Latest news with #CraigBennett
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Memorial Day events set for communities around the area
May 23—Communities across the region will commemorate Memorial Day with public ceremonies and events this weekend. Below is a list of observances open to the public. Mitchell: Memorial Day festivities begin Saturday, May 24, along South Main Street in Mitchell, S.D., with events including a poker run, corn hole tournament, and beer garden at noon. Other highlights include a Show and Shine car show and a ladies poker walk at 1 p.m., followed by a kid pedal pull and family fun at 2 p.m. The BBQ rib Championship opens to public tasting at 4 p.m., with awards presented at 6 p.m. A Memorial Day service will be held Monday beginning at 9:15 a.m. at the American Legion Cemetery, continuing at 9:30 a.m. at the Navy Lagoon, 9:40 a.m. at the Grand Army of the Republic site, and concluding at 10 a.m. at the Serviceman's Cemetery. State Rep. Jeff Bathke will deliver remarks, with Craig Bennett serving as master of ceremonies. Music will be provided by the Mitchell City Band, and Taps will be performed by Kris Enga and Colin Pickett. Alpena: A Memorial Day service will be held at 10:30 a.m. at the Alpena Community Center, honoring local veterans and remembering those who gave their lives in service. Artesian: An event will take place at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Artesian Community Center for a Memorial Day observance honoring fallen service members. Burke: The Burke VFW and Herrick American Legion Post will lead a series of Memorial Day services beginning at 10 a.m. at Graceland Cemetery, with commemorations taking place at area cemeteries to follow. U.S. Air Force retired Master Sgt. Rachelle A. Bloom will serve as the featured speaker. A community potluck will follow at the Burke VFW. Canova: Memorial Day services begin at 11 a.m. at the Canova Legion Hall, featuring remarks by retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Stan Rauch. A potluck meal will follow the program. Carthage: Memorial Day service will take place at 10 a.m. at the Carthage Auditorium, with guest speaker Patrick Burger. Chamberlain: A service will begin at 10 a.m. at South Dakota Veterans Park. In the event of inclement weather, the program will move to the Chamberlain Community Center. Delmont: A Memorial Day ceremony will honor veterans at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Delmont Legion Hall. Speakers include Kenneth Wieting and Pastor Stephen Gallo. Ethan: The Ethan Legion Post 261 will host Memorial Day services at 10 a.m. at the Legion Hall. A roll call at the cemetery will follow, weather permitting. A potluck lunch will be served at the Legion Hall. Gann Valley: A Memorial Day service will begin at 9:30 a.m. with colors posted at Duncan Cemetery. The program continues at 10:30 a.m. at the Fire Hall with speaker Gigi Hendricksen. Honors will be held at Spring Hill Cemetery, with a potluck lunch to follow at the Fire Hall. Geddes: A ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. at Pleasant Lawn Cemetery. In case of rain, the program will take place at the Multipurpose Building. The annual dinner will follow at Lone Tree Steakhouse in Geddes. Howard: A Memorial Day program will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Taschner Park. South Dakota National Guard Col. Dennis Bickett will be the featured speaker. Kimball: Memorial Day proceedings will take place at 9:30 a.m. at Vega Cemetery. A program will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Legion Hall. The guest speaker is Preston Singrey. Commemorations will follow at Kimball City and St. Margaret's cemeteries, followed by a potluck dinner. Letcher: A Memorial Day program will be held at 10 a.m. at the Letcher Community Center. The service will include guest speakers, music and military honors. Coffee and rolls will be served afterwards. Lyman County: A service will take place at 10 a.m. at the Reliance Cemetery, followed by an 11 a.m. program at the Kennebec gym, followed by military honors at Kennebec Cemetery. A community potluck will follow at the school lunchroom. Menno: The Memorial Day program will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Menno High School auditorium. Past American Legion State Commander Terry Hanson will be the featured speaker. A lunch will follow the program. Milltown: Proceedings will take place at 9 a.m. at the Milltown Cemetery. Music will be provided by Maurice Bueber and the Happy Memories Band. Parkston: A community program will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Parkston Amphitheater, with a flag ceremony to follow. Plankinton: A Memorial Day program will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Plankinton School, with remarks by The Rev. Terry Weber. A wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery and a luncheon at the school will follow. Salem: A community Memorial Day program will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the McCook Central High School Performing Arts Center. Brett Dickerson, of the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, will be the guest speaker. Scotland: A Memorial Day program will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Scotland High School Gym. Wagner: A program will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the National Guard Armory. The guest speaker will be State Rep. Jon Hansen, who is South Dakota Speaker of the House. Wessington Springs: A Memorial Day service will be held at 10 a.m. at Hope Cemetery, with remarks by Deach Koch. A second program will follow at 11 a.m. at Prospect Hill Cemetery with speaker Don Grubb. A potluck meal will be served at noon at the Legion Hall. Woonsocket: A memorial ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Eventide Cemetery, followed by a ceremony at the Woonsocket Veterans Memorial at 10:45 a.m. A program will follow at 11 a.m. at the Woonsocket Community Center, with the Town N Kountry Kids 4-H Club presenting. A lunch served by Legion Auxiliary will follow.
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK housebuilders ‘very bad' at building houses, says wildlife charity CEO
Housebuilders in the UK are failing to supply much-needed new homes not because of restrictive planning laws, but because they are 'very bad' at building houses, the head of one of the UK's biggest nature charities has warned. 'There's planning permission today for a million new houses,' said Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts. 'So why aren't they being built? Why is it that volume housebuilders in this country are actually very bad at building houses, even when they've got planning permission?' Ministers have boasted of their swingeing reforms to the planning system – in a bill that passed its second reading last week – claiming they will clear the way for the 1.5m new homes promised in the Labour manifesto. But Bennett believes this hope will be in vain because the government is missing the point. '[The reason so few homes are built] is because they [the large housebuilders] love to hold land and wait for the prices to up. A lot of the way that a lot of housebuilders in this country make money is through speculation around land prices, as much as it is about building houses.' Housebuilders rejected Bennett's analysis. Steve Turner, an executive director of the Home Builders Federation, said: 'Housebuilders deliver a range of high-quality environmentally friendly house types to meet all budgets, and customer satisfaction levels are at an all time high. The myth of land banking has been demolished time and again by independent experts. Housebuilders' only return on investment is selling homes, and having purchased land and navigated the costly and bureaucratic planning process there is absolutely no reason not to build and sell.' Bennett will mark five years in April as head of the Wildlife Trusts, a confederation of 46 independent organisations which together boast 2,600 nature reserves ('about 1,000 more than McDonald's has restaurants') and 944,000 members. Before that, he headed Friends of the Earth. The Wildlife Trusts, as a charity, are careful to avoid being party political, but within Charity Commission guidelines there is still scope for civil society groups to take issue with the politicians of the day. And planning regulation – and the supposed conflict between development and environmental protection – has become a political flashpoint. Green groups have accused the Labour government of 'scapegoating' nature and fomenting culture wars, after Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, called for businesses to 'focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about the bats and the newts'. The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has also weighed in, ridiculing the presence of 'the distinguished jumping spider' for allegedly halting new homes in Kent. The government's combative rhetoric has been informed, Bennett believes, not by careful consideration of the UK's infrastructural deficits, but by a mixture of a 'misinformation bubble', in which top ministers have absorbed some prejudices of the previous Conservative government, and a belief that they need to set up an enemy to fix on. Reeves was sounding 'more Liz Truss than Liz Truss' on the growth issue, he added, referring to the former Tory prime minister who espoused anti-green rhetoric more often heard from US rightwing politicians. He blames Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister's chief adviser, for a fixation on the Reform party, which threatens Labour in seats across the 'red wall'. Reform's leaders, Nigel Farage and Richard Tice, have been vitriolic in their condemnation of environmentalists, green concerns over nature and 'stupid net zero', as described by Tice. But Bennett pointed to a survey of 4,000 people's attitudes towards green issues, which found that Labour voters who were thinking of switching to Reform were overwhelmingly positive towards the Wildlife Trusts. 'There's a lot of the kind of Reform voters who care passionately about this. People who live in the Westminster bubble assume that what the party leadership are doing is what the voters are doing. It's quite different.' He has extended invitations to Farage, Tice and the Reform party to meet and discuss these issues. So far, they have not been taken up. Bennett argues that new housing could sit alongside nature, if housebuilders were given greater direction by the government and built affordable homes instead of the larger and more expensive 'executive' homes that deliver higher profits. But he said the poor construction of many new houses, and the failure of developers to build in harmony with nature and incorporate green space, were among the reasons people rejected them. Bennett added that charities such as the Wildlife Trusts create economic growth while improving society. 'We're now employing 3,700 people across the UK in those communities,' he said. 'I get a bit fed up at times when politicians talk about charities as if we're just like small little things. We are actually really significant employers.' Bennett added that in many areas, wildlife charities 'underpin the local economy', providing tourism opportunities, flood management and employment. Labour disparages nature at its peril, Bennett said, arguing that all voters care about nature on their doorstep. He said: 'I see people from every demographic, political [party] or age. The one thing that unites us is how much we care about our local environment, and care about local nature, and want to see it in a better state.'
