South Dakota
Boaters reminded of their role in stopping spread of zebra mussels
![Boaters reminded of their role in stopping spread of zebra mussels](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4bd6a1c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x315%200%2068/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http://npr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/legacy/sites/sdpb/files/201911/zebra_mussels_fws.jpg)
Since zebra mussels have been confirmed in Pactola Reservoir, National Forest officials want boaters to know a little cleaning can keep the problem from spreading further.
Scott Jacobson is the public affairs officer for the Black Hills National Forest. He said they’ll be paying attention to boats as they leave the water.
“We’re going to see a lot more boating activity on our lakes, just want folks to know there will be watercraft inspection stations operated by South Dakota Game Fish and Parks at our boat docks,” Jacobson said. “They’re there to help prevent spread of the zebra mussel that has been detected here at Pactola at least for the last couple of years.”
And if it goes in the water at Pactola, it’s probably liable to be inspected.
“The watercraft will include boats, kayaks, canoes, anything like that, that will actually be in the water, come out of the water, and hold a zebra mussel for a period of time,” Jacobson said. “If the condition is moist and wet, the zebra mussel is actually able to survive. The point is to try to minimize the spread of those by having your watercraft inspected.”
The invasive mollusk spread to roughly a dozen lakes in eastern South Dakota before it was confirmed in Pactola last summer.
Jacobson said they’re already causing issues for the reservoir.
“Issues with infrastructure – issues with dams, those sorts of things,” Jacobson said. “When there’s negative effects to infrastructure, it is a concern. I’ve heard it’s an issue with other fish species in the lake, so they affect food sources.”
Jacobson reminded boat owners – “clean, drain, and dry” before taking your boats from one lake to the next.
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South Dakota
Final Day: Almost Arkansas
![Final Day: Almost Arkansas](https://dakotafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMG_4085-1024x768.jpeg)
I don’t know what the Internet thinks of my travels, but the pond butterflies at Fort Crowder shooting range found my bicycle (and me) quite interesting:
A few of these scaly-wingers tagged along for a few meters, but they all headed back to the water well before I reached the exit. Too bad—I could have used their help lifting my gear over the gate.
Yesterday was Day 5, the final planned day of my ride from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Bentonville, Arkansas. My dear wife is coming to retrieve me today—we’ll spend this evening and all Friday enjoying the local trails and shops, then head back en auto Saturday. Knowing Wednesday was my last hard day in the saddle, I could give it my all.
Morning in Pittsburg was humid, and the radar showed rain west. But the sun wasn’t pounding yet, and the wind was down from yesterday, now just light and southwesterly. I think I can, I think I can…
But boy, all those woods and fields and curvy roads do make a guy hungry:
But then, just past Jane, Missouri, the one real disaster of the trip:
Plam! went my back tire! Grind grind grind went my less protected rim. I braked fast, looked under me, and saw a flat. The instantaneous deflation told me this was no simple thorn prick that my tire slime would fill, no nail or branch jab that I could plug. This was a one-inch tear in my rear tire. I don’t know if I hit some sharp metal or if the tire just gave out from some defect or the heat or the strain, but I didn’t spend a lot of time scanning for the cause. I was done riding. After 460 miles, just ten miles from terminus, not quite to the Arkansas border, I was done.
So, alas, the bicycling portion of my trip was only three states—Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. I don’t get to put any Arkansas miles on the Trek 1120, an otherwise mighty and comfy bike that experienced just one catastrophic failure. And boy, if the bike had to give up, it picked about the best place to quit that it could have, just a short hitch to my intended lodging rather than out in the rain Monday morning in Admire, Kansas, or any place else much farther from where I hoped to be.
South Dakota
Sioux Falls, South Dakota Burger King worker retires after 48 years
![Sioux Falls, South Dakota Burger King worker retires after 48 years](https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/15028890_070424-wls-bk-retired-11a-vid.jpg?w=1600)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (WLS) — A Burger King employee in South Dakota is retiring after 48 years.
Jane Aulner started her career with the fast food restaurant in 1976. She said the feeling of family with her coworkers is one of the reasons she never left the restaurant for nearly half a century.
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She also said she felt comfort in ggetting to know people and watching the grow.
“It warms my heart when I got somebody coming inside or come through the drive through, they go ‘Wow, you’re still here. Do you remember me?’” she said. “And they’ll tell me their name like maybe I trained them or had them when they were in college, before they moved off and got married and had their own lives. So that was, that was really fun.”
As much as Aulner’s coworkers made an impact on her, they said she has left an impression on them.
“She’s huge, she’s the cornerstone,” said manager Belvie Kennerly. “I mean, you can’t do anything without a team member like June to help keep things running for you.”
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South Dakota
South Dakota plans celebration for America's 250th anniversary
![South Dakota plans celebration for America's 250th anniversary](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ed63524/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1008+0+36/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fprod%2Ffiler_public%2Fkusd-bento-live-pbs%2FJAN21%2F13fbcb57cc_Flags.jpg)
The South Dakota commission planning a celebration for America’s 250th anniversary officially launches its campaign this week.
The goal is to inspire individuals to accomplish 250 miles of outdoor related activity from July 4, 2024 leading up to the nation’s 250th celebration on July 4, 2026.
Challenges and prizes have been established with a partnership between the commission, City of Deadwood, Department of Game, Fish, and Parks, the Battleship South Dakota Memorial, and the South Dakota State Fair.
Smaller prizes can also be earned by completing 80 miles in honor of 80 years since operation OVERLORD during World War II, or walking 150 miles to celebrate Deadwood’s anniversary.
The commission said additional challenges and prizes will be announced soon.
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