Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG) Recipients Announced The South Dakota Transportation Commission awarded 33 Preliminary Engineering Bridge Improvement Grants (BIG) totaling approximately $1.42 million at the Aug. 26 meeting in Pierre. Grant recipients are: Aurora County (3), Beadle County (2), city of Blunt, city of Box Elder, Brookings County (4), Butte County (2), Charles Mix County, Codington County, Davison County (3), Grant County (2), Hamlin County, Hanson County (2), Lake County, Minnehaha County (2), city of Rapid City, Roberts County, Sully County, and Union County (4). Thirty-nine applications totaling $1.95 million in total costs were received by the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT). Three cities submitted three applications and 15 counties submitted 36 applications. Local governments are required to pay a minimum of 20 percent matching funds and have three years to expend the grant. Counties must have a wheel tax and a five-year Highway and Bridge Improvement Plan to receive a grant.
Cybersecurity Training and Education On-demand Online Training | Free Presented by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in partnership with the SD Departments of Public Broadcasting, Public Safety, and the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications The first step in improving cybersecurity for any organization is training and education. The "Human Firewall" is as important as the technology component of cybersecurity. Several free training and education resources cover the fundamentals of cybersecurity. Videos are each about 15 minutes long. • Election Security – though focused on Elections, the exposure to the misinformation campaigns is fundamental to understand the risks foreign adversaries bring to our democracy • Cyber hygiene - the basics of cybersecurity (education, passwords, multi-factor authentication, privileges, backups, software updates, protection software, etc.) • Incident Response – the basics of preparing a cybersecurity emergency response plan (Disconnect, Contain, Contact) • Phishing – the risks of email and how to identify nefarious email messages. Visit cybersecurity.sd.gov to participate. ■
The BIG program was created in 2015 and sets aside $7 million per year from funds generated by license plate fees to be used to repair and replace aging local bridges. The SDDOT adds an additional $8 million annually, making $15 million available. Applications for the next round of the BIG program are due Jan. 2, 2022, for the Preservation and Replacement categories. ■
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