The Department of Social Services (DSS) recently launched a version of the Behavioral Health Voucher Program, offering funding assistance for mental health services to employees of statelicensed and registered childcare providers.

The South Dakota Democratic Party ousted Jennifer Slaight-Hansen as state chair on Saturday amid accusations that she violated party rules and created a hostile work environment for staff. The party`s State Central Committee voted 57-0, with two abstentions, to remove Slaight-Hansen.

Ronald Reagan had a famous line he often used during campaign debates: “Well, there you go again.” I think about that line every time Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) resurfaces. Representative Dusty Johnson recently joined Senator Thune and Senator Rounds bringing forward an MCOOL bill, and once again, agriculture will be debating the need for MCOOL legislation. This is very disappointing to me because I feel there are far more important issues to agriculture that we should be talking about as we are working on a new Farm Bill. The current Farm Bill expires in September and issues such as MCOOL detract from the critical issues that must be in the new bill.

From July 30th to August 11th, the music department had 24 total students attend Rushmore Music Camp. Twenty kids, grades sixth - ninth attended the Junior High Rushmore Music Camp held in Aberdeen, and four high school kids attended camp help at Camp Judson in the Black Hills.

Hometown girl Michelle Birkeland will begin her career with the Gregory School District this year as a paraprofessional. A Gregory High School graduate, Birkeland went on to obtain an associate of applied science degree from Mitchell Tech.

Last week, the Burke Area Farmers Market joined farmers markets across the country in observing National Farmers Market Week 2023. To celebrate, we hosted The Dakota Cuban food truck, live music, and a children’s activity with the Burke Public Library. We also had a photobooth contest, and one-stop payment customers got to draw for prizes from our vendors.