SARAH RAZA

Reporter

Raza covers South Dakota for The Associated Press. She is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Crews work to clear debris from the Cade Loop bridge along the Guadalupe River on Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)
Teen who helped family escape from van is among those killed in Texas floods
Malaya Grace Hammond is among the latest fatalities identified from the Texas floods. Hammond’s family said she was swept away by floodwaters on Saturday in Travis County.
 
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson stands before a crowd of supporters to announce he will run for South Dakota governor on Monday, June 30, 2025, in Sioux Falls, S.D. (AP Photo/Sarah Raza)
US Rep. Dusty Johnson announces he’s entering race to become South Dakota governor
South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House, Dusty Johnson, has announced that he is entering the race to become South Dakota governor in the 2026 election.
 
Then-President Donald Trump stands at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2020, near Keystone, S.D. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
South Dakota eager for Trump’s statue garden near Mount Rushmore despite local opposition
Officials in South Dakota are pushing hard to build President Donald Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes in the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore.
 
The South Dakota State Penitentiary sits north of downtown Sioux Falls on Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Sarah Raza)
South Dakota is on track to spend $2 billion on prisons in the next decade
South Dakota is on a path to invest $2 billion into its corrections facilities in the next decade as a result of its stringent crime laws.
 
This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)
Winds push smoke from Canadian wildfires south into US and worsen air quality
Air quality in some parts of the United States is worsening as smoke from dozens of wildfires in Canada travels south, pushed by winds high in the atmosphere.
 
South Dakota state Democratic Sen. Shawn Bordeaux, left, and Rep. Eric Emery hold the flag of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe on Jan. 10, 2024, at the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D. At right is South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, file)
South Dakota tribe declares state of emergency over crime
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is declaring a state of emergency on its reservation. The tribe announced the decision Tuesday.
 
North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong gathers with lawmakers and other people at a photo event for bill signings on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
North Dakota governor vetoes the housing budget -- by mistake
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong accidentally vetoed $35 million for the state’s housing budget. It happened when he took up an agency budget bill approved by the legislature, intending to veto just a couple of line items.
 
Law enforcement investigate a vehicle after an explosion on Saturday, May 17, 2025 in Palm Springs, Calif. (ABC7 Los Angeles via AP)
25-year-old suspect in fertility clinic bombing left behind ‘anti-pro-life’ writings, officials say
A 25-year-old man believed to be responsible for an explosion that ripped through a Palm Springs, California, fertility clinic left behind “anti-pro-life” writings before carrying out the attack.
 
A screenshot of an online fundraiser on the Christian fundraising platform, GiveSendGo, is seen on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Tang)
A woman who called a Black child a slur has raised a backlash but also thousands of dollars
A video showing a Minnesota woman at a playground admitting to using a racist slur against a Black child has garnered millions of views.
 
A banner on a television monitor in the student senate office is displayed in Dakota State University's Trojan Center, calling for students to protest Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's commencement speech, Monday, April 28, 2025, in Madison, S.D. (AP Photo/Sarah Raza)
South Dakota students weigh protest against university honors for homeland security chief Noem
Students and faculty at Dakota State University are facing free speech concerns for the first time now that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is set to deliver the commencement speech May 10.
 
A wagon covered in signs protesting the installation of a Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline stands on a farm in Lake County, S.D., on Monday, March 10, 2025, in one of the counties that the pipeline would cut through. (AP Photo/Nicole Neri)
South Dakota panel rejects permit for an $8.9 billion carbon capture Midwest pipeline
The massive carbon capture pipeline in the Midwest has been thrown into uncertainty after South Dakota’s Public Utility Commission denied its route permit application.
 
Cartons of eggs sit on a shelf in a Walmart store, March 10, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Expect more fake eggs made of colored marshmallows or even potatoes on this year’s Easter spread
The internet has offered up a host of alternatives as egg prices continue to be stubbornly high. Influencers are dyeing everything from marshmallows to potatoes.
 
Debris covers the ground after a gas explosion in Lexington, Mo., on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (KCTV via AP)
Gas explosion levels a home in a Kansas City suburb after a gas main is hit
A gas explosion leveled a home in a Kansas City suburb after a gas main was damaged. City officials in Lexington, Missouri, say there were injuries to the family who lived in the home but would not specify the extent of the injuries or if anyone died in the Wednesday evening explosion.
 
The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Education Department withdraws from plan to address discipline disparities for Native students
The Education Department has withdrawn from an agreement to address disparities in discipline for Native American students at a South Dakota school system, saying it was wrongly rooted in efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
 
Keystone oil pipeline shutdown could quickly lead to higher gasoline prices
The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone oil pipeline was shut down Tuesday morning after it ruptured in North Dakota, halting the flow of millions of gallons of crude oil from Canada to refineries in the U.S. and potentially leading to higher gasoline prices.
 
President Donald Trump stands with Kristi Noem during a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Kristi Noem refused to say who financed some of her travel. It was taxpayers who were on the hook
An Associated Press analysis has found that South Dakota taxpayers subsidized Gov. Kristi Noem’s cross-country campaigning to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
 
The South Dakota State Capitol building is seen in Pierre, S.D., Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman, File)
South Dakota makes it tougher for recreational vehicle voters to participate in elections
A new law in South Dakota revises the residency requirements for voter registration. Previously, to be considered a resident, a person only had to spend one night in the state.
 
The South Dakota Capitol stands in Pierre, S.D., Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)
South Dakota governor signs anti-transgender bathroom bill
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill into law Friday that restricts transgender people’s use of communal facilities that align with their gender identity in schools and state buildings.
 
An emergency vehicle barrier stands at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, S.D. (Arielle Zionts /Rapid City Journal via AP, file)
Airman charged in killing of Native American woman who went missing 7 months ago in South Dakota
A 24-year-old airman has been charged with killing a Native American woman who went missing in South Dakota about seven months ago.
 
A sign reading "Property rights matter, no CO2" stands by a highway near Strasburg, N.D., Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)
Midwest carbon-capture pipeline could be delayed after eminent domain ban in South Dakota
The company behind an $8.9 billion carbon-capture pipeline proposed for five Midwestern states says it wants to indefinitely delay its plans after South Dakota passed a law limiting its ability to acquire land for the project.
 
A sign reading "Property rights matter, no CO2" stands by a highway near Strasburg, N.D., Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)
South Dakota law raises questions about future of massive Midwest pipeline
A new law in South Dakota prohibiting the use of eminent domain to acquire land for carbon capture pipelines challenges the viability of a proposed project snaking through five Midwest states.