Three bridge replacement contract agreements and corresponding documents were approved at the Union County Board of County Commission meeting March 21. Union County Highway Executive Secretary Cristy Harkness was present to go over several items in relation to the highway department.

The Dakota Valley high school band brought home amazing ratings at this year’s instrumental music contest on March 1. Band students spent the entire school day at Lennox High School in order to compete in the solo and ensemble competitions under the direction of Mr. Daryl Jessen.

The Dakota Valley high school quiz bowl team travelled to Dell Rapids on Monday, March 20 for the DAK12 Conference tournament. It was a great showing by the Panther team as they were crowned conference champions in a tiebreaker win versus the Vermillion Tanagers.

Dakota Valley high school artists expressed their creative talent in Wakefield, NE on Wednesday, March 15 for the “BIG Show”. This event has been conducted annually for 13 years and is a day to highlight and award local area students and their artwork. Demi Harlan, the high school art teacher at DV, was pleased with how well the Panthers represented at this event.

Art students from Dakota Valley flocked to West River for South Dakota’s Art Wars and the state’s art show competition over the weekend of March 18. Both events were held in The Monument in Rapid City. Panther artists showed their creativity and artistic ability well, with many earning honors.

Dakota Valley seniors Isaac Bruns and Randy Rosenquist were chosen to play on the Class A team for the Three-Class Shootout. They played in Salem, SD March 25.

Three additional positions were approved for the 202324 school year at the Dakota Valley School Board meeting March 13. The first position is a certified EL teacher and the second an additional SPED teacher.

Six youth wrestlers from the Panther Wrestling Club were in Aberdeen on March 25-26 for the AAU state wrestling tournament. After making their way through districts and regionals, the grapplers hit the mats to take on the best in South Dakota. Leif Dewald, Jaxon Dice, Darian Feese, Graham Riibe, Leo Riibe and Kenzie Scott all had strong performances. The event took place at Northern State University in Wachs Arena.

Dakota Valley senior Lexi Squier recently returned home from the state capital after engaging in a firsthand account of the 2023 South Dakota Legislature as a senate page. It was a worthwhile experience for Squier who plans to attend Northwestern College in Orange City, IA next year and double major in business administration and theater.

A project in conjunction with the city of Sioux City could soon connect Dakota Dunes' trail system with Sioux City’s. The Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District (CID) Board of Supervisors discussed the connection at their meeting March 20.