The Scouting Report: A weekly digest

First Ladies & Gentleman, bleached cows, Pierre teaching duo, open poetry

Former First Ladies of South Dakota gathered for a celebration in their honor over the weekend in the capital city.

The South Dakota Federation of Republican Women on Dec. 2 hosted a reception at St. Charles Lounge in downtown Pierre recognizing our state’s First Ladies and First Gentleman. 

Pat Miller, wife of Gov. Walter Dale Miller, and Linda Daugaard, wife of Gov. Dennis Daugaard, along with Sen. Mike Rounds' sister Michele Brich – representing the late Jean Rounds – addressed attendees while former Miss South Dakota and SDFRW’s Sara Frankenstein entertained the crowd with Christmas carols. 

SDFRW is the organization responsible for stewarding the First Ladies & First Gentleman Exhibit on the first floor of the South Dakota Capitol near the gift shop. Upon each new Gubernatorial inauguration, SDFRW crafts a miniature gown or tux representing each first lady or first gentleman while cleaning and maintaining the exhibit, which is open to the public and free to view.

“It was so fun to be part of this beautiful, historic event,” SDFRW President Catherine Barranco told The Dakota Scout following the event, which brought a “packed room.” 

“We want to offer a special thank you to our First Ladies and Gov. Daugaard for joining us and to our First Ladies committee – chairwoman Claire Rydberg, Executive board advisor Penny Sattgast and Paula Van Scharrel – for organizing it.”

Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

Loyal readers of this report will recall that in October, we told you about two ranchers in Wyoming who were charged with felonies for allegedly bleaching their neighbor’s cows. Patrick Carroll and his son, Tucker Carroll, were angry at their neighbor because some of his cows repeatedly got on their land.

The father and son were accused of bleaching penis shapes and other shapes on the cows. A veterinarian determined that the bleaching caused the value of the 189 heifers and six bulls to be greatly diminished, leading to more than $140,000 in damages.

But Cowboy State Daily, which has followed the case, reports that charges have now been dropped. The judge overseeing the case decided it was too difficult to calculate damages.

Philip Habeck, the owner of the cattle, hopes that charges will be refiled. He blames his roaming cattle on flooding that washed out his fence in three areas. 

“We had the flood of a lifetime,” Habeck told the paper. “We went around that fence every time the water gaps got washed out. We fenced. It wasn’t like nobody did anything.”

The Carrolls faced up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines for two counts of property destruction.