Author: Pat Powers

After a short flight through Minneapolis, I’m officially at the Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit in Columbus Ohio.

The atmosphere is interesting, it reminds me much of the Salt Lake City Comic-Con that I attended last year, except this time for conservatives, and you won’t see any men dressed up as Princess Leia in her slave suit.

 

As you can see, I’m coming as a member of the media. Albeit, one that is sympathetic to capitalism and American exceptionalism.

So stay tuned, I should have plenty of fun stuff today!

Rounds Nominates Bethany Christian Services as 2015 Angels in Adoption

PIERRE—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today announced his nomination of Bethany Christian Services of Eastern and Western South Dakota for the 2015 Angels in Adoption award presented by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCAI). Bethany Christian Services of Eastern (Sioux Falls) and Western (Rapid City) South Dakota have been helping connect children and families through foster care, domestic and international adoption for more than 25 years.

“It is a privilege to nominate Bethany Christian Services for the Angels in Adoption award,” said Rounds. “Their relentless dedication to finding children loving and supportive families is admirable. Every child deserves a forever home, and Bethany Christian Services is committed to that cause. I have talked to families going through the adoption process with Bethany, and have heard nothing but positive, fulfilling experiences. Bethany Christian Services connects loving parents with children who need them, making families whole.”

Each year, Members of Congress are invited to nominate an outstanding family or organization from their district to receive an Angels in Adoption award. Bethany Christian Services is invited to join other Angels in Adoption nominees from around the country at an awards banquet in Washington, D.C., later this year.

CCAI is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe and loving homes through adoption. For more information, visit www.angelsinadoption.org.

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IRS Phone Scam Targeting South Dakotans

PIERRE, S.D – Attorney General Marty Jackley is warning South Dakotans of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) phone scam that has surfaced in South Dakota.

The scam involves a caller telling the consumer they are being sued by the IRS for an unresolved debt. Some of the threats reported went as far to say there has been an arrest warrant issued for the consumer. The caller will then ask for personal identifying information or demand payment by wiring money.

“These scam artists use the threat of arrest to convince trusting individuals to pay a debt that is not legitimate. The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information through phone calls,” said Jackley.
The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division believes some of these calls may be a result of the IRS data breach in May 2015.

Consumers who have received these phone calls should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or [email protected]. If you have a phone message claiming to be the IRS, do not use the number left on your phone, immediately contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to confirm whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax return.

Consumers are encouraged to check their credit report with the three nationwide credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 for a free copy of these credit reports. Consumers are entitled to a free copy from each company every 12 months. If consumers find errors on their report, contact the reporting agency in writing.

Consumers can also place a fraud alert on their credit reports to help mitigate potential issues by contacting the three credit reporting agencies:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

From Fox News, it appears an Australian company is violating the spirit, if not the letter of South Dakota law and obtaining information on South Dakota drivers for purposes of issuing red light camera tickets:

Without South Dakota’s official help in matching license plates to owners and addresses, Redflex Traffic Systems is still managing to track down violators and send them tickets, according to TheNewspaper.com, an online publication that covers driving-related news. The company has managed to issue more than 2,000 photo tickets to South Dakota residents since the beginning of the year using unspecified “alternative methods” to match up plates with car owners, the website reported.

“This is a real red flag,” South Dakota State Rep. Arch Beal told FoxNews.com Tuesday. “They’re accessing people’s private records in a back entry way.”

And…

Lt. Kevin Heineman, also of the Sioux City Police Department, told the TheNewspaper.com last week that Redflex has issued 2,640 photo tickets to South Dakota residents since the beginning of 2015. Cedar Rapids said its camera vendor issued two tickets to vehicles registered in South Dakota, according to the website, and Davenport’s camera vendor issued nine citations.

Read it all here.

So, what’s South Dakota’s next step? Closing the border?

Any GOP operatives out there looking for a paid short term project? 

If so, drop me a note.

The Capital Journal has more on the odd story about the woman charged in the nearly 2-decade old petition fraud trial.

And there’s far more to the story, as you might have assumed:

Howe pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of perjury for vouching before a notary public that she witnessed signatures on petitions she gathered in 1999. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors from the attorney general’s office dropped seven other similar counts.

Howe was hired by a Libertarian group, “Justice Unlimited,” in 1999 to gather signatures to pass an amendment to the South Dakota constitution to protect the “rights of accused persons,” according to the affidavit of probable cause by investigators in 2002 when she was charged by the attorney general’s office.

and…

Sara Rabern, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said the statute of limitations on prosecuting a crime doesn’t apply once someone is charged.

and…

Howe does have a history of other criminal charges for which she hadn’t been made to answer until this summer.

She also pleaded guilty Tuesday during the same hearing, in a deal with the Hughes County prosecutor, to one count of forging checks in 2000 while working as a nurse for a Texas company in Pierre.

and…

Hughes County State’s Attorney Wendy Kloeppner asked Judge Brown not to allow Howe to be released from jail unless she posted $13,000, about what she owes from the 2001 forgery case.

“The most egregious thing is the fact that Ms. Howe was on probation and didn’t do anything on her probation,” Kloeppner said, citing the fact Howe didn’t pay any of her required monthly restitution checks of $250, didn’t stay employed and quit checking in with her probation office.

“Her track record . . . with the court would indicate if she were to get released, she would abscond,” Kloeppner said.

Read it here

I’m working on getting motivated this AM, while lying in bed at a friend’s place high above the town of Summerset, SD. I’ve been here for the last two days as I’ve been getting oriented in working for a new employer.

Most of my other “jobs” are freelance or as an independent contrsctor, and the opportunity came up for a regular ‘corporate’ gig that would allow me to do all my other stuff. And that’s kind of hard to pass up.

Something that will allow me to do blogging and social media, and my print work? What is that?

Actually, a majority of the job is actually going to BE blogging, social media, and marketing materials including print work. And except for the occasional meeting or conference, I get to do it from home.

Oh darn, right?

Despite wanting to hit the fair, I’ve been going dawn to dusk, and today I head home, and should be there for about 12 hours – long enough to wash my jeans, repack, and fly out to the AFP Defending the American Dream conference Thursday AM, where I’ll be attending as press, covering the gathering of presidential hopefuls.

Once home next week, I think I can find time between blogging and social media to bring you more blogging and social media.

And all I’ll have to worry about is carpal tunnel.

Harrold Woman Pleads Guilty to Perjury for Election Law Violations

PIERRE, S.D – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Janice Howe, Harrold, 54, has pled guilty to one count of perjury.

Perjury, at the time of the allegations occurred, was a class 5 felony, punishable by up to five years in the state penitentiary and or $5,000 fine.
Charges stem from the circulation and attempted filing of petition sheets on a petition to amend the Constitution. Howe was charged by Complaint on January 31, 2002. The charges allege that Howe verified under oath that she had personally witnessed signatures on the petition sheets when she had not. Howe was arrested in July 2015 on an arrest warrant issued after the filing of the complaint. Two other individuals were charged with similar offenses relating to the same petition. Their cases have been resolved through the judicial system.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 6, 2015 at 1:15 p.m. at the Hughes County Courthouse.

The case was investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

Gov. Daugaard Appoints Jon Sogn As Second Circuit Judge

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced today that he will appoint Jon Sogn (SONG) of Sioux Falls as a circuit court judge in South Dakota’s Second Judicial Circuit.

“I thank Jon Sogn for accepting this appointment,” said the Governor. “Jon has earned the respect of his peers over a long legal career, and he will be an excellent judge.”

Sogn will fill a new judgeship in the Second Circuit that was created by the 2015 State Legislature. The Second Circuit includes Lincoln and Minnehaha counties.

Sogn has practiced with the firm of Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun since 1986. He is a Canton native and a 1983 graduate of Augustana College. Sogn earned his law degree with honors from The University of South Dakota School of Law in 1986.

“I am grateful for the trust Gov. Daugaard has placed in me with this appointment,” said Sogn. “I will do my best each and every day to serve the people of South Dakota.”

Sogn has served as an adjunct lecturer in trial techniques at the USD School of Law, and has regularly been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Great Plains Super Lawyers and Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He is an active volunteer in many church, school and charitable organizations, and was the Second Circuit Bar Association’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2010.

Sogn and his wife, Kristy, have three children.

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I’m sure it’s a kick in the teeth to South Dakota Democrats, but what are you going to do? Kevin Woster isn’t saying anything that isn’t true:

Let’s be honest. The Democrats can’t win that seat in 2016 — not unless Thune gets caught crossing the Jones County Line to poach Lyman County pheasants (or he falls to the unlikely, for a man of his West River sensibilities, whimsy of a presidential run), he’s pretty much a lock for reelection next year.

So, what to do, if you’re the Democrats?

Read it all here.