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BLACK HILLS, SD - Several inches of snow fell Thursday morning in the Black Hills in western South Dakota. Some areas of the Black Hills could see snow totals over four inches

A storm system that buried parts of Wyoming and South Dakota in heavy, wet snow on Friday also brought powerful thunderstorms and possible tornadoes to the Great Plains. The storm dumped at least 33 inches of snow in a part of South Dakota’s scenic Black Hills, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Helgeson said Friday afternoon. Later in the day, thunderstorms rolled across the Plains, and witnesses reported seeing tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. …

April 14, 1999, Wednesday COMMITTEE HEARING SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS: SUBCOMMITTEE ON NEAR EASTERN AND SOUTH U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS) HOLDS HEARING ON THE CRISIS IN AFGANISTAN  WASHINGTON, D.C. SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS), CHAIRMAN U.S. SENATOR JOHN ASHCROFT (R-MO) U.S. SENATOR GORDON H. SMITH (R-OR) U.S. SENATOR ROD GRAMS (R-MN) U.S. SENATOR CRAIG THOMAS (R-WY) U.S. SENATOR PAUL DAVID WELLSTONE (D-MN), RANKING MEMBER U.S. SENATOR ROBERT G. TORRICELLI (D-NJ) U.S. SENATOR PAUL S. SARBANES (D-MD) U.S. SENATOR CHRISTOPHER J. DODD (D-CT) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DANA ROHRABACHER (R-CA) THE HONORABLE KARL F. INDERFURTH ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SOUTH ...

Chief Oliver Red Cloud, Lakota, issued a statement to President Obama requesting a meeting more than two weeks ago and is yet to receive a response. Chief Red Cloud, 90, told Obama the Black Hills are not — and have never been — for sale September 13, 2009The Honorable Barack H. ObamaPresident of the United States of AmericaThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington, DC 20500Dear Mr. President:I am the Itancan (chief) of the Oglala Lakota Band of the Great Sioux Nation and Chairman of the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council, the traditional governing body of the eight bands of...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A wallaby is settling into a new home in the Black Hills after getting out of its kennel during a flight change in Salt Lake City. The 5-pound, 7-month-old male Australian marsupial escaped Thursday but had only a few minutes of freedom. Roxy Bell, whose family owns The Roo Ranch near Deadwood, said vibration during the flight likely loosened buckles on the side of the kennel. The wallaby — a smaller, stockier version of a kangaroo — did not kick its way out of the kennel, she said. "I just don't want them to get a...

Mountain pine beetles are eating their way through a swath of forest in the central and northern Black Hills in an epidemic-sized infestation that began in 1997 and continues to accelerate. “Big changes are coming,” Blaine Cook, silvaculturist for Black Hills National Forest, said. Patches of reddish-brown ponderosa pines are clearly visible now from Norbeck Wildlife Preserve southwest of Mount Rushmore to the high limestone plateaus around Deerfield Reservoir and O’Neill Pass in the Northern Hills. Cook said that ponderosas that turned red this year were “hit” a year ago and that the “bug trees” hit this year are still...

Sometimes I don't know how these things happen. I was wondering what I should post as the picture this week, and the phrase "needle's eye" occurred to me. I visualized a vague image of a formation called the Needle's Eye from my youth on a family trip. So I searched, and I found the "Needle's Eye" in the Black Hills. This is probably the one I'm remembering, since we took a trip to the Black Hills when I was a kid, and it seems to match my vague memory. (See the first comment for the challenge.) For a different perspective,...

RAPID CITY -- The sign on Soo San Drive warning of "extreme" fire danger in the Black Hills on Friday was not a typographical error. The U.S. Forest Service uses a complicated formula to compute its fire danger index. Yes, it's only mid-April. Yes, the high temperature was only about 58 degrees.

Now may not be the time to fund a manned mission to Mars, according to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. Johnson said Wednesday that there are more pressing scientific concerns in South Dakota alone. Before a mission to Mars, the federal government needs to look at locating an underground neutrino lab in the former Homestake Gold Mine in the Black Hills, he said. For more on this story read Thursday's American News.

 The federal government is great at bothering the American people with a never ending barrage of laws, rules and regulations. Yet, they cannot seem to take responsibility for anything, no matter how much they mess up. This year alone, due to a mishmash of very stupid environmental laws and regulations, the federal government is responsible for allowing over 6.2-million acres (9,688 square miles) of good timber to burn. That's about double the annual average and this is still just August. The federal government took possession, unconstitutionally, of 196 million acres (over 306,000 square miles, total -- for comparison, the State...

Firefighters battle winds By Tim Paluch and Tim Velder, Journal Staff Writers DEADWOOD -- Fire officials said that Wednesday was a critical day for firefighters battling Grizzly Gulch Fire south and east of Deadwood. High winds from the southeast ripped through the area throughout the day and weren't expected to stop until today. The fire was on the move in some areas Wednesday. By midafternoon, Pillar Peak, near Dome Mountain and Bear Den Mountain, was burning about four miles east of Deadwood. Scores of residents in homes from the Shonley Addition to Deadwood on the north side of Highway 14A...

Firefighters could face rough day By Journal Staff DEADWOOD - The Grizzly Gulch Fire grew overnight to 9,000 acres Wednesday, and residents of Boulder Canyon who had been allowed to return home Tuesday evening were re-evacuated during the middle of the night. Residents on the south side of Radio Tower Road were given a mandatory evacuation order at 3 a.m. Wednesday due to unexpected increased fire activity in the area. At the same time, residents along the south side of U.S. Highway 14A in Boulder Canyon were asked to voluntarily evacuate, according to a press release from the South Dakota...

Deadwood reopens; fire keeps Lead residents out By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer DEADWOOD -- The historic city of Deadwood reopened at 8 p.m. Monday after a wildfire forced its total evacuation Saturday afternoon. Residents of Lead, many of whom evacuated Sunday afternoon, were not allowed to go home due to concerns that the Grizzly Gulch Fire could once again threaten neighbors in the south part of town. "We really just need room to move," Lead Mayor Tom Nelson said, explaining that firefighters were more worried about their ability to respond quickly than about structures burning. "If the winds shift,...

Grizzly Gulch Fire grows to 6,200 acres By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer LEAD-- A combined 684 federal, state and local personnel continued to fight the two-day-old Grizzly Gulch Fire Monday, as a federal Type 1 Interagency Management Team took command of the fire. Federal fire information officer Maj. Mark Johnston said the fire grew to 6,200 acres overnight and was 10 percent contained by mid-day Monday. The fire remains the Rocky Mountain Region's number one priority, Johnston said. Three homes have been destroyed by the fire but the occupants were not injured, Lawrence County Sheriff Rick Mowell told the...

Lead flees flare ups By Dan Daly, Journal Staff Writer Residents in a broad swath of Lead were asked to voluntarily evacuate their homes late Sunday when the Grizzly Gulch Fire flared up along its western edge. The new evacuation involved areas south of Lead's Main Street and the areas north of Main Street that are east of Washington Street, Brenda Bower, information officer with the U.S. Forest Service, said. That's about two-thirds of the city. Gov. Bill Janklow ordered the evacuation Sunday afternoon. The new evacuees joined thousands of people from Deadwood and rural areas east and south who...

Grizzly Gulch Fire surges to 4,500 acresBy Journal staff and AP staffThe 4,500-acre Grizzly Gulch Fire that burned Saturday on the edges of Deadwood was 30 percent contained Sunday, as the relatively small crew of about 200 firefighters managed to save the northern Black Hills gambling town. "When I first drove in here, I thought we were going to lose a lot of Deadwood, and it's because of you, we didn't," South Dakota Wildland Fire Coordinator Joe Lowe told firefighters Sunday morning. Officials ordered residents, casino guests and others to evacuate Saturday afternoon. However, not every one complied in what...

Growing fire hits 700 acres, threatens DeadwoodBy Journal Staff and APDEADWOOD -- A ridge-running forest fire burned Saturday on the edges of Deadwood, threatening but not entering the northern Black Hills gambling town.Officials ordered residents, casino guests and others to evacuate Saturday afternoon. However, not every one complied in what residents said was chaos amid smoke and slurry bombers overhead.There were no reports of injuries.The timber fire was burning over more than 1,000 acres. An accurate size estimate was not available at 8:30 p.m., Beth Adam of the state Wildlands Fire Suppression Division said.The fire's cause was not immediately known,...