Opinion

When I was younger my dad always said, “Kristi, we don’t complain about things. We fix them.” As Governor, I focus on fixing problems for our state every day, especially when it comes to public safety.

Friends, I am recently back from a week in Sask. and here are some updates. Gasoline prices in Regina, Sask. - which has the largest refinery in Western Canada - $1.00/US gallon higher than in the US, and the refinery supplies are by pipeline, a lot of the gas into Montana. That’s the Canadian story in so many ways.

I’ve never been the type to settle for “good enough.” No matter what I’m doing, I try to strive for excellence. That’s all the more true when it comes to policies that impact our kids.

Dear Editor, Here in South Dakota, we are repeatedly getting asked to turn over our land to private companies in the name of public use. Landowners, including those who feed their families (and this country) with the production of agricultural products, are being asked to open the gate and hand over the keys. The use of eminent domain has certainly become, before our eyes, a modern legal problem.

The Sioux made up a large part of the Great Plains Indian population in the late 1700s. In 1780 it was estimated that they were one-sixth (about seventeen percent) of the inhabitants in this region of what would become the United States of America.

During the South Dakota State Fair, Fairgoers can eat a $13 lunch for only 35 cents. It’s South Dakota Famers Union (SDFU) way of helping consumers understand just how much money family farmers and ranchers earn from the food products they raise.

For more than 80 years, late summer has brought thousands of motorcycles to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Bikers come from across the country – and around the world – to participate in the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the islands in the Missouri River were often used by cattle rustlers to hide and move stolen cattle. One of the most unusual of these was Phelps Island located between Lyman and Brule counties about seven miles north of the southern Lyman County line.

Early in 1902, the Federal Government ordered that all cattle not currently grazing on their home range be returned to where they legally belonged. Some were as far as several hundred miles or more from where they should be grazing.

After discussing the need for better sportsmanship in high school athletics at its past meetings, on Thursday, the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors made increased sportsmanship one of its goals for the coming school year.