Twelve years have passed since the county employee handbook was thoroughly reviewed. One area was revised in 1999, but overall it has been left as is.

For the past several months Haakon County Commissioners and county departments have worked to update the employee handbook.

Director of Equalization Rita Merrill was instrumental in the update. She has approached the commissioners a number of times with proposals from the county employees.

The main area of contention has been sick leave. Commissioner Mel Smith has been emphatic in his stand against some of the changes.

The Philip High School Senior Agriculture class earned four days of packed experiences on a field trip to Denver.

The eight Philip seniors, who had sold at least 60 boxes of fruit during their four years in Future Farmers of America, joined other FFA members from Kadoka and New Underwood. The whirlwind trip began at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 16th.

Governor Mike Rounds recently unveiled five designs for the South Dakota Quarter, which will be released in 2006 by the United States Mint.

"The State Quarter is a wonderful opportunity to market South Dakota's unique features and attractions to the world", Rounds said. "By holding a statewide vote, all of our citizens have a voice in selecting their favorite image to represent our state."

The state quarter will be chosen from five designs illustrated by U.S. Mint Artists.

The Crew Agency, Ltd. is featured in this quarter’s Rural Community Insurance Service magazine and on the magazine’s website.

The Crew Agency staff were excited to be the first in South Dakota to be featured in the magazine. RCIS is the largest multi-peril crop insurance company, doing business in all 50 states. The spotlight is on the web at http://www.rcis.com/spotlight.ht ml.

Following is the article from the website.

The Crew Agency's office is in the Badlands Trading Post at the entrance to the Badlands National Park in southwestern South Dakota.

The Philip Scotties defeated the Newell Irrigators by a score of 66-61 in Philip on Tuesday evening, February 1st.

Individual scores for the Scotties: Austin Bowen, 5; Andy Schulz, 4; Dana Kerns, 24; Casey Elshere, 5; Nathan O'Dea, 26; and Justin Livermont, 2.

See next week's paper for complete stats.

The Philip Scotties defeated the Newell Irrigators by a score of 66-61 in Philip on Tuesday evening, February 1st.

Individual scores for the Scotties: Austin Bowen, 5; Andy Schulz, 4; Dana Kerns, 24; Casey Elshere, 5; Nathan O'Dea, 26; and Justin Livermont, 2.

See next week's paper for complete stats.

The Philip Scottie boys’ basketball team defeated the Lemmon Cowboys on Friday, January 28.

A grand celebration is scheduled to honor Dr. George J. Mangulis and his continuing service to the Philip community. Dr. Mangulis will have served as a doctor in Philip for 50 years as of March 5th. This is not a retirement party; he plans on staying active for quite a long time.

The celebration will be from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Building at the Philip High School on Saturday, March 5.

“We are honoring Dr. G. J. Mangulis, but he honors all physicians, especially those who stay in a small community.” said David Dick, CEO of Philip Health Services.

Ready, set, go. The S.D. state bird is the mosquito. The S.D. state tree is the telephone pole. The S.D. state animal is whatever is in the crockpot. The S.D. state flower died. We don’t live at the edge of the world, but you can see it from the water tower. We have people who have studied for, but flunked, blood tests. Our hunting accident victims might survive better, if someone doesn’t field dress them. We always wave at passing motorists, because we might not see anyone else for hours.

I don't personally know the "contented" resident of Brookings County who says she is opposed to every 200-cow dairy in the region. She writes letters to prospective dairy buyers telling them the land here is occupied by "comfortable" and "contented" people, whose hallmark is we have "enough" and we don't want you or your economic benefits here.

I have read one of her letters. She is an eloquent and persuasive writer who uses every tool available except logic to win her arguments.