A few days ago we officially traced many of South Dakota's problems to a baby shortage.

Today we read in the Wessington Springs True Dakotan that the school in 'Springs has eight sets of twins enrolled in pre-school to sixth grade. The twins account for 16 of the 130 students in those grades.

So there's the answer. More twins! And don't believe those who say that twin births are just heriditary (although we've heard that Wessington Springs did have a similar surge in twins in the 1990s).

Twin births can be encouraged by eating more meat and dairy products, according to several studies. Recently the Long island Jewish Medical Center studied young mothers with vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diets. The meat and dairy eaters had signficantly more multiple-births. Researchers believe the twins and triplets are a result of growth hormones fed to animals that enter the food system and then cause hyperovulation in the woman who eats the meats and cheeses.

Some crazies think we have to build better schools, spruce up the downtowns and put playsets in the parks to maintain our rural populations. But there's an easier way:

Free non-organic cheeseburgers for all South Dakota women of child-bearing age!

Just now I learned that an actor with South Dakota roots played a small part in the movie "Crash" and he continues to work in Hollywood. It's only fair that we direct you to Doug Lund's blog for the whole story.

"Crash" was an Oscar-winning 2005 movie about the tense interactions of strangers in one 36-hour period in Los Angeles.

The winner of yesterday's Where-izzit Contest decided to donate his prize back to the cause, so we thought we'd give it away in another contest.

Guess the name of the famous South Dakotan who built and lived in this house and we'll award you yesterday's prize -- a signed, autographed copy of South Dakota Farmscapes, our little farm photo book full of quotes about rural life.

We'll offer a few clues if necessary. There are NO rules. Even Chad Coppess is eligible.

9:20 clue: The house is in West River.

You see a lot of strange things in South Dakota, and most of them are man-made. Guess the town where this strange conglomeration can be found and you win a copy of our picture book, South Dakota Farmscapes. We'll even pay the shipping, handling and state sales tax.

There are no particular rules but we reserve the right to make some up as we go along. Here's a hint: the town has at least one darned good welder.

Just hit "comment" below to enter your guess. Don't worry if it doesn't immediately appear. Some "comments" require our approval because the computer mistakes you for a spammer.

2:30 p.m. clue: We'll narrow things considerably; this big piece of art is in East River.

3:45 p.m. clue: This is along a major east/west highway, near some other creative and zany sculptures.

Here in South Dakota we like to think our leaders are of presidential timber. Maybe that's true in all states, or maybe we've had especially good lawmakers. Of course, native sons Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern ran for the White House in '68 and '72, respectively, and since then there have been rumors-and-more about Larry Pressler, Tom Daschle and John Thune.

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has only been in Washington a scant four years and she is 37 years young, but the Sept 1 issue of Time calls her "The Prairie Cyclone" in a story titled "The Hotshots to Watch." The subhead is this: "You may not know all these up-and-coming Democrats yet. You soon will."

The article by Jay Newton-Small also features four other young Democrat politicians. Of Herseth Sandlin, the approximately 250-word story says in part, "Though moderate in her politics and reserved in person, she can roar on the stump. Her fiery speeches have made her popular at party events across the West and led to speculation that she might one day run for President."

But Prairie Cyclone? That doesn't sound like the Stephanie we know and like.

"Never forget your dreams," advised Korcak Ziolkowski, the sculptor who started the Crazy Horse carving near Custer in 1948 and continued until his death in 1982. Now it is 25 years after his death, and 60 years since the project began.

Three generations of Ziolkowskis have worked on the mountain — including eight of Ruth and Korczak's 10 children and several of their 23 young grandchildren. They are joined by many other employees, volunteers and friends.

Casimir Ziolkowski has been climbing and rappelling the mountain since he was just seven, and he is as devoted as ever. But he recently admitted to an NBC reporter Ann Curry, "I don't like heights at all."

I never liked climbing grain bins on the farm, either. And they were a lot shorter than Crazy Horse Mountain. So today we salute Casimir and all the Ziolkowskis for their enduring dream.

Mark Twain once advised a friend to keep away from people who try to belittle another's ambitions. Small people do that, while great people make you feel that you, too, can accomplish your dreams.

South Dakota has been a good home to the Ziolkowskis. Oh, we've had a few pessimists who wondered if the carving would ever be completed. But they've mostly died off over the last 60 years. And they've been outlived by lots of optimists who enjoy the dream in progress.

Nothing of note happened this week in Wessington Springs. At least that's the hope of the town's newspaper editors, brothers Duke and Craig Wenzel.

For 51 weeks in the year, they publish one of South Dakota's liveliest weeklies. The Wenzels are connected to their town like few other journalists. They know the history, the people, the natural surroundings and all else that makes up a community. And if something happens of note — whether it be a major downtown fire or an old barn that falls to earth in the country — they let the readers know.

But everybody needs a vacation, and the Wenzels and their wives like to vacation together. so once a year in late August they prepare a paper a full week in advance and leave it at the post office to be mailed; and then they close the office. We just received their "vacation paper" in the mail, and while there is no breaking news, we still discovered a lot of tidbits about Springs ...

* Steven Symes, a local boy who became a forensic anthropologist, is sharing his expertise on trauma in a two-week State Department visit to Peru;

* Circuit Court Judge Bill Srstka, another native, has donated his Wessington Springs memorabilia collection to the Jerauld County Museum.

* A sparrow hawk has been spotted in town by Lowell Stanley, a local naturalist.

* A full-time charge nurse is needed at Weskota Manor, and the nursing home is offering a $7,000 employment bonus. Call 539-1621 if you're interested.

* Brian Schroeder, a local farmer, has a turkey vulture hanging out on his property. Duke went to the Schroeder farm and shot a picture of the big ugly bird on the roof of a farm building.

So that's the news this week in Wessington Springs, where (with apologies to Garrison Keillor) all the women are strong, all the men are handsome and all the children are above average.

One wonders if the tightening economy and high energy prices might be the last straw for some rural neighborhoods.

Today's paper reports on the school funding lawsuit, and all the woes associated with education funding. Higher heating costs this winter are going to be a big blow to school budgets, especially for districts with outdated buildings. Those yellow school busses don't have a good mpg rating. And rural teachers' transportation and home heating costs are going to increase more than their wages.

Our Yankton paper also has a story on Ralph Marquardt, the new chair of the state transportation board. He says South Dakota is in a "preservation mode," and will be looking for roads that are now outdated. "We're going to have more roads to maintain than we have funds ...," said the Yankton trucker. He suggests that some state roads might become the responsibilities of cities and counties. Your city and county commssioners will be happy to hear that news.

Sunday night, I attended a Catholic church fundraiser in Sioux Falls for Broomtree Farm, the new retreat center located on the shores of Lake Marindahl near Irene. Bishop Paul Swain spoke about the church's priest shortage and changing demographics in the diocese. He said the diocese is engaged in a planning process to determine the future of the church in East River, South Dakota — and while he didn't give specifics, many rural Catholics are concerned that the process could result in the closure of rural parishes. A church leader told me that this diocese was once a rural, prairie church but it is fast-becoming an urban church.

I just made a north-south trip across East River, stopping in small towns along the way. I hardly saw a young person on the entire 200-mile drive, even though it was a cool, sunny August day. It's very clear that all the problems facing rural South Dakota can be traced to a single problem: a lack of babies.

Surely that can be traced to a lack of young women, and a lack of good jobs for young people, and a lack of amenities that keep and attract young people. Could those amenities include good schools, good roads and good churches?

But simply put, it's a baby shortage.