Opinion

To the Editor, I would like to share my thoughts and observations on the “Update on the State of Our Elections” presentation by the South Dakota Canvassing Group at God’s Country Campground west of Platte on October 16, 2023. I am the secretary of one of the sponsoring organizations – the Charles Mix County GOP Central Committee, but I am writing here for myself and not this organization. The other sponsoring organization was the South Central Republican Women.

South Dakota always seems to come alive in autumn. The air is crisp and cool, the leaves on the trees change to create a colorful masterpiece, and our farmers are preparing to harvest their crops. But there is one particular part of fall in South Dakota that has always put our state on the map. It’s an iconic South Dakota tradition that we’re known for worldwide: pheasant hunting.

ERSPECTIVE On October 3, 2023, Wab Kinew, 41, and his political party won the provincial election in Manitoba with 34/57 seats in the provincial legislative assembly. He is the first ever Indigenous person to be elected as Premier (equivalent to Gov.). His home constituency is by Lake of the Woods on the Ontario/ Manitoba / Minnesota border. His father was a residential (boarding) school survivor. Wab had a troubled youth, was a rapper, got a degree in economics, became a public broadcaster, and was elected to politics in 2016. The main issue in the election was the shortage of healthcare workers causing reduced healthcare and senior care access (there as here).

oem When I was in the U.S. House of Representatives, I traveled with other U.S.

Effective January 1, 2024, South Dakota’s minimum wage for nontipped employees will be $11.20 per hour, up from $10.80 per hour in calendar year 2023. For tipped employees, the hourly minimum wage for calendar year 2024 will be no less than $5.60 per hour, up from $5.40 in calendar year 2023.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 71 million Americans will increase 3.2 percent in 2024, the Social Security Administration announced on October 12. On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by more than $50 per month starting in January.

The editors of the Press and Daily Dakotaian in a front-page story on November 29, 1886, informed their readers that the Dakota Territory Delegate to the U. S. Congress had been notified that he had secured an appropriation for a survey of the James River. Delegate Gifford was told that the special appropriation was to conduct a survey of the James River with the purpose of rendering it navigable for steamboat travel like that already on the Missouri River.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that Alec J. Dostal, Sr., of Gregory, SD, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, after he earlier had pled guilty, but mentally ill, to one count of first-degree manslaughter.

One doesn’t have to be an astute observer to notice that the leaves are still on most trees as we move into the second week of October. Normally, last week’s strong winds would have left the trees bare this time of year, but this year the leaves are not only still clinging to the branches but most are even green.

The earliest settlers to the Missouri Slope (area on the north side of the Missouri River and close to the river between Sioux City and above Fort Randall) depended a great deal on hunting and fishing for their survival. It is true that there were supplies in Sioux City; however, for many, the cost was more than they could afford.