Nobody wants to live in South Dakota. But also, nobody does not not want to live in South Dakota. According to a recent Harris Interactive poll, South Dakota did not rank as either a top 15 state that people want to live in or a bottom 15 state to avoid. Copyright 2013 Todd D. Epp and Northern Plains News.

Are bloggers, those pesky, pajama wearing screed writers, journalists? In South Dakota, at least one state judge says they are. Besides captivating the South Dakota political world last week, the State of South Dakota v. Daniel Willard misdemeanor “robo-call” trial in Madison also had the South Dakota blogosphere abuzz. Circuit Court Judge Vincent Foley ruled that blogger Pat Powers, owner of the conservative S.D. War College blog, was a journalist due to his previous reporting on the matter. “I am of the opinion that. . .” Judge Foley is quoted, “bloggers are journalists in the modern sense of the world.”

Recent United States Department of Agriculture projections show significant increases in farm income and exports for 2013. South Dakota’s agriculture secretary Lucas Lentsch shares the USDA’s optimism but also cautions about the vagaries affecting farm income. The USDA forecasts net farm to be $120.6 billion in 2013, up 6 percent from 2012’s estimate of $113.8 billion.

Two tribal members have taken legal action to halt the recent referendum approving the sale and consumption of alcohol on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Oglala Sioux Tribal Attorney General Tatewin Means said Wednesday that a hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 20 in Oglala Sioux Tribal Court on what she called "the equivalent" of an injunction.

Last week was the second-hottest Aug. 25-31 period in Mitchell's recorded history. According to the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls, Mitchell's mean temperature -- the average between the maximum and minimum -- was 82.7 degrees last week. The city's hottest Aug. 25-31 period occurred in 1953, hitting a mean temperature of 83.1 degrees.

With the heat of the last week of August just a sweaty memory, September's cooler temperatures now mean the race is on between the ripening of the corn crop and South Dakota's first hard freeze. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while eastern North and South Dakota got a late start in corn planting because of the wet spring, they are in a better situation than states to the east and south, like Iowa and Illinois.

With the last Labor Day hot dogs and family outings finished, it's now back to work after Labor Day for South Dakota's and the nation's workers. However, for many this Labor Day week, a new study shows their wages have increased only pennies over the past seven years. That's the conclusion of GoBankingRates.com, which recently studied the status of the U.S. workforce.

When Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech 50 years ago this week, the University of South Dakota and a Woonsocket native had already started implementing King's dream of equality. The man who helped to make it happen was Dwane "Cloddy" Clodfelter, Coyotes basketball coach from 1954 to 1967.

Late August's heat in the upper Midwest has been hard on students in un-air-conditioned schools and dormitories. But it's been helpful to the spring wheat harvest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It's perfect for ripening the wheat crop across the northern plains," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.

Late August's heat in the upper Midwest has been hard on students in un-air-conditioned schools and dormitories. But it's been helpful to the spring wheat harvest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It's perfect for ripening the wheat crop across the northern plains," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.

SOUTH DAKOTA – About 70 cadets from seven wings played a role in one of the largest search and rescue exercise in recent South Dakota Wing history as part of their participation in the Joint Dakota Emergency Services Encampment in Custer. This year the joint encampment, which switches between locations in the Dakotas each year, featured emergency services training, primarily for ground team skills. The cadets first spent more than a week learning how to read a compass and map, operate direction-finding equipment and stay safe in the wilderness. Then some of the cadets and officers pitched medium-sized general-purpose tents provided by the South Dakota Army National Guard and endured heavy rain and thunderstorms before heading out on ground sorties.

I am one of probably few Americans who have actually been to Syria. When journalists report about gassings and bombings in Damascus' suburbs, they may be places I've visited. It was 2003 during the throes of the second Gulf War. I was visiting Damascus because I had a client in Damascus that my law firm was representing.

Women from the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe and other groups will hold a march Saturday against alcohol at Whiteclay, according to the group Alcohol Justice. The march will begin from the four-way stop sign in Pine Ridge and continue to Whiteclay, Neb. "The whole world watches as we fight to save our nation from the mental disease of alcoholism," said activist Olowan Martinez.

Utah's rural development state director has lauded Elsie Meeks, South Dakota's rural development director, for her work with Native American communities and economic development. Wilson "David" Conine, Meeks' Utah U.S. Department of Agriculture counterpart, made the comments at the eighth annual Governor's Native American Summit held last week at Utah Valley University in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On this date, Sept. 3, 1974, Sioux Falls had its earliest freeze. An excerpt from NOAA : SD Weather History and Trivia for September : "The earliest freeze on record in Sioux Falls occurred on September 3rd, 1974 when the morning low dipped to 31 degrees.

Mitchell native and KDLT-TV anchor Tom Hanson will receive the 2013 Silver Circle Recipient award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Upper Midwest Chapter of the organization that presents the Emmy Awards chose Hanson based on his contributions to the television industry and his integrity in his personal and professional lives.