By Krista Leman
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The economy is changing and people are struggling to keep up.  With prices getting high, people are leaning toward thrift stores and finding ways to save money.
Making ends meet has become a challenge for most. With utility, grocery and gas prices constantly rising, daily routines have been adjusted.
Business has [...]

By Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan
Save your money, folks, “The Happening” is just not happening.
M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are either a hit or a miss, and this film missed. I went into the horror movie thinking I would get a good scare. Instead I got a love story with people killing themselves in the background.
Elliot Moore (Mark Walhberg) [...]

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By Amanda Teller
VERMILLION, S.D. — Rural Native American communities are tackling declining tourism and unstable business that comes with the increased cost of fuel.
Travel and excess spending are no longer luxuries many can afford.
People on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana are asking, “Am I going to eat or put gas in my car?” [...]

By Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan
VERMILLION, S.D. – “A smile is a crooked line that makes things straight.” That’s the motto of the hip, perky, blast-from-the-past musical, “The Taffetas.”
There were plenty of crooked lines in Vermillion this month as the Taffetas, played by Jesse Atkinson (Donna), Anna Auchampach (Peggy), Elizabeth Wright (Cheryl) and Darla Earnest (Kaye), came to [...]

By Sarah Brubeck
VERMILLION, S.D. – The community room at the Vermillion Public Library filled with applause when tenor Scott Piper’s final scene as Radames of “Aida” played on a small box TV set.
Thirteen adults with an interest in opera sat in a dark room in chairs circling the TV to learn from the world-renowned opera [...]

By Jacquelyne Taurianen
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The first rider crossed the finish line undetected late Friday morning, as this year’s Tour De Kota came to a close. No roaring applause from fans, no confetti littering the air, no champagne to begin celebrating – just a rider, a handful of spectators and another ride checked off [...]

By Tirrell Thomas
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Participants in the fourth annual Argus Leader Tour de Kota faced unkind weather on Friday, their last day, but still showed kindness to each other.
Riders, like Tim Burnison, 52, worked in packs to help block the wind and to enjoy the ride with friends. As Burnison talked about his [...]

[EDITORS' NOTE: AIJI reporter Amanda Teller filed cell-phone reports Friday from the finish line of the Tour de Kota bicycle ride at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. Teller sent her reports through Twitter, a microblogging service that limits the files to 140 characters. Teller's reports are published here, with her last file listed [...]

By Andi Murphy
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Riders from the Tour de Kota crossed the “imaginary” finish line in Falls Park only to be met with one aspect of disappointment: no entertainment.
“I was a little disappointed,” said Becky Batcheller, who finished the ride alongside her husband Tom.
They remember music and booths from previous Tour de Kotas, [...]

By Sarah Brubeck
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.–Cyclists sporting spandex in an array of colors slowly trickled into Falls Park with sore muscles after riding 450 miles through South Dakota in six days.
Cyclists took a week off to join the fourth Tour de Kota, which began June 8 and finished June 13.
“I’m glad it’s over because of the [...]