… And let it begin with LaMoine. This is monumental for the start of 2014. Not quite as big as when Grant and Lee met at Appomattox. The white flag was flown Friday night at the opening of the new Beef ‘O Brady’s at 69th and Western in Sioux Falls. (I had falsely reported that it would be on 41st Street.)
Gay, Georgia, Esther, Arlene B. and myself set off Friday after work for some much needed girl time and an over-nighter with Janet and Pam. We picked up Esther and I had urged her to pack and be ready to roll. She indicated a change of clothes was in order, so we waited in the vehicle for her, and waited, and waited … I am always impatient but Gay finally said, “What is she doing in there, baking a cake?”
By the time we arrived at the opening, Georgia had already spilled red wine down the front of her beige sweater. She shook it off easily ‘cuz she’s used to the coffee spills she suffers on a daily basis. So reckless, that California girl.
Our group settled in to menu choices – I opted for steak nachos (excellent). Bloody Marys were up to my standards. The bathroom was straight out of Star Trek, touch free soap, water and a blue light to dry your hands. (A poor little 5-year-old girl and I had searched fruitlessly for the paper towel dispenser.)
I had been alerted to the fact that LaMoine (accompanied by his sweetheart of a wife, Barb) were sitting at the bar. Later, he would casually stroll over to my table and present me with a basket of chicken bones as a peace offering. I will give him credit for one uneaten chicken wing. I was tempted to eat it, but Georgia said he may have been carrying it under his armpit.
The thing I enjoy about LaMoine is that, like us, he doesn’t abide by polite dinner conversation. It was mentioned that maybe we would get him drunk and de-pants him. He responded, “Oh, you don’t have to get me drunk to do that.”
I extended my offer once again for him to stay with Claude (kinda like “Wife Swap” on TV). He suggested instead to send Barb and I could stay with him. I declined.
We parted with a hug and a promise in my ear that he would never, ever, ever write again in the paper. I, on the other hand, did not feel compelled to make that vow, since I considered myself the injured party. Ha!
Yip-pee yi-oh!
Dee Baby

By Rep. Scott Parsley,
District 8
The 2014 Legislative session will begin Tuesday, Jan. 14 with a number of issues to be decided.
The Governor’s budget address called for a three percent increase to education, three percent increase to Medicaid and a three percent increase for state employees. All are good starting points, but I believe there will be a great deal of discussion about increasing at least the first two: state aid to education and increased support for Medicaid providers.
After spending the summer studying our current state aid to education, the summer study committee recommended a 3.8 percent aid to education, .8 percent greater than the Governor’s proposal. The 3.8 percent would restore  state aid to education to the 2010 levels, the amount of state aid prior to the eight percent cut. I believe there will be an effort made to implement the Summer Study Committee’s recommendation of 3.8 percent state aid to education.
The Governor also said that he did not intend to expand Medicaid in 2014. After having missed one year of no cost Medicaid expansion, I believe we need to expand Medicaid to give much needed medical coverage to hard working low income South Dakotans. I continue to hear about individuals who have full-time jobs and make $15,000, $18,000 and $20,000 a year, but because of the number in the household don’t qualify for the insurance pools offered by the Affordable Care Act. Because South Dakota has chosen, at this point, not to offer the expanded Medicaid program about 22,000 of our citizens are denied affordable health care coverage. I am very hopeful that we will adopt expanded Medicaid in 2014.
We will also see bills dealing with education standards, water issues and wildlife conservation. Additionally, I am planning on introducing the following bills: one dealing with an insurance issue related to on-duty first responders, another to allow for the licensing of electric golf carts and a third looking at alternative tuition opportunities for students attending our post-secondary institutions.
As always, please feel free to contact me about any issues that are of interest to you. My contact information is Rep.Parsley@state.sd.us and my cell phone is 605-270-2416.
I will be writing a weekly column to keep you up-to-date on what is happening during the session, and I encourage you to attend the cracker barrels that will be held throughout the district over the next weeks.

There I was quietly enjoying my Christmas holiday when friends alerted me to war clouds in the Woony News. Scrooge apparently saw the light but not that mean-spirited man called LaMoine. I thought Moses unleashed only seven plagues, but you could qualify for the eighth. You may have possibly escaped Pandora’s Box with all the other pestilence.
I am like an accountant for Claude’s spreadsheet of life – it’s all about checks and balances. Some days the ledger looks good, other days I want to throw the pencil in the air and leave him to run amok. Yet, home is where my heart is, but travel is where my mind is – the yearning to see and experience new places in my travels before I have a walker with yellow tennis balls for feet.
Now to deal with your rumor mill … the “Land of Dee Dairy” has never suffered from milk production and has been renowned for cream. (Glance at Claude’s girth). As to your insinuations that Claude doesn’t have enough milk for his cereal, did you ever consider that the problem could be Claude is just milk intolerant?
My invite remains open to live with Claude for three days for a “Meet & Greet.” By the way, I totally resent being referred to as a cow – as I was born in the year of the horse, so I say, “Why buy the stallion when you can ride it for free.”
A toast to the
New Year,
Dee Baby