News

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.

There is a spectrum on which we experience anxiety. It can be an intense moment of panic, to a lingering sense of dread that lasts for days. In fact, there are two neural pathways to anxiety. Both pathways start with sensory information reporting to the thalamus (also known as your body's information station). In one pathway, information gets sent to the cortex (higher processes of the brain including memory, thinking, learning, etc.). After the cortex processes sensory information, neurons fire to the amygdala. The amygdala plays a big part in anxiety because it is here where your brain processes emotions; it is also known for the “fight or flight” response. Once information has been processed by the amygdala, your body is then cued for anxiety response. The second pathway for anxiety skips the cortex altogether and goes from the thalamus straight to the amygdala, triggering an anxiety response.

The South Dakota State Square, Folk, and Round Dance Association is sponsoring the Fall State Square Dance Festival in Hermosa, SD. The event will be held on September 8 and 9, 2023, and will be hosted by the Southern Hills Promenaders Square Dance Club. The theme of the festival is “Life is a Highway to a Dance!”

A rare six-handed pitch game at the Gregory Golf Course saw two pitch titans collide. Grim uses a consistent, conservative approach to bidding, while Sutton pushes the limits with an aggressive style of bidding. Dr. Jerry Fogel and Mike Croegaert were paired up with Sutton, while Grim selected Gregg Drees and Charles Johnson from the crowd of bystanders. After a roller coaster of emotions and fireworks, team Sutton pulled off a victory. Grim remains confident after the stormy defeat and stated, “Better days ahead”.

Final vehicle traffic counts from the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) for vehicles entering Sturgis for the 83rd annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which ran from Aug. 4-13, 2023, have been tallied. The traffic counts at nine locations entering Sturgis for the 2023 Rally are as follows: Friday, Aug. 4: 45,652 vehicles entered Down 13.4% from the previous five-year average Saturday, Aug. 5: 38,126 vehicles entered Down 37.3% from the previous five-year average Sunday, Aug. 6: 60,586 vehicles entered Up 4.4% from the previous fiveyear average Monday, Aug. 7: 50,487 vehicles entered Down 16.9% from the previous five-year average Tuesday, Aug. 8: 55,848 vehicles entered Down 4.2% from the previous five-year average Wednesday, Aug. 9: 56,444 vehicles entered Up 1.4% from the previous fiveyear average Thursday, Aug. 10: 52,195 vehicles entered Up 3.7% from the previous fiveyear average Friday, Aug. 11: 45,661 vehicles entered Up 0.4% from the previous fiveyear average Saturday, Aug. 12: 33,278 vehicles entered Down 4.5% from the previous five-year average Sunday, Aug. 13: 19,884 vehicles entered Down 6.5% from the previous five-year average 2023 – 10 Day Total: 458,161 vehicles Down 8.1% from the previous five-year average 10 day total Previous five-year average – 10 day total: 498,282 vehicles

Seven students have received Richard Hagen-Minerva Harvey Memorial Scholarships. The scholarship program provides up to $6,000 over four years for study at an accredited university, college, or technical college located in South Dakota to enrolled members of American Indian tribes.