“A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has…
Annual maintenance is key to preventing fires, officials say By Wendy Royston, Dakotafire Media Additional reporting by Ken Schmierer Some rural Dakotans have recently taken to burning corn, pellets and wood to avoid burning as much cash for home heating…
By Wendy Royston, Dakotafire Media Additional reporting by Elizabeth “Sam” Grosz Anyone who has weathered a Dakota winter knows how important a warm house can be in the dead of January. The people who are likely most acutely aware of…
The November/December 2014 issue of Dakotafire is now available to read online. The first story is available free of charge; if you’d like to read the whole issue, purchase access here. Print subscribers: You can access the digital version free…
Want to turn over your position on a board or committee to someone else?
Good luck. Finding people willing to serve in leadership positions in the rural Dakotas may be more difficult than it’s ever been.
We tend to blame this on a declining population, but there’s also another factor at play: At the same time populations are declining, the number of nonprofits is increasing.
By Wendy Royston, Dakotafire Media Should Dakotans be worried about Ebola spreading here? Probably not. Even though the 2014 Ebola outbreak is the largest ever and marks the first time the virus has been diagnosed in the United States, officials…
Investing in old buildings has the potential to help define communities, reduce waste—and even provide a monetary return.
“This has been the grain bin year.”
Frankie Rollins, who has built grain bins for the past six years with Hart Steel, said the company has been busier than normal in 2014, and that more and more bidding competition is emerging in southeastern South Dakota.
“I hear of a lot of new crews starting up, so it sounds to me like this year has been the grain bin year,” he said.
Long bus rides can have a significant effect on the rest of a child’s day. Superintendents in the Dakotas say they do their best to keep the bus routes as short as possible, but open enrollment and school district reorganizations can make this challenging.
Despite the challenge of finding enough volunteers—or in some cases, because of that challenge—many rural ambulance services have come up with creative ways to serve their communities better.