South Dakota
Owner of ‘only comedy club in South Dakota’ shares importance of Black Hills community
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – There’s a saying that goes, “Laughter is the best form of medicine,” and one new business is bringing that medication to the corner of 7th and Saint Joseph Streets.
West River Comedy Club had its grand opening earlier this month and what makes this place so unique is “it’s the only comedy club in South Dakota,” according to Trevor Ryan, owner of West River Comedy Club.
Ryan is a stand-up comedian who has been touring and hosting with West River Comedy in the Black Hills since 2019.
“We wanted our space for so long, so we were able to make that leap and sign a lease here and get something going,” Ryan said.
Ryan said the name and location of the venue came about because, “‘West River is the best river,’ you know? So, I just wanted to name it because I just love this area.”
Before opening West River Comedy Club, Ryan started open mic night at Aby’s.
“I was trying to find a place that was eclectic enough that, you know, where the misfit toys could go hang out, and Aby’s was perfect for that,” Ryan said, “They stuck with us whether we had two people or twenty people.”
Keeping the local feel, you can enjoy brews from breweries around the Black Hills and food from Ugly Graffiti before the show.
“We’re such a tight-knit community in this town. You know one person, you know six other people that knows that person. So, these people have been encouraging to me, and I wanted to pay it forward, plus they make good beer,” Ryan said.
Besides supporting other local businesses, Ryan said he wanted to give back to the community and have something open regularly.
“We don’t always have something to do for the locals, you know, when the tourists come in, things ramp up and there’s a lot more events,” Ryan added. “But I wanted to do something year-round because shoot, we live here year-round right? So, I wanted to make sure we take care of the locals.”
Ryan doesn’t just own the comedy club, he also makes appearances on stage.
“I still perform from time to time. You know, I’m an only child and I need the attention so every now and then I’ll still be on the stage,” Ryan said.
If you do plan on getting a good laugh, Ryan recommends getting your tickets early and online.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KOTA. All rights reserved.
South Dakota
South Dakota’s state cheer & dance, cross country championships scheduled for this weekend
This is a big weekend for South Dakota high school sports, with state championship events scheduled for competitive cheer and dance and cross country.
The 19th annual cheer and dance competition is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 24 (Class A) and Saturday, Oct. 25 (Class AA) in the Watertown Civic Arena.
The three-class state cross country meet is slated for Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron.
Here’s some pertinent details from each of the state events.
Cheer & Dance
- Where & When — Friday and Saturday in the Watertown Civic Arena.
- Schedule — Class A competition will run from 5:15 p.m. to around 7:20 p.m. on Friday, with awards scheduled for approximately 8 p.m. Class AA competition opens at 11:15 a.m. Saturday and continues past 3 p.m. with awards to follow at about 3:30 p.m. (Dance teams can perform in two of three dance categories: hip hop, jazz and pom).
- Teams & Defending Champions — Class A features 20 schools in cheer and six dance. Sioux Valley has won all 18 cheer titles in state history and Dakota Valley has won the past 15 dance titles. Class AA includes 19 schools in cheer and 18 in dance. Defending champion Harrisburg has won two of the past three cheer titles and Brandon Valley is the four-time defending champion in dance.
- Judges — Cheer: Performance judges include Renee Cummings of Watertown (head judge), Christian Bennett of Pierre and Krista Inman of Rapid City and safety judges are Brandy Gangle of Lake City and Katrina Schnabel of Aberdeen. Dance: Performance judges are Tammy Griffith of Aberdeen (head judge), Dacia Starks of Pierre and Darcy Nagel of Rapid City along with safety officials Taylor Hageman of Watertown and Salena Reimer of Sioux Falls.
- Awards — Grand champions will be crowned in cheer and dance with other awards related to the number of teams in each division.
- Tickets — Tickets for adults are $15 and students $10 per day.
- Northeastern South Dakota Squads — Area Class A competitive cheer squads include Deubrook Area, Elkton-Lake Benton, Faulkton Area, Iroquois-Lake Preston and Sioux Valley. There are no area Class A dance squads. Watertown and Aberdeen Central each will field cheer and dance squads in Class AA.
Cross Country
- Where & When — Saturday at the Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron.
- Schedule — Races (all 5,000 meters) include Class A boys at noon, Class AA boys at 12:30 p.m., Class B boys at 1 p.m., Class A girls at 1:30 p.m., Class AA girls at 2 p.m. and Class B girls at 2:30 p.m. Awards will be held following the conclusion on the final race.
- Returning Individual Champions — Returning individual race champions include Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern, Class B girls; Faith Wiese of Flandreau, Class A girls; and Brianna Reilly of Harrisburg, Class AA girls; Tate Grabow of Hill City, Class A boys and Cole Reilly of Sioux Falls Washington, Class A boys. There will be a new champion crowned in Class B boys.
- Defending Team Champions — Kimball-White Lake (Class B girls), Sioux Falls Christian (Class A girls, 3-time), Harrisburg (Class AA girls), Philip (Class B boys, 3-time), Sioux Falls Christian (Class A boys) and Sioux Falls Lincoln (Class AA boys, 2-time).
- Officials — Tim Casper of Lake Preston, meet referee; Bob DeBoer of Huron, assistant meet referee and starters Tina Baum and Steve Carron of Huron.
- Awards — The top 25 indivdiuals and six teams in each division receive awards.
- Tickets — Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students in grades 1-12.
- Northeastern South Dakota Runners — The field includes 14 area runners in Class AA girls (Watertown and Aberdeen Central), 31 in Class A girls (including school eligible for team honors Milbank, Aberdeen Roncalli, Sioux Valley and Clark-Willow Lake), 35 in Class B girls (eligible teams Gettysburg, Herreid-Selby Area, Ipswich, Arlington, Northwestern and Deubrook Area), 14 in Class AA boys (Watertown and Aberdeen Central), 29in Class A boys (eligible teams Milbank, Deuel and Sisseton) and 35 in Class B boys (eligible teams North Central, Frederick Area, Herreid-Selby Area and Northwestern).
ESD Cheer & Dance
A number of the Class AA cheer and dance squads tuned up for state by competing in the ESD Championships on Oct. 16 at Brookings.
Harrisburg won the cheer division for the eighth-straight year with a score of 295.5, followed by Brookings (288.0), Watertown (275.5), Yankton (245.5), Tea Area and Mitchell (each 244.5), Huron and Pierre (each 213.5), Brandon Valley (192.5) and Aberdeen Central (188.5).
Brandon Valley won the dance division for a third-straight year with 40 points, followed by Harrisburg with 39, Yankton and Pierre each 37, Aberdeen Central 35, Watertown 33, Tea Area 32, Mitchell and Brookings each 29 and Huron 26.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
WASHINGTON – A water main break in northeast D.C. is causing delays to the morning commute Thursday morning.
The break was reported in the 4700 block of South Dakota Avenue around 7 a.m.
South Dakota Avenue, between Crittenden Street and Sargent Road, is closed to traffic while emergency crews work to fix the damage.
Drivers are urged to seek alternative routes.
Delays along South Dakota Avenue in DC after water main break
The Source: Information in this article comes from the FOX 5 Traffic Team.
Strings attached to bills Newsom signed on antisemitism, AI transparency and other major California policies
‘The first half was about as good of football as we’ve played here’: Utah dominates Colorado in QB Byrd Ficklin’s first start
‘We were champions’: How Patrick Sellers has rebuilt Central Connecticut State men’s basketball
Delaware officials recommend ways to reduce fatal overdoses after 2 years of decreases
Florida Lottery Powerball, Lotto, Cash4Life results for Oct. 25, 2025
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Video: How Trump Is Getting Some Workers Paid Despite the Shutdown
Trump to jet off to Asia as North Korea fires ballistic missiles and China trade questions loom
Slovakia's Robert Fico in talks with Viktor Orbán about his Smer party joining Patriots for Europe
It’s been a rollercoaster few years for Six Flags. Can Travis Kelce help?
Map: Minor Earthquake Strikes Southern California
-
World5 days agoIsrael continues deadly Gaza truce breaches as US seeks to strengthen deal
-
News4 days agoVideo: Federal Agents Detain Man During New York City Raid
-
Technology5 days agoAI girlfriend apps leak millions of private chats
-
News5 days agoBooks about race and gender to be returned to school libraries on some military bases
-
News5 days agoTrump news at a glance: president can send national guard to Portland, for now
-
New York2 days agoVideo: How Mamdani Has Evolved in the Mayoral Race
-
Politics5 days agoTrump admin on pace to shatter deportation record by end of first year: ‘Just the beginning’
-
Business5 days agoUnionized baristas want Olympics to drop Starbucks as its ‘official coffee partner’