Dakotafire Get your spark here.

The spin is out there: Try these three tactics to keep yourself from drowning in the mire of political attack ads. Read More »

While the problem of finding work in rural places gets a lot of publicity, one problem that may follow if you are able to find work doesn’t get as much notice: Daycare is not always easy to find in rural places. A group of parents in Veblen is addressing that problem. Read More »

Moving to a rural place has positives and negatives, according to a recent Minnesota Public Radio story. Read More »

Noel Hamiel’s 35 years in the newspaper business and innumerable contributions to the newspaper industry are being honored with Hamiel’s induction in the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame on April 27 during the convention of the South Dakota Newspaper Association. Read more about Hamiel’s career and honors here. Through his work with the South Dakota Community Foundation, Hamiel also ... Read More »

Groton’s senior seventh-hour government class hosted the first school board cracker barrel session April 2. Photo by Char Telkamp/Groton Independent   Want to get students involved in politics? Put them in the driver’s seat—or, in this case, the moderator’s chair. Groton’s senior government class, and the community, got a first-hand look at the candidates running for school board during the ... Read More »

A Kennebec farmer has created images and videos via time-lapse photography that show how dramatic and beautiful Dakota skies can be. Read More »

Whatever you think of the Keystone XL pipeline, you may want to take note of who stopped it. It was not, as reported in The New Yorker, Professor Bill McKibben and other East Coast activists. Instead, the power behind the brakes originated on ranches in Nebraska. NPR reported the story, and Daily Yonder gave their take on it: (NPR reporters ... Read More »

Which is more important: Gaining fast approval for genetically modified seeds so they can better compete with foreign companies, or giving the public and interest groups time to learn about the planned release and possibly voice their objection to it? Under new rules soon to be put in place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, faster approval will win out. ... Read More »

A few items that might interest you today: Growing up on a farm is good for your immune system, according to a new study from the University of Bristol, as reported by The Rural Blog. It raises the number of T-cells a person has, which helps keep a person from developing allergies. However, your health might be compromised if the ... Read More »

If not, it’s time to learn about this “model of community planning” just down the highway: Howard, S.D. A class project to look at how money is spent in the community turned into a revival movement that involved a significant percentage of the county and had measurable results: In the first year, local retail sales increased 41 percent. The involvement ... Read More »