If you watch SDPB-TV or listen to SDPB-Radio, you have probably heard about the Photo contest running from October 1 to October 7, 2015. Last year, the contest was a 1-day contest. That put some of us at an advantage and some at a disadvantage since South Dakota weather can make a lot of difference on the quality of an image. Hopefully a week will give us all a chance at one good photo day at least. Get your cameras ready. Looks like South Dakota resident entrants can enter 4 photos in each of 4 categories. Note: The contest is over for this year. You can look at the submissions in four categories: Home, Work, Connections, and South Dakota. The albums are at Flickr SDPB PhotoContest. Many beautiful and informative images....most look a lot better than my modest contributions this year. A near week of rainy, gray, wet, cloudy weather is not the best days for photographs or amateur photographers like myself.
I found no links on primary site that might get you to above. Get your camera ready. Lots of good photos last year. The rule changes should mean even more good photos this year. More general info at SDPB 2015 Photo Contest (and a display of last years winners) and more images at SDPB Photos at Flickr.
Photos at Flickr now are obviously not from the new contest yet, but a lot of images from past contests and staff photos of SD.
*** Stay tuned even if global warming won't yet give you a chance to photograph both Atlantic and Pacific on the shores of South Dakota--- Doug Wiken
The highway running straight east of Winner all the way to Parker, SD is mostly nearly table-top smooth. The road through the river hills by the Platte-Winner Bridge are slowly being covered with cedar and other trees. At times the area looks a bit like the real Black Hills of Western SD, but without the rugged rock mountains. A photo below gives a bit of an idea. The appearance depends greatly on time of day--- some times more like the Black Hills and sometimes less so, but whatever it is a pleasant scenic drive. People driving regularly from Sioux Falls to Winner have switched from the interstate to this route. Click on image for a larger view.
And below is an image of the Platte-Winner bridge. This bridge makes this route interesting and makes the area a natural for hunting and fishing...or just gawking and taking photographs. Click for slightly larger image.
The day before this photo was taken, the 50 to 60 mile per hour winds had made most water in dams and rivers of western SD a muddy mess that looked like the old Missouri River before the main stem dams.
Well, guess I should get outside and get some exercise while the weather is tolerable. No wind nearly strong enough to knock one of his feet or temperature to high for rational exercise.
***Stay tuned for something of a political nature. A lot of water has moved under the bridge above since it was repaired after a lot of political scheming--- Doug Wiken
I was driving back to Winner, SD yesterday afternoon. The clouds in the sky were wind-torn and moving. Below is one image taken west of Ideal, SD facing east about 9PM July 19, 2015. Click to enlarge any of the three images.
More to come after I eat some supper.
And, below are a couple of more images. My best plans were aborted by a wasp that decided to sting my shoulder. That sort of delayed my posting plans. Wasps apparently don't like WD-40 sprayed on their miserable nests. Heading to hardware store to buy some wasp and hornet spray.
This image does not really indicate the height and width of this rather strange layering of clouds. Weather radio from Reliance, SD was warning of strong wind and golf-ball size hail south of here. City of Winner got a little rain and wind, but no hail. Below is another image. I have seen a lot of clouds over the years, but these were strange enough to catch my serious attention; but, I don't even play a TV weatherman.
***Stay tuned for more of South Dakota of all places.---- Doug Wiken
The Park Service discovered a cave in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota that probably had not been entered by humans previously. Sediment in the cave is loaded with bones. The Tennessee researcher (Not SDSM&T???) says there may be 100,000 bones to research before the end of summer. The idea being the bones and the bones and info from the Mammoth site near Hot Springs may provide an indication of the temperatures in the Black Hills for thousands of years. I would put the whole story in here, but the RC Journal and the AP take a dim view of giving them free publicity by using their material. For awhile, you can probably read the story at link below;
Another year has passed and the Winner veterans and supporters have taken out the flags that represent every soldier buried in the Winner Cemetery. The photo below was taken this afternoon. A light mist had started and stopped. Veterans were hurrying to get the flags down before the rain. I shot a few photos. The weather was starting to look a bit ominous.
Before I got this posted here, the rain poured down. I hope they got the flags folded in time. My father-in-law is buried here. His flag flies on Memorial Day. One of my hired men and a faithful friend was a veteran. His flag flies here on Memorial Day. He was in the infantry in battles in North Africa, Italy, and France. He never told any stories, but he had kind of a weak stomach and said he had heaved his way across Italy. The stench of decaying bodies got to him.
We owe every man and woman whose flag flies here a debt of gratitude.
I find it a bit aggravating to go to a newspaper web page and then find they have a politician's speech behind their firewall or "copyright" when that same speech is obviously not something the paper wrote and is available free at another website. As you probably are aware, President Obama visited South Dakota yesterday to speak at the commencement at Lake Area Technology, Watertown, SD. His visit there completed his visits to all states.."Saving the best for last". You can read the text at the link below.
I have slogged through the Remarks again. Of the six pages of single-line spaced text only about one page is generally related to education policy, I have added those paragraphs below today on May 10, 2015. Below are excerpts from the whole transcript at Raucous Caucus.
So the question is, why am I here? Well, you started to hear the answer earlier from the previous speaker. Why would I come to a two-year college in the fifth-biggest city in South Dakota?
Well, the reason is because I believe that in a fast-paced, hyper-connected, constantly changing world, there are few institutions that are more important to America’s economic future than community colleges. And there are few community colleges that are as important as Lake Area Tech. This school is leading the way.
Class of 2015, you’re about to graduate into an economy that is fundamentally different than the one that faced the first class of Lake Area graduates over a half-century ago. You’ve seen a lot of the perils of this economy firsthand -- how good jobs and entire industries can vanish or be shipped overseas. How a crisis, because of some of irresponsible folks on Wall Street, can punish families on Main Street with one of the most vicious recessions in our country’s history.
So it would be easy to just throw up your hands and say, “What hope does a place like Watertown have in a global economy? What place does somebody like me have in today’s job market?” But instead of looking backwards, you looked forward. You saw doors of opportunity waiting to be opened. You decided that community college would be your key to unlocking those doors. And that’s why I think the country should return the favor. We should have faith in people like you. We should invest in people like you. Our budgets should reflect that we care about you.
That means giving everybody in America the same chance you have here -- the chance to earn new skills that lead directly to a good job. And this is an idea that has united philanthropists and companies and educators around a common mission. And at a moment when our politics sometimes can seem really divided, this is an idea that actually has some bipartisan support. From the Republican governor of Tennessee to the Democratic mayor of Chicago, leaders across our country are laying out plans to put a college education within reach for everybody. (Applause.)
And I’m proud of what we’ve done to expand Pell grants, and the fact that so many young people here are recipients of Pell grants. So when I came into office, not as many folks were getting them. And I’m proud of what we’ve done to try to keep interest rates low on student loans. But we can do more than what we’re doing.
That’s why this year, in my State of the Union Address, inspired by a letter I received from a hardworking mom like Leanna, I put forward a proposal of my own. I want to lower the cost of community college in America to zero. (Applause.) I want to make it as easy to go to community college as it is to graduate from high school, if you’re willing to work hard.
We live in a 21st century economy that rewards knowledge and innovation like never before. So as a country, we can’t afford to let any striving American be priced out of the education they need to get ahead. For everybody willing to work for it, we need to make two years of community college as free and universal as high school is today. It’s the right thing to do. (Applause.) It’s the right thing to do.
And you know, if that seems pie in the sky, just remember -- four years of free high school was once hard to imagine, until we as a country decided to give every child that chance. Helping veterans go to college on the GI Bill was hard to imagine, until we decided our returning heroes deserved nothing less. Pell grants for lower-income students were hard to imagine, until we decided that by investing in their future, we were investing in our own.
That’s part of what makes America exceptional. We are family, and we’ll do anything to help each other along the way.
**** Stay tuned for more good free stuff (and perhaps some trash too)-- Doug Wiken
I set up a new blog as part of Dakota Today collection. It is titled "South Dakota Good". If you have a product made in South Dakota that you think fits into good quality and good value category, post a comment there or use the E-mail button at right here at Dakota Today.
Residents of South Dakota. Check your broadband speed with the SD Speedtest. Your test will both let you know how speedy is your ISP and also help get us better service in South Dakota.
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