News

Corn Exchange Bank — now BankStar — celebrates 100 years next week.

At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 1938, cashier Robert Petschow stood behind the counter at the first teller window of the Corn Exchange Bank. The bank, located at the corner of Elk Street and East 2nd Street, occupied the south half of the building with an angled entry door at the corner.

The Brookings Rotary Club hosted Mayor Ope Niemeyer and City Manager Paul Briseno as featured speakers at its March 3 meeting. City Councilor and Rotarian Lisa Hager assisted.

Voters in South Dakota will soon be able to challenge other voters’ citizenship.

South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden will decide if the state helps to pay for some school meals after the state Senate voted 20-14 on Monday to endorse the idea.

Dems plan St. Paddy’s meal; Elkton High plans blood drive; Volunteer of the month named

Two pieces of a property tax reduction package prepared by South Dakota’s legislative leadership and the executive branch are moving forward, but one bill failed during votes on Monday as lawmakers began the final week of the annual legislative session.

The Brookings Regional Growth Alliance now has a name and a leader.

Former South Dakota governor moving to new special envoy job

Local artist makes reality like paintings at Brookings Arts Council show

Heaton will be sentenced for felony in May

A structure fire left a machine shed and its contents a likely total loss on Monday afternoon, according to a release from the Brookings County Sheriff’s Department.

Brookings Health System has been recognized as a six-year champion to Newsweek’s list of World’s Best Hospitals.

Besides 120 acres of prime downtown real estate, Sioux Falls city leaders got something that has sometimes been elusive over the history of the Smithfield pork plant: An assurance that it’s not leaving.

Jackhammer Spiel concludes; School phone ban fails; Police warn of scam emails; Cancer screening event; Crabtree ends U.S. House run

7-term Sheriff to retire from law enforcement at end of his term.

Nearly half of South Dakota children under the age of 5 are not on the right track to start school and find early success in the classroom, a rate that puts the state near the bottom in school readiness across the country.

Burglaries at Twin City Fan; Wreck near White injures pair; DUI checkpoints planned for March; Man treated for hypothermia; Museum elects boards

The Brookings Rotary Club welcomed Corey Shelsta, Professor of Theatre at South Dakota State University, for a presentation titled “Design on a Smaller Scale – The Art of Cheese and Charcuterie Boards.”

For the eleventh consecutive year, Brookings Health System has been included by The Chartis Center for Rural Health on the Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals list.

The South Dakota Senate voted Tuesday to approve legislation that would ban student cellphone use during the school day, unless the use is for a health or educational purpose.

Local curling club has spiel planned as Olympics heat up.

On looking back at where we were via newspaper

Brookings Beacon managing editor Josh Linehan invited me to write a companion piece to accompany his column on a July 24, 1941 issue of The Brookings Trade News, a weekly shopping circular, which arrived in my mailbox on Legeros Drive in late September 2025.

The City of Brookings has launched a survey to gather community input on the Dacotah Bank Center’s future use.

Smithfield Foods plans to move its pork processing facility from downtown Sioux Falls to a new plant on the northern edge of the city that will be built by the end of 2028.

Dance event this weekend; Heiberger named honors college dean; Library hosts events

Downtown gets a shakeup as two stores consolidate at old Cole’s building

New papers open, Lakota Times shifts

News Watch broke down the various proposals and spoke with tax policy watchers to get a sense of the challenges and opportunities of the ideas being floated.

Quiz Bowl; Johnson’s DC office seeking interns; Extension offers estate planning classes and more

A bill to require high school coaches to report abuse and neglect earned the full support of a South Dakota House of Representatives panel on Friday.

Bill goes to Senate without guidance

There are only seven plots to a story, or so the cynical view goes. And the singular most popular of all, from the time of the ancient Greeks until now, remains the hero’s journey.

Council land gift kick starts process

Two arrested for felony animal cruelty

Despite frigid temperatures, more than 200 people gathered — for the second time in a month — on the steps of the Brookings Post Office.

The proposed new police station in Brookings should be located near the Dacotah Bank Center and not between two city schools.

Sentenced for incident at local hotel in June

Brookings Rotary Club members recently heard a firsthand account of Rotary’s global impact from Scott Parsley, who shared highlights from an international wheelchair distribution mission to Eastern Europe conducted in October.

Those wishing to volunteer for a Brookings board or commission can now do so online.

Art Museum hosts free community art day

Lauren Dietz, education manager at the Children’s Museum of South Dakota, was recognized by Gov. Larry Rhoden and Travel South Dakota with the Ruth Ziolkowski Outstanding Hospitality and Customer Service Award at the annual South Dakota Tourism Conference in Pierre.

Families of students who qualify for reduced-price school meals would no longer have to pay a portion of the cost if a bill advancing to its next step in the South Dakota Legislature becomes law.

The Brookings Arts Council seeks proposals for individual or group art shows for calendar year 2027.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday urged Senate Democrats to advance the government funding package that must become law before the weekend to avoid a partial shutdown, rejecting their proposal to remove the Homeland Security funding bill.

Editor’s note: Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote this open letter to local clergy from a jail cell in Brimingham, Alabama in 1963. He began writing it in the margins of a newspaper — the only paper he had access to at the time. It is presented here slightly abridged from its’ original 7,000 words.

No one was injured in fire on Faculty Drive Saturday

BHS Principal named; Library book club offered; Former SDSU coach indicted and more

Socks help prevent numerous ailments

Event benefits Habitat for Humanity

Author V.J. Smith Introduces New Book Featuring “The Greatest Generation”

Also shows most diets lacking in fiber, vitamins

Governor pledges transparency in funding decisions that lawmakers might vote to take away
Legislators to debate bill that would remove governor’s sole authority over Future Fund

BPD Chief Drake will do two jobs amid campus shakeup

On being a neighbor and sharing tea

With a slate of hot-button policy issues on the table and limited funding to work with, state Sen. Jim Mehlhaff of Pierre said it is difficult to predict how the 2026 legislative session will play out in the Capitol this year.

Briefs from around the Brookings area

More than 200 people showed up at the downtown post office on Friday night for a vigil for Renee Good, a woman killed in a confrontation with a masked Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis last week.

An ICE officer fatally shot a woman driving an SUV through her car window in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.

Roger DeGroot briefed Brookings Rotary members on the upcoming session in Pierre.

People planning to testify at legislative committee hearings during the 2026 South Dakota legislative session must pre-register

Republican governor candidate Dusty Johnson wants to give first-time homebuyers two years without property taxes

Three different programs to encourage improvements to downtown buildings and businesses will continue in 2026, the city of Brookings announced this week.

Brookings Area United Way’s annual campaign is making its final push through the month of January.

Small fire at Prairie AquaTech put out with no injuries

Timothy Heaton appears in court on animal cruelty charges

Noelle Ira Stangle is the first baby born in Brookings County in 2026.

By Josh Linehan The Brookings BeaconBROOKINGS COUNTY — A 28-year-old Milbank man was hospitalized in Sioux Falls after a single-car rollover accident on I-29 last night, according to local authorities. The Brookings County Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident shortly after 8 p.m. on Jan 1 near mile marker 144 nearest White. According to a…

 BROOKINGS — In recognition of National Blood Donor Month, Community Blood Bank will host a blood drive at Brookings Health System on Tuesday, Jan. 6, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. All those donating blood will receive a $15 Scooter’s gift card as a thank you gift. To schedule…

The need for more and better housing persists throughout the state

More than just houses, Branch Creek means to create a neighborhood. A place for people to live in community with each other, a place for people who want to work here but can’t currently find housing and a place for people who simply want to live in Brookings.

City Councilors voted unanimously to reject all bids for a proposed water project at Edgebrook Golf Course after they came in over budget.

A fire on Sunday afternoon off South Main in Brookings led to the likely destruction of a mobile home.

County Commission restores library funding

Homegrown chef’s new spot hopping busy to start

First off, I need everyone to take several deep breaths.

Present company very much included.

BROOKINGS — The questions present themselves here in various orders, but circling back to: Who would write a piano piece that took 7.5 hours to play — and who would then, more than 80 years later, pick up that piece and not only record it, but insist on playing the entire thing live?

By Josh Linehan The Brookings Beacon BROOKINGS — A South Dakota State Highway Patrol law enforcement saturation action is coming to Brookings Dec. 17 through 19, according to a Friday news release from the City of Brookings. The ongoing patrols, dubbed “Operation: Prairie Thunder” by Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office, began in Sioux Falls and have…

The annual event, which currently is celebrating its tenth anniversary, has gone from a twinkle of an idea to a shining star in the Brookings holiday calendar.

By Josh Linehan The Brookings BeaconBROOKINGS — Bob Fishback, third-generation member of the pioneering bank family that began First Bank & Trust, died Sunday, Dec. 7, at the age of 89.A lifelong resident of Brookings, Bob began his career at the bank at age 25 after achieving undergraduate and graduate degrees in business finance and…

On being just and fearing not

Bantam A team wins pair at home

New Beginnings Birth Center at Brookings Health System is enhancing local maternity care by launching the TeamBirth program, becoming the first maternity unit in South Dakota to implement the nationally recognized initiative

Letters to the editor

By Bob Burns For The Brookings BeaconAs we prepare to celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, many in our nation are fearful that the very future of the United States of America is being threatened by national governing failures, disregard for constitutional safeguards and heightened political conflict among our citizenry.…

Religion column

By Josh Linehan The Brookings BeaconEditor’s note: This story first appeared on the Brookings Beacon Substack on Oct. 1. ALONG DERDALL DRIVE — Look, I know even as I write this. The moment you start getting nostalgic about trees, you’re an old man.Still, here we are. The boulevard along the south side of Derdall Drive,…

Brookings service industry volunteers planning free community dinner for Dec. 20

On courage and wisdom in the face of heartache.

Sean Leary, a stand-up comic who was born and raised in Brookings and who organizes the comedy nights at Wooden Legs in town, will appear on a new showcase for comedians on CBS next week.

With SNAP benefits in limbo, local groups step up to feed the hungry.