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Pasque Medical Massage opens next week

by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            A new business is coming to town, thanks to entrepreneur Allison Neukirchen. She will be opening a massage parlor in her home, called Pasque Medical Massage.

woman with dark hair and glasses standing behind massage table
Allison Neukirchen opens Pasque Medical Massage this next Monday! //Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            "I want to break the patterns of pain," she said of her work. Neukirchen, who has a bubbly personality and is quite relational, said she got into massage training while studying for acupuncture and her health science degree in college. Her mother had had surgery, and no amount of follow up visits with occupational therapy and physical therapy were helping, but chiropractic therapy did help, as did massage.

            Neukirchen, who is originally from Washington state, moved to South Dakota in 2023 for family and economical reasons. Her father-in-law bought a house in Garretson, and through that they fell in love with the topography of the area and the small community feel of the town. They moved into their house this past summer.

            Though they haven't had children yet, Neukirchen and her husband Jack are looking forward to having the ability for their kids to play outside, ride bikes and be with friends without having to worry the same way they would in Sioux Falls.

            However, starting a business so soon after moving into their house has been an adventure. They have modified a front bedroom to be the massage parlor after obtaining permission from the city, and set up their open-concept house with room dividers to differentiate between business and living spaces.

            "My neighbors probably think I have a shopping addiction," she said with a laugh, pointing out the equipment she's been acquiring for the business.

            Her room is outfitted with hot stones, a towel warmer, Himalayan salt stones, and other equipment she can use in pursuit of the medical-style massage she intends to utilize.

            She has learned many different styles, from the regular Swedish massage style to deep tissue massage, pre-and-post athletic techniques, pre-natal, lymphatic drainage, and much more. She doesn't intend to necessarily differentiate to clients which technique she's using, as there are many tools in her toolbelt and she plans to utilize whichever ones will benefit her clients the most.

            When asked how she got into massage, Neukirchen laughed. It was a bit of a winding path, with work first as an EMT and a goal to be a doctor.

            In 2014, Neukirchen originally went to the University of Washington (UW) on a pre-med track, but soon decided to change to a more holistic route. While in college, she worked as an EMT.

            In her second year, she transferred to Bastyr University to study acupuncture and acquired her massage certification.

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Mother of expelled student follow up phone interview

by Carrie Moritz and Garrick Moritz, Gazette

            In a follow-up call to the Gazette, the mother of expelled student Juul Haggen wanted to give an update.

            Joni Haggen said she was able to get her son enrolled in a virtual school, so he can continue his education. However, the district refused to pay for the cost, she said, despite receiving public funds from the state for her son's education, and she had to pay for it out of pocket.

            She felt as though many of the processes and decisions were unfair, and pointed out that she had said as much to Superintendent Guy Johnson. At that time, he had said that he had recommended Juul be suspended through the end of the school year, but at one point during the conversation, she said he had asked her if she wanted him to make it two years when she was attempting to ask for accountability.

            "I don't know how he can give these recommendations when he didn't even interview Juul," she alleged. "He just wrote the report."

            She was unsatisfied with the lack of accountability for the school district, as the Department of Education told her they did not get involved in individual districts' disciplinary matters, she said. She asked whether changes to policy and accountability were possible.

            "I raised my kids to not lie and to be respectful to adults," she said. She asked why, since Juul did follow that, he should have been punished to such extremes.

Michelle Pliska keeps her license, despite reprimand

by Carrie Moritz and Garrick Moritz, Gazette

            A former Garretson school counselor was publicly reprimanded by the SD Department of Education at the beginning of August, according to documents released by the DOE last Friday.

            Michelle Pliska, a high school counselor at Garretson for nearly ten years, resigned last year. Her official reason was a pursuit of her private counseling practice, which had been growing.

            While in Garretson, she was known for standing up for marginalized students, and saved student lives when they were in hard times and were thinking of taking desperate measures. She was heavily involved in anti-drug and alcohol prevention programs, and helped students decide what to do after their high school careers.

            However, an incident between Pliska and a student regarding public social media accounts last autumn resulted in an investigation at the Garretson School, which ultimately ended with her resignation. The case was then referred to the DOE and led to the following action.

            While full details are not available, the public reprimand released by the DOE stated that a hearing by the South Dakota Professional Teachers Practices and Standards Commission found that Pliska had violated the South Dakota Code of Professional Ethics for Teachers.

            The reprimand states specifically Pliska violated the following in their Code of Ethics, "ARSD 24:08:03:01 that in fulfilling their obligations to students, educators shall act as follows:

            (5) Conduct professional business in such a way that they do not expose the students to unnecessary intimidation, embarrassment, or disparagement.

            (8)        Keep in confidence information that has been obtained in the course of professional service, unless disclosure serves professional purposes or is required by law;

            (9)        Maintain professional relationships with students in a manner which is free of vindictiveness, recrimination, and harassment."

            At this time, Pliska retains her certification and has not had her license suspended, according to the DOE website.

Ethanol cooperative kicks in another $400,000 to support carbon pipeline ballot question

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By: Joshua Haiar,

SD Searchlight

            A cooperative that owns four ethanol plants has made a second $400,000 contribution to support a Nov. 5 ballot question about carbon dioxide pipelines.

            Glacial Lakes Energy owns plants in Watertown, Mina, Aberdeen and Huron. The money went to the Vote Yes for a Strong South Dakota ballot question committee, which supports Referred Law 21.

            The cooperative has now contributed a total of $800,000 to the campaign. Its latest $400,000 contribution came Friday, according to a supplemental campaign finance report. An earlier report disclosed a previous $400,000 contribution.

            There are no limits on contributions to ballot question committees in South Dakota.

            Referred Law 21 is a response to controversial plans by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions to capture some of the carbon dioxide emitted by Midwest ethanol plants — including in eastern South Dakota — and transport it via pipeline to North Dakota for underground storage.

            The law would establish financial and other protections for landowners and counties affected by pipelines. It requires pipeline companies to cover damages, mandates CO2 pipelines be buried at least 4 feet deep, and compels companies to share rupture modeling data. The law also says counties can collect up to $1 per linear foot of pipeline for property tax relief and road repairs. Supporters describe the law as a “bill or rights” for landowners.

            Ethanol producers view carbon pipelines as crucial to their survival. Glacial Lakes and other ethanol producers have now contributed a total of $2.7 million in support of the ballot measure. Other major contributors include Sioux Falls-based biofuels producer POET, as well as Gevo, a company aiming to produce ethanol-based jet fuel in Lake Preston.

            Besides the four plants that Glacial Lakes Energy owns, it also has ownership stakes in other plants, including a 16% interest in Minnesota-based Granite Falls Energy, according to the Glacial Lakes website.

            South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is an investor in Granite Falls Energy, according to the last financial interest statement she filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office. Noem is also a former investor in Glacial Lakes, but her spokesman told South Dakota Searchlight last year that she no longer has that investment.

            Noem signed the bill adopted by the Legislature last winter that citizen opponents petitioned onto the ballot, which is now known as Referred Law 21. Glacial Lakes and Granite Falls are both partners in the Summit project.

            Opponents of Referred Law 21 say it requires local governments to prove their restrictions on pipelines are reasonable, rather than requiring pipeline companies to prove them unreasonable. They describe that as an attack on local control.

            Pipeline opponents also have concerns about potentially hazardous pipeline leaks and Summit’s likely use of eminent domain, which is a legal process to obtain land access from unwilling landowners. Referred Law 21 does not address eminent domain.

            Opponent groups have raised about $224,000 for their campaign, mostly from individuals and farm and ranch corporations.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence.

Businesses and interest groups drive spending against tax repeal measure

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Proponent group’s finances are intermixed with abortion-rights campaign

By: Joshua Haiar,

SD Searchlight

            Twenty-five South Dakota companies and organizations have contributed money to defeat a tax-repeal measure on the Nov. 5 ballot, while the supporting group’s fundraising is difficult to analyze because of the group’s dual focus on the tax measure and an abortion-rights amendment.

            Initiated Measure 28 would remove the 4.2% state sales tax on anything sold for “human consumption,” excluding alcohol and prepared food. Supporters intend the measure to repeal state sales taxes on groceries. Opponents say the measure is poorly written and would apply to a broader array of goods and services.

            The opponent committee, South Dakotans Against a State Income Tax, raised over $200,000 since its formation in June and spent about $90,000, according to new campaign finance reports. The committee’s name comes from the claim by some Initiated Measure 28 opponents that sales tax revenue losses from the measure could eventually lead to an income tax.

            The proponent committee, Dakotans for Health, took in about $840,000 since its last report in May. A large portion of that — $540,000 — came earlier this week from a political nonprofit, Think Big America, founded by Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to support abortion rights nationwide.

            Dakotans for Health circulated the petitions to put the sales-tax measure and an abortion-rights measure, Amendment G, on the ballot. Dakotans for Health’s campaign finance reports include its total fundraising and do not distinguish between money raised or spent for one measure or the other. As of earlier this week, Dakotans for Health had spent about $300,000 on advertising.

            Other notable contributions to Dakotans for Health include:

•          $100,000 from Michelle Locher, a Florida resident who also donated $1 million to a political action committee supporting Florida’s proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights.

•          $10,000 from Jim Conyngham, of Austin, Texas.

•          $10,000 from Barb Christianson, a Rapid City resident.

•          $5,000 from Tom Daschle, a Democrat who formerly represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate.

            South Dakotans Against a State Income Tax is chaired by Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken and lists Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association, as its treasurer.

            Among the contributing groups are the Retailers Association, South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation, South Dakota Education Association, the South Dakota Licensed Beverage Dealers and Gaming Association Political Action Committee, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, South Dakota Bankers Association, and South Dakota Pork Producers Council.

            The group has also received some large individual donations, the biggest one being a $10,000 contribution from Dana Dykhouse, CEO of Sioux Falls-based First PREMIER Bank. There are no limits on contributions to ballot question committees in South Dakota.

            TenHaken has come out against the food tax repeal over concerns it would remove taxes on more than groceries, and because he and other mayors are concerned that the measure could impact cities’ ability to collect sales taxes.

            The South Dakota Legislative Research Council estimates the measure could cause state revenue losses between $134 million and $646 million annually, depending on how it’s interpreted. The South Dakota Municipal League says revenue losses for cities could total $51 million annually.

            Supporters say the measure would not impact cities, and its impact to the state would be at the lower end of the estimates. They say revenue lost to the state would be retained as savings by grocery shoppers, including the low-income South Dakotans for whom the measure was drafted.

            Among the 45 states that collect a statewide sales tax, South Dakota is currently 36th in combined state and local rates, making its combined rate one of the lowest, according to the nonprofit and nonpartisan Tax Foundation. South Dakota and Mississippi are the only sales-tax states that apply their full tax rates to groceries.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence.

Dragons win final home game

            In their final home game of the regular season this past Monday, the Garretson Lady Dragon volleyball team took down Sioux Valley in five sets, heading toward the postseason on strong energy. In their games last week, the Dragons won on the home court against West Central on Tuesday, but were defeated at Colman-Egan on Friday, October 25.

two volleyball players blocking ball at net
Bella Sysa and Emma Wolf. //Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            The Dragons bested West Central in three sets, making quick work of the opposing team. They won each set 25-22, 25-9, and 25-20.

            In the first set, the Dragons grabbed the lead and didn't want to let go. However, after a rocky start, the Trojans managed to catch the Garretson team and traded off the lead, showing the Dragons that the Trojans were a solid team. However, Garretson managed to pull out the win on the set after errors on the Trojans' part.

            In set two, Garretson trounced the opponents, ending the set before the Trojans could hit double digits, but in set three, the Trojans worked to come back with a vengeance. The Dragons pulled into the lead early and were determined not to let it go, but the Trojans stayed hot on their heels, at one point tying the game 16-16 and again 19-19. However, Garretson stayed cool and collected, and again pulled out the set win.

volleyball player working to spike ball
Emma Wolf. //Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            On Friday, the team headed to Colman to take on the Hawks, another closely-matched team. They managed to get the upper hand on the Dragons, pulling out the win after five sets. Garretson took sets one and three 26-24 and 25-22, but the Hawks won set two 21-25, set four 19-25, and set five 8-15.

            In their final home game of the regular season, the Dragons hosted Sioux Valley, a team they had lost to in the Big East Conference tournament earlier in the season. They were out for revenge as they took the win on sets one and two, 25-22 and 25-21, but the Cossacks were determined to turn that around as they took sets two and four, 20-25 and 15-25. In the decisive fifth round, the two teams stayed neck-in-neck, but Garretson pulled into the lead and took the win 15-12.

            They had one final regular season game on Tuesday in Madison (results not available at press time), and will head into the postseason with a strong win-loss record and a likely third seed in Region 3A. If they are third seed, the school will host the #3 region game on Tuesday, November 5. Semi-finals will be held November 7, where the winner of #3 will play the winner of #2.

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Siemonsma places 51st overall

            Carter Siemonsma, the Garretson High School sophomore who made it to State Cross Country in Rapid City this past weekend, placed 51st overall out of 128 competitors.

cross country runners taking off at the starting line
Carter Siemonsma (#1368, blue G-logo jersey) at the starting line. //Photo by Katie Siemonsma

            "Not the result he had hoped for but it is his first state meet and he will be back to improve on this year's finish," Head Coach Jason Bohl commented.

            Siemonsma finished with a time of 18:40.06. He would have had to finish sub-18:00 to get into the top 30 finishers.

            Tate Grabow of Hill City finished first at State with a time of 16:17.50, followed by Gage Beverly of Vermillion and Jack Brown of Dakota Valley, with times of 16:33.34 and 16.36.29.

            Overall, it was a good year for the Blue Dragon harriers, with a large team on the competition green full of young athletes. Seniors Noah Schotzko and Eliza Potter can be proud of their hard work and leadership, even if they did not make State.

-Photos by Katie Siemonsma

GHS Journalism attends HS Newspaper Convention

by Kelsey Buchholz

            Newswriting, photography, storytelling, social media, career paths and more: that’s what high school students from across the state experienced at the South Dakota High School Press Convention held on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings on Monday, Oct 21.

journalism students standing together holding plaque with SDSU sign in background
GHS Journalists: Ava Adkins, Brooklyn Roberts, Tyler Erickson, Gracie Fiegen, and Emma Wolf. -Photo by Kelsey Buchholz

            Members of the Garretson journalism staff attended the convention and came away with ideas for additions, changes, and formatting that could be applied immediately to  Blue Dragon publications.

            The day started with an opening address by Miranda O’Brien, an SDSU alum, former Miss South Dakota, and current morning anchor for NewsCenter1 in Rapid City. Her message focused on embracing opportunities, getting involved, and focusing on all the possibilities that a journalism degree can open.

            Later on the attendees had the opportunity to pick between multiple breakout sessions that focused on various elements of journalism including layouts, caption writing, sports photography, and more.  The convention allowed students to see bigger applications of the small lessons being taught in their high school classes.

            Garretson newspaper and yearbook advisor, Kelsey Buchholz, said, "The expectation in class is to just get more comfortable and confident each week, learning skills as we go. I'm not always able to cover all the ideas I'd like to due to different constraints, but experiences like this convention are a great way to reiterate the importance of what is being talked about in class."

            The afternoon consisted of a panel of recent graduates talking about their experiences in college and their first jobs outside of and how their journalistic degrees and involvement helped prepare them.

            The day concluded with the anticipated results of the journalism contest entries.

            Schools submitted articles, photography, yearbooks, and newspaper issues at the beginning of September to be entered into the SDHSAA journalism competition. Because of the timeline on the entries (only items that are published between previous year’s convention and about Labor day), most of the entries came from the spring semester of journalism and the ‘23-’24 yearbook.

  There are four newswriting categories: general news, feature story, editorial, and sports. Then there are three photography categories: sports, school activity, and non-school activity. Students may submit up to one piece in each category but there is a school maximum of three entries in each.

            The Blue Dragon journalists received multiple awards for their work including Gracie Fiegen and Jordan DeWitte earning superiors in their writings and Harper Andera in sports photography. Also receiving excellent awards in newswriting were Sam Hansen, Autumn Genzler, Fiegen, and DeWitte. Genzler, DeWitte, Fiegen, Colton Buchholz, and Eliza Potter all earned excellent awards in photography. Garretson’s major publications, Blue Ink newspaper and Dragon yearbook, both tallied high excellent ratings.

            "I couldn't be prouder of all the journalists. These students come into class and immediately are put to work, putting out a newspaper every week and learning on the fly," stated Buchholz. "I have challenged my students to up their game and find ways to take the information and feedback we received from this convention to make this year's publications even better."

            The final award of the convention was the Sweepstakes Award. This honor tallies all entries across categories and the school with the overall highest points earns the Sweepstakes Award. And this year, Garretson earned top honors. This is the first time Garretson has received this award.

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Congrats on 1000 digs

by Delilah Johnson,

Garretson Blue Ink

            On Tuesday, October 22, senior Aleah Wagner hit 1,000 digs, a milestone that has not been reached in three years.

volleyball players posing with sign celebrating 1000 digs
Aleah Wagner (front center) helped keep the Blue Dragon offense rolling with not just her strong offensive attacks but her scrappy defense as well. Wagner picked up multiple Trojan attacks on Tuesday night to snag more than 1000 career digs on the way to a Blue Dragon victory. Photo by Caylix Buchholz.

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Editorial: My hot take on the ballot measures

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an editorial by G. Moritz

            I don’t share my opinions on political matters much, but with the number of ballot measures out there this year and how they affect the daily lives of South Dakotans I figured I’d make a few comments. You can take my advice or leave it, because so far, this is still a free country.

            Let’s go down the list, shall we.

            Amendment E: Changing the gender-based language in the state constitution all referring to the governor as a he. Well, it hasn’t stopped our first female governor from holding the office. Nobody has made an issue of the language. Should we change it, maybe. Do we need to, maybe not? This one I don’t have any strong opinions on.

            Amendment F: You want honesty, here it is. This amendment is hot garbage. The voters have overwhelmingly passed expansion of Medicaid in South Dakota. This is just another attempt by the powers that be to make it harder for the poorest and most disenfranchised citizens of South Dakota to get benefits that will make their lives better. They’ve tried it before, but South Dakotans know better. Vote no on this.

            Amendment G: I refer you all to the comedy routines of the late George Carlin for my views on this issue. The horror stories I have heard in SD, of happily married women unable to get the healthcare they need because of SD’s blanket abortion ban is horrifying.

You can have whatever religious beliefs you want, but forcing others to live by your beliefs is the definition of theocratical tyranny and in my opinion an act of evil.

            I find the “No on G, It’s Too Extreme” ad campaign extremely disingenuous. What’s extreme about it, is that it will establish the old Roe V. Wade protections in the SD Constitution, and that’s too extreme for some people.

            I don’t see any legislation that regulates a man’s body in any way. Are women citizens with full rights under the law, or aren’t they? And no exception in the case of rape or incest! It’s absolutely vile.

            Even with modern medicine, any woman who gets pregnant has the potential to die carrying or giving birth to that child. So, with that risk already on the line, our laws as they stand have made things worse. Worse for people who don’t want to be pregnant, and worse for people who are trying to get pregnant but who are unfortunate enough to have a miscarriage. The law, as it is, has quite literally made things worse for everyone.

These decisions must be left between a woman, her family and her doctor, not by police, judges, lawyers and most especially not our state legislature.

            Amendment H: Open primaries! I’ve had a lot of great conversations about this measure, from proponents and opponents alike. In an ideal world, I would be all for this. It has a fairness and an egalitarian spirit to it. But in practice, I’m not convinced it will actually work, so I will not be supporting it.

            IM 28: So here we have the direct result of broken promises to the people of SD. They said they wanted to repeal taxes on groceries. “They” being our Governor and/or various legislators, and whoever else, but they actually didn’t do it. People are mad about that and rightly so. But the language of this bill really doesn’t fit our legal structure, and could result in all sorts of problems and unintended consequences. Sure, I’d vote for this, but then I’d have to trust the legislature to actually fix it post-election and I don’t, so I won’t.

            IM 29: Well the voters passed recreational Mary Jane, then the supreme court threw it out. I’m just glad medical MJ is legal, because there are a number of people in SD, a lot of them our veterans and senior citizens living better now that get a medicine that actually helps them and is legal. Don’t much care otherwise.

            Referred Law 21: Yeah vote no on this! If you support SD farmers, landowners and their rights, vote no on this. Also, if you don’t want your friends and neighbors to potentially die from an inevitable carbon dioxide pipeline leak, vote no on this. If you support land conservation, and keeping SD air, water and soil as unpolluted as possible, vote no on this.

            With as many stories as we’ve run about this issue, you should pretty much know where I stand on this, and that’s with the people who are my friends, neighbors and subscribers. I try to stay as objective as I can on every issue, but you gotta call a spade a spade. The people who oppose these pipelines have facts on their side. The carbon pipeline folks have a lot of cash and have pulled out dirty trick after dirty trick to ram this through. For me, as a South Dakotan, that means it’s my job to do everything I can to stop them.

            In conclusion: As a journalist and a small-town newspaper owner, and the son, grandson and double great grandson of same, I’m extremely cynical about politics in general. Whenever any political person says he or she has a plan for you, I’m always skeptical and always ask, ‘What are you getting out of it?’

            That should be the first thing you ask. In most cases, they don’t care about you, your family or your well-being. They just want your vote and do precious little to actually earn it. So, if they didn’t earn your vote, don’t give it to them. If you can’t bring yourself to vote for someone, then… don’t! Better to  leave it blank or refrain from voting for the wrong person or idea than to vote badly just because a pundit or clever ad told you so. Think for yourself, and don’t let anyone tell you that they have the solution, because usually, they don’t. But that’s just my hot take, which you are free to ignore.

            What makes me happy, for better or worse, it’ll all be over next week, at least for a while. I can say something that we all agree on, I’m tired of all this pollical poppycock being spewed at me on my phone, my email and my feeds.

            If I were to venture an opinion, the election reform we need is the kind that limits campaigns in the amount of time and money they’re allowed to use. But heaven forbid we not allow megacorporations, billionaires and special interest groups to have pride of place at our tables of discourse. Then it wouldn’t be the best democracy money could buy.

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