Jonm Hunter News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Gov. Kristi Noem announced she has asked the South Dakota Board of Regents to set policies that preserve certain educational curriculum in the state's universities. It comes as a response to a push by some to redefine some elements of American history. Yes, the issue involves politics. It originated in political theory and is being debated in many state legislatures. In a short space, we'll try to broadly define the issue. Much of the current debate started with something called the 1619 project created by the New York Times magazine. The number 1619 comes from the date when a slave ship firs...

While a cyberattack on an East Coast pipeline company may seem distant to us in Lake County, it does give us a stark example of something that could happen here. Colonial Pipeline Co., which operates a 5,500-mile pipeline that delivers 45% of the gasoline and jet fuel supplied to the U.S. East Coast, said Friday that it had been the victim of a ransomware attack. The criminals get inside an organization's computer system and lock it up, or threaten to make confidential data public, demanding a ransom payment to allow the organization to use its computers again. In this case, Colonial quickly ...

Gov. Kristi Noem told South Dakota's tourism industry on Monday to prepare for a strong rebound this summer, following effects of the coronavirus pandemic on nationwide travel (see story in Tuesday's Daily Leader). The governor said the state would try to help tourism-oriented businesses hire enough workers for the summer season. She said the state usually focuses exclusively on bringing more people to the state but that the Department of Tourism and Department of Labor and Regulation will provide assistance in getting enough people to work in the industry this year. We're glad to see the opt...

A Canadian company would like to mine uranium in southwest South Dakota and is seeking appropriate permits from the state. While that process is necessary, we believe the project should be rejected just based on common environmental sense. Powertech Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Azarga Uranium based in British Columbia, Canada, would use a mining process known as In-situ leaching that would use vast amounts of groundwater to dissolve uranium, then bring it to the surface. When we say vast amounts, we're serious. The plan is to use about 9,000 gallons per minute of water. For reference, the...

Public schools and universities are planning for a more "normal" school year after more than a full year of adapting to the coronavirus. The South Dakota Board of Regents announced March 15 that the state's six universities and two special schools are intending to have campus life look much like it was before the pandemic. Most K-12 schools we know have not made formal announcements but are hoping to do the same. Health experts recommend continued caution still until infection numbers drop even further. But with fall classes starting in about four months, many believe classes can be held with...