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this year for winning the state A wrestling tournament and the state AA boys' basketball tournament. It's a great recommendation for the quality of the sports programs in the capital city, and the quality of our athletes.
• People with ties to Riggs High School will remember 2013 as the year it rained titles.
• A standing ovation for everyone involved.
• ___
• Daily Republic, Mitchell, May 23, 2013
• Thank God for weather warnings
• Friday, a nasty-looking storm brewed on the horizon. The Daily Republic's radar and weather alerts showed no severity, however. Neither did radio or television reports.
• It made us wonder what it would have been like to live on the South Dakota prairie a century ago, when nobody knew if the next ominous cloud was a killer or simply nature's way of providing life-giving moisture.
• Imagine having no idea whatsoever if shelter is needed. It had to have been nerve-wracking.
• A lot has changed, and for the better. When a massive tornado this week tore through the suburbs of Oklahoma City, residents of that area were warned more than a half-hour in advance. We know that at least 24 people have died as a result of that twister, but we also know that without the precise warning from the National Weather Service, it could have been so much worse.
• South Dakota is not immune to inclement, and deadly, weather. If anything, we are immune to weather warnings, which sometimes don't seem to cause much concern.
• This spring, we restate our consistent pleas to readers to heed warnings when ominous weather approaches. We are blessed to live in a time when the media is very capable of delivering news about oncoming storms.
• Radio and TV stations provide live updates. Weather radios sound alarms. Tornado sirens blare in our neighborhoods. Newspapers -- including this one -- are now capable of sending out alerts to mobile phones at only the cost of a standard text message.
• Please pay attention this spring and summer, and when warnings are issued, heed them.
• Unfortunately, many people died in Oklahoma earlier this week. But imagine the carnage if no warnings had sounded.
• We are so lucky that this technology exists. Let's be sure to put it to the best pos

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