By the time you read this, you will know the outcome of the education funding debate. As I write this, I am cautiously optimistic that we have enough votes to turn around the vote from last week. If you haven’t been following the sales-tax debate to increase teacher pay, there... Read more

The citizens of the following townships in Grant County, who are qualified to vote at township elections, are hereby notified that the annual meeting for each township will be held Tuesday, March 1, at the time stated below. The purpose of the township meeting is to elect one supervisor for a... Read more

First, I need to express my gratitude to Senator Jim Peterson who announced that he will not be seeking another term in the legislature. Jim is a senior statesman and as good a guy as they come. It has been my honor to work with him representing the people of... Read more

Orville Seaboy, age 80, of Summit, SD, died Friday, February 12, 2016, at his home. A prayer service will be held on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. at Mundwiler Funeral Home in Milbank with visitation beginning at 5:00 p.m. Rev. Marion Paulis will officiate. An all night wake... Read more

The education debate is starting to heat up. This week Governor Dennis Daugaard filed three bills that would implement his reform plans. The governor’s proposals would increase the state sales tax from 4% to 4.5% to raise teacher salaries from the current status of 51st place in the nation and... Read more

Dennis Harder, age 66, of Milbank, SD, died on Tuesday, February 2, 2016, at his home. No services will be held at this time. Dennis Michael Harder was born on May 22, 1949, in Aberdeen, SD, to Gerald and Helen (Tomek) Harder. At a young age the Harder family moved... Read more

Reuben Gilbertson, age 87, of Wilmot, died Tuesday, February 2, 2016, at the Wilmot Care Center. Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 8, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. at Wilmot Lutheran Church in Wilmot with Rev. Sheila Pohl officiating. Visitation will be for one hour prior to the time... Read more

The Milbank Bulldogs sent five grapplers to the awards stand at the Lee Wolf Invitational wrestling tournament in Aberdeen Saturday, January 30. Jake Anderson set the pace for the locals with a second place finish. Cole Dockter and Taran Mogard landed in sixth place while Tyler Krause and Isaac Fischer... Read more

Students and staff at St. Lawrence School in Milbank will celebrate Catholic Schools Week Saturday, January 30 through Friday, February 5, with the theme “Kingdom of the Son.” Students are also selling raffle tickets in conjunction with the nationwide Catholic Schools week event. Tickets are available for $5 each. Over... Read more

My apologies for not writing last week. This has been a busy but rewarding week.  Two of the bills I sponsored successfully passed out of committee and were debated on the House Floor. The bill I am carrying on behalf of our veterans passed 13-0 in committee and 68-0 on... Read more