Senator Erin Tobin District 21 Aurora, Charles Mix, Douglas, Gregory, Tripp Counties Committees: Chair of Health & Human Services, Executive Board, Agriculture and Natural Resources, State Affairs Capitol Address: 500 E. Capitol Ave.

District 21 Aurora, Charles Mix, Douglas, Gregory, Tripp Counties Committees: Vice Chair Agriculture and Natural Resources, Member of Local Government Capitol Address: 500 E. Capitol Ave.

The first h i g hway s into the prairie grasslands of what would later become South Dakota were the rivers used by the earliest adventurers, explorers, mountain men, and fur trappers. For the late eighteenth- and early nineteenthcentury travelers west of St. Louis, their road was the Missouri River.

Lee Qualm, a Platte, SD resident and 4th generation farmer, has announced his bid for District 21 House. This is not the first time Qualm has served in the legislature. Lee was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2013. During his eight years in office, he served as House Majority Leader for four years, Chairman of State Affairs, Chairman of Ag and Natural Resources, on Executive Board, on Ag Land Task Force, Transportation, Local Government, & State and Tribal Relations Committees. Qualm notes, “I love working with people to help this District and to make sure SD remains a great place to live, work and raise our families.” As a family man with a wife of 48 years, four married children, and twelve grandchildren, he knows we must establish a greater South Dakota for the next generation.

During the public input portion of the regular meeting of the Gregory County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, February 21, Chris Burkholder asked Commissioner Byrain Boes his reason for not wanting Joseph Yoder to improve his parcel of land (his variance had been denied at the previous board meeting). Boes said that the land needs to be improved, but it needs to be done right, according to regulations. The parcel was formerly used as a sand pit.

The discussion about what to do with the city’s empty lots on Main Street was again a topic on the agenda at the regular meeting of the Gregory City Council on Tuesday, February 20. The city had condemned and demolished two buildings, creating the empty space last year and subsequently installed windows in the adjacent property, currently being renovated for a tenant, that overlooks the lot.