RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health awarded South Dakota Mines Mining Engineering and Management professors Rudrajit Mitra and Andrea Brickey a $1.25 million grant to research safety improvements in underground mining.

With mining science advancements allowing for deeper digs, Mitra says safety needs to be at the forefront.

“As you go deeper, they squish the opening,” Mitra said. “So, there’s a lot of movement in the rock. Our task is to make sure that stays open for the life of the mine, but also as people are walking in and out, as equipment is driving in and out, they don’t fall.”

Mitra and Brickey will collaborate with professors from Colorado School of Mines and Montana State University in the project.

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RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – You can never be too careful when out on the ice.

After several cars fell through the ice at a popular ice fishing spot in northeast South Dakota over the weekend, it serves as a reminder of safety measures people can follow when fishing on a frozen lake or pond.

When ice fishing or going out on the ice in general, the team leader of the Rapid City Pennington County Water Rescue Team, Matt Curley, recommends it’s better to be accompanied by someone or multiple people instead of on your own.

In addition, it’s a good idea to wear life jackets in the case of an emergency. He also wants people to understand that no ice is safe ice, meaning there’s always a risk no matter the thickness of the ice.

“The minimum thickness for hard clear ice would be two inches. But again, like we said, we don’t recommend that anybody goes out on the ice just because we never know with the freezing and thawing, what the conditions of the ice actually are,” Curley said.

According to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Facebook page, they recommend as well when on the ice, to always wear ice picks around your neck and have rope nearby.

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With the opening of session comes the naming of new leaders and the voices of present leaders. For some South Dakotans, much of that is rebuilding faith in key state institutions after a few long years.

The opening of the 100^th South Dakota legislative session Tuesday also meant the delivery of what appears to be Gov. Kristi Noem’s final State of the State address.

Noem appears to be on the fast track to a Washington DC role in the looming Trump administration, as the likely upcoming Secretary of Homeland Security.

For her final address to South Dakota, though, Noem evoked the life of Gladys Pyle, the state’s first female Secretary of State and one-time candidate for governor.

“88 years later, I became the first female Governor of the state of South Dakota, but Gladys’ story reminds me sometimes that obstacles that people face sometimes prepare them for greatness,” Noem said. “America has been through a very difficult time, and now we stand on the cusp of a great American comeback.”

In the Senate Chris Karr was named as the new Pro Tempore of the chamber, a role reserved for senior members of the body. He said now is the time to reestablish trust in state institutions.

“What is paramount to me as I approach this position is the integrity of this institution,” Karr said. “I have sometimes called this institution an idea machine, because it takes ideas, and it puts them through a process – an adversarial process – of proponents and opponents. If we respect that process, I can assure you of a few things. That we can vet any idea no matter how controversial.”

Tuesday marked legislative day 1. Session runs through mid-March.

Read Noem’s full address here