Vault/Archive - Dakota Midday

Bloomberg Television researcher Joshua Glasser is the author of "The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis."  Glasser's book is the first to uncover the full story behind Eagleton's rise and precipitous fall as a national candidate in 1972.  SDPB's Karl Gehrke speaks with the author on Dakota Midday.

Dakota Political Junkies Jon Hunter of the Madison Daily Leader and David Montgomery of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader talk about the latest television ads in South Dakota's U.S. House race between first-term Republican Kristi Noem and Democrat Matt Varilek.  They also preview tomorrow's Vice Presidential debate and comment on former Senator Larry Pressler's endorsement of President Obama.

Governor Dennis Daugaard has proclaimed October as Archives Month in South Dakota to draw attention to preservation efforts that protect the state’s documentary history. Marshall Damgaard is helping preserve documents from the state’s Bill Janklow era. Damgaard was an aid while Janklow was governor and later served as Janklow’s chief-of-staff in Congress. He is currently consultant for the Janklow Archives project at the University of South Dakota.

Arn Chorn-Pond was born into a prominent family of performers and musicians in Cambodia, but when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, he was sent to a children’s work camp. He escaped death by execution and starvation by playing flute for the camp’s guards. When Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, Arn Chorn-Pond was given a gun and forced to fight. He escaped into the jungle and eventually reached a refugee camp in Thailand. He was befriended and adopted by Peter Pond, a Lutheran Minister, and educated in the United States.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have crafted their campaign narratives, telling you who they are, what they've done, and how they would lead America. But there’s more to their stories. Tonight acclaimed FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk presents “The Choice 2012.” This two-hour long documentary journeys into the places, people, and decisive moments that made the men who are competing for the presidency. Hundreds of hours of research and dozens of original interviews reveal new details and fresh insights about the two candidates — and our choice this November.

This week, Kent Osborne, Joel Brovelite and John T Meyer discuss the latest tech news, including the 1 year anniversary of the death of Steve Jobs and how Jobs has impacted technology and how his legacy is continuing at Apple. Also, the Computer Guys talk about the upcoming Innovation Expo, Google's net worth and Facebook's new business model.

Alison Scott was raised in the Twin Cities suburb of Plymouth. She started piano lessons at the age of five, but quit five years later. She took up the piano again a decade later when she started writing her own songs. Her music is rooted in soul and R&B. Scott has sold out the Dakota Jazz Club (an upscale original music venue in the Twin Cities) over a dozen shows in a row and with her band, she has performed at benefits, corporate functions and opened for several national acts such as Bon Jovi, Chris Isaak, Marc Cohn, Boz Scaggs, and Nanci Griffith.

Julie Anderson Friesen describes Cinema Falls as a fictional place, created by the imagination but populated by real people. The mission of Cinema Falls is to screen and showcase quality independent and foreign film for audiences looking for cinematic adventure and nourishment. The first priority is to screen films that are not available on demand, downloadable, or on rentable DVD. By actively scouting and screening films currently part of the independent film festival circuit, Cinema Falls presents films that too often bypass the local Sioux Falls movie theaters.

Cosmopolitan magazine recently released its Bachelor of the Year 2012 finalists, one from each state, with Newley Kartak, a BHSU admissions counselor, voted as South Dakota’s bachelor of the year.  Originally from Colome, S.D., Kartak graduated from BHSU last May with a degree in communication arts and business administration. In 2010, Kartak was named BHSU homecoming king.  As a student, Kartak was also active in the BHSU track and field and rodeo teams. He is now vying for Cosmo’s top honor of Bachelor of the Year 2012 along with $10,000. The contest ends Thursday, Oct. 18 at 6 a.m. EST.

Newspaper columnist and Internet sensation Marilyn Hagerty, 86, a University of South Dakota alumna who was Al Neuharth's first editor 65 years ago, receives the 2012 Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media this evening. Hagerty, who writes columns for the North Dakota Grand Forks Herald, drew widespread media attention earlier this year when her straightforward feature story about the opening of the first Olive Garden restaurant in Grand Forks went viral on the Internet, and led to coverage on television, in newspapers, on websites and in social media.

Ann Grauvogl, the author of a new book celebrating the sesquicentennial of the University of South Dakota, “Pride, Persistence and Progress,” talks about the history of USD.  This 200-plus page coffee table style book is filled with historical facts, stories, photos and memories throughout the 150-year history of USD.  There’s a launch event for the book at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at the Muenster University Center's Pit Lounge on the USD campus. President James W.

This week, Texas company Hyperion did not extend its option to buy or acquire land in Union County on the site of a proposed oil refinery.  Several people have been close to this issue since its announcement in June, 2007.  Oral arguments are being heard today by the South Dakota Supreme Court on an air quality permit.  SDPB News Producer Kealey Bultena has an update from today's hearing. 

This week we’re joined by Kevin Woster, columnist with the Rapid City Journal and Jonathan Ellis, columnist/reporter with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Discussion topics this week include the Presidential debates, Senator John Thune’s potential leadership moves after the fall elections, Democratic U.S. House candidate Matt Varilek’s suspension of his campaign’s television ads and the feud between State Senator Stan Adelstein and Secretary of State Jason Gant.   

Brian and Kaija Bonde are finalists in A Prairie Home Companion's vocal duet contest.  They perform regularly with their band East of Westreville, known for its tight harmonies and arrangements of Americana music.  The Bondes will perform on A Prairie Home Campanion's duet contest program on October 20th from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The South Dakota Lottery Commission has adopted a strategic plan in which state government would become more of a financial partner with video lottery businesses.  Meanwhile, the Lottery is looking at adding machines that would accept notes as high as $50 or $100.  South Dakota Lottery Director Norm Lingle joins Dakota Midday host Karl Gehrke to talk about what came out of last Friday's Lottery Commission meeting.

Norm Evers of Norm's Greenhouse and Nursery talks on how people can get their yards and gardens ready for the fall and winter. Norm also answered questions from listeners around the state.

SDPB News Producer Kealey Bultena talks about the latest update in the Berget case. The South Dakota Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in the case of 50-year-old Rodney Berget. Berget pleaded guilty to killing guard Ronald Johnson in April 2011 at the state penitentiary during a botched prison escape. A judge sentenced Berget to die by lethal injection. But Berget's lawyer is now appealing the sentence.

South Dakota State Climatologist Dennis Todey talks about the state's drought. The state of South Dakota is facing one of its worst droughts in recorded history. With three-fourths of the state experiencing severe, extreme or exceptional drought, rain is needed to improve conditions. But Todey says the outlook for precipitation for the rest of the year is grim.

Michael Lawson's work over three decades, including his classic work, "Dammed Indians," provided the factual basis for Congressional legislation establishing tribal recovery trust funds totaling $385.8 million for five Sioux tribes in the Dakotas and Nebraska in compensation for reservation infrastructure lost to Federal dam projects.  Lawson's book "Dammed Indians Revisited" is a 2012 One Book South Dakota Selection.  He visited with Karl Gehrke at Barnes & Noble in Sioux Falls Friday during the Festival of Books.   He