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While I was in New Underwood I had the awesome opportunity to pulpit fill for different churches in the area, and one Sunday after church I was talking with a couple from Hot Springs and we got to talking about the husband hunting elk with a bow and how he’s been hunting for a long time and some of the stories that he had to share were very entertaining for me because I have never been bowhunting before. Now I know this man has been doing that for a long time so I know that he has a lot of practice and that he probably doesn’t miss very often, if at all. Now me on the other hand, I would probably get bull or buck fever depending on what you’re hunting and I would be shaking so fiercely that I wouldn’t be able to line up the shot properly and I’d be lucky if I hit a stump behind the animal let alone hit the animal itself. Do you all know what that is called? That is called sin. Or at least that is what it was translated to in the English and that word in the Greek is called hamartia (hamare- tee-a).

As you read this, we are in the midst of Holy Week. Holy Week is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. It’s also the last week of Lent. It’s the pinnacle week in Christian faith that focuses on Jesus’ last days before his death, and ultimately resurrection. Because of this, I decided to take a more faith-based approach to the Mindful Moments article this week and offer a glimpse of how faith and mental health align.

“Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19) Easter is not just about some events that happened two thousand years ago far away across the sea. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the validation that every word he spoke is true, and every promise will be kept.

In a hymn written a thousand years ago we hear: Christ the Lord is risen today. Christians haste your vows to pay; make your joy and praises known at the pascal victim’s throne. For the sheep the Lamb has bled sinless in the sinners stead; Christ the Lord is risen on high, now he lives no more to die.

Essay winners are pictured, left, Gabrielle Doney, and right, Sully Sperl, with DARE Officer Mark Green in the middle. D.A.R.E.

Veterans gathered on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at the Burke VFW on the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Time was spent reminiscing about their experiences and remembering those who died in Vietnam..

When emergencies happen in rural South Dakota, the first responders are often neighbors. Volunteer EMTs, small-town ambulance crews, and local teams drop everything to answer a 9-1-1 call. In a state as large and rural as ours, they often care for patients miles from the nearest hospital or trauma center.

The South Dakota Department of Health (DOH) has updated its online Fish Consumption Advisory list to include Lake Louise (Hand County) for Largemouth Bass following a recent review of sampling data. The advisory map and website now reflect the most current and complete information available to help South Dakotans make informed decisions when consuming locally-caught fish.

Normally ticks don’t appear until late April, but because of this year’s unusual winter weather, I have been finding them on my dogs for a couple weeks already. The ticks have all been very small and mostly located on my dogs’ heads, but Dutch and Dolly enjoy the nightly ritual of me running my fingers thoroughly through their fur. Because ticks can carry diseases, it is important to find and remove them as soon as possible.

Ever wonder where the acre, so familiar in fields and land deeds, actually comes from? Well, the answer lies in the soil of medieval England. Back in the Middle Ages, land measurement wasn’t about numbers on a map, it was about hard graft. An acre was defined as the amount of land one man could plough in a single day using a team of eight oxen (two used at a time while the others rested). Simple, practical, and rooted in the rhythm of the working countryside. But over time, what began as a rough rule of thumb became standardized. One acre came to equal 43,560 square feet, or about 4,047 square meters.