COVID-19 case counts and hospitalization rates in the Sioux Falls area are continuing to rise. Representatives from Sanford and Avera say they need the public’s help to keep them from being overwhelmed.

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken maintains his office will not pursue a mask mandate, but he says the need to slow the spread stretches beyond city limits.

Mayor TenHaken has strong words on the issue of masks:

The South Dakota Speaker of the House says it’s been three days since he’s had a fever after contracting the coronavirus.

Republican Steve Haugaard says he’s feeling much better.

It was two weeks of non-stop fever. Speaker Haugaard says he tried to manage it with Tylenol and Ibuprophen. But his fever persisted.

“Temperatures seemed to hover anywhere from 100 to 105," Haugaard says.

Haugaard from Sioux Falls says he never lost his sense of taste or smell.

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 2

U.S. cases of COVID-19 have increased by nearly 30 percent from two weeks ago. The rate of new infections in South Dakota continues to eclipse that in other states. Now, as the weather cools and we prepare to spend more time indoors, public health officials are warning we may be entering the "darkest days" of the pandemic yet.  Dr. Shankar Kurra is vice president of Medical Affairs at Monument Health and joins us today with the latest.

Health reporting on SDPB is supported by Monument Health

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 2

The rich history of the Corn Palace in Mitchell goes back to 1892 when South Dakota as a state was just three years old. The world's only building covered with murals made of corn and grasses continues to draw half a million tourists annually and still serves as Mitchell's home town event center. On today's "Images of the Past," we'll look back at the history of the building that really is the World's only Corn Palace. Joining us now is Troy Magnuson, the manager of the Corn Palace gift shop and one of the Corn Palace tour guides.

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 2

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 1

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 1

Al Novstrup is a long time business owner in South Dakota and has served in the state legislature for nearly 2 decades. Committees he has served on include Commerce & Energy, and Judiciary. Al is a Republican and is seeking re-election to the state senate and would represent District 3, Brown County in northeast South Dakota. 

Politics reporting at SDPB is sponsored by the Center for Western Studies

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 1

For nearly a century, SDPB has fed the imaginations of children by utilizing various resources and our airwaves to get them ready for success. The SDPB Early Learning Initiative is a program designed to get children ready for kindergarten. Kevin Nelson is the director of the program. Kevin's experience as a teacher and former school administrator puts him in a good position for the job. He joins us now with more.

Your South Dakota COVID-19 numbers update for October 19th, 2020.

Forest Service researchers spent the last several years studying the amount of timber in the Black Hills, and they concluded that logging should be reduced.

They said the sustainable annual range is a harvest of 70,000 to 115,000 CCF. One “CCF” is 100 cubic feet, which is a little less than a cord of firewood stacked 8 feet high, 4 feet long and 4 feet wide.