Monthly Archives: January 2018

Yvonne Hollenbeck of Clearfield will be one of the featured poets at the national cowboy poetry gathering Jan. 29-Feb. 3 in Elko, Nev.

This is an international festival that honors the arts, culture and traditions of the rural west.

Hollenbeck writes poetry about her life on a ranch where she helps with everyday duties.

Although her poetry is often humorous about situations that were not humorous when they happened, her writing also takes a serious side when she reflects upon the hardships experienced by her parents and ancestral family members.

The Hanpa Tec’unpi Warriors hand game team took second place at the Lakota Nation Invitational in Rapid City.

Members of the team are Kristen Small, Nanette Eagle Star, Joslyn Felix, Jeslyn Felix, Serena Hardy and JaiWanda Roubideaux.

The team beat out Crazy Horse in the first round, St. Francis in the second round, Pine Ridge in the third round to go undefeated but lost in the fourth round, beat Crow Creek in the fifth round to come off the losers bracket. Then Winner beat Little Wound in the sixth round. In the championship round Winner won one and lost one to Rapid City for second place.

The Warriors also competed at the annual Flandreau Sioux Tribe Hand game tournament and won second place.

The team will be competing in the Dakota Oyate Challenge on Jan. 26 in Huron.

John Meyer of Office Products Center in Winner was among the business owners and operators who served as Business Delegates at the South Dakota Retailers Association’s (SDRA) annual meeting and awards banquet on Monday, January 8th in Pierre.

As part of the Business Delegate program, business people from each legislative district were invited by SDRA to participate in a legislative briefing regarding issues expected to be considered during this year’s state legislative session.

The briefing kicked off with Gov. Dennis Daugaard providing information on recent sales tax activity in the state including how the farm economy, increased healthcare costs and losing tax dollars from e-commerce impacts the State’s budget.

Attendees also heard presentations from Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield (R-Clark), House Minority Leader Spencer Hawley (D-Brookings) as well as SDRA’s legislative team, who offered their thoughts on some of the retail issues to be considered during this year’s legislative session. The delegates had an opportunity to ask questions and voice their opinions about the issues.

Non-meandered waters were a hot topic of discussion throughout the afternoon. Other issues discussed included proposals regarding campaign finance and data security.

The briefing was followed by a dinner attended by SDRA Business Delegates, legislators, state constitutional officers and cabinet secretaries.

SDRA believes connecting legislators with business owners is important. This event gives legislators the opportunity to hear about real issues affecting their business community while educating retailers about becoming more active in the legislative process.

“It is imperative for legislators to understand how the laws they pass will impact the business community, and for retailers to understand how they can have a voice in the process,” state SDRA Board President Gary Cammack.

The South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems (SDARWS) recently named Tripp County Water User District manager Russ Phillips as the top rural water manager during the organization’s Annual Technical Conference in Pierre.

Phillips has been employed by Tripp County Water User District for the last 22 years. He started with the district in 1995 as a water operator and through those years acquired his certification as a Class 2 water treatment and distribution operations specialist. Since Russ accepted the role as manager, he has grown in this position and has grown the system with his leadership abilities. The system just recently completed an $11,750,000 project, which added two new system water towers, and approximately 183 miles of new pipeline, rebuilding of four and the replacement of five booster pump stations, added 88 new users and also completed 91 meter pit installations. He is currently supervising the addition of a new tower read system and the process of getting it to work in the needed areas of the District.

Tripp County Water User District employs seven individuals who oversee over 2,600 hookups. The district serves water to the counties of Tripp, Gregory, Portions of Lyman, Mellette, and Todd, individually serves the towns of Witten, Wood, Herrick, Fairfax, and St. Charles, and bulk serves the towns of Colome, Dallas, Burke, Bonesteel, six Native American communities, and serves as backup for the town of Gregory.

The South Dakota Rural Water Annual Technical Conference in Pierre annually hosts over 500 individuals and provides water and wastewater educational presentations for board members, managers, and operations specialists from throughout South Dakota.