Thank you...

...for your vote, for your confidence in me, for your encouragement and help in so many ways, your prayers, and especially your friendship.  We appreciate all of you!  We’ve spent the last couple of days picking up signs.  It’s such a great reminder of all the supportive people we’ve met along the way over so many campaigns. If I missed yours, call or email.  Please keep sharing your ideas, opinions, and thoughts with me.  South Dakota has some challenges ahead, but I know that the leadership team you have elected is anxious to work with you to solve them. Thank you!

I’m counting on your vote tomorrow!

Thank you for joining my email list or sharing opinions and experiences as a facebook friend. Your interest and support has been so encouraging during this campaign.  Tomorrow each vote will be critical so if you know someone in District 13 who may be undecided, please give them a call.  Assure them that I will be an effective and respected voice for them in Pierre. 

Thank you!

Thank you, to all the supporters...

...who have been willing to have our signs in their yards.  In District 13 they have become a real staple in campaigning and we so appreciate all who put up with the inconvenience of 1, 2, or sometimes a dozen signs. (I think our latest count is 12.)  Seeing our sign in a yard is surprisingly reassuring and when one is missing, we all wonder …..why?  As Halloween approaches, signs start disappearing in great numbers.  I wonder where they all end up; where is the yard sign graveyard? A new twist this year is they are taking the wire stakes and leaving the sign.  I am always so gratified when a supporter calls to have their sign replaced.  So with just one week to go, if you haven’t gotten your blue Heineman for Senate sign, call or email me.  I’ll deliver and they will be gone on Nov. 3.

Scars Run Deep

I met a really interesting 90+ year-old gentleman today, a highly decorated veteran.  He loved to share colorful stories from his past and had wonderful memorabilia, some more than a century old.  He spoke of a back injury from the war and when I asked what had happened, he stopped and then said, “I really don’t like to talk about it.”

“Who are the people in your neighborhood?”

I met a nuclear engineer/physicist in the District 13 neighborhood and learned a great deal about the role of Physics in medicine, in technology, and in our future.  Antimatter and Pet Scans…I’ve heard of both.  I didn’t realize that one led to the other--a discovery in theoretical physics leads to life saving medical procedure. What else lies out there?  With South Dakota’s renewed emphasis on research, we are about to find out…if we prepare.

He commented that there will always be a few “bright sparks,” the Einsteins, who make great discoveries and give us the “flashes of insight,” but he cautioned that we need an “army of competent engineers and scientists who understand and can translate these into practical applications”  …sometimes many decades later.  To be ready for that future challenge, he noted that our students need a strong background in Math and Science from the earliest grades on. He also believed that the math and science community can be an important resource for our math and science teachers.

District 13, these are your words…

In my recent postcard (shown below) to voters in my district, I used quotes from people whom I’ve met going door to door.  I couldn’t have stated my positions any better than in their words. The voters have made this the most interesting door to door campaign ever.  They are engaged, informed, and passionate in their beliefs.  As I stated in my postcard, there are experts in so many areas and they understand that their involvement can and must make a difference in our country and in our State. 

 

 

Voting is a privilege that spans generations

I had the pleasure of attending USD’s College Republicans’ meet and greet with many legislative candidates from across southeastern South Dakota.  The CRs’ enthusiasm and commitment to this “high stakes” election is really encouraging.  The previous day I had observed the absentee voting at one of our neighborhood’s nursing homes.  People waited patiently for their turn and carefully and painstakingly considered the ballot.  Our youth’s hopefulness maturing into senior’s perseverance exemplifies the lifetime commitment of this great privilege.

The silent majority are silent no more…

I’ve always had great conversations with the voters of District 13 and have learned a great deal about many topics.  But this year, their level of engagement on policies has a new intensity.  People are talking, asking questions, and looking for answers.  They have definite opinions.  One woman, who was very informative, had great insight and real concerns about the 2000+ pages of Obamacare.  She will be a great resource. One gentleman asked--where is the oversight?  Who determines if each agency, state and federal, is getting the return on their resources?  Who determines their performance criteria?  One woman, who expressed great concerns about the exploding federal deficit wondered, “When did the sense of entitlement replace the sense of pride?”  Door to door is so valuable as it is an opportunity for individual citizens to "lobby” and for me to learn.

Students have changed education…

...was an observation by an innovative educator with whom I had a very interesting conversation.  She noted that technology is their world and you can’t have them come into the classroom for 6-8 hours a day and “turn them off” from technology. If you do, you will literally “turn them off.” She believes that integrating technology into every classroom for every type and age of student is offering more and more opportunities for success.

 In the 2009 publication Technology Counts, South Dakota ranked at the top in their “use of technology.”  Interestingly, in their 2010 publication, State comparisons were eliminated and instead they are “spotlighting school-and district-level data...on the growth of online curricula, opportunities for online course taking, the use of multimedia digital content, online assessment, and school policies on cell phones, iPods, wikis and blogs, and various forms of social media….” (http://www.edweek.org/media/edtechstats.pdf)  With all of these possibilities, I agree with her conclusion that we must “keep educating our teachers.”

We are looking forward to the return of snow and winter…

...was the surprising, but understandable, comment from a homeowner who once again was flooded with water and sewage.  I visited with so many truly discouraged homeowners this weekend who wondered “how could this happen again?” ** Those of us who had water only were the fortunate ones.  Many dealt with the total loss of basement furnishings as sewer water came in.  As I was going door to door in the southern part of my district, the signs of garbage bags, rugs drying, garages full of furniture, and smell of bleach were everywhere.  While exhausted from a weekend of miserable cleaning, some still found a silver lining.  One woman commented that she had 10-12 people helping her salvage her basement.  Another commented that at least he really got a chance to know his neighbors better.  But everyone wants it to never happen again.
     
** Interesting numbers from the city--the city’s waste water system is rated for “collecting, treating, and discharging” 21 million gallons a day; they can peak higher than that and often do; they average 15 million gallons a day; and on Friday July 30 had 54 million gallons go through the system.

Sioux Falls city website:  www.siouxfalls.org has brochures and videos with information dealing with Sewer Backup, Proper Sump Pump Discharge and much more.  They will also be having more informational meetings dealing with these flooding issues.