On 9/15/09, Dakota Midday was broadcast live from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Host Paul Guggenheimer interviewed Cyprian Consiglio, a Camaldolese monk, musician and teacher who sings, composes and plays guitar. He is performing at Augustana on Thursday night and was joined for a couple of songs during the show by Augustana Professor of Music John Pennington. Then Paul spoke with Augustana's Writer-in-Residence Patrick Hicks who was recently named recipient of a 2009 Dakota Creative Connections Grant from the Bush Foundation. He will use the grant to visit Poland to research his forthcoming novel based on the Holocaust. And finally, Paul was joined by Augustana College Assistant Athletic Director Jeff Holm. Augustana has opened a new football stadium and the team has just cracked the (AFCA) Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. 

It's been 20 years since gambling became legal in South Dakota.  That includes Deadwood games and Video Lottery.  There are so many legal gambling options in our state.  In this Dakota Digest, Lindsay Borgman brings us the voices of several gamblers who are speaking anonymously about gambling as an addiction and gambling as fun.

On 7/30/09, the South Dakota Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Briley Piper. Host Paul Guggenheimer interviews Piper's attorney Steve Binger. Then Paul engages in a broader discussion of the death penalty with University of South Dakota Associate Professor of Political Science Betty Smith, who teaches a course on the death penalty, State Senator Gene Abdallah who supports the death penalty and Bruce Gray who opposes it. 

On the 7/28/09, host Paul Guggenheimer welcomed National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson and Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal to discuss the relative merits of the American Clean Energy and Security Act and its impact on South Dakota Farmers and Ranchers. Then Paul interviewed Michelle Rogge Gannon, Director of the Dakota Writing Project and one of the organizers for this week's Holocaust Institute. And finally, Paul spoke with South Dakota Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem who has announced he's a candidate for governor.   

By Gary Ellenbolt. The South Dakota Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for Briley Piper, one of three men convicted in the March 200 slaying of Chester Poage of Spearfish.  Steve Binger is Piper’s lawyer.  He says the Supreme Court is right to vacate Piper’s death sentence.  Piper pled guilty for his role in the killing of Poage.  Justices agreed with Piper’s attorneys, who contend Piper was confused about instructions when he was told either a jury or a judge could decide sentencing.  Binger says Piper will get a new jury trial.

“It’ll be just the sentencing phase—his guilty plea stands. That was not challenged,” says Binger. “And so now the case will be remanded back to the circuit court for further proceedings relating to the sentencing itself.” 

Under state law, the jury must be unanimous in any death sentence—if even one juror is opposed, Piper would receive an automatic life sentence.

On 9/21/09, Regional Political Junkies Kevin Woster, columnist for the Rapid City Journal, and Ken Blanchard, political science professor at Northern State University join host Paul Guggenheimer for a discussion of Health Care Reform in Congress among other issues. Also, an excerpt from Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Denis Cortese's speech to the National Press Club last Friday in which he identifies problems inherent in the current health care system and ways in which he thinks it should be reformed.

By Johanna Sailor

When South Dakota lawmakers banned smoking in nearly all businesses during this year's legislative session, smokers needed to be outside starting July 1, 2009.

It's now August, and people are still smoking indoors.  For how much longer is anybody's guess.
People with opinions on both sides of the issue will now face a judge to decide the issue instead of going directly to voters.

Banning smoking in public places isn't a new topic in Pierre.  There was House Bill 13-13 in 2000, it failed.  The next year there was House Bill 11-55.  This also failed by a vote of 30 to 39.  And in 2002, there's limited success with a measure that includes exemptions for establishments selling alcohol, plus casinos and hotel rooms.  Every year since then some lawmakers have sought to repeal the measure, while others have labored to eliminate the exemptions.  It was the same story every year until this one.

House Bill 12-40 bans smoking in nearly all establishments from bars to restaurants to casinos, including those in Deadwood.  New laws went into effect a month ago, but ashtrays, like silverware and ketchup are still on restaurant tables.

It's been a bit of a challenge to keep up.  First businesses prepared to ban smoking July 1, 2009.  Before this happens ban opponents are successful in their petition drive to refer the matter to voters.  This stops the smoking ban, until voters have their say next November.

Then supporters of the ban say not enough valid signatures were collected on the petitions.  The Secretary of State's office finds there are too many flaws to send the question to voters.  So the ban must take effect.  Before deciding when smokers need to move outside, the ban's opponents sue.  A judge has now put the ban on hold, while the issue is worked out in court.  So smokers are free to keep lighting up.  That is if the business owner says it’s okay.

In a dimly lit bar that leaves non-smokers smelling like smoke, the owner has chosen to allow smoking.  Don Rose says choice is at the heart of the issue.  Rose worries about a loss of autonomy, but more importantly he worries sales will drop at Shenanigan's Pub if smokers need to take it outside.

For those on the other side health is a primary concern.  Jennifer Stalley with the American Cancer Society focuses on the employees who inhale second hand smoke while working.

The fiasco over whether the issue will go to voters has sparked more contention.  Shenanigan's Owner Don Rose says he wants voters to decide and says they have a shot at winning.

“I wouldn't personally be involved in this if I didn't think we can win this,” says Rose.  “I've been a bar owner for many years.  But I've been a coach also in my life.  And you never go into a battle and don't think you can't win it.  If you can't win it, then don't get in it.  And that's the way I feel.” 

On the other side smoking ban supporters like Jennifer Stalley question their motive.  She says all opponents of the ban are trying to do is delay the law because they have no chance to win.

“We looked at the petitions and we found the errors that we found.  It's about protecting the integrity of the process.  It's about making sure this is in fact meeting the letter of the law before it goes to the people, because that delay is a very costly delay if you're one of the who are working in a smoking environment,” says Stalley.

The court will determine if voters have a say.  If it does go to voters, David Meehan will vote against it.  With a light beer in front of him and puffing on a cigarette, he's happy to be able to still smoke in bars like this one.

“In general I think for certain locations I think it's a good idea.  But as far as bars go I really don't see the point,” says Meehan.

Meanwhile Jeff Barth of the Minnehaha County Commission is exercising his power of choice.  An ex-smoker himself, Barth says he no longer will go to businesses that allow smoking.

“Those that think smoking in integral to their business plan should also realize how important non-smokers are to their business plan,” says Barth. “And the way to demonstrate that is for non-smokers to avoid places where smoking is involved.” 

Consumers have their choice, whether businesses retain its choice remains in limbo.  The next step is a trial.  A date has been set for August 24, 2009.  A circuit court judge in Hughes County is charged with determining whether voters will weigh in, or if the law must take effect without voter approval.  An appeal is expected, especially since the questions before the court are unprecedented. When or if smoking is banned in most public places again is unknown. 

Fish on Alaskan stream struggle against a changing climate.

By Charles Michael Ray

24 years ago Linda Deegan came to the North Slope of Alaska and fell in love, with a fish.

"I must have cast 100 times to this one fish in this one pool slurping things off the surface and  I couldn't get my fly there for the life of me," says Degan "Until finally I landed this one just right and he kind of saddled over and took my fly." 

It was Deegan's first time fly fishing; she had just finished her PhD and went to Alaska to study the arctic grayling.  It's a cold water fish that is related to the rainbow trout.  And as far as fish go, grayling are easy to fall for.

"They're iridescent purple on the side with this gorgeous long sail fin that has multiple colors a little pink orange edge to it.  To me it's just a beautiful form of fish,"  she says. 

After that first catch with the fly rod Deegan was well, hooked.  She's spent every summer since 1985 in northern Alaska, studying the ecosystem on the Kuparak River.   Each summer day Degan and her research team slog across the wet tundra through swarms of mosquitoes to the banks of the Kuparak River.  The team spends a good part of its time catching and counting grayling; it's Bruce Pererson's favorite part of the job.   Today he's using a fly rod to catch and tag greyling.

"You see him?" Peterson points with his long fishing rod across the stream and the water ripples where a greyling pops up  to slurp a mosquito off the surface.  Peterson sinkers like a little kid about to make his first catch and says  "Watch this."   He casts the fly with expert precision and it lands right upstream from the fish's nose.   Peterson reels in a large grayling, "That's a nice one," he says "this is a beauty!"

Peterson is a senior research scientist, who works alongside Deegan at the Marine Biological Labratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He has spent the better part of his career studying climate change.  Each fish he catches today will receive an electronic tag that will track its movement. 

"We'll be able to keep tabs on where they are where they're going,"  he says.  "We'll have a lot more information about the habitat usage by the fish."

The grayling the researchers have tagged tell an interesting story about climate change.  These fish migrate seasonally, each fall they swim upstream into deep headwater lakes, where they hold out for the long winter.  And over the last decade Linda Deegan has seen a drastic decline in the fish population on this stream,  a decline that is the result of something not at all common in this part of Alaska--drought. 

"And what we've documented is when we get these droughts they usually happen in the fall and that's when the fish have to move up to the headwater lake and they can't get there because the river is dry,"  Degan says.   "If they get trapped in this lower section of the river, the river freezes and they're stuck and they die."  

In 1999 Deegan and her team trapped and counted about 23-hundred Grayling during the fall migration, a decade later that number has dwindled to 331 fish.  She says the decline is due largely to summer and fall drought.  But she adds that in spring time the ice is now melting off the lakes sooner so the greyling are running downstream sooner; trouble is they're getting out before the mosquitoes hatch, so there is little for them to eat.   Greyling are also very heat sensitive and don't like the hot summer days.  The changing climate affecting this part of Alaska is a warning for what a warmer earth could bring to other parts of North America.  Deegan says the plight of the grayling on this river should be a red flag for the lower 48.

"I think they do provide a sort of a model organism for other fish in other streams - because we know a lot about them," she says. "We see the effects of climate change quite quickly and that allows us to say look if this is happening here what could be happening in the lower 48?"  "Maybe it won't be for another 10, 20 maybe 50 years, but it's coming."

Next summer Deegan and her team will be back to see how many of those last 300 or so grayling survived the winter.  It may be too late to save this fish on the Kuparuk.  But the researchers here hope that highlighting what climate change is doing in Alaska will help spur efforts to curb its potential impact in other parts of the world.

On 7/29/09, economic experts join host Paul Guggenheimer to discuss the minimum wage increase in South Dakota. South Dakota Economics Professors Emeriti Ralph Brown and Dennis Johnson and author Holly Sklar talk about the pros and cons of the increase. Then Paul interviews Dakota Sky International Piano Festival Founder Paul Sanchez and Festival participant Mike Morey, a classical guitarist and conductor Andrew Reinert. And finally, Paul speaks with Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn.   

By Charles Michael Ray
The PBS program “History Detectives” recently examined what was believed to be a picture of the Lakota Chief Crazy Horse.   Crazy Horse was a man who would not allow his picture to be taken...and to-date no known photographs of him have appeared.

In fact, relatively little is known about the brilliant war chief and central figure in Great Plains history. 
Descendents of Crazy Horse are starting to speak about some of the mysteries surrounding Crazy Horse and that information is reshaping the history of Custer’s last stand. 

It’s hard to overstress the importance of Chief Crazy Horse to Lakota People.  He is credited with uniting the Lakota and Cheyenne Nations in battle against General George Armstrong Custer at Little Bighorn.  Crazy Horse refused to sell out his lands, he never signed a treaty, and for these he is a widely admired figure in Lakota history as well as American History. 

“He has this almost like this robin hood. This mythology thing and everybody has different legends and stories about him and I think all of that is great,” says Lakota Historian Donovan Sprague Hump.

Crazy Horse is seen as a hero who sacrificed everything for this people.   But for many years the family of Floyd Clown kept their own ties to Crazy Horse under wraps.  They didn’t want anyone to know that he was a relative.

“We were taught that when we were little that when somebody talked of Crazy Horse we just listened and walked away,” says Clown.

In 1918, Floyd’s great uncle Peter Wolf was murdered while riding a horse across the open plains near Cherry Creek.  The Clown Family believed the US government assassinated Wolf because he was related to Crazy Horse. This sent the family into hiding for more than 80 years.   They kept quiet out of fear until 2001. 

 
“We knew the truth but we couldn’t say nothing because the government was after the family,” says Clown.

 
In 2003, after being asked to come forward by a number of elders, Floyd Clown and a few relatives went to the Little Bighorn Battlefield and the site of Custer’s last stand.  They met with historians there to share the family’s oral history of the battle.   Clown spent his life listening to his father and grandfather tell detailed stories about the Little Bighorn.  According to Clown, Custer was not the last man standing.  In fact, he says Crazy Horse ordered that Custer be taken out first.   Clown says it was two Lakota Hayoka, or holy men, who killed Custer.  They were named Quick Bear, and Scar Leg.

    
“Quick Bear took him out with a club caved in his head. And then another Hayoka Thunder Dreamer his name was Scar Leg. He’s the one that shot him in the head then he turned around and grabbed the index finger - took his spirit – the one that he points around with – he took that,” says Clown.

For historians, family accounts like this one are improving the understanding of what happened at Custer’s last stand.  John Dorner, Chief Historian at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana, says the Crazy Horse family accounts match up with archeological evidence in the field. 

“The Indian testimony is so important and critical to our understanding of the historical events that took place here because the Lakotas and Cheyenne’s and Arapaho’s survive to tell that story,” says Dorner. 

In 1890, the US military placed White Marble Markers to show the places where each member of the 7th Calvary fell.  Dorner says for a long time the history of the site was told primarily from the military perspective.   But today the battle field also includes Red markers.  These markers show places where Indian warriors fell.

“The red granite markers that we have on the battle field now are the same size as the 7th Calvary markers erected back in 1890. But they have the name the warrior that fell there and a brief interpretative text,” says Dorner. 

Dorner says these markers are in place thanks to the input from Lakota and Cheyenne families. In 1876, shortly after the battle, Indian families put small piles of stone to mark the place where a warrior was lost. These stone piles were covered by prairie grasses over the years, but the families remembered the location and they passed it on down through history.  They even visit the markers occasionally.   Families like the Clowns have helped uncover several of the markers.  Dornor says today the new Red Markers help to fill a gap in history.

“It’s such a powerful message out there but it transcends the cultural landscape but it also tells the story,” says Dorner. “Those markers bear a mute testimony for the  Lakota’s and Cheyenne’s in the same way that the 7th Calvary members who fell on this field.”

For his part Floyd Clown says the telling of the Lakota side of this story has potential to help bring about unity and pride within Lakota communities.  

“Because it’s waking up oral histories of families because we’re telling them no more assumptions. It’s time for the truth and tell your truth honestly,” says Clown. 

The Clown Family is just one of those related to Crazy Horse. The actual family tree of Crazy Horse is an open debate within the Lakota nation.  Many families hold claim to him as a relative.   Today The Clown Family is out of hiding. They’re happy that all of Crazy Horse’s relations can stand up and be proud of their ancestor.

You can check out the closest known image of Crazy Horse – a drawing of the Lakota Chief on the PBS “History Detectives” program on line at pbs.org  
(here is the actual link to the show for the web)  http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/705_crazyhorse.html

On 8/10/09 Host Paul Guggenheimer welcomed Rapid City Journal Columnist Kevin Woster in for the Regional Political Junkie segment. Also Paul interviewed writer and artist Matthew Smith who is traveling the country and giving out thousands of large size postcards and asking people to send in their best piece of advice. He recently went through South Dakota and will be compiling all the postcards into a large piece at the end of his journey. Finally, an "In the Garden" segment with Janet Davison.   

Aberdeen town hall meeting recorded on Tuesday, Aug. 18 in Northern State University's Johnson Fine Arts Center. The event was moderated by SDPB Radio News Director Cara Hetland and included a panel of experts, including former U.S. Sen Tom Daschle; David Hewitt, President of the South Dakota Association of Health Care Organizations; David Owen, President of the South Dakota Chambers of Commerce & Industry; and others in the healthcare and business fields.

By Vicky Wicks

At a recent roundtable discussion on equal rights, women remember how they were treated in school sports programs before a 1972 federal law ensured equality. On today’s Dakota Digest, SDPB’s Vicky Wicks explores the sports opportunities open to girls and women before and after the passage of that law.

By Eryn Falvey

 If you want to get Sen. John Thune worked up-just mention the climate change bill in Congress…. 

“I will work with every fiber of my being to defeat the bill that passed the House of Representatives,” says Thune.
 
Climate Change was just one of a few hot topics addressed Wednesday morning on the DakotaFest show grounds.   Sen. Thune says he’s not opposed to reform and agrees reductions in C-O-2 are needed. But he says the bill goes too far.

“Punishing American agriculture and punishing Midwest states and transferring wealth from the Midwest to the east coast and the west coast is not the way to go about that,” says Thune.
 
Thune says incentives should be offered for clean, green, renewable forms of energy instead of depending on foreign sources. He adds that it is important to support wind and solar energy as well as biofuels.
Although the climate bill passed in the House of Representatives, Herseth Sandlin made her position clear on the issue. She stands with the blue dogs. 
 
“Look, let me state again as I said in my opening. I voted no to this version of the bill because of the problems opposed to South Dakota and to American agriculture,” says Herseth Sanlin. 

Herseth Sandlin says while people may have differing opinions on the climate change, most can agree that something needs to be done.
 
“Our economy depends on the climate because our economy depends on agriculture. And so I think that we need to make sure that whatever we do on climate change has to be married with a true energy bill,” she says.
 

Agriculture is tied to just about everything in South Dakota. The Livestock industry was also brought up at the public gathering. The dairy and pork sectors are currently suffering.
 
“We’ve got to ensure that what we have continuing into the future is affordable credit for American agriculture. I am very worried that if we continue to borrow trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars from the Chinese and from our children and grandchildren, that eventually that amount of borrowing is going to catch up with us. Because one thing that we know is that when you borrow money, somebody has to pay it back,” says Thune.

As discussion continued, no one could avoid the elephant in the room….healthcare. Within the healthcare reform discussion was Medicare. 
 
“The reason we are looking at healthcare reform, the reason it was such an important issue in last years election is because Medicare is projected to be insolvent by 2017,” says Herseth Sanlin.
 
Herseth Sandlin says the problem with Medicare isn’t that it lacks funding but that Medicare is not spent wisely. She hopes that Medicare can become a government program that a lot of people like and that works well for American citizens.

Thune says healthcare reform should be about reducing and not increasing costs. He says every proposal so far produced by Congress has increased costs.
 
“We’re going to have a one-point eight trillion dollar deficit this year which is the largest by about four times in American history. We haven’t seen deficits like this since the end of World War Two,” says Thune. “So we have to get our fiscal house in order.”
 
While many people in attendance nodded in approval to much of the discussion between Representative Herseth Sandlin and Senator Thune, there was an outcry of opinions. Ron Wieczorek traveled from Mount Vernon to hear Wednesday’s discussion and stressed the need for healthcare reform.
 
“As far as healthcare, what we need to do is end the HMO’s. Healthcare for profit is un-American,” says Wieczorek.
 
Another man, Wenton Peters lives just outside of Mitchell and came to express his concerns of freedom.
 
“One of the things that made American great in the last two hundred years is freedom of choice. We have our freedoms here. And what’s happening with this healthcare stuff is its taking away a lot of our freedoms,” says Peters.
 
Issues like healthcare and climate change will continue to bring out strong opinions from South Dakotan’s and others across the nation. The state’s congressional delegation will be wrangling with these and other issues when Congress reconvenes in September.

By Jim Kent

Just like there's artists and then there are artists, there are photographers and then there are photographers. One Rapid City photographer whose work has been seen all over the world is being recognized by the state today by having September 2, 2009 named in his honor.

SDPB's Jim Kent speaks with Bill Groethe to find out why September 2 is a significant date in his life for the past 61 years.

"I'm standing in a field in front of the State Game Lodge at Custer state Park," says reporter Jim Kent. "Everything's pretty much the same as it was back in 1948. There are tourists visiting the Game Lodge. There's a few buffalo wandering down the road, and there's the sound of birds in the trees. About the only thing that's missing are the survivors of the Little Big Horn."

"This is a photograph of a group of the 8 last survivors of the Little Bighorn Battle of 1876. I took the photograph September 2, 1948," says photographer Bill Groethe.

On any given Sunday, Bill Groethe is at Mt. Rushmore selling copies of his work. And though people are interested in many of his pictures, the one that draws the most attention is the black and white photo of the last survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

"It's in the Smithsonian. It's in major museums all over the world. They're in Australia and Japan, Europe and Italy along with a couple of places in England," says Groethe. "I haven't kept track. But we've given photographs to over 25 schools including Indian schools and colleges."

Bill Groethe has been taking, developing and selling photographs since he was 10 years old. He had the good fortune to live next to Carl Rise, an early pioneer of photography. Rise sold Groethe his first camera. Within a year, the young shutterbug was an apprentice at Bell Studios in Rapid City where he remained for 30 years. After serving in WWII as a photo reconnaissance technician for the Army Air Force, Groethe retuned home. He took a lot of wedding and commercial photos, but every once in a while the opportunity to shoot something different came along, including the dedication of Crazy Horse Mountain in 1948. As fate would have it, some of the last survivors of the Little Bighorn battle were in attendance.

"There were three of then there when I photographed at the Crazy Horse dedication. They decided to find out how many were alive. And there were nine alive, so they had this last reunion three months later at the Game Lodge at Custer Park," says Groethe.

One of the Little Bighorn survivors was photographed separately. But the rest had their image captured by Groethe for future generations in front of the Custer State Park Game Lodge.

"Of course, I'd been photographing several of these Indians for quite a while and they knew me. I photographed them many times. Mostly at the Sitting Bull Crystal Cave," says Groethe. "They have a big dance pavilion that's still there. I use to go to those dances and photograph them. So, that's how I knew them."

Groethe says the Little Bighorn survivors enjoyed having their photographs taken and were very cooperative subjects.

"You know, these are respected elders and great men. They were still alive at a late age, so they were nice to deal with," says Groethe.

Groethe says he realized the historical significance of what he was doing when he photographed the last survivors of one of the most controversial battles in history.

"Because, you know, I had grown up in the studio where we had hundreds of postcard negatives of Indians. You know? But I have always been a history buff," says Groethe.

In proclaiming September 2, 2009 as Bill Groethe Day in Rapid City and throughout South Dakota, the Rapid City Council cited the photographer's many artistic contributions to the state. But as far as Groethe is concerned, his black-and-white portrait photo of the Little Bighorn survivors is his greatest accomplishment.

"It was the most important thing I did," says Groethe. "Because a lot of people have taken pictures of Rushmore. Well, so have I. There are a lot of good photos of a lot of things. But there's only one of those."

Many may consider Bill Groethe a world-renowned photographer and the man of the hour. But Groethe just sees himself as a guy who loves to take pictures on film and show them to the public whenever he can.

South Dakota Focus: Healthcare Reform

Thursday September 10th program details:

The Healthcare reform debate – it’s an issue taking center stage across the nation and it’s the topic on our season premiere of South Dakota Focus. Join host Richard Muller as he visits with guests about what is being proposed in Congress, what might work, what might not work plus you can call in with your own questions and commets to 1.877.825.5788 or email us sdfocus@sdpb.org. It’s all about healthcare reform on our Sept. 10th South Dakota Focus LIVE at 8:00pm CT / 7pm MT. LIVE online at www.sdpb.org. The program will re-air on Sunday Sept. 13th at 1:00pm CT / noon mt.
Guests will include:
   
SD State Representative Dr. Blake Curd – Coalition to Protect Patients Rights

Representative from the South Dakota State Medical Association

Ken Senger – South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations

Lonnie McKittrick – Independent Insurance Agents of SD

South Dakota Focus: Healthcare History

September 17th program details:

Healthcare will continue to take center stage on South Dakota Focus as we zero in on this emotional issue for our Sept. 17th episode.  Our guests will give us a better understanding of the history of healthcare in our nation and how it has changed over the past decade. Also up for discussion will be why it's changed. We will look at the health of Americans in general and how that has also changed over the years. With such a large percentage of citizens considered overweight and unhealthy what impact has that had on the healthcare and insurance industry. Should congress consider more prevention and incentive programs with a healthcare reform?   Should Americans be forced to be more accountable for their own health? Join us as our guests handle these tough questions plus you can call in with your own questions and comments at 1.877.talk.ptv or email us sdfocus@sdpb.org at 8:00pm CT / 7mt. Watch LIVE online at www.sdpb.org.  The  program will re-air on Sunday Sept. 20th at 1:00pm CT / noon mt.

Guests will include:

Mary Derby - Health Services Administration Program - USD School of Business

Darrin Smith - American Heart Association

Dr. Tom Huber - South Dakota State Medical Association

Dave Hewett - President CEO South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations

On 9/9/09, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joins host Paul Guggenheimer for a discussion of agriculture subsidies for farmers, the effect of climate-change legislation on farmers, ranchers and small businesses, the development of biofuels and other alternative energy sources and the proposed National Animal Identification System among other topics. Sandwiched around this discussion is an interview with Moscow Ballet soloist Anna Tyutyunnyk (The Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker will be performed in December at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls) and an interview with Sanford Health's Michael Bergeron. Dr. Bergeron is one of the country's leading experts on the topic of athletes and heat.    

On 9/10/09, Political Science Professors Bob Burns of South Dakota State University and Ken Blanchard of Northern State University talk with host Paul Guggenheimer about President Obama's Health Care address last night. Then Paul interviews John Draves, an equity analyst who was in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into it eight years ago tomorrow. And finally, Paul talks with Army Reserve Captain Joel Arends who has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan and was awarded the bronze star. Captain Arends is taking part in a September 11 program in downtown Sioux Falls tomorrow.    

On 9/14/09, regional political junkies Dave Kranz and Kevin Woster join host Paul Guggenheimer for a discussion of politics in the news including Otter Tail Power pulling the plug on Big Stone II, Senator Tim Johnson denied the opportunity to become Senate Banking Chairman...for now. And a group in South Dakota representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people is looking for Republican support. Also, Paul interviews Dr. David Carney, a therapist who works with veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are suicidal and have PTSD.

By Gary Ellenbolt

The South Dakota Department of Education has named an interim Director of Indian Education. The new director has three decades of experience.

The Department of Education has chosen Stuart Zephier to fill the Director of Indian Education post. He most recently worked at the Flandreau Indian School in southeast South Dakota. While in Flandreau, he worked as assistant principal, and also served on several committees. Zephier is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and holds a Masters' Degree in School Administration from South Dakota State University. Zephier succeeds Keith Moore, who left state government to serve as Chief Diversity Officer for the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. The Director of Indian Education position was created to help improve test scores and graduation rates of American Indian students. American Indians make up eight percent of South Dakota's population.

Midday Healthcare Special

By Jenifer Jones

Students across the state are packing up to move to college next weekend. But one thing some may not be taking with them is health insurance. Those who no longer qualify to stay on their parent’s plan may be faced with a lack of affordable options, or some simply feel they don’t need it. Even those who are insured may still face problems with getting the healthcare they need.

Many picture “uninsured Americans” as what we see in T-V and print ads.  A couple in their 30’s with three kids, or a man and woman nearing retirement. While a lack of insurance affects Americans in all age groups, the highest percentage of the uninsured are people between the ages of 18 to 24. According to the U-S census, in 2007 just over 28 percent of this group was uninsured.

Some of the numbers come from those who choose not to go to college and are dropped from their parent’s insurance. But some are students who’ve aged out or no longer meet other requirements to stay insured.
Those who do have insurance may not have adequate coverage. Ernetta Fox, Director of Disability Services at the University of South Dakota, says the biggest problem for students coming through her office is getting the prescriptions they need. She says some students take prescriptions worth 700 dollars or more a month.
Fox says some students simply stop taking their medications halfway through the semester, because they can’t afford it.

“You know, we’re talking students who have not only attention deficit disorder, but students who may be on multiple psychotic medications, even students who I’ve dealt with who can’t fund their insulin. And so of course you know when you have someone who’s blood surgars then finally go off the charts you’re looking at persons with personality changes, of course sleeping in class, those types of things,” says Fox.

Fox says for some students, trying to pay for their prescriptions is a constant worry.

“If they have the money for their medication and they have it for that month, will they have it for the next month, if they’re not on some sort of an insurance plan. Even if they’re on some sort of an insurance plan, what will the co-pay be for that next month if there’s going to be a change,” says Fox.

Fox says if students can’t afford their prescriptions, she works with them to schedule classes during the time of day that they work best without medication.

She also informs them of other options, such as the My-Health plan. It’s insurance offered by the South Dakota Board of Regents and administered by Avera Health Plans. Single students under age 25 can pay about 700 a year for the insurance.

Tara Hildring is an account manager with Avera Health plans. She says it’s important for college students to have health insurance because an injury or illness could significantly impact their financial future. She says the My Health plan covers most day to day illnesses as well as medical emergencies. It also helps with prescription drugs. But it is a limited benefit plan. 

“While this plan is excellent and it puts something in place up to that $50,000 mark, I would encourage them to also have a major medical plan if it’s possible,” says Hildring.

But for many students, having any insurance, let alone a major plan, isn’t possible.
Katie Ohrlund was no longer eligible for her parent’s insurance after dropping out of college. She transferred to U-S-D, but just before school started her appendix ruptured. She says the bill was about $10,000.

“Mine was a world of panic,” says Ohrlund.  “I tried to figure out a way that I could work 70 hours a week and still go to school. But that’s not plausible, you just can’t do it.”

Because Ohrlund was an Iowa resident, she was eligible for aid, which knocked the bill down to about 800 dollars. Even though Ohrlund knows first hand that accidents can happen, she still doesn’t have insurance.

“Quite frankly I can’t afford it. I’m trying to both pay for school and to pay off some other bills that I have. And I’m a waitress. So I looked at the rates and I just can’t afford to do it,” says Ohrlund.

Kjersten Rathke was dropped from her parent’s insurance after she got married. While she and her husband were searching for plans, she found out she was pregnant. She says her first doctor’s visit cost about 17-hundred dollars, which she and her husband paid for themselves.

“It was really scary for a while because we weren’t sure if anything was going to be covered. And I still had to go into the doctor,” says Rathke.

Rathke, her husband, and their son are now all on Medicaid. 

Rathke says students should be more concerned about their health insurance. But she says for many it’s just too expensive.

“A lot of students only have like, work study. A lot of them only make minimum wage. They’re not going to be making 10, 20 an hour. So, it’s really hard to make enough money to pay for health insurance. And people seem to be more concerned about things like eating, and having a place to live,” says Rathke.

Disability Services Director Ernetta Fox says insurance is essential. 

“The way that our healthcare system functions in the United States, you need that coverage. Even if it’s not the best coverage you can receive, any coverage is better than no coverage,” says Fox. “I think people, especially students need to know they’re not invincible.”

Fox says she’s not sure how to fix healthcare problems among college students. But she says she hopes that in the future students won’t have to deal with the same healthcare issues that affect students today.

By  Drew Quant

College students are bringing more than just bedding and clothing when they head off to school.  Now, most students feel they can't come to school without their Smart Phones, iPods, video games, or other electronics. These devices make their lives and learning easier, and provide more entertainment options for them. The South Dakota Board of Regents is trying to keep up with technology and student expectations through its “Mobile Computing Initiative”.  SDPB’s Drew Quandt looks into the past, present and future of technology on college campuses in South Dakota.

Join us for our next South Dakota Focus on Thursday September 17th  as we continue our discussion on health care. Our guests will give us a better understanding of how our health care system has changed over the years. Also up for debate is whether Americans unhealthy lifestyles have contributed to some of the problmes in the health care industry. We will talk about that plus you can call in with your own questions and comments to 1.877.825.5788 / 1.877.talk.ptv. Or email your thoughts SDFocus@sdpb.org. South Dakota Focus airs LIVE at 8:00pm CT / 7mt and live at www.sdpb.org. It re-airs Sundays at 1pm ct / 12:00mt.

Guests will include:
Mary Derby - Health Services Administration Program - USD School of Business

Jeremy Aylward - Heart Disease Survivor
Darrin Smith - American Heart Association
Dr. Tom Huber - South Dakota State Medical Association
Dave Hewett - President CEO South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations

For Additional Information:

South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations
http://www.sdaho.org/

South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations
3708 W. Brooks Place, Sioux Falls, SD 57106
Ph: 605-361-2281 Fax: 605-361-5175

American Heart Association
http://www.heartsforhealthcare.org/

 South Dakota State Medical Association
http://www.sdsma.org/

South Dakota State Medical Association
- PO Box 7406 - Sioux Falls, SD 57117-7406

By Jim Kent
It's important to realize when you've reached a limitation in your life. Whether it's hanging up your old football jersey or putting down that electric guitar, it's healthy to acknowledge that you've done your best and it's time to move on.

A rodeo clown and South Dakota native who's done his share of bullfighting, now spends his time making people laugh - with his grandkids in tow.

There's nothing like spending time with your family - especially if it involves doing something you all love to do.Mike McFarland says for him and his grandkids, that means putting paint on your face and becoming a rodeo clown.

"It's kind of like a paid vacation for us, so it's fun," says Mike McFarland. "I mean, I get to load up my grandkids however many weekends we book the rodeo and we go to the rodeos and they have a lot of fun."

Rodeos have been fun for McFarland for more than 40 years, since he first started taking part in them as a bull rider. Well, actually, it wasn't that much fun at first.

"It goes back to Lee Crauser, the guy that first put me in the arena," recalls McFarland. "Everywhere we went that summer, when I was a kid in high school, if there was one bull in the pen that would hook and fight...I would draw him. We didn't have very many bullfighters in the country at all then, And Lee just told me, he said, 'Mike,' he said, 'if you're gonna take them hookin's, you just as well get paid for them. He said get yourself a pair of cleats and we'll start you fighting bulls.' And I thought, well...let's try it."

McFarland made the shift from bull rider to bullfighter. Then he moved from his family's Meade County ranch to Texas, to pursue his rodeo career professionally. Of course, that was back when bull fighters were rodeo clowns and vice versa.

"They expected you to come in...if they had a parade, you were in the parade, you rode in the parade," says McFarland. "You did at least one major act and two filler acts per performance. You performed your cowboy protection duties during the bull riding and then they turned out a freestyle fighting bull and just you and the bull....one-on-one."

After several very successful years, McFarland returned home and left the business. But a call from a local stock contractor brought him back to the arena where he stayed, working regularly in North Dakota. This led to the North American Rodeo Commission World Finals in Denver, where McFarland - out of necessity - created a routine he still uses in his act today: the "instant clown."

"I go out there and the announcer asks me what I'm doing out there," McFarland explains. "I'm waiting for a delivery truck. What do you mean delivery truck? Well, have you seen these bulls back here? They're huge and they've got big horns....and I was visiting with the bullfighters and we decided we needed some help. So, we got on line, on the Internet, to the Acme Clown Company, and we ordered an instant clown. And I'm waiting for it to show up before the bull riding starts."

The original little "instant" bullfighter was McFarland's daughter, Becky. When she grew too big for the instant clown box, the job passed to her younger brother Pete. Through the years, McFarland continued fighting bulls, though he put the instant clown box on the shelf when he ran out of kids. But, the time arrived when McFarland also put his bullfighting on the shelf.

"About, I don't know, six, seven, eight, nine years ago...when I was at, I guess what you'd say, the peak of my bullfighting career," says McFarland, "I noticed that bulls that shouldna been catchin' me were starting to catch me. I've watched other guys in the past who went past their prime, I had a pretty decent reputation as a bullfighter around the country.... I worked three World Finals Rodeos. And, uh, I thought well, I'm gonna quit now before they say, well, yeah, I remember when..." 37

McFarland says he put aside the ego required to be a bullfighter and concentrated on making people laugh. And since Becky was grown with children of her own, McFarland now had three more prospects for his "instant clown" act: Emma, Will, and Ben. And though there are some who might call this work, Emma and Will don't.

"I still want to do the instant clown," says granddaughter Emma Tinsley. "But I'm too old for it...'cause I won't fit in the box."

"The thing that makes people laugh is the teeny, baby steps that I take," explains Will Tinsley.

But perhaps Ben Tinsley, who pops out of the "instant clown" box now, says it best for the entire family.

"The best thing about being in a rodeo is that you can be funny and you can have fun," Ben says.

And that's what it's all about, says Granddad, who sees nothing but good times ahead for the third generation of McFarland rodeo clowns.

On 9/30/09, Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, a candidate for governor in 2010 was interviewed by host Paul Guggenheimer about the problems he sees in the state and what his priorities will be. Then, Paul spoke with Indian activist Frank LeMere, one of the leaders in efforts to address problems in Whiteclay, Nebraska where the sale of alcohol to residents of the dry Pine Ridge Indian reservation, just across the border, has been cited as a reason Pine Ridge has one of the country's highest alcoholism related mortality rates.

By Paul Guggenheimer
CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric received the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media. The award recognizes lifetime achievement and is named after USD graduate and USA Today founder Al Neuharth.

Katie Couric became the first solo female anchor when she took over for Bob Schieffer in 2006. Couric talked about her role as a pioneer for female journalists.

“I never thought I would see the day when I got into the business in 1979 and there were very few women correspondents and producers and most were in support roles like secretaries or production assistants. So, women make up more than half this country so I guess it’s only right that two out of the three broadcasts should be anchored by women,” says Couric.

This is Couric's first trip to South Dakota. She is the 22nd individual to receive the Neuharth award. Other recipients include Bob Schieffer and another CBS anchorman, Walter Cronkite who won the first Neuharth Award in 1989.

Join SDPB for it's October 15th episode of South Dakota Focus on Disability Awareness. Over 50 million Americans are disabled. Regardless of their challenges many take advantage of the programs available to help them achieve the goals they set. Many of these programs offer activities and resources to help limit the amount of barriars for the disabled. On our next South Dakota Focus we will talk about some of those programs. We'll also talk about what work is left to do in South Dakota to help those with a disability live normal lives. You'll meet Dallas Dietrich - who found himself disabled after a car accident. Dallas found a way to not only thrive regardless of his challenges but now helps others with disabilities. South Dakota Focus airs at 8:00pm CT / 7mt. It also is streamed live on the internet at www.sdpb.org. Viewers can call in with their own questions and comments to 1.877.825.5788 or email your questions to SDFocus@sdpb.org

Guests:
Amanda Keating - Autism Spectrum Disorder Program Director, Center for Disabilities Sanford School of Medicine, USD

Shelly Pfaff- SD Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities

Grady Kickul - Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services

Dallas Dietrich - Meeting the Need Camp

South Dakota Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities - www.sd-ccd.org; and Toll free phone number 1.800.210.0143

Director of Community Education and Information Dissemination

Center for Disabilities

Sanford School of Medicine
The University of South Dakota
1400 W. 22nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD  57105

 Meeting the Need
13380 Greyhound Gulch Road
Keystone, South Dakota 57751
(605) 666-4610
dallasdietrich@aol.com
http://www.meetingtheneed.com/

Division of Rehabilitation Services
3800 East Hwy 34, Hillsview
Properties Plaza
c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue
Pierre, SD 57501
Phone: (605) 773-3195"
Fax: (605) 773-5483
Http://dhs.sd.gov/drs/  

DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH

 Several communities in South Dakota will observe the month with special events:

• Oct. 6 - Watertown, an "After 5 p.m. Chamber Mixer Event" will be held at the County Fair Foods Banquet Hall; area employers and employees will be recognized; Dan Rounds featured speaker.
• Oct. 8 - Rapid City, Dr. Richard Horne (U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy) will present "Dividends of Diversity in the Workplace" at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center starting at 8 a.m.; breakfast will be served.
• Oct. 8 - Aberdeen, Maribeth Overland of Moverland Consulting will present "Tap into Your Leadership Potential" to area employers, consumers, human resource managers and providers at 9 a.m. at the Ramada Convention Center. The annual Mayor's Awards Luncheon will follow.
• Oct. 13 - Sioux Falls, the Sioux Falls National Disability Employment Awareness Month Committee will host an exhibit at the S.D. Safety Council/SHRM Fall Conference at the Sioux Falls Arena and Convention Center.
• Oct. 14 - Huron, Geri Jewell will present "Valuing Diversity" at the fall conference luncheon at the Crossroads Hotel during the RehabACTion Annual Conference.
• Oct. 20 - Brookings, Deb Russell, corporate manager with Walgreen's, will present Walgreen's Initiative for Employing People with Disabilities at the Rotary Club at 7 a.m., at the Optimists Club at 12 p.m., and at the Workforce Attraction and Economic Development Committee at 1 p.m
• October 20^th - Vermillion - speaker from the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) will d

South Dakota State Resources:

Center for Disabilities- www.usd.edu/cd

South Dakota Council for Developmental Disabilities- http://dhs.sd.gov/ddc

South Dakota Parent Connection- http://www.sdparent.org

South Dakota Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities- http://www.sd-ccd.org/

National Alliance on Mental Illness South Dakota- www.nami.org/sites/NAMISouthDakota

South Dakota Department of Human Services http://dhs.sd.gov

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse http://dhs.sd.gov/ada

Division of the Blind and Visually Impaired http://dhs.sd.gov/sbvi

Division of Developmental Disabilities http://dhs.sd.gov/dd/   

Division of Disability Determination Services http://dhs.sd.gov/dds/

Division of Mental Health, SD Dept of Human Services http://dhs.sd.gov/dmh/

Division of Rehabilitative Services http://dhs.sd.gov/drs/vocrehab/vr.aspx

National Resources:

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities - http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/index.html 

National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities- http://www.unco.edu/ncssd/

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/

National Institutes of Health - Index of Disorders - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/disorder_index.htm

National Institutes of Health - Genetics and Birth Defects - http://health.nih.gov/category/GeneticsBirthDefects  

National Institute of Mental Health - http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml

Coming Up:

2010 Statewide Special Education Conference- to be held March 14-16, 2010 in Pierre, South Dakota

"Early Intensive Behavioral Interventions for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders" with Thomas S. Higbee, Ph.D., BCBA-D to be held April 12-13, 2010 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

*More information can& 09/30/2009
South Dakota/North Dakota health care merger to miss October 1 target date

by Gary Ellenbolt

Officials with two major health care systems say they will miss the Thursday deadline to complete a proposed merger. The new completion date has been pushed back more than a month.

Sanford Health of Sioux Falls, and Fargo-based MeritCare Health System announced merger talks earlier this year-eventually, the combined operation will cover 100 thousand square miles in parts of five states. Officials had announced a target date of October First for the agreement to take effect, but have now pushed that date back into November. Mark Johnston with Sanford Health says the news isn't disappointing:

"That October 1st date was just a buoy thrown out there a while back," Johnston says, "but remember, the attorney general in North Dakota, who has some oversight over the approval of this merger, has until the end of October to render a decision. So while it's perceived as a delay, it's really not a delay."

Johnston says both North Dakota's Attorney General and Insurance Commissioner have to give approval for parts of the deal-but he expects that should go smoothly. .

by Gary Ellenbolt

U-S Senator Tim Johnson says with increasing health insurance premiums, the US Senate is correct to take action on health care reform. Johnson says the proposal from Montana Senator Max Baucus is a good start toward that goal.

Johnson quotes a study from the Kaiser Foundation, which says average health care premiums are now over 13 thousand dollars. He says in South Dakota, employee portions of health care are greatly outpacing inflation. Johnson says he supports the health care reform efforts led by Senator Baucus.

"It is a solid starting point for the committee to continue its work through the mark-up process," Johnson says, "which began yesterday and continues through this week. Roughly 564 amendments have been offered, and the committee is working through them this week."

Johnson says he's looking forward to seeing the final bill. He adds after six months of debate, a compromise must be found to bring about health care that covers workers through employment changes and pre-existing conditions.

ontent Goes Here

Today personnel at Ellsworth Air Force Base came together in the base chapel to remember Staff Sergeant Bryan Berky.

Berkey was an expert at diffusing roadside bombs; he was killed in Afghanistan in a firefight on September 12th.

Berkey leaves behind his wife Erin and infant son Harrison.  His Friend Master Sergeant Anthony Blackmon remembers Berkey as a courageous man who loved life.

"Berkey was a real life super here because he was an honorable man - at a time when we struggle with morals and values that make us honorable beings he was a loving husband, father and friend," said Blackmon 

Ellsworth observed a moment of silence at 9:30am today. Governor Rounds ordered all flags to half staff on Saturday.

By Jackelyn Severin

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack visited Brown county Monday. He and U.S. Representative Herseth-Sandlin toured areas damaged by Spring flooding then took questions from local farmers. They also discussed the federal stimulus package passed last Spring.

Vilsack and Herseth-Sandlin talked about rural projects funded by stimulus dollars. Vilsack says the Recovery and Reinvestment Act is helping stimulate the economy through food assistance programs and development in infrastructure.

"In the state of South Dakota over a billion dollars has already been invested as a result of the recovery and reinvestment act and obligated and we are in the process of, obviously, to continue to obligate more resource," says Vilsack.

The Republican National Committee, however, says the stimulus is not helping.  A spokesperson for the national committee says South Dakota has seen over 18-thousand job losses since the stimulus passed.

By Jim Kent
For many, the image of a clown is like what you see at the circus. .The guys with the big red noses and painted faces who. somehow manage to squeeze into that little car. But the word clown also conjures up different images for anyone familiar with the rodeo. This first of 2 stories on rodeo clowns examines the silly side of the job, as well as the side where these funny men actually put their lives on the line.

Ask anyone who the "tough guys" are in the rodeo, and your most frequent answer is likely to be "the bull riders". And that's just what's shown in movies like "the" classic rodeo film "Junior Bonner."

It might even be that many folks who actually go to rodeos believe that bull riders top the "tough guys" list.

But when a bull rider takes a fall and is lying in the dirt, there's only one thing standing between him and 2000 pounds of "mean" - the rodeo clown..

"And this is something you...you wanted to do...be in that spot," I ask.

"Well," says Jerry Olson, " it was a challenge, and....I, I liked it. I looked forward to. Doing it."

Jerry Olson was a rodeo clown. He first tried this as a profession the year after he graduated high school. It was 1954. He was at a rodeo in Spooner, Wisconsin with plans to perform his specialty act - jumping two horses into the back of a truck - when news came that the clown hired for the day was a no-show. Some of the bull riders had seen Olson work as a rodeo clown in high school and recommended him to the rodeo's promoter.

"And he asked me, 'Do you want to try it," recalls Olson. "Shoot, I'll try anything once. And I started to fight bulls there in Spooner and he was...they were satisfied and so...and his regular clown, he says, 'Well, if you didn't make it to Spooner, just don't come back. And I finished the year for him...and that started my career. "

A career as a rodeo clown - or bullfighter - than spanned 30 years, and saw Olson fight hundreds of bulls. Rodeo clowns were once strictly entertainers. But when the aggressive Brahman (Brah-mah) bull was introduced to rodeos in the 1920s, the clown's role expanded to that of bullfighter.

"He was there to entertain the people in his slack time," explains Olson. "But his job during the bull riding was to protect the bull rider...the rider from the bull...when he'd buck off. Gave him a chance to get away. But over the period of time now, clowning at the rodeo has taken a back number and they're bull fighters now. They say they're bull fighters. When I started, we was clown and bull fighter."

Whether you're a clown and a bullfighter, or "just' a bullfighter, at some point you're still staring down a large bull with huge horns that could slice you clean through. And that's what may make the rodeo clown the real rodeo tough guy. But that still goes back to the original question - what makes someone do this?

"It's like a person that's a football player," says Olson. "He plays football. It's a challenge to be the best. And I felt I got pretty fair fighting bulls and I made a career out of it. I went to the National Finals as a bull fighter in '72 and '69... I went as a bull dogger."

That's a steer wrestler. Not quite as dangerous. Kind of like taking on just one Minnesota Viking, instead of the entire defensive line. Olson says he liked the challenge of standing eye to eye with a big, smelly, dangerous bovine. He says that being a rodeo clown really is the equivalent of being a professional athlete. But Olson also liked the lighter side of his job.

"Well, the best thing you get out of being a rodeo clown," Olson explains, "is being able to communicate and...get the enjoyment of seeing people laughing...enjoying...and that's what my job was as a clown. That's what I got out of the rodeo, is all the friends that I've made and the fun that it was to make a success out of something you like to do and you was helping somebody else."

Olson saw many of those friends at a recent Rodeo Clowns Reunion in Spearfish. The bottom line, says the Belle Fourche native, is that people put more value on "the Almighty dollar" these days than they do on being happy.

Olson believes doing what makes you happy should always come first -whether it's making folks laugh or staring down a big ol' bull named "Sunshine."

Note - Tomorrow we'll look at a rodeo clown family that spans 3 generations 

By Janet Davison
        

First time unemployment claims in South Dakota have nearly doubled from this time last year.  Loss of work often means loss of insurance.  But those who lose their jobs can keep their insurance thanks to a federal program known as COBRA.  As we continue our week-long series on health care in South Dakota, SDPB’s Janet Davison reports on how the program works and what it means when you can’t afford it. 

By Vicky Wicks

The national healthcare debate has centered to a great extent on a bill working its way through the U.S. House of Representatives. A controversial part of the bill allows Medicaid to pay doctors for meeting with patients to discuss end of life plans. SDPB’s Vicky Wicks explores facets of death planning and why it has people so scared.

On 8/31/09, Former South Dakota Senator George McGovern joins host Paul Guggenheimer to talk about his memories of the late Senator Ted Kennedy and his legacy. Then regional political junkie Kevin Woster joins Paul to talk about Ted Kennedy and the health care reform debate in South Dakota among other topics. And finally, Janet Davison's final "In the Garden" segment takes us to the Healing Garden at the Sanford Medical Center in Vermillion.  

On 9/2/09, World War II veteran Earl Fisher of Rapid City joins host Paul Guggenheimer to talk about how he and four of his brothers survived the war. Then Paul interviews Janine Harris who started "Nikki's Fund" after her daughter committed suicide. She is promoting suicide prevention awareness week at the University of South Dakota. And finally, Paul talks with Mary Derby, Director of Health Services Administration at the University of South Dakota. She teaches a class called "Healthcare Reform: The Rise of Consumer Responsibility."

By Cara Hetland

It’s been several months since news broke of the the proposed merger of Sanford and MeritCare.  The announcement left many wondering who these two hospital systems are and what each will bring to the table.  On Dakota Digest SDPB’s Cara Hetland introduces us to Sanford Health and explains why it believes a merger is a win-win for both North and South Dakota.

Kelby Krabbenhoft says in order to really understand Sanford Health you have to first understand it’s beginning.   Krabbenhoft is the CEO of Sanford Health.  He says it was 1894 after several people went to the World’s Fair in Chicago to find out what it would take to build a world class healthcare facility.

“[When they]came back they put 17 Lutheran congregations together along with local entreprenural physicians and hatched the beginnings of what is today Sanford Health.  Back then it was small and out of a home down near Phillips Avenue as you get close to downtown Sioux Falls,” says Krabbenhoft.

Krabbenhoft says what was then called Sioux Valley has transformed into what is now named Sanford Health.

“An expansive regional healthcare presence with some 25 hospitals approaching 400 physicains.  It’s gotten to be a very dynamic organization.  A large organization with the number of people it employs as well in excess of  10,000 people,” says Krabbenhoft.

In 2007, philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, gave 400-million dollars to Sioux Valley.  With that money, Sanford Health has opened two new children’s clinics in Oklahoma and Beliz.  It’s also placed more emphasis on research and technology.  Krabbenhoft refers to the donation simply as “the gift” and says it has opened a new frontier of opportunities for healthcare in the region. 

Krabbenhoft says the proposed merger with Fargo based MeritCare is another opportunity and larger frontier.

“If small can only take on so much of risk and can’t invest in facilities and equipment and staff costs to so some of the higher end services.  Have to have the premise of large system and large assurance of volume,” says Krabbenhoft.

“Capitolism says need informed seller and informed buyer and you need competition,” says Michael Myers, USD Associate Professor of Law.  “What you have in healthcare is an ignorant buyer; often frightened and anxious. You have an informed seller and you have a third party payer in most instaces and it is a recipe for financial disaster.”

Myers is also a former Mayo Hospital CEO and board member and also served as the CEO of Minneapolis based Fairview Hospital.  He says as hospitals systems become larger there is no longer competition in healthcare.  He says the only thing that happens is that doctors and executives get richer and patients end up paying more for healthcare.

But Sanford CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft says the merged system will integrate standards and efficiencies in a way that it’s a win for all of the communities with clinics and hospitals.

“There’s such a demand for care in Fargo distinct from Sioux Falls and the same is for Sioux Falls.  There’s no common sense, no common sense to the idea one would be deminished for the growth of the other.  It just doesn’t fit.  On the other hand, what we would like to do is grow and build other services didn’t have a chance to before,” says Krabbenhoft.

Healthcare Law professor Michael Myers says he can understand why communities might support the merger.

“Larger more activity more revenue from a pure market perspective people do make effective arguments for these larger mergers and excessive treatments.  But as a patient, as a citizen as someone who’s concerned about bankrupting America through the cost of healthcare, I modestly standup and take exception to the proposed merger,” says Myers.

Myers isn’t alone in taking that exception.  Many people in Fargo feel the merger is being rushed.  Krabbenhoft says it could become final as early as October.  He says there’s another benefit about the merger not being talked about.  And that’s the lobbying power the new Sanford MertiCare system would have.  

“When we go in now to Washington DC and talk about the people of the plains and their needs for transportation and healthcare and those kinds of things we’re going to be addressing 8 senators – not just 2 anymore.  We’ll be talking with a large contingent of people that care about the outcome of this organization and its people,” says Krabbenhoft.

Krabbenhoft says the merger brings nothing like it in terms of geopraphic size.  He says while the debate over healthcare reform continues in Washington DC and includes what many refer to as the “Mayo Model”.  He says Sanford and MeritCare already follow that model and the merger of the two systems is just what congress is talking about.

On 9/1/09, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, talks with host Paul Guggenheimer about ag issues, healthcare, climate change and the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. Also, Paul interviews David Azerrad, Program Officer for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni which just completed a ranking of 100 colleges and universities based on "what students learn." They were graded from A to F. USD received a B. Yale got an F. And finally Paul talks with University of South Dakota History Professor Kurt Hackemer about today's 70 anniversary observance of the start of WWII. He is not only an expert on the subject but his family was right in the middle of the Blitzkrieg.  

By Charles Michael Ray

Firefighters in the Black Hills have been able to quickly suppress all the wildfires that have popped up so far this year.

South Dakota, Nebraska and eastern Wyoming have seen 355 fires this year.  None of them have become catastrophic events.

But fire officials warn that there are still a few weeks of fire season left.

SDPB’s Charles Michael Ray talks with Beth Hermanson with the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division about this year’s fire season.

By Charles Michael Ray

The new MS Wheelchair America was crowned over the weekend in Rapid City.  Pageantry has received some criticism in recent years from popular movies such as “Little Miss Sunshine” which poked fun at the superficial nature of these events.   The Ms. Wheelchair America pageant claims to buck this trend.  Contestants say it’s not a beauty pageant. 

Ms Wheelchair North Carolina Erika Bogan just hoisted herself up out of her chair and into the passenger seat of an all-terrain vehicle. She’s careening down a rocky dirt road in the Black Hills.  These pine covered hills and lush valleys remind her of home.

“It’s gorgeous ... it’s gorgeous – this is what I love,” says Bogan. “Actually the part of North Carolina I live in,  if you drive away from the actual city I live in, this is what I see. But not quite this big. This is amazing.    It’s like untouched land – I love it.”

Bogan is taking part in a week of activities in conjunction with the Ms Wheelchair America Pageant.  She is the single Mother of three children. She has used a wheelchair since an automobile accident in 2002.  When she’s not raising her children or working towards a degree in psychology she likes to spend time ripping up the countryside in an off road vehicle.    

“I go with my brothers my friends that’s what we do is four wheeling and dirt bike riding,” Bogan laughs.

The women at the Ms Wheelchair America pageant spend a lot of time doing the sorts of things you might not expect people with disabilities to do.    For example, Ms Wheelchair Michigan Amber Marcy likes to jump out of airplanes.  

“I am a skydiver – I love it – it’s the most free feeling ever,” says Marcy.
 

Ms Wheelchair California Alyson Roth spends her free time ripping up the waves on the Pacific Ocean.

“I actually just became the first woman with a disability to ever compete in the US open of surfing,” says Roth.

Ms Wheelchair Texas  was born without any arms and legs, but she still loves to go waterskiing.

“There isn’t kind of like a knee board that you put a special chair that I sit in and the boat takes off and you glide across the water  and you kind of have to balance yourself on this ski you’re not strapped in because you don’t want to if you go flying off with this ski you don’t want to sink with it,” she says. 

This isn’t however an extreme sports competition. It is a pageant. But anyone here will tell you it’s NOT a beauty pageant.

“One of the first questions people always ask is there a swimsuit competition. And we always say no,” says Judy Hoit, pageant coordinator. 

Judy Hoit is sitting below Mount Rushmore where constants have gathered for a photo op.    Hoit says this pageant has been around since 1972. She was a state contestant in 1996. Today she is the board president for the organization.

 it’s not about beauty but we have some beautiful women. Iit’s all about the achievements and accomplishments of women in wheelchairs from ages 21 to 60. They can be single, married, divorced whatever that’s the reason it’s Ms... not Miss,” says Hoit.
 
 
This pageant is not about looks.   Rather These women are competing  to see who can be the best advocate for disabled people.  Ms Michigan Amber Marcy says more advocates are needed. She says the passage of the Americans With Disabilities act has helped, but she says it too often not enforced.

“There are so many people that aren’t’ educated about what it’s like to be in a chair,  or the barriers we have to break or accessibility  issues like that they may claim that the hotel room is accessible, or the college I went to is accessible. It’s accessible but you have elevators but you can’t get in them because able bodies students are using them that’s not really accessible,” says Marcy.
 

The week of activities at the pageant  includes a two minute platform speech in front of an audience.  Jacqueline Bettis takes the people’s choice award for her speech.

“I have learned that in the face of adversity there is light – in the eyes of discrimination there is justice... when we fight for justice we face challenges, challenges lead to perseverance and perseverance elicits change,” says Bettis. 

It’s this kind of advocacy and passion the judges are looking for as they decide the winner. On the final night of competition, Contestants are dressed in fine gowns.  

The winner Erica Bogan Ms North Carolina is in tears. She is the young single mother of three children who enjoys off-roading.   After the awards, Bogan is signing autographs as people around her snap pictures...

“I wish my kids were here right now I just want to grab them... cuz this is all for them,” says Bogan.

Bogan says she didn’t think she would win.

“I didn’t know that I’d get in the top five,” says Bogan.  “I wanted this so band just to be able to help other people with what I went through  to turn my tragedy into something positive.” 

Bogan will get that chance. She will spend the next year criss-crossing the United States. Doing parades, giving speeches –and making public appearances all in advocacy for people with disabilities...  it’s a challenge Bogan says she’s ready for.  

By Jim Kent

Bill Groethe's photograph of the last survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn shows images of eight Lakota warriors. It also shows the face of a Lakota culture that once was.
On today's Dakota Digest, SDPB's Jim Kent talks with Oglala elders on the Pine Ridge Reservation about their continued efforts to bring back the traditional Lakota way of life.

It's been 10 years since rumblings on the Pine Ridge Reservation led to the formation of a group called the Grass Roots Oyate. The Oyate, or "people", accused the tribal government of being corrupt and failing to care for the Oglala people - especially the elders . The complaints spread to every corner of the reservation as the new millennium approached.

In January of 2000, members of the Grass Roots Oyate stormed the tribal offices at the Red Cloud Building and declared a victory for the Oglala people. They refused to leave the building until an extensive list of demands was met. Demands that revolved around the accusations of corruption. During the occupation of the Red Cloud Building, Elain Quiver explains what the Oglala people really want is a return to the old ways.

"A hundred years ago, we all understood the culture and we all had a place in life. And we had certain people...there were spiritual leaders, war leaders, people of wisdom.....and there were a lot of tiospayes. Tiospayes are the clans that live together," says Quiver.

Elaine Quiver is a respected elder on Pine Ridge. She was instrumental in coordinating the efforts of other tribal elders in supporting a return to a more traditional style of government. But a decade later, the Oglala Sioux tribe is still under the same form of leadership.

Joe Cross is a young Lakota attorney. He's helping a new generation of Oglala elders, called the Chiefs and Headmen Society, continue the fight for a return to the old ways. Cross says the group meets regularly to plan its strategy. He says the current system of government was created by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, and mirrors the federal system with executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

"What I'm helping my relatives here do is to achieve the revival of the Seven Council Fires Nation. That's our ultimate goal as a people," says Cross.

Returning to a time when individual families,or tiyospayes, governed the Lakota under group consensus is easier said than done. At this point, Cross says a major part of his efforts are going into research.

"It's quite possible that underneath the Seven Council Fires, there's 49 bands...or tribes. And underneath those 49 bands and tribes, it's quite possible that there was 343 tiyospayes. And, I do know that all the tiyospayes, the original tiyospayes of the Oglala, have been identified," says Cross.

Cross says That leaves the task of identifying the more than 300 other tiospayes in the rest of the Lakota nation. He says it's a task that grass roots groups in other tribes are also working on. There's also the need to clarify the laws that governed a people more than a century ago.

In a culture based on oral tradition, this research is conducted by speak