VERMILLION — The Clay County Commission approved last-minute funding cuts to the county’s 2027 budget and payroll earlier this week — two days before the county was required by state law to finalize its budget for next year.

During their regular meeting on Tuesday in Vermillion, the Clay County commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of adopting next year’s total county budget of more than $20.5 million, including completely cutting funding to multiple organizations, including government and nonprofit ones.

These organizations include Feeding Vermillion; the Vermillion, Beresford and Wakonda public libraries; the South Dakota Teen Court program; Southeast Public Transit and Rural Office of Community Services (ROCS) Transit; the Vermillion Area Chamber & Development Company’s “Grow Vermillion” campaign; and the Clay County Conservation District

At Meridian Corner, a roadhouse amid the corn and alfalfa fields of Freeman in South Dakota, my lunch took about 40 seconds to arrive at the table: five sticks of lamb and five of mutton, deep-fried and served with garlic salt and crackers.

This is chislic – South Dakota's most beloved light bite, often eaten as an appetiser or snack between meals. Here in the town of Freeman, it's ubiquitous, served in bars, restaurants, and homes across this south-eastern pocket of the state. Drive much beyond it, however, and people may have no idea what you're talking about. 

"I grew up eating chislic and never thought much about it," town archivist Marnette Hofer told me. "Then I went to college in Kansas, and nobody knew about it. I don't think people in the Black Hills – in South Dakota! – had a clue."

Chislic may be distinctly South Dakotan, but its roots lie thousands of miles away, around the Black Sea. So how did it become so thoroughly local that, in 2018, the state legislature made it the official state "nosh"?

From Crimea to Dakota

In the 1870s, Germans from Russia began arriving in what was then Dakota Territory, bringing with them traditions from their former homes around the Black Sea. Hofer, who grew up in the area and serves as the executive director of its Heritage Hall Museum & Archives, took me through its exhibits chronicling the historic passage. As she showed me around its exhibits, we discussed chislic and the unlikely chain of events that brought it here.

While roasting meat on sticks is an ancient technique, peoples living around the Black Sea and the Caucasus traditionally cut their meat into small chunks before skewering it on metal rods, or even swords. Russian troops encountered this style of cooking among Tatars in Crimea and the Caucasus as the empire pushed south towards the Black Sea from the late 17th Century. Called "shashlyk", it was typically made with mutton, marinated in onions or vinegar and grilled on skewers – quick to prepare and easy to eat on the move.

By the late 18th Century, shashlyk had become fashionable in parts of the Russian Empire and was enthusiastically taken up by German settlers who had been encouraged to settle in Russia under Catherine the Great, many of whom later established communities around the Black Sea. But in the 1870s, as Tsar Alexander II revoked privileges long granted to its German settlers, including their religious freedom and exemption from military service, many began emigrating. Among the things they carried with them were recipes.  

"And President Abraham Lincoln had eight years previously enacted the Homestead Act of 1862, promising cheap land on the American frontier," recounts Tim Waltner, the Heritage Hall's education and communication coordinator. "If you stayed on five years, the land was yours."

The timing proved irresistible to immigrants from all over Europe, including some 115,000 Russo-Germans – or "Germans from Russia" as they would become known. Among them was farmer-turned-carpenter Johann Hoellwarth, who arrived in the growing town of Freeman in the 1870s. According to the earliest records available, said Hofer, Hoellwarth was the first to introduce shashlyk to Dakotan palates.

"Only," she adds, "his accent was so thick people thought he was saying 'chislic'."

How shashlyk became chislic

The new name stuck, and more changes were ahead. Hoellwarth quickly discovered that the windswept Great Plains were very different from Crimea's milder landscape.

While sheep farming was well established in the Dakotas by the early 1800s, there was no metal for skewers, no vinegar for marinating, and on the treeless prairies, hardwood was far too precious to burn. Even onions were relatively new.

Like many immigrants before him, Hoellwarth made do with what he had: a cauldron, lard, garlic salt, hand-length sticks whittled from willow bushes, and 10ft (3m)-tall wild grasses that burned fast but hot. This is how a meal that was once marinated, grilled on a sword and eaten with flatbread became a deep-fried, salted bite-sized snack served on a glorified toothpick and eaten with crackers. 

"He would serve it during Fourth of July celebrations in Freeman," said Hofer. And just as Russian soldiers had discovered generations earlier, "it was popular."

Inside the Chislic Circle

At Meridian Corner, the chislic is traditional and the gossip, as the saying goes, could rip the paint off a barn. The roadhouse sits at the heart of the Chislic Circle, a term coined by writer Richard Preheim in 2005 for the roughly 30-mile radius around Freeman where devotion to chislic runs deep.

It has also become something of a culinary bastion. Even after chislic was named the state's official "nosh" and chefs began serving beef, goat and pork versions, the Circle largely held to lamb and mutton. The legislature chose "nosh" rather than "dish" or "meal" because it considered the term a better fit for the snack-sized food.

"When it became the state nosh, the definition of what chislic is really expanded," said Abby Streyle, Meridian Corner's manager, who is of German-Russian ancestry. "It's fun when people do different twists on a food, but it is important to keep some things old-school."

But chislic has been evolving almost from the start. From Hoellwarth's introduction, as it passed down family lines the recipe picked up local peculiarities reflected in eateries across the area today. In the nearby town of Kaylor, the Kaylor Locker, the butcher supplying most of the Circle for the last 65 years, serves a venison version, the Circle's only acceptable stand-in for lamb or mutton. At Pep's Pub across the street, the chislic is griddled – not fried – with onions. In the town of Dimock, locally made cheese is added as a side along with crackers, while Bud's Tavern in Marion adds jalapeños to the onions and uses only "dirty oil" (previously used) to enhance the flavour.

Some adaptations have been economic. Pep's Pub and Bud's Tavern serve their chislic "loose" – without skewers – a practice Cindy Fischer, owner of The Schnitz Bar in the town of Menno, says helped keep prices down. Others were practical. Over-fried chislic comes out hard as a rock, which may help explain the rise of griddles and air fryers to keep the meat juicy and evenly cooked.

How far can chislic stretch?

More radical versions were on the horizon at the biennial Chislic Festival, founded by Hofer and her son, Josh, just 45 days after the food got its legislative seal of approval.

"When we began, we had a tasting competition and divided it into traditional and 'New Age Nosh' categories," she recalled. "Even then, there were some who scoffed that nothing other than traditional sheep chislic earned the name. But in the New Age Nosh category, someone wanted to enter alligator! That was going too far."

Beyond the Chislic Circle, however, the rules remain loose. I tried beef chislic at the Blarney Stone in Sioux Falls – an hour's drive from Freeman – that bucked tradition further with horseradish and Carolina BBQ sauces. Delicious, but Hoellwarth's head would likely be exploding. 

"They called it steak tips before 2018," Streyle muttered.

While the recipe continues to evolve, what chislic represents has remained remarkably consistent. 

"Chislic is hospitality in a simple, unassuming dish," Hofer told me. "Kind of a 'come as you are, we're glad you're here' type of food. It is a simple experience that reminds people of a community where hard work and honesty are important values. Where being real, down-to-earth and welcoming are just part of life." 

And one day, maybe even with alligator. 

South Dakota public university enrollment decreased by 294 students this year, according to numbers released Thursday by the state Board of Regents.

Overall enrollment, which includes graduate and undergraduate students, is 35,797. Enrollment dropped at three universities and increased at the three others:

Black Hills State University in Spearfish increased by about 2% to 3,502 students.

Dakota State University in Madison grew by about 3.5% to 3,975 students.

Northern State University in Aberdeen grew by 4% to 3,890 students.

South Dakota Mines in Rapid City decreased by 2% to 2,489 students.

South Dakota State University in Brookings decreased by about 2% to 11,901 students.

University of South Dakota in Vermillion decreased by 3.5% to 10,040 students.

System-wide enrollment peaked at 36,662 in 2017, and no year since then has equaled that mark.

“Enrollment is one measure of the health of our universities, but the larger story is what those students are preparing to do,” which is to build the state’s workforce and contribute to its communities, South Dakota Board of Regents Executive Director Nathan Lukkes said in a news release.

The numbers could be a sign of the “2025 cliff” feared by higher education officials, attributed to a lower birth rate during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. A 10% decline in high school graduates was expected nationally from 2025 to 2037, Lukkes told lawmakers in 2024.

Undergraduate enrollment systemwide decreased by 401 students this year, to 29,738, including decreases of 377 at South Dakota State University and 175 at the University of South Dakota.

Systemwide international student enrollment decreased by 237. International enrollment also dropped by 76 students last year. The decreases come amid federal immigration policy changes during the Trump administration that have made it more difficult for some foreign students to enter and stay in the country.

Graduate student enrollment systemwide increased by 107 students, and 56 more South Dakota high school graduates are pursuing higher education in the state than last year, according to system data.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) —  During Monday night’s meeting, the City of Vermillion’s Planning and Zoning Commission once again brought up the topic of its proposed data center ordinances.

No action was taken regarding the proposed data center ordinances in the meeting on Monday night. The commission will continue the discussion at its next meeting on September 14.

To pass a city ordinance in South Dakota, it must first pass its initial commission, in this case the planning and zoning commission, where they will offer a recommendation on the ordinance; then it will go through the city council, where they must complete two distinct readings of the title, hold a vote for each reading recorded vote.

During the previous meeting, councilors heard from several citizens, many of whom asked for a one-year moratorium on data centers, preventing them from entering the city, allowing city staff to do additional research and take in more public comments. Several concerns raised by citizens during the meeting involved data centers’ water usage, ambient sound, electricity usage, and the effectiveness of the ordinance.

• Ordinance 1565 would create definitions related to data centers.
• Ordinance 1566 would create a section for Data Centers that would have specific rules and requirements for them, regardless of the zoning district they are in.
• Ordinance 1567 would place data centers in the GB General Business district and update all other district requirements.
• Ordinance 1568 would place data centers in the LI Light Industrial district and update all other district requirements.
• Ordinance 1569 would place data centers and large data centers in the GI General Industrial district and update all other district requirements.
• Ordinance 1570 would place data centers and large data centers in the HI Heavy Industrial district and update all other district requirements.

Ordinance 1566 would create a section in the Zoning Regulations that will set all the requirements for data centers. The major points this section address buffers, water for cooling, and noise. This section will require that all data centers have a closed-loop water-cooling system, as well as prohibit the use of cooling towers or any other process that requires water to be continuously added for evaporative cooling of data centers.

Ordinances 1567 and 1568 will place “Data Center” as a Conditional Use in the General Business district and in the Light Industrial district, respectively. Additionally, these ordinances will limit the ability of data centers to be combined to create a “Data Center” larger than 10 acres. The ordinances will also address the opportunity for an existing building to be converted into a data center by removing the new setbacks and the required buffer.

Ordinances 1569 and 1570 will place “Data Center” as a permitted use in the GI General Industrial district and in the HI Heavy Industrial district, respectively. These two districts would also see the addition of “Large Data Center” as a Conditional Use. Similarly to Ordinances 1567 and 1568, these ordinances will limit the ability of data centers being combined to create a “Data Center” or a “Large Data Center” without going through the appropriate processes.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - The use of automated license plate readers by law enforcement is increasingly viewed as a double-edged sword across South Dakota, as proponents highlight their effectiveness in solving serious crimes while critics raise pressing concerns over personal privacy.

The issue took center stage on Tuesday during a Minnehaha County Commission meeting, where an unusual request was made to add a last-minute item to the official agenda.

Minnehaha County Commissioner Cole Heisey sought to introduce a measure targeting the county’s contract with Flock Safety, a prominent provider of the automated license plate reader technology.

“About the county’s Flock Cameras license plate readers,” Heisey said. “This is getting attention nationwide, statewide, and right here. Aberdeen shut the door. Coddington County took theirs down. These cameras can help with serious cases. That is also not the whole story. Every car that drives past gets photographed. Plate, time, make, model and location get stored.”

Heisey is actively asking the county commission to reverse its previous decision regarding the technology.

Specifically, Heisey requested a “vote on a resolution directing termination of the county’s Flock Safety agreement and establishing an indefinite moratorium on county automated license plate readers.”

Supporters of the technology emphasize its critical role in urgent law enforcement situations. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley highlighted a recent high-profile incident in which the license plate readers were instrumental in resolving an active abduction case.

“DCI located the vehicle, the Highway Patrol made the arrest and recovered the 15-year-old little girl,” Jackley said, referencing how state investigators with the Division of Criminal Investigation tracked the suspect.

Jackley expressed belief that South Dakota has an opportunity to lead the nation by establishing a unified, statewide set of protocols for the use of Flock cameras.

“A proposal that I’m working on with law enforcement in our legislature would include limits that it can only be used for serious crimes, that it has to have local support, that there would be a data retention policy, and if there would be an instance of misuse, that there would be serious consequences tied into any misuse,” Jackley said.

Currently, the Sioux Falls Police Department audits individuals searching the Flock camera database on a near-daily basis. When asked how often such system searches should undergo formal audit reviews, Jackley advocated for a balanced approach.

“You know, typically they can be done quarterly, they can be done at certain requests, there can be yearly reports,” Jackley said. “I think it needs to be maintained in a reasonable manner.”

Despite assurances of oversight, some local residents remain deeply skeptical about how their personal travel data is processed and stored, even when they are simply going about their daily routines.

“The risks do not outweigh the rewards for Flock cameras and that even good-intending regulations and oversight will never be enough,” said Danielle Smith, a local resident. “We want our freedom and our privacy back.”

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, the Minnehaha County Commission voted to deny adding Heisey’s eleventh-hour proposal to the day’s agenda. However, officials noted that the item could still be formally introduced and discussed in the future through the commission’s standard agenda-setting process.