Obama Administration’s Illegal Implementation of Water Rule
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Since the misguided Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule was first proposed by the Obama administration in 2014, farmers, ranchers and local units of government in South Dakota and across the country have been rightly concerned about the rule’s impact on their operations. They were able to breathe a sigh of relief last October when a judge issued a nationwide stay halting the rule, but reports have recently surfaced that that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been moving forward with implementing the rule anyway – illegally. This is deeply troubling not only because it is another example of this administration blatantly ignoring the rule of law, but because the rights of landowners are being stripped away and they can no longer utilize their land due to burdensome permitting requirements that are being illegally imposed on them.

The WOTUS rule is one of the largest federal land grabs in the history of our country, giving the Army Corps and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) control of nearly all water, including man-made water management systems, farm ponds, drainage ditches and any other water that the EPA decides has a “significant nexus” to downstream water. Under WOTUS, farmers, ranchers and landowners would be forced – and allegedly are already being forced – to spend hours filling out burdensome paperwork to get permits from the EPA and Army Corps just to conduct normal agricultural activities or spray for weeds along our county roads.

The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee recently held a subcommittee hearing regarding the allegations that the Army Corps is expanding federal control over land and water via WOTUS despite the court-ordered stay. During the hearing, a representative of the American Farm Bureau testified that that the Army Corps is regulating farmland based on light-sensing radar and aerial photographs, and then refusing to share these documents with the landowner, claiming that they are classified. This is unacceptable. Farmers are losing the ability to manage their land and utilize it in the best way possible.

As I said during the hearing, when land is subject to burdensome and unreasonable permitting requirements based on incomplete information or the illegal implementation of a regulation, business owners and ag producers alike lose the ability to develop and properly manage their land, which essentially prohibits them from using the land that they rightfully own. Our farmers and ranchers should be focused on growing crops and caring for livestock, not wasting time filling out paperwork or waiting around to get a permit to spray weeds in their ditches.

Implementing the WOTUS rule despite the nationwide stay may not only be an illegal taking from landowners, it runs against the will of a majority of Members of Congress, states who have sued the administration and countless ag groups across the country. I will continue to do everything I can to expose these abuses and protect South Dakota landowners from this unacceptable federal overreach.

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Something Bigger
By Rep. Kristi Noem

The solemn nature of Memorial Day has been somewhat lost through the years. With so much going on, it’s easy to start thinking about the weekend as the launch point of summer, a day off work, or maybe a great time to get a good deal. The truth we all know is that Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who sacrificed everything to preserve our live, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

I don’t know what it is like to lose a family member to the trauma of war, but I do know how devastating it is for a child to lose her father. That is where my mind ultimately goes each Memorial Day: to the children, spouses, parents, and friends who are here today, reminding us that the price for freedom is high.

One of the most difficult things I’ve had to do while in office is call the families of a soldier who has fallen in action or lost their life to the physical and emotional wounds incurred in service. My heart shatters thinking about all they’ve lost, but even so, I know I can’t understand the true depth of their suffering. So, I pray for them.

The debt we owe these families and the service members they love can never be repaid. Nonetheless, we owe them our undying gratitude through our words, prayers, and actions.

One of the ways I tried to mark that recently was by flying a flag over the United States Capitol earlier this year to recognize the service of Eugene Fedt of Bryant. Eugene has been a dedicated member of the American Legion for 50 years and a lifelong steward of the American land he vowed to protect. It’s my honor to personally thank him in this way.

I encourage you to spend time this week thanking a veteran or the family of a fallen soldier. Take President John F. Kennedy’s advice that when expressing this gratitude “never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Visit the Black Hills, Fort Meade, or Hot Springs National Cemeteries. Attend a Memorial Day celebration. Sit down with a disabled veteran. Invite a military family to dinner. Reach out to a member of the South Dakota National Guard and congratulate them on taking Gold in the 2016 Army Communities of Excellence Awards earlier this month. There are little things each of us can do this week and throughout the year to show how much we appreciate their sacrifices.

Author Joseph Campbell wrote: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” To all our heroes – past, present and future – and to their families, I want to say thank you for dedicating yourself to something bigger. I am truly humbled and inspired by your service.

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The Memory Shall Be Ours
A Memorial Day column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

The birth of Memorial Day is much like the birth of America. It is a story of people from different backgrounds uniting as Americans under one flag.

Following the Civil War, General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, proclaimed that “the 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.” General Logan asked that the people cherish the “memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foe.”

On that first Decoration Day, as it was initially called, mourners decorated the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. Both sides in the Civil War had answered when their country called and, by honoring them in death, America began to heal the wounds of the war.

Memorial Day, as it is known today, is a time to pause and remember those who died in defense of our country and for the preservation of freedom. I am grateful to those who have answered our nation’s call, and have given their lives. As governor, on behalf of all South Dakotans, I also thank those families who have supported their armed service family members, and who have lost one of their own. We commit to always remember the patriotism and self-sacrifice that their fallen soldier carried into the battlefield. As General Logan said so many years ago, “If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.”

As South Dakotans, let us vigilantly join our families who guard this solemn trust. Let us never forget these witnesses and let us continue to defend and love this nation. In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours

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Secretary of State announces Challenge Unsuccessful (Medical Marijuana)

Pierre, SD – Today, Secretary of State Shantel Krebs announced that the challenge to the original rejection of an Initiated Measure to Legalize Marijuana for Medical Use was unsuccessful.

The Initiated Measure to Legalize Marijuana for Medical Use was originally rejected February 23rd.

Once the signed petitions were delivered to the Secretary of State’s office, a 5% random sampling was conducted in accordance with 2-1-16. It was determined that 63.2% of signatures were invalid. The challenge was submitted by the petition sponsor Melissa Mentele of Emery, South Dakota.

An individual wishing to challenge the validity of the petitions can proceed to circuit court.

An observant reader just called to give me the heads up.

If you recall the kerfuffle this week over the negative postcard (left) that the Prairie Country PAC had sent to about 2500 households on Stace Nelson’s behalf in District 19; the facebook post from the page of Prairie Country PAC about the card, which had been shared by both they and Stace Nelson, has simply…. ceased to exist.

It’s not just gone, it’s scrubbed, as images of the postcard are removed from even the photo bank of the PAC’s facebook page.

By all indications and feedback, there’s a lot of people out there mad about the postcard. One legislator friendly with Nelson noted it as “unnecessary.” And there are others whose feelings are closer to outrage.

Clearly, it was yanked down for a reason.

Could this be one of those campaign pieces that was just “too much,” made people gasp, and generated the opposite effect of galvanizing support for Nelson?

Your thoughts?

Gov. Daugaard Appoints Adam to Board of Regents

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced today that he will appoint Conrad Adam of Pierre to the South Dakota Board of Regents.

Adam will serve as the student member of the Board of Regents. He is entering his junior year at the University of South Dakota, where he is majoring in finance.

“Conrad Adam will be an excellent representative of the student perspective on the board,” said the Governor.  “He is an impressive young man, and I appreciate his willingness to take on this role.”

“I am honored to be appointed by Governor Daugaard as student regent,” Adam said.  “I look forward to advocating on behalf of students in our state university system.”

The South Dakota Board of Regents is the state governing board for the six state universities and two special schools.  The student member is one of the board’s nine members and is a full voting member of the board.

Adam will succeed Joseph Schartz, who concluded three years of service on the board this month following his graduation from South Dakota State University.

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Editor: For those of you who aren’t familiar with Conrad, he’s the son of Karl & Joan Adam, Karl being a former State GOP Chair, as well as being the great-grandson of Governor George T. Mickelson. He is also known for his inspirational story after overcoming cancer. 

Brandon Man Indicted for Possession of a Controlled Substance

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Wayne Jerry Ellingson, 41, Brandon, has been indicted by a Minnehaha County Grand Jury. Ellingson was indicted on one count of possession of a controlled substance, fentanyl, class 5 felony, punishable by up to 5 years in the state penitentiary and/or $10,000 fine.

Ellingson is presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Brandon Police Department and the Division of Criminal Investigation and being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

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Editor:  I read this, and was kind of going “meh,” until I googled this gentleman’s name….  And then I understood why the AG is in the middle of prosecuting it. 

While Paula Hawks was busy hanging out with “Abortion Barbie” Wendy Davis this week, her staff was filing a FEC report that has her burning through her cash faster than it comes in – an apocalyptic sign for a campaign that hasn’t even started in earnest.

Hawks Pre Primary FEC

Taking in $35,484 in a period in which Noem took in nearly three times the amount at 106,000, the Democrat challenger to Congresswoman Kristi Noem doesn’t have the luxury that Noem does – 1.6 million in the bank. And while Noem still managed to bank about $9,000, Hawks is spending more than comes in ($37,812) and eating into her campaign kitty, reducing her cash on hand to $113,705.

To put it in election terms… That’s about one statewide mailing.

What did Hawks spend her campaign cash on?

Some went for rent. She spent about $600 at Ad arts for signs. And then salaries. In fact, $23,578 appears to have gone for salaries during this period, not leaving much for actual campaigning.

And she had her hair done, with $117.06 going to “Vanessens Hair Design.” You know, that probably wasn’t the best buy. If she’d gone with the flow-bee, she would have managed to save a few bucks.

Even with the “Super Mini-Vac” version at 114.90, she could have saved at least a few dollars. And had it on hand any time she needed it.

It’s a thought for a campaign on a tight budget.