South Dakota

South Dakota Housing finding success with Grants for Grads

Published

1 year ago

September 14, 2024

South Dakota Housing finding success with Grants for Grads

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – With the current state of the economy, it can be easy for any recent college graduate to assume that buying a home is just not in the cards.

But with the Grants for Grads program, hundreds have already found out that homeownership is a possibility for them and it has been keeping young professionals in the state.

Previous Coverage: New state program to give recent grads grants for home ownership

South Dakota Housing Executive Director Chas Olson said that since early May, 365 recent graduates have realized their dreams of owning a home with grant funds that provide five percent of the loan amount and total around $4.5 million collectively.

“As you can probably imagine, we had a really big surge of applications in the early months and it’s really been steady ever since, so I think when you consider the context of today’s housing costs, high interest rates, the five percent is really proving to be a pretty significant aid to first-time home-buyers,” Olson explained.

Each grant is worth up to $18,000 and has been used for closing costs, paying off extra fees or pre-paying mortgage insurance premiums on FHA loans. It can also be used in tandem with seller concessions. However it gets used, it greatly reduces the financial burden for the homebuyer.

Mortgage lender Devin Malmgren enjoys being part of walking first-time homebuyers through the process of buying a home.

For some, the Grants for Grads program has made a purchase possible in the first place.

“It’s unbelievable because last week I gave away $27,000. The week prior, I gave away around $86,000. [It’s] giving these first-time home-buyers that type of money and setting them up for the future,” Malmgren said.

While it can be difficult to project how much longer the opportunity for grant money will be around, their target goal is to give out between 900 and 1,000 grants.

“We’re committed to hitting that 900 to 1000. It’s just going to depend on interest rate environments and the talk of the possible cuts from the feds. That could produce another surge,” Olson said.

Malmgren said he believes it might run out by the end of the year or in early 2025.

“We saw a significant rate drop over the last two weeks and with rates dropping, that demand is ticking up and so I’d anticipate that current pull-through rate of the grant program to increase and then deplete those funds even faster,” Malmgren explained. “It is limited time and it’s first come, first serve.”

Malmgren said that buying now still might not be the perfect opportunity for everyone.

He said it might be in the best interest of any recent college graduate interested in buying a home to talk things through with a mortgage lender or realtor to see what assistance they qualify for, what the mortgage payments might look like, and if it’s the right time to buy.

“As this program winds down, I know it’s a big concern and we get a lot of calls about when it’s going to go away, they don’t know if they want to lock in, interest rates may be coming down, that sort of thing. We’re going to do our best to communicate that to our lenders and to the public when the sun’s setting so to speak on the program. Hopefully, we have a couple of month’s notice so folks can plan accordingly,” Olson said.

So far, the program has lived up to everything they expected and is meeting its main goal.

“Keeping college graduates in the state helps bring new skills, fresh perspectives that contribute to our local workforce,” Olson said.

Experts say to keep an eye on interest rates as well as the number of homes on the market because that can dictate the demand. Higher demand might mean that the grant money could dry up sooner than later.

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South Dakota

Iowa football lands explosive running back L.J. Phillips Jr.

Published

9 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Iowa football lands explosive running back L.J. Phillips Jr.

IOWA CITY — South Dakota transfer running back L.J. Phillips Jr. has committed to Iowa football, he announced on Jan. 11.

Phillips had a breakout 2025 season, rushing for more than 1,900 yards, along with 19 touchdowns. He also added 28 catches for 195 yards receiving and one touchdown. Phillips was named a second-team FCS All-American by Phil Steele.

Phillips, listed at 5-foot-9 and 225 pounds, will come to Iowa with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

After rushing for more than 4,100 yards in his high school career, Phillips spent three seasons at South Dakota. During his time with the Coyotes, Phillips rushed for nearly 2,220 yards, along with 23 touchdowns. A majority of that production came in 2025. Phillips rushed for 96 yards while maintaining his redshirt in 2023 and then 176 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2024.

But his numbers exploded last season with some ridiculous performances. Phillips rushed 35 times for 301 yards and two touchdowns against Northern Colorado. He had four rushing touchdowns in two separate games. That includes a 244-yard, four-touchdown outing against Murray State. Phillips finished the season averaging 6.5 yards per rush.

Iowa has seen a pair of departures via the transfer portal in its running back room — Jaziun Patterson and Terrell Washington Jr. Patterson ranked third on the Hawkeyes in rushing yards during the 2025 season with 296.

Iowa still projects to have a talented running back room for the 2026 season. Kamari Moulton, who led Iowa with 878 rushing yards last season, still has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Nathan McNeil showed potential in his true freshman season. Xavier Williams tallied 285 yards on the ground as a redshirt freshman.

And now, Iowa adds another weapon to that room in Phillips. The Hawkeyes’ running back unit looks to be stacked entering the 2026 season.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com

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South Dakota

Pictures of semi-truck, name of woman released in Minnehaha County fatal crash

Published

21 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Pictures of semi-truck, name of woman released in Minnehaha County fatal crash

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has released the name of the woman who was killed in a fatal crash in Minnehaha County last week.

64-year-old Patricia Archambeau of Mitchell died on January 5 due to her injuries in a crash that took place in the early hours of Saturday, January 3.

Archambeau’s 2012 Chevrolet Traverse was traveling eastbound on I-90 near mile marker 379, about four miles west of Humboldt, when she attempted to pull off on the side of the road.

At the same time, the Traverse was struck by a semi-truck, also traveling eastbound, and pulling a trailer. The truck continued driving east after the crash and has yet to be located.

On Sunday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol released two images of the semi-truck suspected of hitting Archambeau’s Traverse. The two photos were taken on I-29 near 41st Street in Sioux Falls at 2:25 a.m., about 12 minutes after the crash west of Humboldt.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol has released two images of a semi-truck believed to be involved in a fatal crash that took place last Saturday in Minnehaha County.(South Dakota Highway Patrol)

Highway Patrol is seeking more information about a red Freightliner Cascadia semi-truck, missing its passenger-side headlight. If anyone has information, they’re asked to contact Highway Patrol at 605-367-5700.

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South Dakota

South Dakota knocks off Denver 82-72

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Cameron Fens scored 23 points as South Dakota beat Denver 82-72 on Saturday.

Fens also contributed 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Coyotes (9-9, 1-2 Summit League). Isaac Bruns scored 20 points while going 8 of 12 and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds. Jordan Crawford went 5 of 11 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) to finish with 13 points.

Gabe Oldham led the Pioneers (8-11, 1-3) in scoring, finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. Denver also got 19 points from Zane Nelson. Carson Johnson also put up 11 points and six assists.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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