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The South Dakota National Guard is hosting its annual training this summer and that means military members from around world are in the state to get some real world experience.

That training includes some community building and outreach projects Indian Country.

The guard delivers timber and firewood, helps vaccinate animals, and undertakes construction projects in places like Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge.   

Guard members call the outreach and training efforts win-win.

ACLU leaders have filed a federal lawsuit over a new election deadline for third-party candidates. The lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota says an earlier date for new parties to get on the ballot violates Constitutional rights. SDPB’s Kealey Bultena reports on the case filed Libertarian Party of South Dakota versus Krebs.

Dr. David Graper is professor of horticulture at South Dakota State University in Brookings. He’s also the SDSU Extension Interim Coordinator of the South Dakota Master Gardener Program and former director of McCrory Gardens and the South Dakota Arboretum. He joined Dakota Midday and answered listener questions about clover in lawns, linden trees, hydrangeas, shade plants and Shasta daisies.

The Civil Air Patrol was born one week before Pearl Harbor after volunteers with a love for aviation lobbied for an organization to put their planes and flying skills to use in defense of the country. After World War Two, the Civil Air Patrol was given the mission areas of aerospace education, cadet programs and emergency services.

Liechtenstein is one of the smallest, but richest nations in the world. It’s an alpine country nestled between Switzerland and Austria and a winter destination for skiers. Claudia Fritsche has been the Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the U.S. since 2002, when the European country first opened its embassy in Washington, DC. With a population of only about 37,000, she describes her country as similar to a small town.

The leaders of South Dakota’s Executive and Judicial branches say they’re teaming up for a comprehensive look at elder abuse in the state. During the regular session, state lawmakers approved an Elder Abuse Task Force. State leaders are also announcing a public conference as the panel begins work.

The World Health Organization uses June 15th to call attention to elder abuse around the globe. Greg Sattizahn with South Dakota’s Unified Judicial System says mistreatment of seniors is a quiet problem.

Farmers and ranchers in South Dakota must decide whether to save the money they make from crops and livestock or reinvest it. The growing season is well underway for South Dakota farmers, and ranchers are watching markets as they raise their animals. 

Record commodity prices for corn and soybeans are gone, and that has some farmers keeping their money in the bank instead of spending it on upgrades and new equipment. South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Lucas Lentsch says growers remain cautious.

A Rapid City artist has completed a 2-story mural near Main Street Square that reflects the images created in the ongoing ”Passage of Wind and Water” sculpture project. What was initially planned as a 5-week work schedule turned into almost 3 months of frequently intense labor for the muralist.

”Passage of Wind and Water” spokesperson Anna Huntington says the idea of having someone paint a mural on a 2-story wall facing Main Street Square seemed like a no-brainer.

Josh Willhite, project manager for the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), and Jared Heise, science director at the Sanford Lab, discussed the LBNF experiment and its construction.  The LBNF will send a beam of neutrinos through the earth from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Batavia, Illinois to the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead.  A series of public meetings are scheduled to discuss the environmental impacts during the construction of the project.  The meetings are June 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Science Happy Hour is taking place Friday night in Sioux Falls.  More than 20 exhibits have local scientists explaining topics in a fun and accessible way for adults to learn while enjoying a beverage.  Physicist Barbara Szczerbinska of Dakota State University and Nancy Wehrkamp, Director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, detailed the event on Innovation with Cara Hetland.  They also discussed the 4th annual "It's All About Science Festival," a family friendly event that explores science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  And they outlined the Center for Theoretical Undergro

Dr. Amy Elliott, director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Prevention at Sanford Research, visited about the Third Annual Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health Summit.  In 2013, Sanford Research and its partners received a $13.5 million grant, the largest in its history, from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Minority Health and Disparitites to create CRCAIH.

Recent Rapid City Stevens High School graduate Maya Van Nuys assembled a cast of well-known and respected local players for a showcase concert last February at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City.  Van Nuys is a classically trained violinist with a love for the blues and American roots music.  She came up through the Dahl's Emerging Artists Series.  Maya's father, guitarist Frank Van Nuys, introduced her to all kinds of music that inspired her current path as a musician.  The next stage in Van Nuys' career is taking her to Kansas where she plans to further her music career with collaborator

This week members of South Dakota’s legislature are going on tours. Lawmakers are traveling to schools, businesses, and state operations to see processes firsthand. 

Lawmakers spend most of their time serving the public in the State Capitol during the winter, but this summer they have a chance to visit places across South Dakota. While in Sioux Falls, State Representative Justin Cronin and other legislators toured the state penitentiary.

Wind Cave National Park is now home to more than one significant cave.

Persistence Cave discovered at the park in 2004 and kept secret for over a decade is now being explored for the first time.

An initial sample shows the soil near the cave’s entrance contains a trove of fossils, including at least 22 different species of animals dating back at least 11,000 years.   Paleontologists from various institutions including the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs have joined in the study.

It’s been a year since the family of a young Lakota woman learned that the star athlete and musician had been killed during a high-speed pursuit by Rosebud Sioux tribal police. As Feather Rae Colombe’s memorial is held this weekend, her family still has questions about what led to her death.

When word spread across the Rosebud Sioux Reservation that Feather Rae Colombe had been killed during a high-speed pursuit in May 2014, her friends and family were shocked. 

World-class pianists are back in Sioux Falls for the ninth annual Dakota Sky International Piano Festival. The event runs through Saturday, July 13 at the Washington Pavilion and features a series of recitals, seminars, master classes and children's concerts. Pianists Gregory DeTurck and Douglas Humphreys, cellist Maxim Koslov and soprano Kayleen Sanches are the featured artists for this summer's programs. Gregory DeTurck and founder and artistic director Paul Sanchez joined Dakota Midday for festival details.

Health disparity in the U.S. is a problem among certain population groups, such as South Dakota’s rural areas and Native American communities. To help bridge the health care gap, the Rise-Up program offers internships to young men and women from underserved areas who are interested in health care careers. The idea is that they will return and serve their home communities.

On Saturday, Dr. Michael Heisler and some 30 bicyclists begin a trek taking them from Skykomish, Washington to Sioux Falls. The 1,500 mile, three week trip is a fundraiser for Andean Health and Development to support the completion of the Hesburgh Hospital in Santo Domingo, Ecuador. The mission is to raise $500,000 thousand dollars to help fully equip the hospital and support research and training.

U.S. Representative Kristi Noem says the House is focusing on a bill that outlines how the President negotiates trade agreements.  She says it’s critical that Congress pass the Trade Promotion Authority bill or TPA so that it can structure how discussions move forward for treaties like the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds says he’s co-sponsored legislation to help Americans who may lose their healthcare coverage if the Supreme Court says tax subsidies with the Affordable Care Act are unconstitutional. He says the Patient Freedom Act helps protect the 19,000 South Dakotans who are at risk for losing their subsidies.  

As summer approaches, officials with OSHA and the National Weather Service are reminding workers and their employers to be mindful of the heat. Young men in the construction industry are especially vulnerable to heat related illness and death.

State lawmakers on the appropriations committee are rearranging how they want one million dollars distributed to South Dakota Tech schools. Wednesday afternoon members of the Joint Appropriations committee met in Sioux Falls. They heard from education leaders and voted to change an earlier decision.

U.S. Senator John Thune is receiving some flak in the media over a recent tweet. Thune says the comment he made on Twitter earlier this week was poorly worded. The tweet says six million people risk losing their health care subsidies, yet the President continues to deny that Obamacare is bad for the American people. Many reacted to the tweet, saying it’s a poor argument to say taking away subsidies is what makes the Affordable Care Act bad. Thune says the comment was misinterpreted and taken out of context.

During the Vietnam War, James Pollack entered combat zones armed with a .45 pistol, canteen, camera and sketchbook. The South Dakota native was one of 46 U.S. Army Soldiers commissioned to chronicle the war as a part of the Vietnam Combat Art Program. After two months accompanying soldiers on patrol, Pollack and the other artists were shipped to studios in Hawaii to finish their work. It became property of the U.S. Army Art Collection at the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

After staging comedies for its first two productions, the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival is bringing one of the Bard’s darkest tragedies to Prentis Park in Vermillion June 11 through June 14.

Macbeth is a story of political ambition and quest for power for its own sake. After receiving a prophecy from a trio of witches and being spurred to action by his wife, Scottish general Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne. But he’s racked with guilt and paranoia as he and Lady Macbeth descend into madness.

Roger Whittle, managing editor of the Watertown Public Opinion, and Denise Ross, editor of the Black Hills Knowledge Network and South Dakota Dashboard, joined the Dakota Political Junkies this week. They discussed U.S. Senator John Thune's tweet criticizing Obamacare; the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s discussions over revisions to its policy on transgender student participation in sports; and the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teachers and Students.

Shaina Johnson grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Always a good student, she qualified for a Gates Scholarship in high school. And though she wandered a bit while finding her career path, Shaina says she always saw her future in medicine. Along the way, she pursued a variety of interests and always succeeded. Among her secrets to success: realizing just how unique her Lakota and reservation background makes her.

Hear the complete interview with Shaina Johnson by SDPB's Jim Kent. 

Related story:

A young Lakota woman has just begun a summer internship with the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. The Black Hills State University senior was one of just 36 students chosen from a field of 900 to attend three Center for Disease Control-funded programs. 

Shaina Johnson grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Always a good student, she qualified for a Gates Scholarship in high school.

And though she wandered a bit while finding her career path, Shaina says she always saw her future in medicine 

Members of the South Dakota State Legislature’s Executive Board are putting lawmakers on interim committees for in-depth analysis of certain topics. The State Senate and House of Representatives select the panel to meet outside of the regular winter session. They met Tuesday in Sioux Falls.  

Legislators on the Executive Board gather several times a year. They set travel policies for lawmakers going to state-sponsored and national events. Members also appoint lawmakers to committees that examine issues in summer studies.

An effort to improve cross-cultural communication in South Dakota funded by the Bush Foundation kicks off this week. Oceti Sakowin Cultural Ambassadors are a class of nearly 45 community leaders traveling by bus to sites in Indian Country around Western South Dakota.

Click play bellow to hear more.

http://www.bushfoundation.org/