News

Jeff Hemenway, Soil Quality Specialist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Paul Hetland, a farmer in Mitchell, joined the program to discuss the science and technology with what farmers will do with soil to make it more productive.

Dr. John Stam with the United States Geological Survey in Rapid City spoke with Charles Michael Ray about his presentation at the annual Western South Dakota Hydrology Conference earlier this month about climate change. To view the final draft of the April 2014 IPCC report, go to: http://mitigation2014.org/report/final-draft.

This week marks the 15th anniversary of the Landsat 7 satellite and the first anniversary of images coming from Landsat 8. Jim Vogelmann, Research Ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science, joined Innovation to discuss the satellites and what they've done for science.

For the millions of viewers who watched The Tonight Show from the 1960s into the 1990s, the name “Doc Severinsen” was synonymous with that of Johnny Carson.

We caught up with the legendary trumpeter during his recent Rapid City concert to talk about the old days and the new – and what keeps the 86-year old musician going.

Sioux Falls officials are releasing more details regarding a stabbing that killed a woman. It happened Wednesday afternoon at a home in the southwest part of the city. The woman in her fifties is dead, and a man suspected in her murder is in jail.  

Within half an hour of a deadly stabbing Wednesday, Sioux Falls police arrested a suspect.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, officers got a call that a woman was bleeding. First responders tried to save her, but 53-year-old Brenda Lynn Hansen died at the scene. Police Chief Doug Barthel says it appears she died from stab wounds.

Oglala Sioux Tribe member Chuck Jacobs is one of the members of the core planning team working with Badlands National Park officials on federal legislation that would turn management of the South Unit of the park over to the tribe.  If legislation is approved, the South Unit would become the first tribally-run national park in the country.  The proposal has sparked controversy on the reservation after tribal ranchers were notified last fall that their grassland leases were being revoked in preperation for the reintroduction of bison on the South Unit.  Earlier this week, Oglala Sioux Tribe

Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music.  At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios.  Overcoming crushing poverty and tragedy, Hall brought black and white together in a cauldron of racial hostility to create music for generations.  Filmmaker Greg "Freddy" Camalier directed "Muscle Shoals," which airs Monday night at 8:00 p.m.

A suspected drug dealer is under arrest in Sioux Falls after police found multiple drugs at his house.

Sioux Falls authorities had a search warrant Wednesday when they discovered more than two pounds of marijuana, nine grams of hash oil, a shotgun and more than $18,000 in cash. Officer Sam Clemens says police also found 10 ounces of psilocybin mushrooms.

Ellsworth Air Force Base is home to the 28th Bomb Wing, one of only two B-1B Lancer strategic bomber wings in the United States Air Force.  Earlier this month, Ellsworth officials announced that the base will downsize personnel this year as part of a nationwide shift in Air Force funding priorities.  As the military draws down troops in Afghanistan, the Air Force is developing new aircraft, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the KC-46 tanker and a new long-range strike bomber.  The talk of downsizing personnel comes at the same time Ellsworth has undertaken base improvements and renov

Gov't Mule, Gary Clark Jr., and George Thorogood and the Destroyers are headlining this summers Jazz Festival in Sioux Falls. Last year's Jazz Fest brought in over one hundred and twenty thousand people. Members of the Jazz & Blues Society believe this year's attendance could be similar.

Robert Joyce is the Executive Director of the Jazz and Blues Society in Sioux Falls. He says this year's Jazz Fest has a variety of groups and musicians to appeal to a large audience.

Wild Kingdom Wild Guide host Stephanie Arne is visiting her home state of South Dakota before she begins preparation for her second season on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Arne won a contest a year ago, where she competed with 200 others in a quest to become the new Wild Guide host. Arne has enjoyed her journey so far and she is excited for her career to continue.

A new report by the American Medical Association says physicians in South Dakota have a big impact on the state economy.  The report claims the support staff who work for physicians account for nearly 16-thousand jobs in South Dakota.  It also shows that physicians created more than 2-billion dollars in direct and indirect economic output in the state.

This week, we're featuring the Canadian trio, The Good Lovelies, recorded live at the Matthews Opera House in Spearfish on January 25th, 2014. How the Good Lovelies got together is a bit of a mystery. Each member has a different story on how the band met, but whatever the story, the group realized that they had formed something special in 2006. Part folk-roots, part Western Swing, the trio relies on three-part harmonies, clever songs, and on-stage banter drawn from an endless succession of comedic adventures on the road.

   For 15 thousand, 458 days, no one knew the whereabouts of Sheryl Miller and Pamella Jackson.  The Vermillion teens were last seen alive May 29, 1971, on their way to a party in a Union County quarry.  42 years later, their bodies were found, in the vehicle they were driving, under a bridge over Brule Creek.  Tuesday, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley confirmed the remains of two people in the car were those of the girls.

Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom host Stephanie Arne has held the position for just under a year. In the first four webisodes, she waded through the Florida Everglades learning about the invasive tegu lizard; dove off the Florida Keys and participated in coral reef restoration; searched along the California coast for the mighty California condor; and even went to the Black Hills and hung out with bison. Arne grew up in Pierre and graduated from South Dakota State University. She began her career at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha as Education Outreach Coordinator.

Attorney General Marty Jackley said yesterday that two Vermillion teens who went missing in the early 1970s died in a car crash. Pamela Jackson and Cheryl Miller died when their vehicle ran off the road while they were on their way to a party. Jackley said there was no evidence of foul play. The vehicle was in third gear when it crashed, keys were still in the ignition and one of the tires was damaged, perhaps indicating a blowout. Jackley said that alcohol was not a factor.

Joining the program are Jon Hunter, publisher of the Madison Daily Leader, and Kevin Woster, Rapid City reporter for KELO-TV. Topics include the weekend debate with the five Republican U.S. Senate candidates, challenges to the validity of signatures submitted by GOP U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth, former state senator Gordon Howie's independent candidacy for U.S. Senate, and state lottery officials commissioning their own study of problem gambling.

There are 6 living female recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. One of them, Jody Williams, is from the United States. 

We spent some time with Ms. Williams during her recent visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation to talk about the causes the Vermont native has spent a good portion of her life fighting for: peace, human rights and women’s rights.

Special Olympic athletes in South Dakota don’t currently have a specific training center, but must compete for gym time with other organizations in Sioux Falls. That will change soon as the South Dakota Special Olympics kicks off a nearly $2 million fundraising campaign to build the Unify Center. President Darryl Nordquist says the 16,000 square foot facility is the first of its kind. He says they plan to build the facility on land near the I-90-Cliff Avenue corridor that was donated with the goal to benefit disabled people.

The fourth season of Pioneers of Television begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Central on SDPB-TV with the episode "Standup to Sitcom."  Future episodes include "Doctors and Nurses," "Breaking Barriers," and "Acting Funny."  Steve Boettcher, President of Boettcher Media Group and co-owner of BT Media in Milwaukee, where Pioneers of Television is produced for PBS, joined Dakota Midday to preview the new season.

The Missouri National Recreation River Water Trail was added to the National Water Trails System last November.  The designation applies to 147 miles of the river between the spillways at Ft.

U.S. Senate candidate and former Governor Mike Rounds is one of five Republicans running to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson.  Rounds served as Governor from 2003-2011 after a decade in the South Dakota Senate.  In his current campaign Rounds says he wants to bring "South Dakota common sense" to Washington, D.C.  He says Congress is broken and needs to regain the discipline to get budgets and farm bills done on time so business owners have some predictability.  He also wants to scale back regulations to get the economy moving again.

The Sioux Falls Skyforce defeated the Canton Charge on Monday night 105-98 and they are on their way to the semi-final round of the NBA D League playoffs. This was a best of three series in which the Skyforce took two of the three games.

Skyforce Head Coach Pat Delany is in his first year with the team and he says it's been a great experience.  Delany says the regular season was fun, but the post season is even better. He says Monday night’s victory may not have looked good, but he’s pleased to see his team advance.

It’s tax day.    April 15th also happens to be the anniversary of Landsat 7.

The satellite has been in orbit for 15 years.  It’s in the sky alongside the newer model Landsat 8, now aloft for about a year.

You may not know it, but these satellites are playing an increasing role in our everyday lives.

Julie Hoffman of East River Nursery in Huron joined the program to answer listeners' horticultural questions.

According to Joseph Bottum, public life is now a supernatural game and as such, for many Americans, how we vote has become how we are saved. In his new book, "An Anxious Age," Bottum argues that the notion of politics as a mode of spiritual redemption stems from the collapse of the Mainline Protestant churches over the last fifty years. Where those churches once defined the liberal consensus of the nation, they have nearly disappeared from public life, and in their place have risen strange new beings.

Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. Central, SDPB-TV will broadcast Ken Burns' newest film, THE ADDRESS. The Learn the Address Initiative launched in November calling for Americans, namely schoolchildren, to recite the Gettysburg Address and post it at www.learntheaddress.org. Numerous school children and citizens from the South Dakota area participated in the initiative.

The Lakota Federal Credit Union has announced an increase in its secured loan limit from $5000 to $25,000. The move allows members to raise their credit rating as well as purchase much-needed vehicles to travel the remote reaches of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The Lakota Federal Credit Union was created in 2012 and is the first bank available to residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation within the reservation’s boundaries.

Frances Morgan lives in Kyle. She says banking wasn’t an option for her before the Lakota Federal Credit Union.

State officials recently released a report showing 166 polluted rivers, streams, and lakes in South Dakota.  Much of those pollution problems are caused by human and livestock waste.
 
Some of the most vulnerable areas of the state are in the Black Hills.    Researchers point out that thousands of septic systems are operating around Rapid City.  They say the large number home based systems poses a potential threat to drinking water quality.

South Dakota Lottery is expecting decreased revenues this fiscal year. Officials say both traditional lottery games like scratch tickets and lotto ball games are down. But there are a few reasons people aren’t buying as many lottery tickets as expected.

Norm Lingle is the executive director of South Dakota Lottery. He says winter weather has contributed to fewer lottery ticket purchases, but hopes that will change with warmer temps. In multistate lotto ball games, Lingle says the biggest draw to play is the jackpot size.