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Been feeling ill or under the weather? Unfortunately, you are not alone. As of recently, that is the topic of discussion whetheritbebypeopleonFacebook, themorningcoffeecrews or the South Dakota news. It has affected our local area, including hitting one local school with enough force for them to close the school for the day. On January 20 Menno School District closed the school due to a large number of both students and staff with illnesses. As reported by Wagner Community Memorial Hospital- Avera and Wagner Clinic- Avera’s Infection ControlNurse,KaylaKrcil, RN, the four main viruses that the hospital and clinic have been seeing are Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Influenza A, Coronavirus disease (Covid-19)andstrepthroat.The following medical information was provided by Kayla in order to better inform the local communities of what to look for and expect from these viruses and bacteria.
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The Avon Chamber of Commerce held their election of officers at their monthly meeting held Monday evening, February 10th. There are currently 28 full members and three associate members of the Avon Chamber. Officers elected include:
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MITCHELL, S.D. (February 11, 2025) – Farmers and ranchers in Aurora, Brule, Charles Mix, Davison, Douglas, and Hanson counties will be receiving $4.4 million in cashback dividends returned by Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) as part of the financial cooperative’s patronage program, paying 1% back as a cash-back dividend. Eligible customer-owners were issued cash-back dividend checks the last week of January.
Read moreWe are passed the halfway point of the legislative session. Oneofthemostpublicizedbills of the sessions was SB 51 which requiredthedisplayandteaching oftheTenCommandments. I whole heartly believe that God on Mount Sanai scribed with his finger the Ten Commandments in the 2 tablets and gave them to Moses, but I also believe that it is my job to teach that to my children, one of whom is interested in going into seminary. School districts cannot hire teachers based on religion so would one want an atheist teacher having to teachtheTenCommandments to their Christian child? Furthermore, we do not require the posting of the constitution, the bill of rights or any other historical artifact. Being a Christian, this was a difficult votebutIthinkafterthedebate and the amendments offered to include other religious postings in our classrooms I think voting no was the right vote to make. In November our ballots were long and, in some cases, multiple pages, causing some voter fatigue (and full mailboxes). Several legislators have focused on putting more stringentrequirementsonhow we get Initiated Measures and Constitutional Amendments on our ballots, and I support those efforts.
Read moreWe started off our week in the House Education Committee with a room full of concerned citizens. Our first bill that we considered was calling for volunteer chaplains in the Public Schools. This was going to be a problem for schools like Colome where I think that the ministers are from out of town. It still passed out of committee 10-5. We had two other bills that used up our committee time. One we sent to the appropriation committee and the other we tabled. On the floor of the House we passed six bills, but not without a lot of debate. After we adjourned the House for the day, the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee met. I presented a bill HB1068 “An Act to allow a student to wear certain military decorations at a school graduation ceremony”. After pro/con discussion the committee voted 12-0 to pass it to the floor of the House.
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A few (or more) years ago, Popeye the Sailor Man was an inspirational cartoon character. When needed, the superhero would quickly swallow some spinach and become strong, able to pack a punch that would defeat any evil villain.
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This week, the 4th legislative week, we worked through the majority of the remaining agency budget hearings, with only the secretary of state and a few agency return hearings left. The bill that would cut the State Library funding was heard in the House Education Committee, and then referred to Appropriations with a do NOT pass recommendation. The appropriations committee will have to take action on it yet, but you should know all of the calls, emails, and visits are not going unnoticed. We had 53 people from around the state show up at the Dept of Education Appropriations hearing to testify in support of the State Library this week. Great work folks!
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