Area graduations abound this weekend
Several area high school seniors will receive their diplomas this weekend as graduation ceremonies are held throughout the area. All of the ceremonies start at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Many of those ceremonies are taking place on Saturday. Oldham-Ramona will graduate three seniors this year on Saturday at the Ramona gymnasium. Valedictorian for Oldham-Ramona is
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SD high school graduates expected to increase
A new report expects South Dakota to buck the trend of a nationwide decline in high school graduates.
The study by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education was presented to the South Dakota Board of Regents this week. It says that South Dakota is expected to show a significant increase in graduates over the next decade and
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McCook Central teacher receives statewide award
A teacher at McCook Central Elementary in Salem has received a statewide award. Mary Rae Skoglund, a Kindergarten teacher at McCook Central, has been named the 2012-2013 Teacher of the Year by the South Dakota Ag in the Classroom.
Skoglund was nominated by her colleagues and was unaware she was nominated for the award, which was presented as a surprise to her at an all-school
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Spring brings out more scams to be aware of
While spring brings people outside again after a long winter, it also brings out the people who may want to scam other people.
People affected by the April snow and ice storms faced some of those types of people and contractors. Jessie Schmidt, State Director of the Better Business Bureau, said that spring is a common time for out-of-state vendors to come through trying to sell
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Bicycle Safety Day is Saturday in Madison
Bicycle Safety Day is being held this Saturday in Madison. The annual community outreach program sponsored by East River Electric employees will be held at East River’s Headquarters building in Madison.
The free event is intended to help kids prepare for a summer of safe bicycle riding and will feature a bicycle safety inspection, safety video, safety course and an opportunity
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SD schools getting increased Internet bandwidth
The South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications and the South Dakota Department of Education says it will increase Internet bandwidth this summer to 159 school sites across the state.
Telecommunications manager Pat Snow says the work is part of an effort to double K-12 bandwidth every two to three years.
The minimum Internet
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MHS graduates to receive close to $600K in scholarship awards
As the Madison High School Class of 2013 gets ready to graduate this weekend, many of them are taking awards and thousands of dollars in scholarships with them to their next level. As a whole, the class has received close to 600-thousand dollars in awards for four years of additional schooling. Madison High School Counselor Craig Peterson says one student in particular –
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Organizations with storm damage eligible for SBA loans
The Small Business Administration says low-interest federal disaster loans are available to certain private, nonprofit organizations in South Dakota because of an April winter snowstorm.
SBA Administrator Karen Mills says organizations that provide essential governmental services in Douglas, Hutchinson, Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, Shannon and Turner counties are
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Madison School Board approves transportation committee recommendations
The Madison Central School Board approved the recommendations of the board’s transportation committee during its meeting on Monday night. The committee had presented the four recommendations at the board’s April meeting, but they could not be voted on until the May meeting.
Board president Tom Farrell reviewed the committee’s recommendations, including some
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MEA/Madison Central Educational Foundation Scholarship winners
The Madison Education Association and Madison Central School Educational Foundation co-sponsor scholarships, and this year they were awarded to four Madison High School students. Seniors Jesse Brown and Jerricka Thompson each received 250-dollars, and Amy Shan and Hannah Lynch each received 150-dollars.
Madison High School seniors are eligible for the scholarship and must complete an
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City to consider options with Lewis & Clark Water System
With the lack of adequate federal funding for the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System, the city of Madison will need to determine how it wants to proceed with the project. The project’s executive director Troy Larson met with Madison City Commissioners during their regular meeting last night. The City of Madison is the only South Dakota community who is not receiving
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Madison Central School Board reviews preliminary budget
The Madison Central School Board reviewed the numbers in its preliminary budget for 2013-2014 during its regular meeting last night. Business Manager Mitchell Brooks told board members that the total budget amount is down by more than 8-and-a-half-million dollars mainly because of money spent out of the district’s Capitol Projects fund. That fund was created during the
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Madison school board settles negotiations with staff
The Madison Central School Board settled its negotiations with its classified staff and administration during its meeting on Monday night. After more than a half-hour executive session, the board returned to regular session and voted for a just more than two-percent salary increase for administration, and a 26-cent an hour increase for classified staff. The board also voted on
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Iowa man arrested in connection with DSU theft
A man suspected of a theft on the Dakota State University campus in Madison in April has been located in Minnesota. The Madison Police Department said that on May 6th, the Moorhead, Minnesota police department responded to a report of a suspicious person on its campus there. The person was identified as Michael Graham
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Herseth Sandlin not running for political office in 2014
Former South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin will not run for political office next year. In a posting on her Facebook page this morning, she says:
“After carefully contemplating that option, my family and I have concluded that the future should continue to be focused on the plans we laid last year at this time. We’re looking forward to more quality time with family
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Madison City Commission meets Monday
Madison City Commissioners will hear an update on the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System from executive director Troy Larson during their regular meeting later today. Also on the agenda for commissioners is John Marko discussing the Izaak Walton carnival on June 6th thru the 8th, and the acknowledgement of a letter from the city of Sioux Falls regarding storm assistance. The
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Madison Central School Board has full agenda for Monday meeting
The Madison Central School Board will approve several new hires filling teacher positions within the district during its regular meeting tonight. The board will approve the hiring of Karen Rahn and Steven Gors as Middle School Language Arts teachers, Martin Konechne as the Elementary P-E teacher, Joe Bundy as a High School Social Studies teacher, and Glynnis Kunkel as a High School
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Madison educators receive grant awards
Several Madison Central educators were recently honored as recipients of special grant awards.
Recipients of the 2013-2014 Norm Johnson Innovative Grant awards include two projects in the high school for Dawn Wiebers and the Media Department, four in the middle school for teachers Betsy Schamber, Kindra Wiese, Connie Currey, and Teri Gerry, and five in the elementary school.
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Grants to help SD residents find health insurance
About $554,000 in federal funding is being made available to six South Dakota health centers so they can help uninsured people find health insurance coverage under the federal health overhaul law.
The centers eligible to apply for the funds are the City of Sioux Falls Health Department, Community Health Center of the Black Hills in Rapid City, Horizon Health Care
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Colman-Egan and Dell Rapids High Schools graduate Saturday
A couple of area high schools are holding their graduation ceremonies this weekend.
Colman-Egan School will honor its senior class on Saturday, May 11th at 2:00 in the Colman gym. There are 23 students graduating this year, with 16 of them graduating as honor students. Guest speaker for Colman-Egan’s graduation is Scott Hemmer – the Vocational Agriculture and
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