From Twitter:
Calling all candidates! Join the SDGOP and Leadership Institute for the Candidate Development Workshop being held in Sioux Falls on November 20th! Register today! https://t.co/QNNBxFrsFB
— South Dakota GOP (@sdgop) November 5, 2021
Flags at Half-Staff in Honor of Former First Lady Jean Rounds
PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff statewide from sunrise until sundown on Saturday, November 6, in honor of former First Lady Jean Rounds.
“Jean has been a gentle, steady support for her family and for our state for many years,” said Governor Noem. “She didn’t seek out the spotlight, but her impact was felt on the lives of so many South Dakotans. Let’s hold Mike and Jean’s entire family up in our prayers.”
A visitation for Jean Rounds will be held on Friday, November 5, from 5pm to 7pm with a 6pm prayer service at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Pierre.
A mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, November 6, at 10 am at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
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Governor Noem holds the local Associated Press reporter, Stephen Groves, feet to the fire demanding that he tell the truth in a recent press conference.
MUST SEE: I challenged @stephengroves on his manipulated reporting about South Dakota’s appraiser program. He had promised to report about what we’re doing to fix the program, but changed his mind because it wasn’t “newsworthy.”
Stephen, tell the truth. pic.twitter.com/tDAXIrjfqy
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) November 5, 2021
And not just minutes later, Governor Noem called out Groves even further on Twitter:
. @stephengroves is a dishonest reporter who cooks up stories, misleads readers on the background of his sources & refuses to report detailed documented facts given to him that don’t align w/ the agenda of his boss @DouglasGlass. Hey Groves have you ever answered this question? https://t.co/8d3KPHDhJp
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) November 5, 2021
ATTORNEY GENERAL JOINS 11 STATE COALITION IN FILING SUIT TO HALT FEDERAL VACCINE MANDATE
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg today joined an eleven-state coalition in filing a lawsuit against Joe Biden and the Biden Administration to halt their vaccine mandate on private employers with more than 100 employees. This coalition of states is the first to file suit against the vaccine mandate on private employers. Five private employers joined the challenge as well. A Petition for Judicial Review was filed in the United States 8th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this morning, and a Motion for Stay is expected to be filed early next week.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit earlier this morning, challenges the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) propagated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which requires private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate their employees to get vaccinated or implement weekly testing and mask requirements. Non- compliant businesses could face steep fines.
The petition states, “This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise. The federal government lacks constitutional authority under its enumerated powers to issue this mandate, and its attempt to do so unconstitutionally infringes on the States’ powers expressly reserved by the Tenth Amendment.
OSHA also lacks statutory authority to issue this mandate, which it shoe-horned into statutes that govern workplace safety, and which were never intended to federalize public-health policy.”
The petition also states, “For over a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that policies on compulsory vaccination lie within the police powers of the States, and that ‘they are matters that do not ordinarily concern the national government.’ Until quite recently, the Biden Administration agreed. The White House stated on July 23 of this year that mandating vaccines is ‘not the role of the federal government.’ But on September 9, 2021, that position underwent a dramatic reversal. The President announced several sweeping vaccine mandates, including a vaccine mandate to be issued by OSHA that applies to all employers who employ more than 100 employees. OSHA published this ‘emergency’ mandate two months later, crafting an elaborate post hoc justification for a policy that the President had already dictated that it would impose.”
The full petition can be found here.
In addition to South Dakota, attorneys general from Missouri, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Wyoming also joined the challenge.
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I’d written before about the Patriot Ripple Effect group which took part in the anti-Thune rally in Sioux Falls and helped organize the protest across from Sanford Hospital.
In case you need any reminders, the group is chaired by Adam Broin, with former Minnehaha GOP Chair Dave Roetman serving as treasurer and main contact for the committee.
I was also told that new Sioux Falls at-large city council candidate Bobbi Andera was a politically conservative recruit of this group as they seek out new candidates to take out incumbents, with Andera running to take on incumbent Janet Brekke for one of the at-large Sioux Falls City Council spots.
As noted, one of their primary activities to date has been connecting with the state’s anti-vaccination group to protest businesses requiring employees to vaccinate, such as when they protested in front of Sanford Health, who recently reported a 99% vaccination of employees.
After several months, it appears that the Patriot Ripple Effect is stepping things up a notch, as they organize to bring a bus from Sioux Falls to Pierre to protest during the special sessions for redistricting and impeachment.. I guess they’re protesting that they aren’t calling a special session to pass more anti-vaxxing laws, necessary or not..
An e-mail is being distributed from the group in the last day or so, as they try to get people to attend their anti-vax rally..
Chartered bus going to Capital Building in Pierre on Monday, November 8 for the “No Vax Mandate Rally.” (You can drive yourself there as well.)
Lunch:
2 options. First, pack your own lunch to bring OR Pre-buy a lunch ticket for a Mexican themed food truck that will be there. $12 pre-sale price or $15 at truck. (We have to pre-sell 200 lunch tickets to get the truck there that day)Bathroom: The bus has bathroom facility on board
Payment: $40 per person who ride the bus.
You can purchase the bus ticket and lunch meal online at:
The only worthwhile thing is that we do find out that Patriot Ripple Effect finally has a website at https://patriotrippleeffect.com/. And what insightful patriotic information are they providing to the masses in their crusade to throw out too-liberal Republican incumbents and stamp out vaccination?:
Apparently, the website for this grassroots effort funded by local small donors who wish the best for South Dakota’s community, economy, health, and liberties are letting us know that you can get a chicken rice bowl for $12, ride the bus for $40, and you can also buy a very generic t-shirt or koozy from them.
Whoof! I’m not sure we can handle all the patriotism that going to be happening there. It’s like they’ll be serving up a freedom-frenzy with your chicken rice bowl!
An Anti-vaccination group appears to be requesting one of the roads leading to the State Capitol building be closed the morning of the special legislative session on Monday.
Health Freedom South Dakota is not listed on the street closure request, but the group’s executive director Mya Olson and her contact information is. South Dakota Boulevard is a short street, book-ended by Church Street and Broadway Avenues, which are major arterial roads bringing traffic not only to state offices, but to nearby T-F Riggs High School.
Read and listen to the story at KCCR News here.
Closing the street between Broadway & Church at 8 AM next Monday for a protest? That won’t be a mess as people jam in that area trying to go to the special session… and drop off kids at school… and go to work at 5-6 adjacent state buildings.
Former Gov. Frank L. Farrar to be Honored at State Capitol on Tuesday
PIERRE, S.D. – Former Governor Frank L. Farrar will be honored at the South Dakota State Capitol on Tuesday, November 9, 2021. Public viewing will be allowed from 7 am to 11 am CT. A memorial ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda is scheduled for 1 pm to 2 pm.
Those wishing to pay their respects may enter the Capitol Building via the north doors (parking lot side).
Access to the second-floor Rotunda will be closed at 11 am to allow time to set up for the memorial ceremony. Access will begin at 12:30 pm for that ceremony, again via the north doors. Circle Drive in front of the Capitol will close at 5 pm on Monday and remain closed to the public until after 3 pm on Tuesday.
Reverend Jason Mueller will officiate at the memorial ceremony. Mayor Clyde Fredrickson of Britton, SD will offer a welcome. Remembrances will be offered by Governor Kristi Noem and Former Governor Dennis Daugaard. The ceremony will include musical performances by Kate Wismer, vocalist, accompanied by Peggy Davidson, pianist, both of Britton, SD, and Shawn Cable, vocalist, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The ceremony will conclude with members of the South Dakota National Guard along with South Dakota Highway Patrol carrying the casket down the front steps of the Capitol. As the procession exits the Capitol, there will be a 21-gun salute and taps.
Gov. Kristi Noem has requested that all flags in the state be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Saturday, November 13, when Former Governor Farrar’s funeral service will be held in Britton, SD.
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Thune: Democrats’ Radical Agenda Threatens Families, Faith, and Life
“Government money rarely comes without strings attached.”
Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today highlighted how Democrats’ out-of-touch child care provisions in their reckless tax-and-spending spree would reduce the number of child care options for parents and harm faith-based providers across the country. Thune also noted how the Democrats’ bill would allow taxpayer funding for abortions against the wishes of a majority of the American people.
ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES HE WILL JOIN SUIT TO HALT BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S PRIVATE EMPLOYER VACCINE MANDATE
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg announced today that he will be bringing litigation on behalf of the State of South Dakota, along with the state of Missouri and a coalition of other states, to halt the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate on private employers. Ravnsborg plans to file suit first thing tomorrow morning when OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) is officially published in the federal register.
“This is an excessive burden to place on the businesses and citizens of South Dakota,” said Ravnsborg. “It is our belief that the federal government does not have the authority to unilaterally force private employers to mandate their employees get vaccinated or foot the bill for weekly testing.”
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Austin Goss of Dakota News Now had this story earlier this AM about the Governor being sued, because a group decided to try to have a rally in Pierre, but claim they were denied a permit:
Governor Noem is being sued by the Institute for Free Speech on behalf of a group trying to protest vaccine mandates on State Capitol grounds. They say they were denied a permit for the dates of November 8th and 9th on the basis that Christmas decorating is going on. pic.twitter.com/vixbrUUhaN
— Austin Goss (@AustinGossSD) November 4, 2021
However, as reported by Joe Sneve at the Argus..
The governor’s office pushed back Thursday, saying the administration continues to work with the organization to allow a demonstration to take place.
“Nobody is denying the opportunity to speak,” said Ian Fury, a spokesman for the governor. “We are working with the protesters to accommodate their request.”
I was hoping to scoot over to Pierre for the Special Session just to watch the fireworks, but I’m stuck in Brookings to manage the home front. It looks like it’s going to be a circus maximus!