We have a lot of folks who made investments, you have people across the country whose livelihoods and jobs depend upon this,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, one of 13 Republicans who opposed the Coburn plan. The 59-to-40 vote on Tuesday to advance the measure was 20 votes short of what was needed. via www.nytimes.com. MORE >>

Part 2: Louisville, KY.Chambord Liqueur-the Taste of Luxury.Lightning Bugs & Kentucky Lightning.Cooking South Dakota-Storming Wyoming.Car Trouble in Montana.Waves, Spirals and the Face of God.Are you an Empath? and 33.8 Lightning discharges excite SR in the cavity formed by the Earth’s conducting surface and the ionosphere. Dr. H. MORE >>

Map courtesy of Terry Sohl at South Dakota Birds and Birding. Every autumn, tens of thousands of Snow Geese arrive in California’s Sacramento Valley following their long journey from the Canadian Arctic (click on photos for full sized images). Snow and Ross’s Geese winter there in the tens of thousands. MORE >>

The first resurrection, or more properly resurfacing, of the black-footed ferret happened in 1964, in Mellette County, South Dakota. When the South Dakota ferret numbers began dropping, they captured nine animals in hopes of starting a captive breeding population. You couldn’t see it. But the ferrets kept dying. MORE >>

Although, these birds in Florida are pretty far south. This species has three populations that reside in the northern tall-grass prairies ranging from South Dakota up though the Canadian prairies. Tom Dunkerton tipped me off to an area on the Black Merritt National Wildlife Refuge where some of my target birds can be seen. MORE >>