Several top state officials are taking part in a South Dakota Trade mission to Japan and South Korea.

Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen is leading the delegation. He’s joined by Ag Secretary Hunter Roberts, Governor’s Office of Economic Development Commissioner Bill Even, South Dakota Trade President Jesse Fonkert as well as several business industry leaders.

Officials say the mission aims to strengthen commercial relationships with two of the nation’s most important allies in Asia. Both Japan and South Korea are top soybean export markets.

“We’re bringing a strong delegation and a clear message: South Dakota is Open for Opportunity, and our producers and businesses are ready to compete on the world stage,” Venhuizen said. “South Dakota is a state that punches far above its weight in agricultural production, and missions like this ensure buyers across the globe know just how strong our economy is.”

South Dakota Trade coordinates several missions like this each year. Recent delegations visited Mexico, Ireland, Canada and South Africa.

BROOKINGS — If Fort Worth ever crossed Aaron Johnston’s mind, it probably wasn’t to play the Washington Huskies.

But that’s the draw his Jackrabbits earned in the 2026 NCAA tournament.

SDSU earned an 11-seed and will face 6th-seeded Washington on Friday at TCU’s Schollmaier Arena.
The Huskies went 21-10 as members of the Big Ten this season. They are in their fifth season under coach Tina Langley, who took Washington to the First Four last year.

Should the Jacks get past the Huskies they’d face the winner of 3rd-seeded TCU and 14-seed UC-San Diego.

The Jackrabbits are 27-6 and headed to their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament and 14th under Johnston. They were the 2-seed in the Summit League tournament and knocked off No. 1 seed and regular season Summit League champion North Dakota State in the title game to punch their ticket to the Big Dance.

SDSU will bring a 10-game winning streak into the tournament.

The Jacks have six wins in the tournament among their 13 appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2019. They were a 10-seed last year and defeated 7th-seed Oklahoma State in the first round before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut in the second round.

The Summit League’s men’s champion, North Dakota State, earned a 14-seed and will play Michigan State in the first round.

In another interesting development with Summit League ties, three former USD Coyotes women’s coaches are in the tournament, and two of them are playing each other. While Amy Williams and Nebraska earned an at-large bid, Minnesota will host Green Bay in the first round. The Gophers are coached by former USD coach Dawn Plitzuweit and Green Bay’s coach is Kayla Karius, who followed Plitzuweit to Vermillion.

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.

(SOUTH DAKOTA SEARCHLIGHT) – A wildfire that’s grown to more than 11 square miles near the city of Custer in South Dakota’s Black Hills had not caused any injuries as of Saturday night but had damaged about 10 properties, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office said.

The damage ranges from sheds and garages “all the way up to some homes being lost,” said Sgt. Derrick Reifenrath in a video update on Facebook about the Qury Fire.

He said local road closures remained in effect and asked for patience as firefighting continued and hazards from heavy smoke and potentially falling trees remained.

But he said authorities would be allowing some people to visit their property if they pick up a tag at the Custer County Search and Rescue office. The tag will allow them to legally go around barricades, Reifenrath said.

He issued a warning to operators of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-side vehicles who were illegally driving on areas of the forest that firefighters cleared with bulldozers.

“You will be stopped, your name will be given to the Forest Service, and I assure you that they will prosecute you on that,” Reifenrath said.

What he called “dozer cuts” are parts of a vegetation-free line that firefighters are trying to achieve around the fire to halt its progress. Other segments could consist of lines cut by hand with shovels, as well as roads and natural barriers such as streams and rock outcroppings.

By Sunday morning, authorities said the firefighting force had grown to about 280 personnel. They estimated 2% of the fire was contained, while snow and higher humidity that moved into the area Saturday were expected to aid firefighting efforts, to a point. Too much snow could hinder firefighters’ movements, said the U.S. Forest Service’s Adam Ziegler during a Custer community meeting livestreamed to Facebook on Saturday.

Temporary flight restrictions remain in place. “Please do not fly any unauthorized aircraft over the fire,” said a news release from authorities. “If you fly, we can’t.”

News releases about the fire from state and federal officials have said the cause is under investigation. The Qury Fire started Thursday in a forested, mountainous area about 2 miles southeast of Custer in the southern Black Hills, where the winter has been unusually warm and dry. The fire’s size by Sunday morning was estimated at 7,200 acres.

On Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized the use of federal funding to fight the fire. At the time, FEMA reported that the fire was threatening more than 100 homes in the vicinity of Custer, as well as bridges, utilities, and radio and cellphone towers. Mandatory evacuations were in place for more than 100 people and a shelter had been opened in Custer.

The funding authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75% of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under a grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires. The grant does not provide assistance to individual home or business owners, FEMA said, and does not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.

How to find up-to-date Qury Fire information

For the most up-to-date information on Qury Fire evacuations and road closures, authorities are directing people to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office and its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/custercountysd.

Authorities are also updating a Facebook page created for the fire at https://www.facebook.com/QuryFire2026/, and information is available on the InciWeb interagency fire website at https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/sdbkf-qury-Fire.

Fire information is available by phone at (605) 673-8155 and by email at 2026.qury@firenet.gov.

Seth is editor-in-chief of South Dakota Searchlight. He was previously a supervising senior producer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and a newspaper journalist in Rapid City and Mitchell.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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