News

In The Moment ... August 21, 2017 Show 160 Hour 2

A new Honors program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology invites highly motivated students to seek a deeper education, one that's tied closely to the challenges of the real world. We're joined by Dr. Scott Kenner and Dr. Demitris Kouris from SDSMT.

Shon Anderson is with B9Creations, an international 3D printer company based in Rapid City. He joins us to talk about building an international business from the Black Hills of South Dakota and building a culture of innovation and imagination.

In The Moment ... August 21, 2017 Show 160 Hour 1

The South Dakota Board of Technical Education was formed July 1st after the passage of Amendment R. Dana Dykhouse serves as board president. He joins us for a conversation about workforce development in the state and about how the technical school grads of today just might become the small business owners and entrepreneurs of South Dakota’s tomorrow.

In The Moment ... August 18, 2017 Show 159 Hour 1

The African Children's Choir returns to South Dakota to bring smiles and spread cheer through their music and dance.  The Choir performs in Dell Rapids on August 23 and in Brookings on August 25.  Heidi Moen, a South Dakota resident, books North American tour dates for the African Children's Choir.  She joins In The Moment to visit about the tour and the Choir's mission.

A group of South Dakotans is striving to keep the wool industry alive. SDPB's Chynna Lockett reports from Rapid City.

Comments made by a Troy Township supervisor were pivotal in a South Dakota Supreme Court partial reversal. The court made its opinion public on Thursday, Aug. 17.

At issue is the vacating of roads in three townships in Day County. Game, Fish & Parks appealed those vacations to the Fifth Circuit, saying the township boards were trying to cut off public access to disputed bodies of water in Day County.

In The Moment ... August 17,2017 Show 158 Hour 1

Twenty-five years ago, agreement was reached on the North American Free Trade Agreement. It’s a trade pact that gradually eliminated most tariffs and trade barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Has NAFTA been good or bad for the U.S.? Has it been good or bad for South Dakota? Today we welcome Russell Green. He’s a Will Clayton Fellow in International Economics for Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

In The Moment ... August 17,2017 Show 158 Hour 2

What’s the impact of war on higher education? Today we welcome University of Sioux Falls professor Stephen Jackson. He’s been at work exploring the impact of World War II on the University of Sioux Falls. Dr. Jackson’s research will appear alongside other scholars’ work in the book “Denominational Higher Education During World War II.” The book focuses on the framing of faith and war, service to the nation, and the dynamics of the denominational campus during the war years.

While many bookworms spend their time cocooned in public libraries and bookstores searching for the next great story, George Hall had only to walk through his own front door.

In The Moment ... August 16, 2017 Show 157 Hour 2

Roger Whittle is Managing Editor of the Watertown Public Opinion. Dana Ferguson is a political watchdog reporter with the Argus Leader. This week on the Dakota Political Junkies we discuss hate groups in America and the role of public officials to address their actions publicly. We also talk tax reform and news from DakotaFest.

In The Moment ... August 16, 2017 Show 157 Hour 1

What makes a successful presidency? How soon should we judge the mark a president makes on the nation? How does a president's legacy change once viewed through the lens of history and perspective? Sean Flynn is a history and political science professor at Dakota Wesleyan University. He recently participated in the five day 20th Century Presidency seminar. He joins us to talk vision. Legislative legacy, and the hallmarks of American leadership.

In The Moment ... August 15, 2017 Show 156 Hour 2

In February, we talked with filmmaker Matt Ornstein about his documentary "Accidental Courtesy." It follows an aging African American musician whose hobby is to befriend and convert members of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups in America. It's a controversial concept. Should those who preach racism and violence be treated with patience and respect? What is our moral responsibility in the shadow of hate?

In The Moment ... August 15, 2017 Show 156 Hour 1

Attorney General Marty Jackley announced last week that his office is joining several other attorneys general in asking the U-S Supreme Court to hear a case on the Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing an official religion. The case, which has made it all the way to the country's highest court, originated in Bloomfield, New Mexico, where a monument of the Ten Commandments is placed on city property. SDPB's Lee Strubinger talked with Attorney General Jackley.

Administrators and officials with Rapid City Area Schools are receiving training to become certified ALICE instructors. 

Katy Urban is the community relations manager with Rapid City Area Schools. She says the ALICE program will make the district safer.

A Rapid City education official reminds parents of incoming sixth graders about two required vaccinations. 

State law requires sixth graders to receive the meningococcal MC4 vaccine and the Tetanus, Diptheria, Petrussis vaccine, or T-Dap. Katy Urban is the community relations manager with the Rapid City Area Schools. She says the law was passed in 20-16, and that many students in the district arrived at school last year without the immunizations.      

In The Moment ... August 14, 2017 Show 155 Hour 2

Get ready to head for the Hills. In the Moment is in Deadwood for the South Dakota Festival of Books in September. We hope to see you there. Today we get a preview of the state's premier literary event. Jennifer Widman is the director of the Center for the Book with the South Dakota Humanities Council.

In The Moment ... August 14, 2017 Show 155 Hour 1

Our warming climate presents a challenge for gardeners as well as farmers. Weather patterns have become less predictable. As the temperatures rise, it might seem that plants from warmer zones could be planted here in South Dakota. But a horticulture specialist for SDSU Extension says not all components of climate patterns have changed, and gardeners are bound by extremes. SDPB's Victoria Wicks has this report.

A ceremony set for Monday in Pierre will honor more than 50 South Dakota veterans who served in Taiwan during a portion of the Cold War.  

Officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office will present the US-ROC Mutual Defense Commemorative Badge to thank the 52 veterans for their service to the East Asian nation.

The veterans served there between 1955 and 1979. During that time, American soldiers served in a peace-keeping role under a mutual defense treaty.

This helped Taiwan defend itself from potential threats.  

Last month, grocery distributor SpartanNash announced it will close three grocery stores in Rapid City in October.

According to a food security group in the city, that will create critical gaps in food availability to neighborhoods north of downtown.

In April, Mary Corbine started analyzing income levels and walking distances to grocery stores in Rapid City. Then in July,  SpartanNash officials announced they would close two Family Thrift grocery stores, and the Prairie Market grocery store.

Peggy Norris – Deputy Director of Education and Outreach at Sanford Underground Research Facility.

Peggy saw her first eclipse in 1991 and has chased them ever since. She is working with students from School of Mines to build a weather balloon to broadcast live video of the eclipse. They will share the video on NASA’s website. 

Leo DeLange, Chief Operating Officer of GenPro Energy Solutions and Molly Brown, Vice President of Energy Production of GenPro

In The Moment ... August 11, 2017 Show 154 Hour 1

What draws you to American roots music? What draws you into deeper relationship with other human beings? Musicians Dennis James and Lauryn Shapter find inspiration in the brokenness and vulnerability of humanity.

Soil in Rapid City, as well as other places in West River, can be heavy and compacted in some places. Gardeners can add amendments but have to be careful not to add herbicides that can harm their plants. A horticulture specialist for SDSU Extension gives SDPB's Victoria Wicks some tips for safe soil amendments.

To see a USDA document touting radishes as a cover crop, click here:

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_022940.pdf

In The Moment ... August 10, 2017 Show 153 Hour 2

What do you wish you knew about autism? What are the next keys to unlocking the complex puzzle for families? Dr. Suma Jacob is a double board-certified psychiatrist. She is the director of the Autism Research Program at the University of Minnesota. She joins us for a conversation about autism and genetic research.

SPARK Study

In The Moment ... August 10, 2017 Show 153 Hour 1

The death of musician Glen Campbell this week has many South Dakotans talking about Alzheimer's. Campbell waged a public battle against the disease. Leslie Morrow is the state director for the Alzheimer's Association. We talk with her about lifting the stigma of Alzheimer’s and how and when to seek screening.

This year was host to the second annual Spirit of Sturgis Antique Motorcycle Race. It’s held in the Historic Sturgis Half-Mile racetrack at the Meade County Fairgrounds. Ten classic bikes from the 1920’s to the 70’s ripped around the dirt track… Some of the bikes don’t even have breaks!

Brittney Olsen is from Aberdeen, South Dakota. She helps organize, and even races in, this event, which summons the ghost of Sturgis Rally past… to the present.