Category: Uncategorized

Dems were apparently looking for rough and tumble people to take over for placeholders this year. Because it sounds like they came up with a “bad boy” who was sentenced to hard time in the grey bar hotel last year because he wasn’t about to honor his “duty to drive with due care.”

Eric Bliss of Huron was named by Democrats this week to take over for Chuck Groth who withdrew from the Democrat’s State Senate Race in District 22.  Noted in local papers as a Cellist, this Democrat also has a record, and earned a rep as the bad boy of the strings while he was in the vicinity of Lakefield, Minnesota last year:

Bliss, Eric B., Huron, S.D., duty to drive with due care, $150, ten days local confinement, one year unsupervised probation.

Read that here.

Jeez. How do you get sentenced to jail* (the paper says he was sentenced to jail, but, he may have avoided it) in Minnesota for nearly 2 weeks, and put on probation for a year for failing to perform your “Duty to drive with Due Care?” According to Minnesota State Law..

169.14 SPEED LIMITS, ZONES; RADAR.

Subdivision 1.Duty to drive with due care. No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions. Every driver is responsible for becoming and remaining aware of the actual and potential hazards then existing on the highway and must use due care in operating a vehicle. In every event speed shall be so restricted as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle or other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care.

Read it here.

Bad to the bone.

Thune to Hold Hearing on Freight Rail System Tomorrow in Sioux Falls

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a full committee field hearing titled “Freight Rail Reform: Implementation of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2015” tomorrow, August 11, at 1:30 p.m. CDT/2:30 p.m. EDT in Sioux Falls.  

The hearing will focus on implementation of the recently enacted Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act, the first reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) since its creation two decades ago. Sen. Thune introduced this legislation to make the STB more efficient and effective. The hearing continues the committee’s oversight work to help ensure a competitive, efficient, and reliable national rail system.

Witnesses:

First Panel 

·         Mr. Michael Skuodas, Vice President of Distribution and Business Development, POET
·         Mr. Troy Knecht, Vice President, South Dakota Corn Growers Association
·         Mr. Tom Heller, Chief Executive Officer, Missouri River Energy Services
·         Mr. Dan Mack, Vice President of Transportation and Terminal Operations, CHS, Inc.

Second Panel 

·         The Honorable Daniel R. Elliott III, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board
·         The Honorable Deb Miller, Vice Chairman, Surface Transportation Board
·         The Honorable Ann D. Begeman, Board Member, Surface Transportation Board

* Witness list subject to change

Hearing Details:
Thursday, August 11, 2016
1:30 p.m. CDT / 2:30 p.m. EDT
Full Committee Hearing
Carnegie Town Hall
235 West 10^th Street
Sioux Falls, S.D. 

Witness testimony and Sen. Thune’s opening statement will be available on www.commerce.senate.gov.

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South Dakota State Senator Elected President-Elect of NCSL

Chicago – South Dakota Senator Deb Peters (R) has become the president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization serving the nation’s 7,383 state lawmakers and more than 20,000 legislative staff.

Peters, a Republican, will become NCSL’s president next year at the 2017 NCSL Legislative Summit in Boston, succeeding Iowa Senator Mike Gronstal (D).  NCSL alternates leadership between the two parties each year. Over the past year, Peters has served as NCSL’s vice president.

“Having been an active member in NCSL, I look forward to this year, working as president-elect of an organization that values states’ issues as much as I do,” said Peters. “NCSL is a place for bipartisan dialogue and a source of state power, which has been exemplified at this years’ Summit.”

Peters has been representing District 9 in the South Dakota Senate since 2011. In the preceding years, she served consecutively in the South Dakota House of Representatives beginning in 2005.

During her time as a senator, she has focused on health and safety issues as well as e-fairness, becoming the Appropriations Chair and a member on the Government Operations and Audit Committee. Peters most recently worked on the Main Street Fairness Act and the Remote Transactions Parity Act to limit burdens on retailers and encourage remote sellers to collect taxes, leveling the playing field. While involved with NCSL, Peters has been especially active in the Executive Committee’s Task Force on State and Local Taxation.

Peters lives in Hartford, S.D., with her husband Chris and two sons, Derick and Braden.

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I had an observant correspondent catch this, and send it to me.

The Yes on Amendment V people, who call themselves “South Dakotans for non-partisan elections” have been accused of actually being hidden big-money out of state interests who are trying to use South Dakota to launch their effort elsewhere.

I’ve always felt that nothing tells a story like a picture:

 Here’s the official Vote yes on V car that’s being used by the people staffing their booth at the Sioux Empire fair. Check out their license plate:

Nothing says “South Dakota” like Washington DC.

Update!

Another attendee let me know he was at the Sioux Empire fair, and stopped by the Yes on V booth. It was staffed by three Nebraskans who were all specifically being paid to be there.

The Vote No on V group, which is working to defeat the anti-transparency measure Amendment V, (which would hide party labels on the ballot, and disenfranchise independent and third party candidates from appearing on the general election ballot) sent a letter yesterday to KSOO Radio and Townsquare Media over all the free advertising that Amendment V spokesman & radio announcer Rick Knobe has been giving himself:

Now, Will tells me that he was e-mailed in response that they would accommodate the formal request. But that also begs the question HOW they’re going to accommodate it.

Are they going to give him a minute for minute opportunity for rebuttal/promotion? That might add up to a lot of time. Are they going to have Knobe, the spokesman for his opponents, interview him?  That wouldn’t really be anything resembling equal time.

There’s a lot up in the air with KSOO’s begrudging “yeah, ok” response.

Over the past couple of weeks, a dark horse contender is emerging and announcing his intention to seek the highest of South Dakota’s State Offices.  No, it’s not a name you’ve likely heard up to this point. But if he has his way, Minnehaha County Republican Terry LaFleur is working to get on the radar for 2018.

LaFleur is contacting members of the Sioux Falls media, County Commissioners, and others and announcing his belief that he has a calling to run for Governor of the State of South Dakota.  I had spoken with him briefly when I was out in a work training a couple of weeks back, and again tonight where LaFleur told me of his work to start a grassroots organization to help him get his campaign off of the ground.

I asked him what his reason for running was and he explained he has a “strong platform” that’s a little different for a Republican, calling himself both “progressive and aggressive,” as well as “compassionate and strict.”  He explained his constitutional beliefs could be termed along the lines of “original intent,” without going into detail on what exactly that entailed.

Citing a law school education,  LaFleur explained that “he believes in due process, the right to an attorney, and a right to a speedy trial.” He further explained that he believes criminal recidivism is high, because sentences are “a slap on the wrist,” invoking a stance as a law and order candidate.

LaFleur is confident that things in his campaign are going to take off and get busy fast, so he’s in the market for a campaign manager (in case anyone is looking). He specifically noted that his effort is taking off locally in Minnehaha County, where Terry tells me he’s met with the Argus, KSFY & KELO.

Although, no one has provided any coverage of his entrance into the race as of yet.

Terry doesn’t have an e-mail address or website set up yet, but it’s on his to do list, expressing that his big priority is getting his campaign off the ground, and finding that campaign manager, as well as finding a treasurer & secretary to assist him in his campaign efforts.

And with 22 months to go until the June 2018 primary, he’s got time to get that done.

Check out this interview with Will Mortenson of the Vote No on V group on the Greg Belfrage Show that was just posted.

Oops.

In regards to politicians supporting or moving away from Donald Trump over the outrageous things he says, Tom Lawrence spends some time today drawing a comparison between the South Dakota Congressional Campaign of 2006, and the Trump Campaign of 2016.

Politics can be cold. A candidate perceived to be in a death spiral can find himself very lonely.

and…

Thune, seeking a third term against a Democratic underdog — can you name him? — keeps saying Trump must do better. He skipped the Republican National Convention.

Back in 2006, Whalen’s campaign went down the drain when Breard spread rumors that Herseth was a home-wrecker, breaking up the marriage of then-Texas Congressman Max Sandlin, and/or that she was pregnant by her chief of staff.

The lies were so outrageous, Whalen’s campaign collapsed.

Herseth did marry Sandlin in 2007, but it was years after his first marriage had ended. And Herseth was not pregnant then, either. When Breard was caught pitching those bogus stories to reporters, his candidate’s long-shot chances was ruined, and his reputation shattered.

Some of Trump’s claims have been equally absurd, causing Republicans great distress and Democrats to point to polls and smile. He is trailing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by a large margin in recent polls, and Republicans running for Congress are eager to distance themselves from him this fall.

Rounds isn’t on the ballot, but he has endorsed Trump, as did Noem. Both reportedly attended the RNC, but like most Republicans, they are keeping a close eye on Trump this summer as he damaged his own campaign as well as the GOP brand.

Read it here.

Do you think there’s a comparison? Way back then, I recall this blog was the first to point out that those allegations picked up from the Whalen campaign were posted online from some kid in New Jersey, an ardent (and just a little creepy) Herseth admirer who claimed he was chief of staff, and not from any official source. And the accusations were pretty over the top.

Were Thune and Rounds wrong in steering a bit clear from Bruce? Well… that’s a good question. Bruce is a likeable guy who now devotes significant time to fighting corruption on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  He may have been a long shot, but those comments voided any potential criticism that could have been leveled at his fellow Republicans.

It’s a difficult tightrope candidates must navigate as they walk over political minefields of supporting (or avoiding) candidates who say foolish things. And was no different now than it was back then.

As has been noted several times, as bad as Trump might come off, Hillary is worse.  Should the outrageous void any scolding for not being behind “our guy?”

For those making the decision to support Trump or not now, that tightrope is still there, just as it was in 2006.

Circuit Court Denies Marijuana Measure on 2016 General Election Ballot

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Circuit Court Judge Mark Barnett has denied Melissa Mentele ‘s request to place an initiated measure involving marijuana on the November 2016 general election ballot based upon an insufficient number of valid signatures.

“Today’s decision affirms the hard work Secretary of State Shantel Krebs and her Office put into ensuring the integrity of our election process,” said Jackley.

South Dakota Secretary of State previously rejected the measure for lack of valid signatures. Mentele, as a primary sponsor of the measure, asserted that she did not receive proper notification from the Secretary of State of the rejection and requested the measure be placed on the ballot. In denying her request, the Circuit Court found that she did receive proper notification from the Secretary of State and that she had not proven that the petition contained a sufficient number of valid signatures to be placed on the November 2016 general election ballot.