Category Archives: State

Rachel Shippy, Colome, has been named to the fall semester dean’s list at Mt. Marty College in Yankton.

Area students have been named to the fall semester dean’s list at the University of South Dakota.
Named to the list were: Josey Blare, Carter; Nolan Welker, Hamill; Michelle Novak and Natalie Gronlund, both of Winner.
Academic honors went to nearly 400 part time students who completed at least 12 hours prior to the current semester. Darci Pollard of Winner was one of the students who received an academic honor at USD.

Applications are now available for students wishing to apply for a $1,000 college scholarship from the South Dakota Farm Bureau (SDFB). To be eligible, the applicant must be a high school senior or college student whose parents or guardians are current members of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, and have been for at least two years.

Application forms and full details are available on the SDFB website through a link on the homepage or under the “Get Involved” menu heading. Applications are being accepted now through the deadline of March 15. Winners will be announced in May.

“These scholarships are a wonderful way for Farm Bureau to give back to our member families who have children entering college or technical school,” commented Krystil Smit, SDFB Executive Director. “We are proud to help support this next generation of leaders.”

The South Dakota Farm Bureau Scholarship Fund was established in 2005 by Richard and Agnes Ekstrum of Kimball, S.D. Richard, who served as South Dakota Farm Bureau’s president from 1975-95, passed away in September at the age of 83. His legacy lives on in the creation of this endowment which has thus far awarded $28,000 in college scholarships to 28 students who are children of SDFB members.

The South Dakota Farm Bureau is the state’s largest agriculture association, representing more than 16,000 farm, ranch and rural families across the state. Learn more at www.sdfbf.org.

BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakotans can expect weather changes this January based on data from the new National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center 30-day outlook.

“The outlook shows January 2016 weather to be different from December in several ways including temperature and precipitation,” said Dennis Todey, South Dakota State Climatologist & SDSU Extension Climate Specialist.

Todey explained that the January 2016 outlook shifts the temperature probability slightly, with above average chances for warmer temperatures only in the northern third of the state. “The rest of the state is listed as equal chances for below or above average temperatures,” he said, noting that this is a slight shift from previous outlooks which had been very bullish on warmer than average temperatures overall for the whole state and region.
“The shift is likely caused by a couple changes in conditions,” Todey said.

With low winter sun angles and shorter days, Todey added that the current snow cover across the state will keep surfaces from warming as readily.
“Northern areas of the state and parts of North Dakota actually have lesser amounts of snow cover allowing them a better opportunity to melt out and warm up in time,” he said. “The deeper areas of snow cover will not likely melt off during the month.”

Todey said that areas throughout the state and region with lighter snow cover should have a chance of melting out if little additional snow falls.
Cold outbreak

Computer models, although mixed on the strength and length, are projecting a cold outbreak in the middle January, explained Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension Climate Field Specialist.

“Even in an El Nino winter, some cold outbreaks are not unexpected,” said Edwards. “This expected cold outbreak also contributes to the lower likelihood of warmer conditions for the month as a whole.”

Winter wheat benefits from snow cover
“The updated precipitation outlook is very El Nino-like,” Todey said. “The northern edge of the state is included in below average chances for precipitation. El Nino is still influencing our winter weather.”

He explained that wetter than average areas are confined largely from California across the southern U.S. “Overall this month does look quieter than December, with the pattern shifting away from the storm track experienced in December.”

He added that historically, January is the lowest precipitation time of the year for South Dakota.

“Snow cover is more than expected over much of the state at the start January due to record snows in December,” Edwards said.
She referenced the fact that areas west of the Missouri and in the southeast have more than a foot of snow on the ground, with at least a few inches of snow covering the rest of the state.

“The snow is having an impact on conditions in several ways,” she said.  As mentioned, the snow cover is helping keep temperatures somewhat cooler.
While temperatures have not been extremely cold to this point in the season, Edwards explained that the snow cover in western, winter wheat growing counties, has been advantageous for winter wheat as it provides protection for the overwintering crop.

“The recent consistent sub-freezing temperatures have also eased some livestock issues,” she said. “Before the onset of colder temperatures in the latter part of December, many feedlot managers were reporting difficulties with muddy conditions.” Now most of the feedlots are solid.

PIERRE, S.D.- Attorney General Marty Jackley and Gregory County States Attorney Amy Bartling announced that Martin J. Rezac, 59, Dallas, S.D, was indicted by a Gregory County grand jury on Dec. 18, on one count of possession of explosive device with intent to injure, intimidate or terrify any person, or with intent to wrongfully injure or destroy property, class 3 felony, punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and/or $30,000 fine, one count possession of destructive device, class 4 felony, punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or $20,000 fine and one count of unauthorized possession of substance with intent to make a destructive device, class 5 felony, punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and/or $10,000 fine.

The indictment charges that on or about November 26, 2015, Rezac had in his possession explosive devices at his residence in Dallas, S.D., including one pvc pipe bomb device and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Rezac was arrested Dec. 22 on an active warrant in Denver, Colorado. Rezac is presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Gregory County Sheriff’s Office, Dallas Volunteer Fire Department, South Dakota National Guard 82nd Civil support team, South Dakota Hghway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Division of Criminal Investigation.

State regulators dismissed a request last Tuesday to throw out an application for the South Dakota portion of Keystone XL pipeline. This sets up a decision as early as next month from the Public Utilities Commission on whether to re-approve the project.

Pipeline opponents argued before the PUC that President Barack Obama killed the project in November, which should put an end to the proceedings in South Dakota. But an attorney for TransCanada, the company behind the proposed pipeline, said the company remains committed to the project.

TransCanada’s proposed pipeline would go from Canada through Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska where it would connect with existing pipelines to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries along the Gulf Coast.

The project has prompted opposition from American Indian tribes, some landowners and environmental groups that were concerned that the pipeline would contaminate water supplies and contribute to pollution.

Supporters argue the pipeline would be a boon for the county and will create construction jobs and boost tax collections in South Dakota.
TransCanada CEO Russ Girling has said the company still wants to build the pipeline, attorney William Taylor said.

“The project has not been abandoned,” Taylor said. “TransCanada has not said this party is over. Rather, TransCanada has said the company is absolutely committed to the project.”

The state initially authorized TransCanada’s project in 2010, but permits must be revisited if construction doesn’t start within four years.

The commission is now considering the company’s guarantee that it can complete the project while meeting the conditions of the 2010 approval.

After dismissing opponents requests to block re-approval and revoke the underlying construction permit, commission chairman Chris Nelson said the panel could decide on the project at the January meeting.

The number of South Dakota kids who are overweight or obese is 32.2 percent, essentially unchanged for the fourth straight year, according to a new state health report.

“The 2014-2015 School Height and Weight Report shows no real change in the South Dakota’s child and adolescent overweight and obesity rates,” said Ashley Miller, chronic disease epidemiologist for the Department of Health. “While it’s good that the rates have leveled off, our goal is to see those numbers come down.”

Miller said the state’s 2014-2015 school height weight survey found 16.0 percent of South Dakota’s 5-19 year olds were obese and another 16.2 percent were overweight. In 2013-2014 the obesity rate was 15.8 percent and the overweight rate was 16.5 percent; in 2012-2013 the rates were 16.0 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively.

A total of 181 schools submitted student height and weight data for this latest survey, accounting for 37.3 percent of students in the state. The survey defines obese as at or above the 95th percentile body mass index-for-age when compared to kids of the same age and gender; overweight is between the 85th and 94th percentiles.

The department’s goal is to reduce the percentage of students who are obese to 14 percent by the year 2020.

Miller said the department offers a variety of resources to help encourage healthy diets and increase physical activity for kids. The Munch Code (www.munchcode.org/) provides healthy concessions information for schools and youth activities and Harvest of the Month (www.sdharvestofthemonth.org/) combines lessons and produce sampling to get kids eating more vegetables and fruit.

The full student height weight report is available at http://doh.sd.gov/statistics/.

AAA reports the average U.S. gas price dropped below $2 per gallon this morning for the first time since March 25, 2009. Today’s national average price is $1.998 per gallon. AAA estimates that cheaper gas prices have saved Americans more than $115 billion on gasoline so far this year, which works out to more than $550 per licensed driver.

More than 91 million Americans plan to take advantage of cheaper gas prices to drive 50 miles or more during the upcoming holiday period. Travel by all modes of transportation should be a record, topping 100 million.

“It’s all pretty simple,” said Marilyn Buskohl, spokeswoman for AAA South Dakota. “Gas prices have dropped because there is more than enough oil and gasoline supplies around the world to meet current demand. In addition, gas prices generally fall through early winter because people drive and use less fuel this time of year.”

Gas prices already are much cheaper than $2 per gallon in most parts of the country. The lowest one percent of U.S. stations is selling gas for an average of $1.59 per gallon, and more than 13,000 stations are selling gas for less than $1.75 per gallon. The states with the cheapest averages today include: Missouri ($1.77), Oklahoma ($1.78), South Carolina ($1.78), Tennessee ($1.79) and Kansas ($1.79). Average state and metro prices can be found on AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report website, updated daily: FuelGaugeReport.AAA.com.

AAA predicts gas prices likely will remain low through January, and could drop even further if the cost of crude oil remains weak. By late winter, gas prices may rise 50 cents per gallon or more as refineries conduct maintenance in advance of the busy summer driving season.

Americans are on track this year to drive a record number of miles, largely due to lower gas prices and a stronger economy, based on early estimates by the Federal Highway Administration. Through October, which is the most recent data available, Americans have driven more than 2.63 trillion miles for the year, which is a 3.4 percent increase over the same period in 2014.

Snowmobile trails in South Dakota are now open.

“The Black Hills has seen minimal snowfall so far this season,” said Black Hills Trails district supervisor, Shannon Percy. “Grooming operations will be limited until we see additional accumulation.”
Percy would like to remind riders that some obstacles exist throughout the 350-mile Black Hills Trails system due to the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic.
“Snowmobilers should be aware that trees, broken tree tops and dangling branches can fall at any time while riding on and off-trail,” said Percy. “Please be aware of your surroundings as trees and debris may cause obstructions.”
Eastern South Dakota saw significant accumulations in November, but most of that snow has since melted. Current projections have snow accumulations adding up in some parts of central and eastern South Dakota.