Brookings Register

BROOKINGS — People looking at the cover of the Brookings Summer Arts Festival 2026 handout will see a colorful Pink Bullseye Saturn Moth: It’s the artistry of Eileen Binkley, winner of the 2025 Media Award, her first BSAF recognition. The winner of that annual award sees their work as the official logo of next year’s BSAF. Now Binkley is returning to BSAF 2026, marking her 10th time being juried into what is recognized as one of the premier summer arts festivals in the Midwest.

BROOKINGS — The science area of Brookings High School is getting a makeover, with crews recently beginning a project that will continue for some time to come. Superintendent Summer Schultz said the infrastructure of the science area is being upgraded, including the roof and HVAC, including the air handlers along with plumbing. She said there will be a change in the classrooms and bathrooms will be restructured.

BROOKINGS COUNTY — A pair of fireworks-related blazes over the weekend resulted in no injuries, deaths or charges, but one did cause damage to a fence. Grass fire This occurred near the intersection of 478th Avenue and state Highway 30 and was reported at 10:02 p.m. July 4 near White, according to a July 6 news release from the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office. “Responding units observed a small grass fire that spread along a fence line near the roadway,” Investigations Sgt.

DELL RAPIDS – Scott Buss can only imagine what this town north of Sioux Falls might have looked like – and how many jobs and taxes would have been generated – if there wasn’t a local shortage of available water. Buss, executive director of the Minnehaha Community Water Corp., sat in the conference room of the rural water system based in Dell Rapids recently and ticked off the industrial and agricultural projects turned away due to a lack of water.

BROOKINGS — Noah Richardson didn’t need to be told twice. Associate Professor Todd Letcher told the freshmen gathered at a camp before the start of classes at South Dakota State University in 2024 that freshmen and sophomores should get involved in some of the NASA contests that the mechanical engineering faculty member has overseen for senior capstone projects.

BROOKINGS — Earthquake resistant buildings aren’t a new concept, but applying response-modification techniques to areas afflicted with human-induced earthquakes falls into a different category. Elina Efthymiou, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at SDSU, is taking an interest developed in earthquakes during her childhood in Greece and her academic training to provide options for communities in seismically-prone areas. Efthymiou grew up in Athens.

BROOKINGS —One of South Dakota State University’s oldest co-curricular activities now is one of its newest success stories. College forensics has been part of SDSU’s history almost as long as the university itself, dating back to the late 1880s when the team appeared in the school’s second course catalog.

Aerospace Club’s launch into the world of rocketry competition got off to a smooth start in the club’s inaugural contest at the International Rocket Engineering Competition near Midland, Texas, June 16-20. Results had not been released when this article was posted June 30. However, Turner Marr, outgoing president of the South Dakota State University club, said he expects a strong showing. “We’re proud we were able to get within 300 to 400 feet of the 10,000-foot target altitude.

BROOKINGS — In rural communities across South Dakota, access to healthcare often comes down to access to people. According to Marissa Trosen, director of the respiratory care program in South Dakota State University’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, this is especially true for those needing access to the specialized care provided by respiratory therapists. “At the time that we applied for the grant, there were fewer than 140,000 respiratory therapists across the nation.

Because of improvements underway on Volga’s Samara Street passing by the Brookings County Museum, parking for museum visitors will be changed for the rest of the summer. Parking will be on Third Street or in that area of Volga within about a block of the museum. Persons arriving in Volga on Highway 14 can gain access to Third Street off Volga’s main street, Kasan Avenue.