Flags are flying at half-staff through sunset Thursday in tribute to Sen. Harry Reed, who died Dec. 28, 2021 at the age of 82. The Nevada lawmaker served in Congress from 1987 to 2017 and was the Senate Majority Leader from  2007 to 2015.

Because of an increase in illness in both staff and students, Freeman Public dismissed school at 12 p.m. Thursday and will canceled classes on Friday, Jan. 14. There is no school Monday, Jan. 17 because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. All practices and activities are canceled during that time and the building will be shut down. "Please use this time to stay home and get healthy," Superintendent Jake Tietje said in a message to district patrons. 

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER An all-sports cooperative between Freeman Public, Marion and Freeman Academy took a step forward Monday night, Jan. 10 when the Freeman Public School Board voted 4-1 to approve a proposal presented by its own task force. But what will ultimately happen remains in question based on the response from the other two governing boards: Also Monday, the Freeman Academy Board of Directors voted to table the issue because it wants more time to consider the proposal.

The Marion School Board neither approved nor rejected the all-sports cooperative proposal given to them by the Freeman Public School District last week. Instead, board members agreed to see if there was any room for negotiation that would make it feel more like a partnership. The 60-minute discussion took place at the Marion School Board's regular monthly meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 11.

The Freeman School Board voted 4-1 Monday night, Jan. 10 to approve an all-sports cooperative with both Marion and Freeman Academy as outlined by a Freeman Public task force put in place earlier this summer.

A formal proposal for an all-sports cooperative between Freeman Public, Freeman Academy and Marion is on the table and will be taken up by all three school boards early this week.

“Matlida the Musical,” which was first on deck to be presented for the 2020 Schmeckfest and then again in 2021, has now been canceled altogether, largely because of ongoing concerns about COVID-19. The musical was going to be part of Schmeckfest 2022, which is scheduled for March 18-19 and 25-26.

If only it felt like 5 degrees like the clock at CorTrust Bank shows. Indeed, the strong winds have made it feel much, much colder since temperatures began dropping Tuesday afternoon, taking wind chills well below zero during the overnight hours and into Wednesday. And it's going to stay cold; air temperatures are expected to be in the single-digits-below zero tonight, with a high of zero on Thursday. 

Editor’s Note: The following report comes from former Courier publisher Tim L. Waltner,  who has been tracking COVID-19 numbers since the onset of the pandemic almost two years ago. The data he has collected has been based on regular online updates by the South Dakota Department of Health; that data is being used for this summary. Perhaps the best indication of the 2021 story of COVID-19 is what happened last summer.