I was preparing to slog through the Secretary of State’s campaign finance system to do a search…. strike that, it has no search capabilities….  to page through the committees until I could find what I wanted… and I noticed they added an enhancement.

Apparently, you can now filter out the inactive committees.

To it’s credit, I have heard positive things about it’s back end in terms of ease of people filling out on-line forms to report. But as I detailed a while back, the front end where taxpayers can search for who is donating to whom? The important bits for the public? There’s still nothing good to report.

What should be concerning to transparency advocates is that with the new system transparency has taken a giant leap backwards when it comes to the availability and searching of donor information that was present in the preceding system. The new system has eliminated that functionality, and returned to the roots of the 2007 system, ignoring any evidence that the State of South Dakota ever dipped a toe in the waters of that kind of campaign finance transparency.

Read that here.

Still no wildcard searching for committees (which they had in 2007). No searching or sorting by filing date. The donor searching and cross-committee searches are gone.

If I can offer any praise, at least we don’t have to page through inactive committees anymore.

If only they’d fix the rest of it.

Ann Tornberg had to work pretty hard to wrest the title of “worst candidate rollout in state history” from Paula Hawks, but somehow she managed it.  Tomorrow, Dems will roll out their “golden boy,” Yankton Democrat Party Chair Jay Williams to the world as their US Senate candidate.

Williams probably didn’t realize when he told the Democrats that “he would do it if no one else would” that he would be the one to get stuck with the hot potato.  And now, as his Yankton hometown newspaper notes, they anticipate that given his no-name status, he will “be little more than a token lamb for slaughter.

Even the Argus mocked the announcement this week, praising Dems only because scotch would be available to blunt such awfulness.

I don’t suspect tomorrow will be any cause for celebration for Democrats. If anything, it’s a chore they can check off their list, as they begin the long march towards the inevitable.

It looks like the Most Liberal Man in South Dakota might have fired off a shot at the wrong legislator when he suggested that State Representative Dan Kaiser resign.  Kaiser, who is with his son Jaxon, currently being treated for Leukemia in Sioux Falls, missed a recent vote, and District 3 Senate Candidate Cory Heidelberger suggested that Kaiser resign, and he be appointed himself.

And just the next day, the conservative Prairie Country PAC has now started mining e-mail and facebook to raise money to go after the ultraliberal District 3 Senate Candidate:

The Extremist at Your Front Door

Cory Heidelburger. Many of you are familiar with his work as a blogger on the Dakota free press, others may have heard his name in the last couple weeks when he announced his candidacy for the state Senate.

But for those of you who are unfamiliar with him let me take a minute to introduce him to you.

• Would you support a candidate who is anti-gun to the point where you would criticize a local business that teaches firearm safety?
• Would you support a candidate for South Dakota legislature that would support creating a state income tax ?
• Would you vote for a candidate who has been a huge supporter of Obamacare expansion?

This list of extremely liberal positions could go on forever, but these are just a few that  Democratic candidate for District 3 State Senate Cory Heidelberger holds.

State Senate candidate Cory Heidelberger is a liberal blogger/mouthpiece for the “radical left wing” of the Democrat party and he is feverishly trying to turn Northeast South Dakota back into a Democratic stronghold. I need your help to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Your donation of $10, $25, or $50 will go a long way in helping make sure Cory’s extreme views are not represented in Pierre.

But even after all this, we are talking about a candidate who supports radical left wing positions in addition to insulting members of his own community.

Conservative legislator Dan Kaiser and his family have been going through quite the battle in recent weeks. Earlier this year Dan’s son Jaxon was diagnosed with leukemia.

This has been an extremely difficult time for Dan his wife Laura and the whole Kaiser family. Battling leukemia is a tough fight and it has taken a toll on Dan and Laura.

Dan is a family man and his first priority is providing for his family and spending time with his two kids. Since the leukemia diagnoses Dan has made a firm commitment to care for Jaxon and stay at his side.

Because of this Representative Kaiser has not been able to attend the legislative session, I would hope that Dan’s decision to spend time with his ailing son is something that all South Dakotans could support.

Putting family before politics is an admirable decision, and I commend Dan for putting family first.

But while the Kaiser family has been battling leukemia Democratic Senate candidate Cory Heidelburger has made it about politics.

Just yesterday on his blog Heidelburger called for Kaiser’s resignation from the state house!

Why did Heidelburger call for Kaiser’s resignation? For the sole purpose of appointing someone new who would support raising your taxes.

Worse yet Heidelburger recommended that Governor Daugaard appoint himself to Dan’s seat.

This is shameful and is not what we stand for as South Dakotans!

Dan Kaiser has been a true leader on the issues of defending liberty and promoting conservative values, this is why Prairie Country PAC is 100% committed to helping Kaiser with his re-election efforts.

On the other hand Prairie Country PAC is 100% committed to defeating left wing liberals who do not support South Dakota values like Cory Heidelburger.

But we need your help!

Your immediate contribution to Prairie Country PAC will go directly to helping us defeat radical liberals like Cory, and supporting conservatives like Dan.

So please make your most generous contribution of $10, $25, $50, or whatever you can afford to help defeat Heidelburger immediately!

Prairie Country PAC would like to thank you for your continued support of conservative leadership in South Dakota.

Thank you and God Bless,
Richard Hilgemann
Prairie Country PAC

P.S. Prairie Country PAC is redefining the grassroots in South Dakota by only supporting our most conservative of candidates and taking down liberals as they pop up. Together we can make a more conservative South Dakota. Please chip in whatever you can today.

Read it all here.

Just when you think Phil Jensen had that foot out of his mouth from last election’s comments over racial discrimination….

“If someone was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and they were running a little bakery for instance, the majority of us would find it detestable that they refuse to serve blacks, and guess what? In a matter of weeks or so that business would shut down because no one is going to patronize them,” Jensen told the Rapid City Journal.

Read that here.

…. he manages to wedge it back in there with the other foot with his comments in today’s Rapid City Journal:

Speaking over the phone on the way to Pierre on Tuesday, Jensen recalled when one of his constituents told him he witnessed “dozens of South Americans” fleeing a white bus parked near downtown Rapid City.

“He knew they were South Americans,” Jensen said, “because they had different skull structures and skin tones from Mexicans.”

Read it here.

“He knew they were South Americans,” Jensen said, “because they had different skull structures and skin tones from Mexicans.”  Wow. I didn’t realize we had anthropology and bone structure experts wandering the streets.

It’s time to start cringing again.

Republican State Representative Dan Kaiser has been going through an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone.   Kaiser has been busy for most of the session attending to his child in Sioux Falls who has been bravely battling leukemia. The Kaiser family has been the recipient of an outpouring of support for their son Jaxon, as they work for his treatment and recovery. I didn’t think there was anyone who would begrudge him that, until yesterday.

And yesterday is when a recent comment from newly announced District 3 State Senate Candidate Cory Heidelberger was shocking to the sensibility of many, as he suggested Kaiser’s resignation, so a bill Heidelberger favored could be passed:

Apparently, the cancer diagnosis was too inconvenient for the Aberdeen Democrat candidate for office.  However, the comment was crass enough for at least one Republican legislator to take the time to chastise the ultra-liberal legislative hopeful for his insensitivity towards Kaiser:

Should voters hold this against Heidelberger at the ballot box?

Well, this could be awkward.  The Yankton Press and Dakotan came out with an editorial last night about how the opponent for John Thune will likely be a “token lamb for slaughter.” Considering that the opponent has been long rumored as being Yankton County Democrat Chair, Jay Williams, this editorial might just sting a little more sharply.

Here’s some good news for South Dakota Democrats: The party says it will have a candidate to run against Sen. John Thune this year.

Who will that candidate be?

Well, as of this writing, that may be the bad news.

and…

So, unless it’s someone like former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin or former Sen. Tom Daschle — whose names still carry considerable weight in this state and are still occasionally whispered in some Democratic circles with wishful, nostalgic longing — it’s hard to imagine anyone else running who would be little more than a token lamb for slaughter, which is something we’ve seen in some recent elections, to be frank about it.

Read it all here.

If Williams is announced as the Dem candidate on Friday as expected, this column could prove to be a little awkward in  his hometown. Although, I suspect they would have no reason to retract one word.

From public broadcasting:

A measure known as the transgender bathroom bill is on its way to the governor’s desk. House Bill 1008 survived the State Senate on Tuesday. Fifteen lawmakers in that chamber oppose the legislation, but 20 support it.

Supporters of the so-called transgender bathroom bill say it protects student privacy by securing restrooms for opposite biological sexes. The bill determines sex based on anatomy and birth certificates.

Read it here.

What are your thoughts?  Should the Governor sign the bill, or should he veto it?

I had a note from my attorney today: “Dan Willard paid up today. Both the sanctions, and the fees. Thought you’d like to know.”   And so, it marks the end of my involvement in the State of SD vs. Dan Willard.

The Dan Willard case. You remember that – The whole robocall thing? Yes, that case has still been dragging on.

I wrote about my award in the case. Of course, that was back in December 2013:

CONCLUSION: After careful consideration of the four factors provided by the South Dakota Supreme Court in Guthrie, the Court finds reasonable the imposition of sanctions in the amount of $250.00 for issuing the subpoena to Mr. Powers in bad faith, and $250.00 for issuing the subpoena to Mr. Lederman in bad faith. The Court imposes terms equaling a total of $500.00 against the defendant, Daniel Willard.

As a result of all of this, the court set the precedent that some bloggers, in this case, specifically me, are Journalists in the eyes of the law. And, that Daniel Willard was pursuing this matter against me in bad faith.

Read that long ago post here.

And after about, oh, 26 months. Willard finally paid. But not for lack of trying to get out of it. He filed a notice of appeal, extensions, etc. to drag it out to the point where my attorney had to go to a hearing for his failure to pay the $250.

Willard had to be served, and other costs made it rack up to the point where another $3100 in fees were accrued in just trying to serve notice that he’d failed in paying the original $500. And I don’t think Judge Foley was entirely pleased that it drug on this long, especially since he let Willard off the hook for $10,000 of court costs to begin with.

But, it seems Willard finally came to his senses, finally paying the $500 in court fees. And another $3100 in costs beyond that.

It might have just been cheaper to pay them in the first place.

Federal Court Denies Rhines’ Petition to Overturn Conviction and Capital Sentence

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announces the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota has denied Charles Russell Rhines’ petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Rhines’ petition sought to overturn his conviction and death sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer in Rapid City on March 8, 1992.

“The Federal Court’s ruling affirms that Charles Russell Rhines’ murder conviction and capital sentence are appropriate and constitutional. My thoughts and prayers are with Donnivan Schaeffer’s family, who have waited 24 years for justice in this case,” said Jackley.

A Pennington County jury convicted Rhines of first degree murder in 1993 and returned a sentence of death. Rhines’ conviction and death sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by the South Dakota Supreme Court in 1996. Rhines then challenged his conviction and sentence in state and federal habeas corpus proceedings.

With the conclusion of his federal habeas corpus proceedings, Rhines has the right to appeal the District Court’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit and, ultimately, to the United States Supreme Court.

Another awful fundraising email from Paula Hawks for Congress:

From: Paula Hawks
Date: February 16, 2016 at 3:28:52 PM CST
To:
Subject: this is a disaster
Reply-To: info@hawksforhouse.com

(Redacted), as I’m sure you know, there is a massive public health crisis in Flint, Michigan, where the water has been found to contain dangerous levels of lead and other harmful chemical contaminants.

This has been the case for years in some Flint neighborhoods, but government officials have turned a blind eye to this disaster. Now, more than 10,000 children in Flint have been exposed to harmful concentrations of lead in their water.

We need to help our neighbors hold their government accountable. Click here to sign the petition to demand solutions for the Flint water crisis.

It’s no secret that South Dakota has had more than its fair share of government corruption and incompetence. The water crisis in Flint is just one example of what can happen when elected officials serve their best interest instead of the people’s.

I’m running for Congress to oppose selfish and corrupt attitudes like that here in South Dakota. We need to be able to hold our elected officials accountable – not only for the problems they cause but for the ones they ignore for political reasons.

Join me to hold Michigan government officials accountable to the people of Flint – add your name now!

Thanks for stepping up,

Paula

Well, this email is a little bizarre. And awkward.

Does someone need to be reminded that this is South Dakota? How exactly does she intend to hold Michigan officials responsible?

And how is giving money to Paula going to do anything?