know what the Internet thinks of my travels, but the pond butterflies at Fort Crowder shooting range found my bicycle (and me) quite interesting:

A few of these scaly-wingers tagged along for a few meters, but they all headed back to the water well before I reached the exit. Too bad—I could have used their help lifting my gear over the gate.

Yesterday was Day 5, the final planned day of my ride from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Bentonville, Arkansas. My dear wife is coming to retrieve me today—we’ll spend this evening and all Friday enjoying the local trails and shops, then head back en auto Saturday. Knowing Wednesday was my last hard day in the saddle, I could give it my all.

Hay hay! It’s America’s birthday! (The photo is from July 3, but the Founders voted for independence July 2 and dated the Declaration July 4, so we should always celebrate Independence for at least three days, right?)

Morning in Pittsburg was humid, and the radar showed rain west. But the sun wasn’t pounding yet, and the wind was down from yesterday, now just light and southwesterly. I think I can, I think I can…

Bike at rest, on good gravel south of Pittsburg, Missouri.

Done with Kansas, now putting Missouri miles on my bike!

Atomic veterans—those are our own guys we nuked.

The Dogwood Trail, by Carl Junction. Nice little gravel alternative, right next to Highway 171, away from traffic, into the fun! Supposed to go right across Center Creek, says Google Maps. There is no bridge on Dogwood Trail crossing Center Creek. The burrs fixed to my leg hairs from hauling my bike up the embankment back to 171 can testify.

…is right next to a gravel bike trail running through Joplin. I like a mix of prairie, forest, and urban post-apocalypse on my bike trails.

Wide clearing around that Joplin trail, easier to see the zombies lurching forth.

South of Joplin, the countryside turns really pretty.

These are exactly the kind of wooded roads I was hoping to find. I could ride country like this all day.

But boy, all those woods and fields and curvy roads do make a guy hungry:

Peking Garden in Neosho, Missouri, re-opened just a month ago.

I don’t Instagram my food much. I just took this photo of plate 1 of 3 and got down to business: lunch buffet and ice-cold lemonade refills.

Fort Crowder shooting range: the sign said Don’t enter during small-arms fire. I didn’t hear any small arms, so in I went. Luckily, south is the downhill direction through the range. Whee!

The trail out, back to more woodsy, curvy country roads.

View from a church camp where I filled my bottles from a blue hydrant and took a final long rest before pushing to Bentonville.

Feet in an unfamiliar position, for a few minutes.

Rocks along US 71. Not as scenic, not as shady, but I was ready to give my keester a rest with smooth pavement.

But then, just past Jane, Missouri, the one real disaster of the trip:

Plam! went my back tire! Grind grind grind went my less protected rim. I braked fast, looked under me, and saw a flat. The instantaneous deflation told me this was no simple thorn prick that my tire slime would fill, no nail or branch jab that I could plug. This was a one-inch tear in my rear tire. I don’t know if I hit some sharp metal or if the tire just gave out from some defect or the heat or the strain, but I didn’t spend a lot of time scanning for the cause. I was done riding. After 460 miles, just ten miles from terminus, not quite to the Arkansas border, I was done.

So, alas, the bicycling portion of my trip was only three states—Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. I don’t get to put any Arkansas miles on the Trek 1120, an otherwise mighty and comfy bike that experienced just one catastrophic failure. And boy, if the bike had to give up, it picked about the best place to quit that it could have, just a short hitch to my intended lodging rather than out in the rain Monday morning in Admire, Kansas, or any place else much farther from where I hoped to be.

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South Dakota

Is rent cheap in South Dakota? Report shows state is one of the most affordable for renters

Published

9 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Press Room

Is rent cheap in South Dakota? Report shows state is one of the most affordable for renters

The median rent in South Dakota is second-lowest among the 50 states, according to a new Construction Coverage report.

South Dakota’s median rent is $1,185 a month, less expensive than in all but one state, West Virginia, according to the report, which is based on federal housing data. Still, the median rent in South Dakota has increased in recent years – in 2024, it was $1,069 a month and the cheapest of any state.

The report also compares median rents in more than 380 cities, including Sioux Falls, which ranked among the least expensive at $1,257 a month.

The year-over-year rent increases nationwide have slowed after hitting a peak of nearly 9% in early 2023, dropping to less than 4% in late 2025, according to the report.

“While this slowdown marks a return to a more stable environment, renters continue to face steep housing costs due to the compounding effect of previous rent hikes,” the report says.

Here are cities and states where the median rent is most and least expensive.

What states have the highest median rent?

California, $2,895
Hawaii, $2,869
Massachusetts, $2,595
New York, $2,592
New Jersey, $2,373
Washington, $2,237
Florida, $2,220
Maryland, $2,195
New Hampshire, $2,143
Connecticut, $2,127

What states have the lowest median rent?

West Virginia, $1,126
South Dakota, $1,185
North Dakota, $1,201
Mississippi, $1,202
Iowa, $1,212
Arkansas, $1,231
Wyoming, $1,236
Kentucky, $1,239
Kansas, $1,247
Missouri, $1,275

How does the median rent in Sioux Falls compare with other cities?

The median rent in the Sioux Falls metro area is $1,257 a month, which ranks 310th out of 387 metro areas included in the report.

That’s an increase from 2024, when the Sioux Falls metro area’s median rent was $1,094 a month, the report says.

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Feb. 2, 2026

Published

21 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Feb. 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Feb. 2 drawing

03-08-31-60-65, Powerball: 04, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Feb. 2 drawing

27-34-36-39-47, Lucky Ball: 17

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from Feb. 2 drawing

10-30-40-47-50, Star Ball: 01, ASB: 05

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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South Dakota

South Dakota lawmakers not ready to call emergency medical services ‘essential’

Published

1 day ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

South Dakota lawmakers not ready to call emergency medical services ‘essential’

South Dakota doesn’t recognize emergency medical services as essential under state law, and that wouldn’t change under an ambulance bill passed Monday by a state Senate panel. A legal designation of “essential” in this case would have put the onus on state or local units of government to guarantee availability. A legislator-led summer study on […]

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