South Dakota
Governor to make call on immigration sanctuary cities ban after House passage • South Dakota Searchlight
A bill barring cities, counties or schools from acting as safe havens for undocumented immigrants in South Dakota is headed to the governor’s desk after a 62-6 vote in the state House of Representatives.
Lawmakers are considering several bills this legislative session dealing with immigration. Senate Bill 7, the first of those bills to pass both chambers, would prohibit the state and its political subdivisions from adopting any policy to prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities or disciplining officers who do.
There are no South Dakota cities or counties where police or sheriff’s deputies have refused to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-Spearfish.
“Potentially, if we didn’t pass this legislation, maybe we would,” Fitzgerald said in response to a question from Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls. “This is really a proactive bill, a proactive step toward making our state safe.”
Noem calls deportation protection for Venezuelans ‘contrary to the national interest’
The bill is meant in part as a statement of support on the state level for the immigration law enforcement actions undertaken by the Trump administration, Fitzgerald said.
“President Trump vowed to make America safe again, and as we’ve seen since January 20, he is living up to that promise with thousands of arrests and ICE detainers,” she said. “The South Dakota Legislature is not in charge of border security, but we are affected by the criminals who have entered the United States illegally.”
Wittman voted against the bill. There’s no need to address an issue if it doesn’t exist, she argued, but there could be unintended consequences. Migrant victims of domestic violence may be less likely to call for help for fear of detention, she said, and a statement of support for federal raids will serve to sour relationships between migrants and the members of law enforcement who may need their help investigating criminal activity.
The bill’s easy passage through the House – it cleared the House Local Government committee 12-1, with Wittman the lone opponent – follows an even smoother trajectory in the Senate. The upper chamber placed SB 7 on its consent calendar, passing it unanimously and with no debate alongside three other uncontested bills.
Gov. Rhoden’s office did not immediately respond to a question on whether he’ll sign SB 7.
Two other proposals tied to immigration advanced Monday, as well.
The Senate sent legislation to the House that would add language to state law and the state constitution saying it’s illegal for noncitizens to vote in South Dakota elections.
Federal law already says only U.S. citizens may vote in federal elections. But Sen John Carley, R-Piedmont, said there is nothing in state law specifying that a person must be a U.S. citizen to vote in South Dakota elections.
“We have always just assumed this is required,” Carley said.
His bill contains language to that effect and would also make voting by noncitizens a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine.
The other bill, from Sen. Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, would ask voters to put similar language in the state constitution on Election Day in 2026. The constitution can only be amended by voters.
Asked by South Dakota Searchlight if the bills are redundant, Carley said his bill is needed to put a law in place with a penalty now while the Legislature waits to see if the ballot measure wins approval later.
Carley said the two bills are part of a “trifecta of safeguards” against noncitizens voting. The third bill, from Sen. Amber Hulse, R-Hot Springs, would require driver’s licenses and identification cards to indicate whether the licensee is a U.S. citizen. Identification is required to cast a ballot in South Dakota.
The Senate sent that bill to the House last week.
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South Dakota
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A squishy stress toy that’s been sitting on store shelves for years is suddenly becoming one of the hottest items in South Dakota, thanks to the power of social media.
NeeDoh, a line of sensory squeeze toys made by Schylling, has exploded in popularity on TikTok, where videos of people squeezing, stretching, and collecting the colorful toys have racked up millions of views. The viral attention is now translating into real-world demand, with retailers across the country struggling to keep them in stock.
At Child’s Play Toys in Sioux Falls, owner Nancy Savage recently announced a new shipment during a Facebook Live video.
Within hours, both Sioux Falls locations had sold out.
“So I’ve been in business, this November will be 17 years, and I have never seen anything like this,” Savage said. “It is the craziest thing.”
The frenzy isn’t limited to Sioux Falls.
At Black Hills Rally & Gold in Sturgis, manager Madison Bestgen said the store ordered what they believed would be enough inventory to last through the summer.
Instead, the shipment disappeared in less than two days.
“We made an order that we thought was going to get us all the way to the end of summer, and then when we got it in at the end of February, it lasted like a day and a half,” Bestgen said. “At that moment, we were like, ‘Oh yeah, this has blown up. This is something bigger than we thought.’”
The toys themselves aren’t new.
Both stores have carried NeeDoh products for nearly a decade and have built a steady customer base among children and adults alike.
But that changed once the product gained traction online.
“We had them out for people to play with, we’ve shown them to people, people with arthritis, we’ve sold them to so many adults, but all of a sudden, it went viral,” Savage said.
The surge in popularity has become a textbook example of what retailers call the “TikTok Effect,” where a single viral trend can transform an ordinary product into a sensation.
“It can change anything overnight into something absolutely wild,” Bestgen said.
The demand has been so intense that customers are traveling significant distances in search of the toys.
“We have people coming from everywhere,” Bestgen said. “We have people from Rapid City, Spearfish, Gillette, even, that are driving just because they want these NeeDohs.”
Savage has seen similar enthusiasm in Sioux Falls, especially when she goes live on Facebook to tell everyone.
“This is kind of a funny one, but at one of the salons downtown, somebody was getting their nails done, and the light popped up, and both the nail tech and the person getting their nails done ran down to pick up NeeDoh,” she said with a laugh.
NeeDoh’s popularity has also sparked a treasure-hunt mentality among collectors as stores wait for new shipments to arrive.
Savage believes that’s creating something positive beyond the sales numbers.
“It’s a fun, fairly inexpensive summer activity for people to go on a NeeDoh hunt and go around town looking for NeeDoh,” she said. “I think that is building community.”
Whether it’s the stress relief, the satisfying squish, or simply the influence of social media, retailers say the craze shows no signs of slowing down.
More information on Black Hills Rally & Gold Inc. can be found here.
More information on Child’s Play Toys can be found here, and the upcoming drop on Savage’s Facebook live can be found here.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
It’s an annual tradition, a sensation of the summertime – the Oahe Days Music & Arts Festival, a weekend-long congregation of vendors, crafters, makers and entertainers, ushering in the season with food and fun.
“It’s a huge event, an entire weekend completely free, everything is completely free – granted, you know, we have the carnival, we have a full slate of activities, (but) there’s something for everyone,” John Sterling, Vice President of the Oahe Days Music & Arts Festival, told the Capital Journal. “We have a magician going right now, earlier she was doing balloon animals, there was a canine show, they were doing canine stunts.”
Iain Woessner
Oahe Days consists of shows, food, the carnival section and a diverse collection of vendor tents, selling everything from knives and kitchenware to fresh-baked bread, vintage antique pottery, jewelry, stones and crystals, artwork to spices.
The air rings with peals of laughter as children race from magic shows to ferris wheels and adults indulge in fried food, funnel cakes, gyros and barbecue. In a town where families remain the cornerstone of community culture, Oahe Days is evident in its focus on family-friendly-fun.
“I think this is a fantastic community event and it brings out children, families and everybody and I think this is critical to the future of Pierre and Central South Dakota,” Kevin Larsen of Pierre/Fort Pierre Kiwanis said. “This is really one of those community activities that has sustained for many years and I’d like to encourage more volunteers. That’s what makes this event a success, the volunteers.”
The event relies on volunteers to help in the unsung and unseen logistics of something on this scale, and the organizers of Oahe Days echoed the need for the community to continue to invest time and money to keep the beloved event alive.
Iain Woessner
“There is a call for volunteers,” Julie Diedrich, President of the Oahe Days Music & Arts Festival, said. “If you are a local business and you want to contribute to making this a free event, we’re always open to donations and (regarding volunteers), it can be a little or just volunteering throughout the weekend.”
It’s not just in the official elements that the community works to keep Oahe Days going – beloved events are organized and integrated into the Festival by members of the community themselves, demonstrating the collaborative spirit of the event. This is best exemplified by the Soggy Bottom Race, a cardboard boat race that had once been held every year before going on an extended hiatus, only to have been revived last year by locals who missed it.
“I think that Oahe Days is such a good event, it brings everybody down here, and I used to participate in the cardboard boat race myself, I always had a ton of fun building the boats and it’s super fun. We thought it was something that had been missing,” Blake Severyn with the Independent Insurance Agents of South Dakota, told the Capital Journal.
The Soggy Bottom Race serves nonprofits in the area as well, with entry fees going to a different organization each year, this year supporting Soterra. Boats are judged both on the skill of their crews in navigating the river as they race to the other shore and also on their craftsmanship, with each cardboard boat boasting a unique and fun design.
Of course, half the fun is wondering which of the colorful cardboard crafts will actually prove seaworthy.
“Some of them won’t make it more than six feet and some of them will make it all the way,” Severyn said.
The spirit fueling Oahe Days, from its concerts to its competitions, is one of local pride.
“This is our event, it is the event of the summer in Pierre, it kicks off summer officially and it’s what people look forward to year after year,” Sterling said.
Iain Woessner is the editor of the Capital Journal in Pierre, South Dakota. Iain can be reached by calling 605-307-5502, ext. 5012, or emailing Iain.woessner@capjournal.com.
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