News

The Freeman Network for Justice and Peace is hosting the first of what will be a series of programs offering a closer look at the ongoing Hamas-Israeli conflict Sunday afternoon, April 7 at the Freeman Community Center auditorium located at 224 S. Wipf Street in Freeman.

Chamberlain, SD auctioneer Chisum Peterson of Peterson Land & Auction LLC, recently completed his training at the prestigious Certified Auctioneers Institute (CAI). Developed by the National Auction Association (NAA), the CAI program is the industry’s premier training program for auction professionals.

Commentary by Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA How do we begin fixing America’s economy, an economy that has been offshoring manufacturing and production for decades, resulting in a trade deficit in goods of over $1 trillion in 2023; and that has shifted from a producer of goods to a service provider; and that has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs during just the past two decades; and that has seen the purchasing power of middle Americans shrink but continues nevertheless to overtax them; and that within just the past five years has become a net importer of, of all things, food?

SDPB staff and producers will host a community conversation at the Burke Community Center 822 Main St., Burke, SD, on April 11, 2024, to collect stories for a future episode of Dakota Life Burke. Community members are invited to stop by anytime between 2-4:00 p.m. and 5-7:00 p.m. to share their stories and learn more about Dakota Life.

Gregory County FFA members had an early morning on Monday, March 18, as they competed in the Tri Valley CDE contest, held at the W. H. Lyons Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. This was the first time we competed in this contest. Results are as follows: Ag Mechanics, 6th out of 41 teams: Carson Peck, 5th; Jamsion VanderPol, 39th; Dawson York, 46th; Hunter Hitchcock, 97th; Mason Simison 119th Agronomy, 24th out of 36 teams: Ben Stevicks, 71st; Riki Bruns, 84th; Bella Duerfeldt, 90th Floriculture, 10th out of 45 teams: Regan Graesser, 3rd; Adelyn Veskrna, 66th; Libby Krcil, 71st; Vanessa Fischer, 90th; Lily Jacobsen, 102nd; Daytona Paris, 107th; Allison Walker, 148th Horse, 14th out of 25 teams: Morgan Peck, 39th; Wyatt Vomacka, 57th; Tamara Imhof, 70th Livestock, 30th out of 49 teams: Jes VanderPol, 53rd; Ava Kerner, 118th; Shyanna Steffen, 155th; Mattie Kerner, 158th Meats, 17th out of 25 teams: Leo Mosterd, 32nd; Morgan Tietgen, 84th; Alex Songer, 92nd Natural Resources, 22nd out of 44 teams: Matthew Smith, 52nd; Bryce Bartling, 107th; Iker Diaz Montilla, 124th; Arthur Jaffray, 160th Vet Science, 21st out of 45 teams: Avery Zeisler, 49th; Aubree Miller, 73rd; Naomi Hanson, 107th; Ella Sperl, 136th This was the biggest contest the chapter has been to, with over 60 schools and almost 2,000 students competing. The members were scheduled to attend the district contest in Scotland on March 26, for the chance to compete at State, but that has been rescheduled for April 4.

Missing and murdered indigenous persons have garnered more attention in recent years after cases have gone sometimes decades with no answers. Library Director Tara Engel is doing her part to help with this. She has qualified for a grant through the South Dakota Humanities Council to bring in speakers to the Gregory Public Library for at least two sessions to help create more awareness about the issue.

The Gregory Youth Wrestling Club returned from the state tournament held in Rapid City, SD, on March 15-17, 2024, with 12 place finishers, two of which brought home a state championship. This is the largest group Gregory has taken to the state tournament in recent history.

Rick Weible of Midwest Swamp Watch conducted a ballot handcounting demonstration/training in the community room at the Gregory Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Before starting the demonstration, however, Weible presented a case for why the tabulating machines, such as the one Gregory County uses, is not trustworthy.

Jim Halverson recently announced that he is running for State Representative in District 21, which covers the counties of Aurora, Charles Mix, Douglas, Gregory, and Tripp. Halverson has been a resident of the Winner area for nearly 40 years, and currently works as an electrician at H&O Electric in Winner, and coaches the Winner High School boys and girls golf teams.

The Commissioner Room and hallway outside were full of concerned citizens Wednesday morning, March 20, as the Gregory County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting at 9:00 a.m. Both sides of the proposal to hand count election ballots were on hand to present their arguments for and against the resolution as voted on at the previous meeting.