November is Diabetes Awareness Month
By Senator Mike Rounds

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects almost 30 million Americans. Many of us know a friend or family member living with diabetes. It is a metabolic disease that requires constant treatment and monitoring blood sugar to manage. If left untreated, diabetes can cause many complications, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney failure and eye damage. But the good news is, the disease is entirely manageable, and – in most cases – preventable through a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

To raise awareness of this growing disease and highlight the importance of proper diabetes control, November has been designated as American Diabetes Month. It is an opportunity for all of us to learn more about those who suffer from the disease, how to prevent it and some of the issues surrounding it. I support the early detection and prevention of diabetes, and that’s why I cosponsored a resolution that recently passed the Senate reflecting those ideals.

In South Dakota, approximately seven percent of adults currently suffer from diabetes today. While this is below the national average, the number continues to rise at an unacceptable rate. Even more concerning are the number of Native Americans in South Dakota suffering from diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 1 in 4 Native Americans in South Dakota have been diagnosed with the disease. While federal programs for Native Americans have helped South Dakota tribes set up diabetes prevention and awareness programs, more can and should be done to combat the disease.

The theme of American Diabetes Month this year is “Eat Well, America!” to highlight the importance a healthy diet plays in combatting diabetes. With the holiday season upon us, healthy eating can seem like an impossible task, but the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has outlined some simple dietary guidelines to follow. As a general rule, the ADA recommends a diet based on whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables. It also recommends limiting one’s intake of sugar and sodium.

Ninety-five percent of diabetes in the United States is type 2 diabetes, which is largely preventable by making healthy lifestyle choices. In addition, the ADA estimates that 86 million Americans have “prediabetes,” which puts them at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. By following the ADA’s healthy eating guidelines, getting regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight, one’s chances of developing type 2 diabetes is greatly reduced.

Diabetes is a growing disease that can have deadly consequences if left untreated. While there is not yet a cure, there is no shortage of organizations working to spread awareness and help others manage their diabetes. The ADA is celebrating 75 years of progress in diabetes treatment, management and quality of life. I thank them and others who have worked to raise awareness and combat the growing disease. Whether you are living with diabetes or want to take measures to prevent yourself from being diagnosed, recognizing November as American Diabetes Month is an opportunity for all of us to know more about the disease.

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A Prescription for Rural South Dakota
By Rep. Kristi Noem

Our son Booker was pretty sick when he was little.  There were a number of times when Bryon and I had to have the conversation: “It’s midnight and something’s not right again.  Do we take him to the hospital?  Do we go now?  Do we wait until morning?  It’s not like there’s a hospital around the corner.”  I assume many parents, particularly those in rural South Dakota, have had to ask those questions.  It’s not always an easy call to make, especially when the roads are icy and temperatures have dipped below zero.  But with recent advances in South Dakota’s telehealth options, these conversations may become a thing of the past.

Already today, families can see a doctor by just turning on their phones.  Both Avera and Sanford Health, for instance, offer smartphone apps that let you connect instantly with a physician who can help parents determine how serious that fever is and what can be done about it.  If only they had that when our kids were little!

Perhaps even more incredibly, telehealth programs operating out of South Dakota are giving many local clinics a medical upgrade, shrinking the distance between you and state-of-the-art care.

At the push of a button, your hometown doctor can connect to an experienced emergency physician, an ICU care team, a pharmacist, even specialists in the areas of cardiology or diabetes.  Through the use of two-way video feeds – much like you would use FaceTime or Skype – and specialized telehealth instruments, a doctor in Sioux Falls can have access to every bit of data being collected in the exam room.

With this information, they can talk your local physician through a crisis that they may not typically deal with or maybe just serve as a second set of eyes to help make sure you’re getting the best care possible.

I had the opportunity to tour Avera’s telehealth headquarters earlier this year. There were a few dozen computer stations that were staffed by accomplished physicians – many with more than two decades of experience.  Each station was lined with four high-definition screens where the specialists could see everything from a patient’s vital stats to a real-time video feed of an operation they were counseling a local physician on.  In that room, we saw high-quality health care being delivered across the Midwest to even the smallest of rural clinics. Sanford Health offers many of the same options through a similar program.

A growing number of health care providers in South Dakota are being assisted by telehealth professionals like this.  The Avera site I visited in Sioux Falls services 235 sites across the Midwest alone and claims to have touched the lives of approximately 790,000 patients – from young families to Medicare recipients.

I never considered a life where Bryon and I weren’t raising our kids in rural South Dakota.  We saw so much value in what you learn by growing up this way.  We’ve always loved it and I know many families in South Dakota feel the same way.  Still, small health care providers are struggling to stay afloat, making it more difficult to attract families to small towns.  I’m hopeful new technologies can change this, which is why I’ll be fighting to make sure folks in Washington, D.C., understand why that’s so important that we support telehealth programs.  It’s worth the investment.  After all, telehealth may just be the prescription we need to bridge the gap between rural America and state-of-the-art medical care.

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Christmas At The Capitol
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

South Dakotans have always known how to make Christmas special. In 1881 the people of Aberdeen decided to celebrate the holiday season by putting up a community Christmas tree. The locals thought the tree would be a nice way to commemorate their first Christmas as a community. All was going according to plan until the railroad agent who had been commissioned to supply the community’s Christmas tree showed up with a disappointing delivery. He arrived with a tree that was a measly five feet tall.

Determined to build a more extravagant display, the people of the town gathered in a local store at the corner of Third and Main. They found a large piece of timber and nailed it to the floor and ceiling. Then they attached narrow strips of wood and pieces of evergreen from the real tree to the large piece of timber. They topped off their clever construction with strings of popcorn and cranberries. Thanks to their imagination, the Aberdeen community ended up with a much larger, grander tree than the original.

One hundred thirty-four years later, another group of South Dakotans has been using their creativity to build a special Christmas display. The decorations are slightly more elaborate than the ones in that Aberdeen store. The Capitol display consists of nearly 100 trees – the tallest of which is 29 feet – and the theme for the decorations this year is “Christmas around the World.”

Many volunteers have devoted precious hours to decorate the Capitol building for the holidays. As always, they have done a great job.

When I walk into the Capitol building each morning from now until after Christmas Day, I’ll be greeted by the rich aroma of pine trees and the sparkling reflection of Christmas lights on the ornaments that decorate those trees. Just walking down the hallway puts me in the Christmas spirit.

I hope you will find time this holiday season to come to Pierre to experience Christmas at the Capitol. The display is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week through Saturday, Dec. 26.

I hope to see you there!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Especially with all that’s going on in our world, it can become easy to get frustrated with all that needs to be fixed – at work, at home, in our country, around the world – but today is a day that has been set aside to say thanks for all the blessings we do have.

Most of us will gather in a warm home around a full dinner table today. Some will turn on a football game while others will turn on the oven. Either way, most of us will get to spend the day surrounded by those we care about.

My family and I will be doing double duty – one side of the family for lunch and the other for dinner. We’ll be missing Kennedy for the first time this year though. She’ll be traveling with the USF basketball team. Nonetheless, it all makes for a busy day, but one that is undeniably filled with laughter (and food).

I hope we all can take a moment this holiday weekend to give thanks for our many blessings.

From the Noem family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

– Kristi

I should feel a little bad pointing out the obvious to South Dakota Democrats, but their willful blindness, as they’ve shifted hard to the left, is pretty hard to punch through despite using facts and a hard dose of reality.

Yesterday, I’d noted how Thune was tied for 9th most popular Senator in the country. Laughably, dems were out there yesterday claiming they still have time to find someone who can compete. Despite not much more than a month remaining until petitions have to be circulated, much less time to raise the money for a US Senate race.

He’s not running, but today’s dose of reality comes from the same poll – noting Governor Dennis Daugaard is the second most popular Governor in the country.

Leading the pack is Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican who won election in 2014. Nearly three quarters, 74 percent, of Massachusetts voters say they approve of the job Baker is doing, while just 14 percent say they disapprove.

About two-thirds of voters in four other states approve of the job their Republican governors are doing. South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) all have approval ratings north of 66 percent.

Read that here.

The simple fact of the matter is that Republican leadership is trusted in South Dakota, and Democrats are not even a hot mess, they’re just a mess. 

From SFGate, Hacktivist group Anonymous is using one of my favorite weapon of mass distraction on ISIS/ISIL The Rick Roll:

Anonymous is wielding a new weapon of mass disruption in its ongoing social media war with the Islamic State — Rick Astley videos.

The “hacktivist” group has been flooding all pro-Isis hashtags with countless videos of the red-headed bass-baritone, according to a recent tweet from the #OpParis account.

Anyone familiar with 1980s music videos knows how unsettling watching Astley sing and dance can be. In fact, as Dazed notes, tricking people to watch his “Never Gonna Give You Up” has been a staple of viruses, protests and other online pranks since 2007.

Read it here.

What was that the Democrats were mewling? That they would have an opponent for Senator John Thune?

Good luck with that one, as who ever they can press into service, they’re going to be facing a very, very popular US Senator. John Thune was just named as tying for #9 in approval ratings (via their constituents) for Senators in the entire country:

Vermont	Bernie Sanders	I	83	13	230	+/- 6.5
Maine	Susan Collins	R	78	16	654	+/- 3.8
Wyoming	John Barrasso	R	73	15	198	+/- 7
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	D	71	22	230	+/- 6.5
North Dakota	John Hoeven	R	69	15	326	+/- 5.4
Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar	D	67	20	1,172	+/- 2.9
Wyoming	Mike Enzi	R	67	19	198	+/- 7
West Virginia	Joe Manchin	D	66	24	619	+/- 3.9
Maine	Angus King	I	65	25	654	+/- 3.8
South Dakota	John Thune	R	65	23	299	+/- 5.7

Read it all here.

Gov. Daugaard Orders State Capitol Flags Half-Staff For Former State Sen. Wilbur Foss

PIERRE, S.D. – Former state Sen. Wilbur Foss of Scotland passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Gov. Dennis Daugaard has ordered flags to fly half-staff at the State Capitol on Saturday, Nov. 28, the date of Foss’ funeral.

Foss was appointed to the State Senate by Gov. Archie Gubbrud in 1961 to replace Joe Lehmann, who had resigned. Foss served as a state senator until 1963.

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Former Employee of South Dakota Secretary of State Office Pleads Guilty and Sentenced to Theft in Original State Flag Case

PIERRE, S.D – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Garrett Darwin Devries, 26, Washington D.C., has pled guilty to one count of theft of the “Original State Flag”, having a value in excess of four hundred dollars, class one misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail with 30 days suspended upon the condition that he commits no law violations for a period of one year. In addition, Devries was sentenced to pay court costs and in lieu of a fine, he was ordered to pay the costs to assist in the future preservation and protection of the “Original State Flag’ in the amount of $1,500 by December 4, 2015. Devries was also ordered to submit a letter of apology to the employees of the Secretary of State’s Office and the citizens of the State of South Dakota.

“South Dakota’s original State Flag is an important part of our history, and its recovery without damage or further incident was an important consideration in the resolution of this case. Mr. Devries has accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his co-workers as well as the citizens of South Dakota. This resolution further serves to assist in the preservation of our State Flag for future generations,” said Jackley.

This charge stems from Devries employment at the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office during the time between December 2012-November 2013 and the theft of an ‘Original State Flag’ from his place of employment.

This case was investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

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