Knowledge Changes Outcomes
By Rep. Kristi Noem
October 23, 2015

This year, nearly a quarter-million women will learn they have breast cancer.  As a result of earlier detection through screenings and awareness as well as advances in treatment options, the vast majority of these women will earn the title of “Survivor.”

In August, I had the opportunity to visit one of the medical centers working to combat this disease in South Dakota.  While there, I spoke with the doctors and nurses about all the ways they are getting information to patients quickly and accurately and how it can help throughout the treatment journey.  New technologies make this kind of information possible and obtainable.

For instance, the medical center I visited uses 3-D mammograms, which provide hundreds of pictures whereas standard mammograms produce just a handful.  As a result, the technology can find “slightly more cancers than standard digital mammograms and … result in 15% fewer false alarms – women called back for more tests and then found not to have cancer,” according to the American Cancer Society.  The improved level of accuracy is important.

The 3-D mammograms are one in a series of technological and scientific improvements that have resulted in better care and higher rates of survival.  The National Institute of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health has played a critical role in much of this research and I was proud to lead more than 80 female members of the U.S. House of Representatives in commemorating this agency’s 25^th anniversary earlier this year.

Some of the nation’s first female members of Congress advocated for this office to be established as a way to provide more insight into how diseases and medicines work within a woman’s body.  As a result of the research it’s conducted and supported, we’ve taken tremendous steps toward finding a cure for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and much more.  It’s saved the lives of countless women and I’m hopeful it will continue to produce positive results long into the future.

With a better understanding of the disease, we can each have a better understanding of how to detect – and even prevent – cancer.  As we come to the close of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to share a few of those tips with you.  First, I encourage you to schedule regular screenings.

Be aware of your family history.  If your mother or your sister has had breast cancer, you are twice as likely to develop it.

Take steps to improve your overall health, because staying active and maintaining a healthy weight can make you less susceptible to breast cancer.

Finally, know what to look for.  Lumps, redness, and swelling can all be indications, but don’t wait until you see something to schedule your screening.

I encourage you to take a few minutes this month to learn more about the disease and your family’s history with it.  Has breast cancer impacted your mother, an aunt or one of your sisters?  Have you spoken to your doctor about getting a screening?  Are there ways you can improve your overall health?  Take just one step today; it could make the difference.

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Criminal Justice Reform Update
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

Several years ago, I became aware of a problem with our state’s criminal justice system. South Dakota’s imprisonment rate was higher than any of our six neighboring states. Per capita, we were locking up 75 percent more men than North Dakota and four times as many women as Minnesota. Worst of all, our high imprisonment rate wasn’t making our public any safer. Our crime rate was falling, but not as fast as in other states. Continuing to follow our same path would force us to build a new women’s prison and a new men’s prison within 10 years.

To address the problem, the Chief Justice, legislative leadership and I formed a work group. We charged the work group with three goals: improve public safety, hold offenders more accountable and reduce corrections spending. The workgroup’s recommendations were incorporated into comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation that passed with bipartisan support.

To focus prison space on violent and career criminals, the reforms restructured our sentencing framework for non-violent offenders. We included new and improved probation accountability programs like drug and alcohol courts. We also made the largest investment in the history of our state into behavioral health for offenders with addictions and mental health needs.

Although it’s only been two and a half years since the Public Safety Improvement Act passed, we’re already seeing positive results. The prison population is now below initial projections. Thanks to the reforms, we will not need to build a new women’s prison this year. That alone will save us $36 million this year. By avoiding construction of new women’s and men’s prisons, and avoiding the costs of operating them, South Dakota should save over $100 million in correctional costs this decade.

I knew these reforms would be good for South Dakota’s bottom line. Happily, these reforms are also proving beneficial in other ways.

Most offenders who are released from prison continue to be supervised in the community for a period of time as parolees. Under the new law, parolees can reduce the duration of their parole by 30 days each time they complete 30 days of perfect behavior. Thus far, under this policy, over 700,000 days of parole credit have been earned. That’s almost 2,000 years-worth of parole credit earned to date. This allows parole officers to reduce the time they spend supervising those with good behavior, and focus instead on parolees who need more close supervision.

We’re not only locking fewer people up, we’re seeing a reduction in crime. According to the most recent crime reports from the FBI and the state Attorney General’s Office, South Dakota’s crime rate decreased from 2013 to 2014. Though we can’t definitively attribute the reduction in crime to the Public Safety Improvement Act, it’s certainly a positive sign to celebrate.

I know it’s still too early to declare victory. Experts tell us it will take three to five years to see all the results of our combined efforts. But based on the early data we’ve received, I am hopeful the reforms will save us more money, hold offenders more accountable and make our state a safer place.

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A correspondent noted to me that both the 18% payday loan petition and the legal pot petition were being circulated last night on Hobo Day at Ray’s Corner in Brookings.  

Aside from that, the other day at the post office, I was accosted to sign a petition to “stop the bundling of political donations” by a slightly seedy looking guy who didn’t sound like he knew anything about the petition he was carrying. 

It seems like the petition activity is finally showing signs of life around here as people are getting down to the wire.

I notice today that Larry Kurtz (long banned from this and other websites for his profanity, hate speech, etc) who had been promoting his website “South Dakota Progressive” as the voice of the South Dakota Democrat party, complete with links to the party, it’s candidates, etc, has announced that it is shutting down.

It comes on the heels of several bizarre and easily disproven posts such as claiming that I have been diagnosed with cancer, Mike Rounds is resigning, and claims that Kurtz had been given scurrilous information on Kristi Noem by Shantel Krebs. (Shantel told me, btw, that she’s “absolutely never talked to the guy.”)

Yeah, this is the same idiot who claims all cops are wife abusers, and exposure to plastic is a cause of homosexuality.

Fast forward to today, and most of the bizarre claims have been taken down, along with any of the branding that connected him with the South Dakota Democrat party. And a post from August has been revised to make it look like he announced going off the internet back three months ago.

Served with legal papers? Or were the Democrats demanding that he remove any and all association with them?

  
Man, lots of Republicans, and nary a Democrat in sight!

Ag Secretary Lucas Lentsch is walking the parade and talking about ag to the crowd.

Practicing for a future campaign perhaps?

 

Man, there’s a pile of Republicans here.

   
Rep’s John Wiik & Mathew Wollmann were walking on my side of the street, and so was Jason Ravnsborg.

   

  

Senator Thune is in town today for the Hobo Day activities, and walked today’s parade route.

   
   

   
 
Congresswoman Kristi Noem is early on in the parade, walking the entire route with members of her family.

  
Was that Noem State Director Beth Hollatz in the car?