It may be a good thing that the budget proposal for the USDA Forest Service includes a big ask for wildfires and wildland fire management, because the news about Pactola Reservoir and mining has lit everyone’s hair on fire. Let’s take a deep breath. The March 17 news release from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (USFS) said: “a proposal to protect cultural and natural resources in the Pactola Reservoir – Rapid Creek Watershed, including drinking water for Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base, from the adverse impacts of mineral exploration and development.” The “pr ..read more

Another confession seems to be in order: I'm a Democrat. Whoa — knocked you right down, didn’t it!  Well, if truth be known, my maternal grandfather was a Republican. Many of my wonderful cousins are Republicans. I have been blessed to work with friends and associates who are very effective leaders and caring people who are Republicans. I have lived in a community where many fine business people are Republicans. Some of my Republican friends have served our state in great ways, and still, others on my Facebook Friends’ list have parents, uncles, cousins, sisters and family friends who are ..read more

Thanks to our supporters, The South Dakota Standard can publish a variety of provocative and informative columns on a daily basis.  We know that we’re reaching thousands of readers across South Dakota and elsewhere and we remain committed to doing so freely and easily, no paywalls, no subscriptions, no commitments of any kind. With your financial help, Tom Lawrence and I can continue to write and maintain this platform for the many informed and involved writers in the area who know that The Standard is a place where they can get their messages across.  If you want to help us continue ..read more

At 4:45 am, the first sounds I hear awakening are low murmuring chirps. When I open my eyes, the room is hazy gray with first light before sunrise. A breeze sighs through the open windows. I close my eyes, pat the dog, and snuggle deeper into the covers. A vehicle whines over the hill on the highway, tires thumping as the driver accidentally veers into the rumble strips. I open my eyes and look toward the west windows. Over the deep blue Black Hills, a wispy cirrus cloud turns pink, reflecting the coming sunrise. While I dress, I look out the west windows at the blackbirds stomping through the ..read more

After the congregation finished singing the hymn “Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley,” the pastor at the Methodist church I was visiting in Washington, D.C., said, “That’s an awful song. It’s terrible. I should have looked more carefully at the music. I’m sorry!” The congregation burst into laughter. The pastor’s distress was real, but how often do you hear a minister dissing a song from the hymnal?   “Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley” is an American folk song often heard at Lent, the time of year when Christians remember events leading to and including the death of Jesus Christ. The ..read more

(Editor’s note: Floridian Heather Beaven tells us that since volunteering for McGovern for president at just 4 years old, there was never a real question that she would grow up to be politically active. She was Jimmy Carter’s campaign manager in her sixth-grade class and co-chair of the Mike Dukakis for president committee during her first year at the University of Missouri. In 1991, Beaven joined the Navy as a cryptologist. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in political science and from the University of North Florida with a master’s in public administrati ..read more

The 2023 South Dakota legislative session is over.  Thank God. More on that in future posts. In many school districts around the state, elections are going to be held this spring. For your information, most of your property tax dollars fund local education. A huge chunk of state and federal tax money is also involved. The people elected to school boards have an important job.  They create the priorities and the environment in which our children learn. Math. Science. History. Civics. Writing. English. Extracurricular activities such as drama, debate, chorus and sports are also part of ..read more

There’s something quite fortunate for humans about being two-legged creatures. If you turn an ankle or break a leg, with the help of a cane or a crutch, you can still manage to get on with life. Sometimes it will even strengthen the usable appendage while the damaged one recovers. I feel that way about my professional life. I have always walked on two vocational legs, been employed by either the church or the school. It has been ministry or teaching. I came to believe it was a great advantage. If one of the two employers became overbearing, too restrictive, or even ethically questionable, I co ..read more

The discovery that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas was attributed to the Swedish physicist Svante Arrhenius at the turn of the 20th century. Arrhenius’ forecast was that the burning of fossil fuel would increase the carbon dioxide concentration in the earth’s atmosphere and raise its temperature. Confirming Arrhenius’ hypothesis took some time. Solid evidence came from an unexpected place — a subtropical island. George Keeling of the Scripps Institute established the first long-term carbon dioxide monitoring station on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa in 1958 to determine if atmospheric carbon dioxide wa ..read more

If it weren’t for Jim Abourezk, I wouldn’t be here in South Dakota. Back in 1972, I was halfway through college, majoring in political science, and eager for a summer job on a U.S. Senate campaign. The Vietnam War was raging, and Sen. George McGovern was running for president against Richard Nixon. Abourezk, then a congressman representing South Dakota’s West River district, was running for South Dakota’s other Senate seat, and I was hired to work on his campaign. I had been raised on the East Coast, and South Dakota was a friendly, wholesome side of America that was totally new to me. At the ..read more