South Dakota Public Broadcasting

Homegrown Sioux Falls, Surplus Missouri River Water, Gardening and Neil Armstrong

Dakota Midday - 08/27/2012

Homegrown Sioux Falls is the newest chapter of Dakota Rural Action, a grassroots family agriculture group interested in urban agriculture and backyard chickens. The group held a tour of six urban chicken habitats in Sioux Falls yesterday. The city has created an urban agriculture task force which is crafting an ordinance proposal regarding the keeping of chickens and other animals. Homegrown Sioux Falls co-chairs Wyatt Urlacher and Barbara Sogn-Frank join Dakota Midday host Karl Gehrke.

Also, Larry Janis, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager for the Surplus Water Supply Study, talks about the Corps' plan to temporarily make surplus Missouri River water available for regional water needs in South Dakota. The Corps is holding a series of public meetings on the topic, including one today in Pierre. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who was on Dakota Midday last Thursday, said last week, "Last summer, South Dakota experienced the flooding effect of a mismanaged Missouri River. Too add insult to injury, the Corps is now proposing to exceed its congressional authority and charge South Dakotans for what has long been recognized as our own water. Dakota Midday's coverage of this story continues tomorrow with voices from today's meeting at Pierre.

Norm Evers of Norm's Greenhouse and Nursery in Aurora takes several questions from listeners during Dakota Midday's semi-regular gardening segment. Evers talks about how the latest wave of hot and dry weather has affected the region's gardens and yards.

The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, died over the weekend at the age of 82. Tom Durkin, Deputy Director of the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, discusses Armstrong's career and contributions to NASA.