A bouncing baby girl – the first baby of 2026 – arrived at Milbank Hospital Avera on January 2. Merry Rose Loza Fuentes checked in at 8:28 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce and measured 20 inches from the top of her head to her tiny toes.... Read more

The state minimum wage for non-tipped employees increased from $11.50 per hour to $11.85 per hour. The change became effective January 1, 2026. The minimum wage is adjusted annually based on increases in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Department... Read more

The 23rd Annual Free Christmas Day Dinner for All will be held at Parkview Church in Milbank from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Thursday, December 25. Everyone is welcome!  No reservations are required.  Don’t spend the day alone or without a traditional Christmas dinner. If your family is... Read more

A new year will soon be here and with it comes a new sheriff for everyone in Grant County. Jeremy Steffensen will take over the position of Grant County Sheriff on January 1. Steffensen will assume the role currently held by Sheriff Kevin Owen who will be transitioning into... Read more

Senior Layten Osowski has been chosen as the MHS Student of the Month for December. He is the son of Jason and Jennifer Osowski. Layten is a member of the Bulldogs basketball team. He also played on the football team and was named to the list of 2025 South... Read more

Even in the face of challenging winter weather, the people of Milbank again stepped up at the Milbank Community Blood Drive on Thursday, December 11. Forty-three people registered to donate, and 41 units of blood were successfully collected. LifeServe Blood Center supplies blood to hospitals across South Dakota, Iowa,... Read more

Keira Steffen, a senior at MHS, received a perfect score – Superior with Distinction– in the Non-Original Oratory competition at the 2025 SDHSAA State Oral Interp Festival. The tournament was held Friday and Saturday, December 5-6, at  Watertown High School. Bulldog Colton Roark received a Superior rating in Humor.... Read more

Fairway View Neighborhoods in Ortonville, Minnesota, was endorsed by U.S. News & World Report in the recently released 2026 Best Nursing Homes ratings. It marks the second consecutive year that Fairway View has been acknowledged for this achievement. Nearly 15,000 nursing homes nationwide were evaluated using 17 quality measures.... Read more

The speech and debate coaches in the northern part of South Dakota have been collaborating to test a different approach to the debate season. A new emphasis was placed on the beginning students –also called novice – during the month of November. “Students new to debate attended afterschool and... Read more

It was impossible to tell which smiles were bigger – the kids or the cops – at the annual Shop with a Cop held at Lewis Drug in Milbank on Wednesday, December 10. Officers from the South Dakota Highway Patrol, South Dakota Game Fish and Parks, Grant County Sheriff’s... Read more