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DRMS Students Have GenCyber Day with DSU

January 22, 2018 by Submitted

Each grade level from the Dell Rapids Middle School was able to participate in the GenCyber Day for 35 minutes each on Friday, January 19. Students had the opportunity to work with littleBits, Dash robots, Ozobots, or the BB-8 robots. littleBits offered students the chance to build items that moved, made noise, or had lights blink. The Dash and BB-8 robots allowed students to code the robots using a mobile device to move or perform tasks. Students using the Ozobots (a robot the size of a bouncy ball) used blank sheets of paper to draw pathways with markers for the Ozobots to follow. Students were also able to use a particular scene to change the direction or speed of the Ozobots.

Dr. Ashley Podhradsky, an associate professor from Dakota State University in Madison, led of a group of undergraduate and graduate students that helped students with each station.

“While all of the connected toys are fun to play with, they all teach important fundamentals of computer science. The kids learn linear logic they can apply as they advance their skills. We know kids won’t be experts in a day, but if we can get them interested in cyber that is a big win,” commented Dr. Podhradsky.

Scott Headrick, one of the K-12 Technology Integrationists for the Dell Rapids School District, thought the event went well. “We have great kids in Dell Rapids. It was wonderful to have students get an opportunity to learn problem solving skills and computer science! It was great to have Dr. Podhradsky and the DSU students lead us in such fun, learning activities!”

Submitted by Scott Headrick

2018 SD Legislative Sessions – Dan Ahlers Week 2 Update

January 21, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Greetings from Pierre. This week, I will cover a few of the bills that I am bringing this session as well as an update on the Appropriation budget process.

With all the new laws written and approved each session, it is equally important to remove unnecessary laws. In 2005, the state created the South Dakota Beef Program. While this program never really got off the ground, money was put into a Certified Beef Fund to administer this program. Over the last 10 years, the fund has paid auditing fees and has been swept by the legislature to balance the state budget. Today, $564.05 remains in the fund. HB 1089 will repeal this legislation and transfer the remaining money into the Rural Rehabilitation Fund under the Department of Agriculture. The state will continue to maintain the South Dakota Beef trademark and will be able to administer its use through the Department of Agriculture.

During session, legislators often work and vote on bills that cleanup mistakes from previous years or old and redundant language. In HB 1077, I will replace the term “mentally retarded” with “intellectually impaired.” In 2010, Congress passed Rosa’s Law which changed references to “mental retardation” to “intellectually impaired” in federal law. The change comes from the negative use and connotations of the term “mentally retarded.” This term is considered extremely offensive for whom the term is applied.

One of Dennis Daugaard’s priorities during his tenure as governor has been the sale of surplus property. If the state does not have a use for land or a building, it should be sold and returned to the tax roll. The question becomes what is the best use of the money from these sales? Sometimes, the property is held in trust. If trust land is sold, the money from that sale returns to a trust fund under School and Public Lands. The money earned is then used to for the purpose of the trust. For example, when STAR Academy was sold, the proceeds went to a Corrections Trust. Each year, a disbursement from this fund goes to fund the corrections training program.

Last year, we voted to sell surplus property from the Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Because the land is not held in a trust, the money goes to the General Fund. I have introduced HB 1090 to appropriate the money from this land sale to the Michael J. Fitzmaurice Endowment Fund. This fund was created by the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs to benefit the activities of the veterans at the SD Veteran’s Home. I believe this is the best use of these dollars. If the money remains in the General Fund, we will spend it this year and it will be gone. We can take these same dollars and place them in the endowment. Doing this will cause the endowment and the annual disbursement to grow each year. The money we invest today will continue to serve our veterans long after we have left this earth.

In Appropriations, we continued` state agency budget hearings. We reviewed 10 state agency budgets including Transportation, Revenue, Tourism, and Game, Fish and Parks. Most departments have requested minimal or no increase in spending. The Appropriations Committee is concerned with the governor’s no increase recommendation in wages for state workers. South Dakota lags behind its neighbors in state wages. The state also pays far less than the private sector for similar jobs within the state. This disparity has made it difficult for state agencies to fill vacant positions. With many “Baby Boomers” retiring from the workforce, the problem is compounded. The Appropriations Committee has made it a priority to find the funding to provide some kind of increase this year for state workers.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concerns. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

2018 SD Legislative Sessions – Tom Pischke Week 2 Update

January 21, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The South Dakota Legislature concluded its second week of session on Friday. This week’s session included the annual memorial service and finished up the reports executive agencies give to legislative committees.

• SB 44 establishes licensing for gaming manufacturers and distributors and establishes a licensing fee. This provision is for “Associated equipment manufacturer or distributor,” any person who designs, assembles, fabricates, produces, constructs, sells, leases, or otherwise prepares a product or component of any associated equipment.

• HB 1004 allows the state Board of Elections to regulate the font size and the petition size of initiated measures, referred laws, etc.

• HB 1003 is a language clarification of a previously passed bill allowing certain entities to make political contributions. The language in the previous bill did not require these entities to itemize those contributions. HB 1003 requires all donors to political committees to itemize contributions over 100 dollars. This bill has an emergency clause to ensure that political committees are statutorily required to itemize contributions from these entities.

• HJR 1001 fundamentally alters how legislator pay is set. The resolution would change the South Dakota Constitution so that rather than legislators voting on a pay raise, legislator pay would be one fifth of the most recent median South Dakota Household income as provided by law. Other employees of the legislature would stay as is and their pay would still be the purview of the legislature. Legislators have not had a pay increase since 1999. Increasing legislator pay would grow the pool of future potential legislators who at this time simply cannot afford to run for office.

• SB 9 would require a fiscal note, compiled by LRC, to accompany both initiated measures and constitutional amendments to determine the cost or lack thereof to the state upon passage.

• HB 1006 is similar to SB 9. The bill would require the director of LRC to deliver comments on any initiated measure or Constitutional amendment no later than 15 work days after the submission by the sponsor of the measure. The director’s written comments under this section shall include assistance regarding the substantive content of the initiated measure or initiated amendment in order to minimize any conflict with existing law and to ensure the measure’s or amendment’s effective administration. This change is in response to the numerous errors in the IM 22 language and would provide more information and transparency to voters for future ballot initiatives. However, the bill also includes a provision that any initiative sent to LRC from the first day of December to the day of adjournment sine die of session the lrc director shall be given 15 days following adjournment sine die to provide comments.

STATE OF THE TRIBES

At the end of last week the chairman of the tribes delivered the state of the tribes address. Lower Brule Chairman Boyd Gorneau touched on reconciliation, the meth epidemic and urged the legislature to expand Medicaid.

NON MEANDERING WATERS

Governor Daugaard is proposing to extend the sunset by three years, from 2018 to 2021. This week there was an informational meeting about the issue. While the compromise reached this summer could stay in place it is likely this issue will be debated again during the session.

STATE OF THE JUDICIARY

Last week Chief Justice Gilbertson delivered the State of the Judiciary Address. Justice Gilbertson spoke about the rising meth epidemic and the issues surrounding it. However, he was optimistic that the state’s experiment with drug courts is working and urged the legislature to expand the program to include inpatient treatment for the most severe addictions.

EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS

On Thursday 3 executive appointments had hearings in the Senate Education Committee. Former state representative Jacqueline Sly was appointed to the South Dakota State Board of Education Standards. Becky Guffin was also appointed to the South Dakota Board of Education Standards and Don Kirkegaard was appointed to be the interim Department of Education Secretary. These appointments passed the Senate Education Committee and will be heard in the Senate on Monday.

VETERANS CEMETERY

Veterans groups have been advocating for a state cemetery on the east side of the state. The bill for the project would be around 600,000 dollars. However, most of those funds will be secured from the federal government. Ongoing maintenance costs would be paid by the state. However, a portion of those fund are likely to be raised privately by veteran’s groups.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Rep. Tom Pischke

District 25

2018 SD Legislative Sessions – Tom Pischke Week 1 Update

January 16, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

On Tuesday, Governor Dennis Daugaard gave his final state of the state address as Governor of the great State of South Dakota. State government faces several challenges as we prepare to budget for the coming year, but there are many bright spots on the horizon.

– Sales tax revenues continue to lag behind projections and revenues are tight. We will need to continue to watch revenues over the next two months to ensure we adopt a structurally balanced budget in March. Part of that is due to weak sales tax collections from a strained farm economy, and part is due to on-line and out-of-state retailers.

– The state has taken several steps over the years to try to collect more online retailers to encourage them to remit taxes. The state has reached an agreement with Amazon to collect and remit state and local sales taxes in South Dakota. Amazon began to voluntarily to collect sales tax on February 1st and began remitting in late March.

– Over the past six years, the legislature has passed a repeal over 4,000 sections of obsolete or unnecessary laws and rules, accounting for nearly 470,000 words. We will be proposing more of these bills this year.

– Two years ago, we started to create new conflict of interest standards for state employees. After one year’s experience, there will be legislation this year to clarify and streamline that law so that boards, commissions and school boards can achieve our objective of bringing transparency to these situations.

– South Dakota has now obtained AAA ratings – the highest possible – from all three major credit agencies. The AAA rating saves money when our tech schools, universities, and hospitals issue bonds – we get a lower interest rate because of our bond rating. We have balanced our budget for 128 years and recently placed an explicit requirement for a balanced budget in the constitution.

– Regular maintenance of state-owned facilities prevents larger problems in the future. But we also need to constantly reevaluate our need for the facilities that he have. The Governor is proposing to sell and repurpose unneeded and obsolete State-owned buildings across the state. We owe it to taxpayers to keep the state’s footprint to a minimum, to avoid spending tax dollars on maintenance of unneeded facilities and to return these properties to the tax rolls when possible.

– The total prison population today is lower that it would have been without reforms, but it is higher than we predicted it would be when we passed the Public Safety Improvement Act. We believe it’s due to the increase in methamphetamine trafficking. The Governor is proposing a joint drug interdiction task force, comprised of four new Highway Patrol officers, joined by designated agents of the Division of Criminal Investigation. There is a very close correlation between the increase in drug trafficking and the increase in meth arrests and convictions in South Dakota. We need to stop meth from coming into South Dakota.

– The Governor stressed that we need to find a way to stop out-of-state organizations from experimenting with South Dakota’s constitution and laws. These groups have no ties to our state and often don’t even disclose the source of their funds. They are using our state’s low signature requirement and cheap media markets to attempt to pass 15 constitutional amendments and initiated measures that advance their national agenda but don’t address problems seen in South Dakota. This session, we need to work together to find a way to protect our state from interference by out-of-state groups, while preserving our citizens’ access to direct democracy, so issues that do concern our grassroots can be raised, but not by people who don’t even live here.

If you have concerns about upcoming legislation or ideas to make our state better, please contact me at Tom.Pischke@sdlegislature.gov.

Tjaden Receives Teacher of the Year Honor

January 15, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Dell Rapids Elementary physical education teacher Shannon Tjaden has won the 2017-2018 SHAPE (Society for Health And Physical Educators) South Dakota Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year Award. Tjaden will be formally recognized at the SHAPE SD Conference on Friday, January 26th at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The conference runs from January 25th through January 27th.

“It’s a big honor, and honestly it’s well deserved. He does a ton with our students at the elementary. He has our 3^rd graders playing cricket. It’s not roll the ball out and watch them play by any means. He’s always active with them. It’s very, very well deserved,” said Dell Rapids Elementary School Principal Jay Nelson during the Dell Rapids School Board regular meeting on Monday, January 8th.

Administrators, other teachers, students, or parents submit nominations for the award. The nomination form is found on the SHAPE SD website at http://shapesd.org.

The award criteria states the applicant mus be a physical education teacher who conducts a quality physical education program as refelcted in NASPE standards and guidelines for K-12 Physical Education programs, utilizes various teaching methodologies and plans innovative learning experiences to meet the needs of all students, serves as a positive role model epitomizing personal health and fitness, enjoyment of activity, sportsmanship, and sensitivity to the needs of students, participates in professional development opportunities, and provides service to the profession through leadership, presentations, and/or writing.

Tjaden also currently serves on the SHAPE South Dakota Board as Past President.

2018 SD Legislative Sessions – Dan Ahlers Week 1 Update

January 12, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Dear Constituents,

Thank you for choosing me to represent you in Pierre. Each week during session, I will give updates on issues in Pierre. This week I will cover the impact of Federal Tax Reform, Medicaid, and the state budget.

The passage of the federal tax reform will impact several aspects of state government. Fortunately, the version that passed preserves the tax credit for bonding. Had this provision been removed, the cost for publicly bonded facilities, like schools, would have increased significantly. There is a 15% reduction in the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Program. This program provides tax credits for low income and affordable housing. These tax credits are tied to the corporate tax rate. The corporate tax rate was cut from 35% to 21%. This cut certainly benefits South Dakota corporations, but will compound the affordable housing shortage and the recruitment of much need workers in South Dakota.

The State will be proposing changes to the Medicaid program. The Governor is working with IHS (Indian Health Services) to get full federal reimbursement for tribal members even if the services are provided by a non-IHS facility. Currently, state Medicaid pays more than 96 million dollars for native health care services. The state has also filed an 1115 Medicaid waiver. A section 1115 waiver provides states an opportunity to test existing or pilot new ways to deliver and pay for health care. The State is proposing a two year pilot program in Minnehaha and Pennington counties that would impact approximately 1,300 Medicaid recipients. Participants would be automatically enrolled in an intensive employment and training services within the Department of Labor.

In Appropriations, we began state agency budget hearings. Thus far, we have reviewed the budget and funding requests for thirteen agencies. These budgets include the Governor’s Office, Legislature, Secretary of State and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The Governor has recommended no inflationary increase to education, most Medicaid providers and state employees. We continue to struggle recruiting teachers, health care professionals in Medicaid supported facilities (like nursing homes) and in state government. Many of our surrounding states pay more and offer better benefits. We have a workforce shortage in South Dakota. Comparable pay is a real workforce development challenge. I am concerned that if we do not find money to provide some increase to these areas, it will further compound our existing problems. One of the more interesting items from our budget hearings came from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Due to the corporate tax cuts at the federal level, the PUC is requiring the utility providers to return these savings to rate payers. This may take two years to fully realize results, but South Dakota taxpayers should see some kind of rate reduction or rebate from their utility providers.

It will be important to hear from you during session. I would appreciate your input on any issue or concerns. You may email me at dan.ahlers@sdlegislature.gov.

Always Your Design Receives Recognition as Top 10 Quilt Shop in U.S.

January 8, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Always Your Design in downtown Dell Rapids was recently recognized as a “Top 10” quilt shop in the United States by Better Homes & Gardens magazine. The owners, Diane Bunkers and Deb Mergen, found out their store was selected back in August of 2017. The store will be featured in the Better Homes & Gardens, Quilt Sampler magazine, which will be available on May 15th, 2018.

Competition was very high for the “Top 10” honor. Nearly 3,000 shops from across the country were eligible to apply for the honor. Bunkers and Mergen had to fill out a questionnaire about the store, the history, their employees, and why they enjoy having the quilt shop. Pictures also had to be uploaded of the store so the magazine had an idea of what the “look” was for Always Your Design. A panel of quilt experts, led by the American Patchwork & Quilting staff, reviewed the applications to select the 10 shops that will be featured in the Quilt Sampler magazine.

After finding out the store was selected in August, they had to come up with a new quilt design, order in fabric (to make sure it will be available when the magazine releases), make the quilt, and then get the quilt sent by November. As Bunkers and Mergen noted, any quilter would know that this takes a lot of time. Many hours were worked to get everything done. A photography team also had to come into the store in November. Three people spent an entire day at the shop taking pictures around the store and even around Dell Rapids. Bunkers and Mergen also said that one of the hardest things was keeping this recognition a secret from family and friends as they couldn’t announce anything until January.

Bunkers and Mergen, sisters and owners of Always Your Design, started the business over 17 years ago. They started with 200 bolts of fabric and have grown to now having 5,000. They are currently in their third location, purchasing their current location at 335 E 4th St in downtown Dell Rapids a little over a year ago. They are the largest quilt shop in eastern South Dakota.

The Better Homes & Gardens, Quilt Sampler magazine will be available starting May 15, 2018. Anyone that would like a copy of the magazine can call the store (605-428-4545) or stop by to sign up for a copy. The cost is $6.99.

2017 Sales Tax Revenues Up, Building Permits Down in Dell Rapids

January 7, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The city of Dell Rapids is on pace to see an increase in sales tax revenue in 2017 over the previous year. This report was given to the Dell Rapids City Council during their regular meeting on Tuesday, January 2nd by City Administrator Justin Weiland.

Sales tax revenue is currently at $1,128,559.85 through the month of November. During the same reporting period in 2016, the city collected $1,060,266.89.

“Sales tax is through November, and we’re tracking at 6.4% above previous November. So we anticipate we will exceed 2016 sales tax totals once again as we have consecutively over the last several years. So that’s definitely positive,” said Weiland.

The December numbers are not quite finalized, but Weiland said as soon as those numbers become available, the final 2017 sales tax revenue report would be shared with the council.

Even though sales tax revenues for 2017 are trending in a positive direction from 2016, building permit revenue in 2017 was down for the city of Dell Rapids. The city collected $13,261.50 in building permit fees in 2017 which resulted in $3,681,153.46 worth of building improvements in the city. In 2016 the city saw $11,816,021.31 worth of improvements and in 2015 the city saw $11,023,410 worth of building improvements.

“These building permit totals were down pretty extensively from the previous year. I think you can attribute that to the lack of any large scale, commercial or industrial, construction like we have had in the recent years going back to the grocery store, Shopko, or last year was the Midwest Fresh building and the Broin building. Those kind of combined really elevate your numbers. We didn’t have one of those in ’17, so I think that’s why you see that number significantly lower than previous years,” Weiland noted.

Not only did the city not have a large scale commercial or industrial construction project in 2017, the total number of new homes built in 2017 was also down compared to 2016. A total number of 10 new homes were built in 2017 which was down from 12 new homes in 2016.

Weiland also said, “The housing starts were a little bit lower than the average has been over the last 10 years or so. This is something we need to keep an eye on. I think we’ve all kind of predicted that we might reach a point when housing starts might be a little bit lower from year to year. The housing lot availability is going to continue to dwindle as they get sold. I really think that’s something that we need to watch and be progressively thinking about the next step for housing. You don’t want to be limited because your options aren’t there.”

City Council Election Date Set

January 6, 2018 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The Dell Rapids City Council set the election date for the open City Council positions for Tuesday, April 10th, 2018. The election will be held at the Dell Rapids Lutheran Church. This will be a shared election date with the school for the Dell Rapids School Board election.

There is an open position in each ward this year. Bill Schmidt’s term in Ward 1, Barry Berg’s term in Ward 2, Mike Sterud’s term in Ward 3, and Bob Mier’s term in Ward 4 are all becoming vacant due to term expiration.

“Petitions can begin circulation on January 26th, and they must be submitted and completed by 5:00 p.m. Friday, February 23rd,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland during the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Petitions need to be filed in the office of the finance officer located at City Hall at 302 E 4th St. They are open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Dell Rapids Athletic Booster Club Holds Wrestling Tournament

December 24, 2017 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The Dell Rapids Athletic Booster Club held its annual youth wrestling tournament on Saturday, December 23rd, at the Dell Rapids High School. About 290 youth wrestlers participated in the event throughout the day. The tournament had age brackets of 6&U, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12.

The tournament is one of the biggest fundraising events for the Dell Rapids Athletic Booster Club during the year, but the success of the yearly tournament is a combined effort of multiple groups. The Dell Rapids High School wrestling team, past and present, served as referees, scorers, and time keepers throughout the day. Members of the Dell Rapids Youth Wrestling Club provided support all day long as well in different areas.

“We were very pleased with the number of wrestlers that came to the tournament. We want to say thank you to the Dell Rapids school for allowing us to host the tournament at the building, thank you to Lee Palmer for being our announcer for the day, thank you to Coach Jorgensen and the wrestling team for helping be the referees and scorers throughout the day, and thank you to the Dell Rapids Wrestling Club members that provided help at the registration tables, bout room, weigh-ins and provided treats for us to sell. Without the help of all these groups, this tournament wouldn’t be as successful as it is. I also want to personally thank each and every one of the booster club members that put in a long day of work to make this event run as smoothly as it did,” said Dell Rapids Athletic Booster Club president Matt Larson.

The funds raised by this event along with the other fundraisers throughout the year help the athletic booster club make purchases to support Dell Rapids athletics.

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