South Dakota
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1:03 a.m.
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South Dakota's constitution already requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to pass any increase in our property, income, or sales taxes. We can increase those taxes by a simple majority on a ballot initiative... but circulating petitions and winning a statewide campaign is arguably harder than jawboning 70 legislators who pay more attention to fiscal realities (pundits, fire away on that hy...
Madville Times - Mon 6:09 a.m. - 2 clicks 
Unless someone pulls a hoghouse on us, we might have made it: for the first time in years (Carmen, can you document this one?), the South Dakota Legislature will not take up a bill dealing with abortion. Thank you, dear friends in Pierre! There is one piece of pro-life legislation, and I'm actually glad to see it. Senator Adelstein and Representative Moser are sponsoring Senate Bill 193 , a bill...
Madville Times - Mon 5:26 a.m. - 3 clicks
I do not know if the proposed amendments and additions to South Dakota's defamation laws are good legislation or not, at this point. ( HB 1277 and HB 1278 .) The bills have just been introduced with a first reading in the state legislature and have not gone through the committee hearings and any of the legislative process (sausage-making, if you can stand to read that cliche one mo...
Northern Valley Beacon - Sun 9:38 p.m. - 3 clicks
Again our Junior Senator puts government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations ahead of his constituents... including our men and women in uniform. If we could cut our oil imports, Thune's contributors might lose some profits, but it sure would be easier to fight terrorism. ...
Robbinsdale Radical - Sun 3:28 p.m. - 2 clicks
Tonight I attended one of the finest musical performances I have experienced in Rapid City. These kids are the top string players of all-state orchestra who gather with a guest conductor for an intense weekend rehearsal with a guest conductor and perform together. The weekend is supported by an endowment in the honor of long-time South Dakota string teacher Laiten J Weed. On the menu tonight was...
Robbinsdale Radical - Sat 10:05 p.m. - 2 clicks
Some members of the South Dakota legislature have introduced legislation which is aimed at catching anonymous blog and forum posters who defame from behind cover of their aliases or pseudonyms. The US FBI and other police agencies are pushing for bigger, faster, better, and more intrusive data fishing rights. I don't know if much would be lost if the "wild......
Dakota Today - Sat 9:49 p.m. - 8 clicks
Dear Sen Turbak Berry, I have serious reservations about both these bills. The language is not very specific -- who is the "provider" is my main concern. My blog is on blogger.com - a South Dakotan is going to sue Google? Or me? Re the tracking required by 1278, I have absolutely no way to track who leaves anonymous comments on my blogs using blogger, even if I wanted to. I also don't see...
Robbinsdale Radical - Sat 6:05 p.m. - 2 clicks
Socialist/Globalist Flags in Pierre Due Shortly Governor M. Michael Rounds has succumbed to the seduction of the Marxist cabal currently occupying the White House, accepting President Barack Obama's appointment to the ominously named Council of Governors. This newly formed star chamber of state leaders carries a shadowy portfolio, including the "synchronization and integration of State and ...
Madville Times - Sat 5:20 a.m. - 9 clicks
Some blogs have gone into a state of hyper-hysteria because a bill has been introduced into the South Dakota legislature whic h would provide that the names of people who post or comment on blogs can be revealed by court order if their statements are involved in a defamation lawsuit. Like Chicken Little squawking that the sky is falling, they are screaming that the First Amendment as ...
Northern Valley Beacon - Fri 10:00 p.m. - 3 clicks
In their effort to chill online speech, Representative Noel Hamiel, Senator Nancy Turbak Berry, and a couple dozen of their colleagues in the South Dakota Legislature are either ignorant or evil. I'm hoping for the former, because I can do something to fix that. If it's the latter, I'm going to have to ask my praying friends for help. Two last-minute bills got dumped into the hopper today. HB 12...
Madville Times - Thu 10:09 p.m. - 10 clicks
One of the legends of South Dakota television has passed away. Veteran broadcaster Dave Deadrick died Friday, January 22nd in Sioux Falls. While we had met Dave in the 1980s when he was still going strong at KELO-TV, we didn’t know him well. But his visage was well known for decades throughout east river – and later west river, when KELO expanded its television operation to Rapid City. A...
Black Hills Monitor - Thu 2:32 p.m. - 2 clicks
" Stimulus not working for South Dakota ," sneers the anti-SHS crowd as Dr. R. Blake Curd gets his snark on. Oh, what's that you say , Dr. Goss? A January survey of business leaders in nine Midwest and Plains states suggests that the region's economy is picking up steam. The Business Conditions Index for the Mid-America region made a healthy jump in January, to 54.7, up from December's 50.3 a...
Madville Times - Thu 1:49 p.m. - 3 clicks
House Bill 1189 passed its first legislative test yesterday. The South Dakota House Commerce Committee gave unanimous approval (way to go, Mitch !) to the measure, which would prohibit insurers from asking questions about domestic violence for the purpose of charging higher premiums or denying coverage. Aye voters included good conservatives Reps. Shantel Krebs and Kristen Conzet . A cert...
Madville Times - Thu 8:05 a.m. - 6 clicks
The South Dakota State Senate gave overwhelming support to one of the PUC's Small Renewable Energy Initiative Proposals yesterday. On a 26–7 vote , the Senate passed Senate Bill 58 , which provides significant tax relief for all sorts of small renewable energy projects. This bill provides much needed support for local wind projects like the two turbines Madison's Don and Dick Amert would like to...
Madville Times - Thu 4:26 a.m. - 4 clicks
Why do I feel like Google in China ? Following up on a story he broke last night , Dakota War College posted the following proposed legislation purportedly from Rep. Noel Hamiel of Mitchell and Senator Nancy Turbak Berry of Watertown earlier this evening. No such bill has been filed yet . The post showed up in my RSS feed. The original post appears to have disappeared from DWC. Perhaps...
Madville Times - Wed 6:10 p.m. - 10 clicks
Mr. Epp documents another pending lawsuit against Hyperion CEO Albert Huddleston. Mr. Huddleston is being sued by his mother, Erika Huddleston, over alleged mismanagement of a family trust fund. Albert's dad Gordon died in 1981. Gordon set aside a trust fund to provide Erika income for the remainder of her life. After her death, the kids get to divvy up the remaining money. Albert was named co-t...
Madville Times - Wed 6:26 a.m. - 6 clicks
Count on my neighbor Representative Gerald Lange (D-8/Madison) to stand up for principle and good policy. Lange is prime sponsor of House Bill 1245 , a measure to repeal South Dakota's death penalty. Thirteen legislators, all Democrats, have signed their name to this bill. I applaud them for having the gumption to look South Dakota's screwed-up, bloodthirsty machismo in the eye and say that killi...
Madville Times - Wed 4:50 a.m. - 8 clicks
Hat tip to John Andrews at South Dakota Magazine ! Kevin Abourezek of the Lincoln Journal Star draws our attention to new efforts to rehabilitate Whiteclay , the Nebraska border village that sells around 4 million cans of beer annually, mostly to residents of South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation. Bruce BonFleur of the ABOUT Christian ministry has started a used clothing store and soup ...
Madville Times - Tue 2:00 p.m. - 2 clicks
I just sent this letter to my reps about HB1144, which is likely headed (with bipartisan support) to State Affairs Committee next week. Dear Rep. .... I am writing to urge you to join other West River Republican representatives that have already signed on to co-sponsor HB1144, which is going into committee soon. HB1144 will add several classes of people to an existing statute that preven...
Robbinsdale Radical - Tue 8:21 a.m. - 10 clicks
From this morning's West River Legislative crackerbarrel, where typically an audience full of Democrats ask questions of a table of Republican legislators. Tom Katus, who lost his District 32 seat to Adelstein, questioned him on the regressive nature of the sales tax and suggested alternatives including a corporate business tax. Adelstein said South Dakotans do not want a state income tax and t...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 30 - 11 clicks
Finally, we may get regulation of acupuncture in this state. Right now, the only way you can even have a hope of getting covered for acupuncture is if you have a chiropractor do it -- and their requirements are pretty weak compared to what real, certified acupuncturists need to do to be accredited. They just aren't specialists. I put some key points below in bold. It sure would be great if...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 30 - 7 clicks
The South Dakota revenue department apparently has somebody hired to work on the idea of getting federal approval to allow a sales tax consortium to collect state and city sales taxes on distant transactions such as buying something on E-Bay or perhaps Amazon, etc. In short, not brick and mortar business setting on the main streets of South Dakota. This......
Dakota Today - Jan 29 - 5 clicks
From the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota Days of ice storms and sustained winds that at times reached 49 mph with gusts above 60 mph have left residents of parts of South Dakota without electricity, heat, or water for nearly a week and counting. In addition, the loss of power damaged the aging water system that serves the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and the communities around it....
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 29 - 11 clicks
It's here. HB1144 is on its way to committee. Equality South Dakota is working hard to support this legislation. This bill is being introduced with strong bipartisan support. The time has come for for South Dakota to stand up for equality for EVERYONE. PLEASE contact your State Representatives and ask them to help our people and our economy, but supporting fairness for all!! State of...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 27 - 11 clicks
If you are knowledgeable or interested in science and technology, you may want to read, post, or comment at a new blog I have set up. It was an idea of a poster at Mt. Blogmore who suggested that SD needed a science blog. My start at that may not be the best way to do that, but I hope......
Dakota Today - Jan 27 - 4 clicks
The Capital Journal welcomes a home-town girl back... ( REAL PEOPLE: SC native returns as lawmaker, Jan 11) “[Rounds] asked me if I would be interested in the position, and I gladly accepted,” she said. “Now I am back in Pierre and Fort Pierre, and it’s going to be my residence. It’s a little surreal.” Conzet’s father, Karl Fischer, is Rounds’ former business partner. Conzet rebuffed criti...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 24 - 8 clicks
I mean the good kind. The other day at the school board meeting I met the wonderful Pastor Martin Nussbaum of Rapid City, who told the assembled at the Jan 7 Rapid City School Board meeting that he felt "ashamed" when he received an invitation from the South Dakota Family Policy Council urging him to push the school board to NOT protect LGBT people. He's been a long time voice in support...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 23 - 4 clicks
We have (or had) three primary channels to watch CBS, ABC, and PBS. SDPB-TV actually has three channels, ABC is only one, and KELO CBS/MyTV is off the air here. Was ready to watch weather forecast and the digital converter gave the "NO SIGNAL" error message for KPLO. Buried at the Keloland site is the information below. The story there......
Dakota Today - Jan 22 - 2 clicks
It looks like liberals, conservatives and so-called middle of the roaders are finding what they want to see in the left-over tea leaves and coffee grounds of the Massachusetts election. Political operatives seem to think Coakley ran a mediocre campaign failing to even get out and shake hands and assumed her election would be a cakewalk. Scott Brown got a......
Dakota Today - Jan 21 - 5 clicks
This has been an interesting week. The Denver Post’s parent company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The New York Times is positioned to start charging for its on-line content. And the Rapid City Journal’s owner – Lee Enterprises – reports revenues for 2009 dropped by 18.2 percent. In fact, Lee indicated that its yearend report was actually encouraging news. Fourth Quarter revenu...
Black Hills Monitor - Jan 21 - 4 clicks
The South Dakota legislative session is open again. As a sign in the office of Dick Kneip or Ted Muenster said years ago, "No man's life or property is safe while the legislature is in Session."..or something much like that. I don't think the situation is quite that dreadful, but after listening to legislators and Governor for the last week......
Dakota Today - Jan 17 - 5 clicks
Wondering why the "gay agenda" so well-represented and articulate at the Rapid City School Board meeting this week after Gordon Howie's December 17 threat to of the school board? Kevin Woster hit it right on the head in an op-ed (RC Journal, Jan 3, Navigating the icy roads of fatherhood) about what LGBT parents and parents of LGBT kids face every single day. Well, okay he WAS talking ab...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 9 - 4 clicks
Fortunately, Obama is after your civil liberty to tweet on the road. Liberals. The Presidential Executive Order on Distracted Driving Effective Today Government-wide directive restricts more than 4 million federal employees from texting while driving. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today marked the effective date of President Obama’s Executive Order on distracted driving, which w...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 7 - 5 clicks
I made it to the "educational event" hosted by the South Dakota Family Policy Council and the Citizens for Liberty at SDSMT last night. This is the event that SDFPC was distributing church bulletins to encourage good Christians™ to attend. All ... eight of them.... filled the room with their ideas. It was a bit of a stretch to be sure, but they did their best. (BTW in the video ...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 6 - 3 clicks
From the Jan 4 Rapid City Journal: Republican state Rep. Don Kopp ... plans to push that idea during the upcoming legislative session with a bill that would require public schools that teach the threats of global warming to also provide students with the skeptical view of climate change. Rep. Kopp's remarkable ignorance of (a) his job as a legislator, (b) science, and (c) pretty much any o...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 4 - 3 clicks
This in from the Capital Journal . This was posted last September but I had missed it, until the South Dakota Democratic Party invited me to support her campaign... PIERRE — State Senator Julie Bartling, D-Burke, has announced her candidacy for South Dakota State Auditor. Lest we forget, Julie Bartling gave full-throated support (and credibility, by making the attack "bipartisan") to the HB...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
Please check the Dakota Today Notebook page for obituaries for the full details which were published in the Yankton Press and Dakotan in December. We knew him as Mr. Fejfar when he taught at Wakonda High School. He was a good teacher and got some of us headed into the direction of science and math or at least aided a......
Dakota Today - Jan 3 - 2 clicks
I wrote the following letter to a school board member, slightly modified to avoid identifying the recipient. Please look it over, and if you agree it is time to to update the policy, contact the the school board. I am writing to urge you to consider supporting the updated anti-discrimination policy that will get its third reading at the Jan 7 school board meeting. I found many of the ar...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 2 - 3 clicks
Again I could not keep myself from calling in to Paul Guggenheimer's wonderful Dakota Midday program on SDPB. The program is here: Dakota Midday Air Date: 12/22/2009 With health care overhaul legislation on the verge of being enacted, Paul Guggenheimer talks with Dave Hewitt, President and CEO of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations , to see what he thinks about the ...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 2 - 5 clicks
The Hon. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin US House of Representatives Washington, DC January 2, 2010 Dear Rep. Herseth Sandlin I read with interest your recent flyer sent to my home (my wife and I both received one!) concerning your admirable work supporting the Veteran's Administration and their excellent health care system. I applaud your efforts in this area – especially your efforts to inform r...
Robbinsdale Radical - Jan 2 - 3 clicks
John Thune is fretting and stewing that some prisoners in Guantanamo might end up in an Illinois prison "only about 450 miles east of Sioux Falls". Thune should have a flashing light with his own talking points terror ball colors."Moving dangerous terrorists from a secure location in Cuba into the heartland of the United States is an irresponsible move that......
Dakota Today - Dec 17 - 3 clicks
My son is in Rapid City. A few hours ago, he sent me a photo taken with his cellphone of Bighorn or Mountain Sheep ... I guess. A semi-truck driving by let loose with a loud blast of the horn and the Sheep turned their heads for a second and got back to pawing snow and eating grass. And yes,......
Dakota Today - Dec 15 - 4 clicks
Ever since birth I been waitin’ for death ... The South Dakota media, legacy and new, seldom bother to cover the reservations. Th e New York Times features a a front page story today on the burgeoning of youth gangs on Pine Ridge. Other reservations, such as Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Rosebud, and Sisseton-Wahpeton also have severe problems with gangs and crime and...
Northern Valley Beacon - Dec 14 - 2 clicks
The Mitchell Daily Republic has the latest vaccination news from State of SD. Original story is at Daily Republic Notice on H1N1 Published December 11 2009 PIERRE – All South Dakotans will be eligible for the H1N1 vaccine effective December 14, the state Department of Health announced today. Until now, the vaccine has been targeted for those at highest risk......
Dakota Today - Dec 11 - 4 clicks
In case you might wonder why South Dakota often seems closer to the dark ages than some other areas of the country, you won't find anything reassuring about the post in Steve Sibson's blog and the comments he found from Republican legislators Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown and Sen. Tom Hansen, R-Huron. Read Steve's post here Sibson Online attacks Adelstein and......
Dakota Today - Dec 10 - 3 clicks
John Thune has become the voice of the GOP--Groundless Obstinence and Petulance--according to the Huffington Post . He says his party will unanimously oppose any reform, no matter what it proposes. ...
Northern Valley Beacon - Dec 10
