The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, South Dakota reported today that “January 2006 was a record warm month over much of southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota and northeast Nebraska”. January 2006 will be one for climate books setting records for average monthly temperature, average minimum temperature and average maximum temperature. Not only that, but “most locations did not fall below zero in January and had a record number of days above freezing”. A variety of statistics and charts are being provided by the weather office specifically for Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Sioux City, Iowa.

Originally from Kansas, I personally do not mind the warmer temperatures, but there are quite a few people born and raised in the Northern Plains that have not been happy to see the “lack of winter” in this part of the country. Having sub-freezing temperatures in January is normal for this part of the country and the unusual warmth does affect the area’s culture. People from this area feel somewhat lost with what to do with their time without the snow and lack of ice on the area lakes. People who routinely go ice fishing, ride snow mobiles, cross-county skiing, or snow-show walking for their recreation currently do not have the outlet. Also, let’s not forget all those winter businesses that depend on the cold season for their revenue.

There is some irony that only a few weeks ago we discussed here at Like that Idea how much excitement about ice fishing there was at a local bait shop’s Internet forum. The joke now is that we will have to wait until spring before we see our cold temperatures and winter snow storms!

Every Sunday my wife hears me complain about our local Sunday paper. Unlike some people, my complaints are not so much centered on the quality of the content, but the quantity of the pages. You have to consider that I’m originally from a very large city with a Monday paper that on a slow news day could swallow the newspaper now left on the front steps of my door. However this Sunday my local paper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, had so many good stories to read that I forgot my usual grumpiness.

One of the articles is about Otakuye Conroy, 29, who was the little girl that played Kicking Bird’s daughter in the movie Dances with Wolves. She started her life on the Pine Ridge reservation here in South Dakota in a one room house with no electricity before her family moved on to Rapid City. From those humble beginnings she has accomplished a lot:

By August the girl from Pine Ridge reservation expects to have a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at the University. That’s only one chapter in the story of an actor and marathon runner with two master’s and bachelor’s degree from Nortre Dame.

While the Pine Ridge reservation is only a few hours from my house, I can’t claim I know what life is really like there. I do hope though that Otakuye Conroy’s story inspires others to succeed even when you start off with so little in this world. With her interest in science and her unique background as a member of the member Oglala Sioux tribe I can’t but help think she has so much more to accomplish.

The Argus Leader usually only provides links to its pages for about a week and after that places them in their fee based archvie. If you are interesed in the article online, I would advise you to read it soon. The article is titled Budding scientist started in S.D. and written by Randy Hascall.

How about $11 Billion in fines after sending 280 million illegal spam e-mails. You just have to smile and say that it’s about time. The excerpt below is from MSNBC:

CLINTON, Iowa – An Internet service provider was awarded an $11.2 billion judgment against a Florida man for sending millions of unsolicited e-mails advertising mortgage and debt consolidation services…”This ruling sets a new standard,” Kramer said in a statement. “Gross abusers of e-mail risk exposure to public ridicule as well as the economic death penalty.”

We would like to begin one of our first entries with some local humor. Earlier this month, the Zip Feed Tower was scheduled to be demolished to make way for “new” real estate. At 202 feet, the Zip Feed Tower is believed to be the state’s tallest building (we don’t have much out here in South Dakota). On December 4th, explosives were used to bring down the 48 year old structure. A raffle was held to see who would be the one to trigger the plast (proceeds going to the Dakota Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society). The raffle and corporate sponsorship is expected to have raised nearly $140,000. Thousands of people, including national media, lined up to see the tower go down.

So what is so funny about blasting a feed tower? Well the tower as of this Friday afternoon is still standing. All the explosives did was to sink the tower in it’s basement and lean it over. Long time residents of Sioux Falls are still laughing and are alright with the national attention the whole event has received. We of course drove by the Zip Feed Tower to get a picture. Wrecking balls are expected to arrive any day now and finish what the explosives couldn’t finish. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the wrecking balls have some difficulty of their own!