The Watertown Public Opinion followed up on the story a short time back about Neal Tapio being Trump’s South Dakota person, and also spoke with him about what he’s going to do in Pierre next January:

and…

As for what he plans to address as a member of the state legislature in Pierre, Tapio wrote that one of his goals will be to oppose the expansion of Medicaid as overseen by the federal government.

I had originally noted under the last post on the topic that the Argus was still re-writing their mess of a legislative analysis, as per a notation of their correction under that story, they’re admitting that they had to go back in to fix it (after I pointed out how they had no idea of what they’re talking about):

Correction: An earlier version of this story overstated the number of incumbents running in competitive districts. Our updated analysis suggests eight, not six, races are likely to be competitive based on recent election history and the lack of incumbents.

and…

Read the updated mess here.

In addition, I see that they have a standalone article/blogpost with additional information on the “oops,” in an article entitled “A clarification on our competitive races story”

My spreadsheet, though, mislabeled a handful of legislators who are seeking another term but in a different chamber (House reps seeking a Senate seat for vice versa.) I went through the list this morning and removed the “incumbent” label from those candidates.

and…

My editor and I also cleaned up the spreadsheet to combine mutli-seat House races into a single row. We initially did our math based on “seats” rather than districts, which became confusing. It doesn’t change our conclusion, but hopefully the table is more clear now.

Read that here.

“We initially did our math based on “seats” rather than districts, which became confusing.”  It’s bad enough the “political” reporter didn’t understand South Dakota’s long standing system of electing house seats, but the editor didn’t understand it either? Good Lord.

They might have gotten around to fixing more of their mistakes today, but even after fixing them, they leave the reader with no real insight or analysis, aside from “There are Republicans who live here” and “Democrats live in this district.”  Not to mention skipping over races that everyone else in the state views as competitive, most notably Langer V Barth.

Oh well. C’est la vie. It’s the Argus we’re talking about. No surprises here.

State House Candidate, and former candidate for US Senate Larry Rhoden has an opinion piece out in the Rapid City Journal today explaining to the voters why taking tax dollars for private campaigns is just a dumb idea:

They say that you can learn as much by what people don’t say as by what they do say.

That certainly applies to the proponents of Initiated Measure 22, who have been very quiet about how the measure would force taxpayers to fund political campaigns.

and…

While most people share their concerns with corruption and transparency, dumping taxpayer money into political campaigns is not the answer. In fact, if anything taxpayer money opens up new opportunities for corruption. That has been the case in multiple states that have ventured down this road.

In Arizona, a candidate spent over $100,000 in public funds on parties and restaurants. After being caught, he was ordered to pay back all the funds but only returned $15,000. In Maine, the Green Party ran a candidate merely to get access to public funds. In NYC, candidates gave public funds to a for-profit company to evade contribution limits.

Perhaps this is why proponents of Measure 22 don’t talk so much about the Democracy credit program — they know they don’t have good answers for it.

Read it here.

Wise words indeed.

John Thune has a great new video up, about his experiences growing up in a small town in South Dakota:

The Republican candidate for Brookings County State’s Attorney, Dan Nelson is having a fundraiser here in Brookings this coming week, and wanted to get the word out to his fellow Republicans.

Nelson, who is an Elkton boy, is running as the Republican for the first open seat for the State’s Attorney office that the county has had in 40 years, so part of his challenge is to remind voters that they’ll be picking someone new.    Dan’s a good guy, so if you’re interested in supporting him, make a point to come to the fundraiser and find out what he’s all about!

I’ll Never Stop Fighting for Ellsworth
By Sen. John Thune

It was in late August 11 years ago that I stood beside then-Gov. Mike Rounds at a podium and announced that the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission had removed Ellsworth Air Force Base from the Department of Defense’s closure list. I fought hard to save Ellsworth. It was one of my first major victories after having joined the Senate, and I still consider it a top accomplishment for the state of South Dakota, especially for West River.

It was clear then – and even clearer today – that closing Ellsworth would have been a bad choice, not only for the Rapid City area, which would have suffered a significant economic setback, but also for the Air Force and the Department of Defense, which would have lost a strategic installation. It would have cost taxpayers millions of dollars in new military construction and environmental clean-up, and it would have created a sizeable risk to our national defense strategy as a result of consolidating the entire B-1B bomber fleet into a single base. Eleven years later, it’s evident that the BRAC Commission made the right decision, and the results speak for themselves.

Ellsworth has a $260 million impact on the state’s economy, and it’s the second largest employer in South Dakota. It’s home to the 28th Bomb Wing’s two B-1B Lancer combat squadrons and the MQ-9 Reaper 89th Attack Squadron‎, and the base now has access to training airspace that spans nearly 35,000 square miles. The expansion of the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC) was a complicated project nearly a decade in the making, but was a project worth the fight. And above all else, the men and women based at Ellsworth are still providing world-class service to their community and the United States, and they are maintaining the legacy of the Doolittle Raiders. 

One of the tenants of our national security strategy is to ensure vital military assets are strategically placed throughout the country, and Western South Dakota is the perfect location. Now that Ellsworth is hosting large force exercises in the largest training airspace over the continental United States, the base has a significant importance for crews throughout the Air Force and the Air National Guard. Airmen from around the country are able to train for more realistic scenarios by simulating combat conditions that will help them remain the best-trained fighters in the world. The PRTC also saves Ellsworth and the Air Force millions of dollars annually on fuel and maintenance costs.‎

The Obama administration hinted earlier this year that it might consider pursuing another round of BRAC closures throughout the country. Despite it being extremely difficult for such a proposal to get through Congress, Ellsworth’s larger role in our national security and the investments that have been made over the last 10 years put it in a particularly strong position today and in the many years to come.    

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Celebrating 100 Years of National Parks
By Senator Mike Rounds

 In South Dakota, we celebrate the great outdoors. Often called the land of “Great Faces and Great Places,” South Dakota’s differing landscapes and abundance of outdoor activities mean there is something for everyone to enjoy—any time of year. Spending time outside with our family and friends when the weather cooperates is one of our favorite pastimes. We go camping and fishing at Lake Oahe and take the grandkids tubing on the Missouri. We love visiting the Black Hills and exploring all that West River has to offer.

 This August marks the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service. South Dakotans are fortunate to have access to six national parks, located throughout the state. Among them are the desolate but beautiful Badlands, and one of our country’s oldest national parks—Wind Cave. Jewel Cave in Custer, the Lewis & Clark Trail, the Minuteman Missile Site, and of course, Mount Rushmore, are all maintained by the National Park Service as well. The sixth national park may be surprising, but it is actually the Missouri River! A 100-mile stretch of the river is part of both the National Park System and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

The world’s first national park, Yellowstone, was established by Congress in 1872—before Montana or Wyoming were official states. Following that, the Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service as an agency under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. The Organic Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916. The purpose of the National Park Service was to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” The National Park Service has continued to fulfill this mission for the past 100 years. 

 To celebrate its 100th birthday, the National Park Service is offering discounted or free admission this year at national parks, monuments and sites all across the country. You can visit them for free from August 25-28, 2016. Parks will also be free to visit on National Public Lands Day on September 24 and Veteran’s Day on November 11. You can visit www.nps.gov to get directions, find out about special events or learn more about the history of our parks.

There is no better place to spend quality time with friends and family than the great outdoors of South Dakota. If you haven’t visited our state’s national parks yet, I highly recommend it. When you go, take a moment to appreciate the unique history of where you are standing and the years of hard work that have gone into preserving it for you and your family—and our future generations—to enjoy. 

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History Preserved
By Rep. Kristi Noem

Our family is what I like to call an “outside family.” We just don’t do well being cooped up in a house, so inevitably we end up needing to take things outside. To me, there’s almost nothing more beautiful than walking out our front door and seeing the wide open prairie (and, let’s be honest, prime pheasant hunting territory). But from the time our kids were little, we took pride in the fact that we could also jump in the car, drive a few hours west, and find many of America’s greatest natural wonders.

Our state is home to the rugged beauty of the Badlands, some of the world’s largest and most complex caves, and four historic faces etched in stone just as their legacies have been etched into the history books. Each of these sites, along with a handful of others, has been set aside as part of our country’s natural, recreational and political history – the preservation of which has been designated as the National Park Service’s mission.

This year – and more specifically, August 25 – marks the agency’s centennial birthday. The sites and narratives preserved throughout the last 100 years tell the story of America. From the depths of Wind Cave and Jewel Cave to the heights of the buttes in the Badlands, ages-old natural wonders are on display. Along the Lewis and Clark Trail and the Missouri River, we see the influence of tribal culture and the country’s westward expansion. At the Minuteman Missile site where 1,000 nuclear missiles were kept during the Cold War, we are shown the fine line between war and peace. And at the base of Mount Rushmore, which turns 75 this year, we come face to face with the principles our nation was founded on, expanded with, united by, and fought to preserve.

The educational opportunities are expansive, but so are the economic. The six national parks within South Dakota’s borders welcome 4.4 million visitors and generate $292.3 million in economic benefits every year, according to the National Park Service. It’s essential to our thriving tourism industry and an opportunity to introduce millions of people to all that makes our state so incredible.

Our “outside family” has been fortunate enough to hike many of the trails that navigate through South Dakota’s parks. Each step has given us a new perspective. We’ve found connections with the past and gained an understanding of its influence on our world today. Perhaps most notably with each visit, we renew our commitment to preserving these sites so future generations can also access America’s great backyard and the lessons within it.

Thank you to all those who have helped preserve these areas of our country, volunteered to ensure these places can be enjoyed by future generations, and taken the time to visit our national parks and take part in our living history.

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Make School Attendance A Priority
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

Across South Dakota, a new school year is getting underway. Students and families are getting back into the school day routine, reestablishing study habits and juggling activities.

In order to succeed in school, students are often reminded to listen to their teachers, complete homework assignments on time and cooperate with their classmates. There is another simple practice we sometimes overlook that is absolutely critical: consistent school attendance. It seems obvious, but the importance of attendance cannot be overstated.

Some absences cannot be avoided, and that is understandable. Sometimes though, absences can add up without notice. The research indicates that all it takes is missing 10 percent of a school year to negatively impact student achievement. That might sound like a lot, but when you consider that it translates to just two or three days a month, it’s easy to see how families can sometimes overlook accumulating absences. It doesn’t matter if absences are excused or unexcused, consecutive or non-consecutive. Time out of the classroom is learning time lost.

Attendance is vital from the very beginning. Kindergarten and 1st grade students who are chronically absent are much less likely to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade. Already by 6th grade, chronic absence is an indicator that students are at risk for dropping out of school. And by 9th grade, a student’s attendance record is an even better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.

In September, we’ll be observing Attendance Awareness Month in South Dakota. I encourage you to join with me in this observation.

This school year make attendance a priority in your household. Think of it as your student’s first and most important job, and know that the habits they form now will likely stick with them when they enter the workplace. Help your kids understand the importance of showing up. As Woody Allen put it, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

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I believe that sign at an off campus house adjacent to the university says “21 to drink, 18 to sleep over.”