I’ve been putting pencil to paper and reviewing the hundreds and hundreds of posts this year, and I’ve come to the conclusion that 2019 has been one crazy year.
So what can you expect will appear in the top ten stories for 2020? As usual, I tend to pick those stories that were big in 2019 that we can expect to reverberate through 2020 and beyond. They’re what we talked about then, and you can expect to continue to hear about for some time to come.
And while I’m working on the list, and second guessing my choices… here’s what last years’ stories were…
Governor Noem Announces Staff Changes for the New Year
PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem today announced the addition of Maggie Seidel as Senior Advisor and Policy Director, as well as the departures of Joshua Shields, Chief of Staff to the Governor’s Office, and Emily Kiel, Communications Director.
Seidel joins the team after having served as Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Communications for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. Prior to that she worked for the Charles Koch Institute, the Consumer Bankers Association as well as conservative Members of Congress from Nebraska, Virginia, Texas, and New Jersey on Capitol Hill. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from George Mason University.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the Governor’s team,” saidSeidel. “Her vision for South Dakota and its wonderful people is one that should be replicated across the country. Her commitment to preserving liberty and long-term, sustainable economic growth is inspiring, and I look forward to helping her advance her agenda on behalf of the people of the state of South Dakota.”
“Josh has been an integral part of my leadership team over the last year, and we will miss him,” saidNoem. “I am very thankful for his dedication and hard work for the people of South Dakota. Josh worked longer hours than most of us realize, and his expertise and insight has been so helpful to me personally. I’m certain God will continue to bless him and his family.”
“It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve my home state of South Dakota,” saidShields. “I am thankful for the opportunity the Governor provided me to help make a difference on behalf of the citizens of our great state. While there is more work to be done, we have accomplished much in the first year of Governor Noem’s tenure, and the team is well-equipped to build on that success in year two.”
Prior to serving as Chief of Staff, Shields was the Chief of Policy & Communications in the Governor’s Office. Previously, Shields worked in politics, policy, and communications in varying capacities including with then-Congresswoman Noem. Shields also served as Noem’s campaign manager for her first congressional run in 2010.
Governor Noem’s Communications Director, Emily Kiel, also will be pursuing new endeavors in the New Year.
“Emily has been fantastic to work with this year,” saidNoem. “The people of South Dakota are blessed that she will continue to serve them in state government.”
During the transition, Seidel will assist with the day-to-day management of the communications team.
Tony Venhuizen, who is outside legal counsel to the Governor’s Office and previously served as Chief of Staff to Governor Dennis Daugaard, will take on additional duties, on a temporary basis, for the 2020 Legislative Session. Venhuizen will focus on legislative relations and administrative matters.
Alex Jensen Raises More Than $64,000 for City Council Campaign
(Sioux Falls, SD) Sioux Falls City Council candidate Alex Jensen will end the year exceeding his fundraising goal, receiving contributions from more than 165 individuals and families.
Jensen reported raising $64,484 for his election campaign after formally kicking off his campaign on November 19th. Nearly 67 percent of his donors contributed $250 or less.
“I am thrilled and humbled by the broad support my campaign has received so far,” said Jensen. “I believe that my message of collaborative government, fiscal responsibility and improving quality of life in Sioux Falls is resonating with voters. My campaign has received contributions from business owners, college students, doctors, realtors, retail workers, retirees, teachers and people from all walks of life.”
Jensen plans on an aggressive campaign schedule beginning in early January and leading up to the election on April 14th. He will be visiting with voters door-to-door, making phone calls, attending public events and meeting with city and community leaders. “I am going to work hard and make sure that every voter in the city hears my “positive and proven” message,” Jensen added.
As a life-long Sioux falls resident, Alex Jensen believes in working together to create opportunity. He brings years of experience in business development and growth. He has a working knowledge of good government, having served in the South Dakota State Legislature with a track record of public accountability and balanced budgets.
As a city councilor, Alex will work to keep taxes low, while understanding the critical need to invest in the future. A husband and a father, he supports strong public safety to protect our city’s families. Alex’s top priority as city councilor is improving the quality of life for all Sioux Falls citizens.
Interested voters can learn more about Alex Jensen at www.jensenforsiouxfalls.com.
South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman was noted on a FARA (Foreign Agent Registration Act) filing today via twitter by a reporter for liberal online news publication “The Intercept” as part of the firm he has a day job with (LS2 Group) taking on a new contract with the Embassy of Saudi Arabia.
The FARA form notes the purpose of the representation is to “Provide strategic and government affairs advice, public relations and communications advice and services, and outreach and engagement with the public and media groups.”
What does that mean? The “outreach and engagement” work is likely related to related to the country’s 80 year+ relationship with the US, and will probably involve trade goods. Saudi Arabia has historically proven to be a strong purchaser of American goods, especially where South Dakota is concerned.
While Saudi Arabia has been the 20th ranked export trade partner for the US, as of 2017, Saudi Arabia was South Dakota’s 10th largest foreign trading partner with $64 million in exports from the state. After 2003, Saudi trade with the state had been growing by nearly 91% yearly, but slipped down nearly 39% between 2017 – 2018, so redoubling those efforts could provide a benefit to state farmers and manufacturers.
In 1906, two brothers, Nikolai and Matthew Gjelsvik, arrived at Ellis Island from Norway. The only English they knew were the words apple pie and coffee, which they learned on the boat on the way over. The immigration officials at Ellis Island asked them to change their last name because they thought it would be too difficult for people in this country to spell and pronounce. So the two brothers picked a new name. They chose the name of the farm they worked at near Bergen, Norway – which was called the Thune farm. So Nikolai Gjelsvik became Nick Thune – my grandfather.
The two brothers worked on the railroad as they built it west across South Dakota, learned English, and saved up enough money to start a small merchandising company, and then later a hardware store, in Mitchell, South Dakota.
To this day there is a Thune Hardware in Mitchell, although the family sold it many years ago. In 1916, Nick Thune married an Iowa girl who had moved to South Dakota to teach school, and they had three sons. Their middle son, Harold, will turn 100 on December 28. That middle son is my dad.
My dad is a World War II veteran, a member of the Greatest Generation, and he shares the qualities of so many in that generation – humility, patriotism, quiet service. Dad was a Navy pilot who flew Hellcats off the USS Intrepid. And he was an excellent pilot. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down four enemy planes in one engagement (that commendation was issued by Admiral John McCain, Sen. John McCain’s grandfather.)
But my dad didn’t – and still doesn’t – talk about his own exploits. In fact, without my mom, I’m not sure I’d ever have known about my dad’s record in World War II. I interviewed Dad for the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project a few years back, and he shared a lot of wonderful details about his service. But as usual, his focus was never on his own achievements, but on those of his fellow pilots.
I’d also probably never have learned what an outstanding athlete my dad was if it hadn’t been for my mom. My dad grew up in the small town of Murdo, South Dakota, during the Great Depression. They didn’t have a lot, but there were a lot of basketball hoops around Murdo – on barns, poles, garages – and my dad learned to play. In fact, he learned to play so well that he took his high school basketball team to the state championship game – where, although they lost narrowly, he was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
My dad had hoped to attend college in South Dakota, but a doctor in Murdo named Joseph Murphy thought my dad was good enough to play at the University of Minnesota and used his contacts to get my dad up to Hibbing Junior College in hopes that the Minnesota Gophers would notice him. They did, and he went down to the Twin Cities on a scholarship and played three seasons for the Gophers. He was the team’s most valuable player in his junior year. In fact, he was high point man in Madison Square Garden on his birthday, December 28, 1940.
While at the University of Minnesota, Dad met a girl who served sodas at a drugstore just off campus. They were married within a couple of years, while my Dad was in flight training for the Navy, and spent the next 69 years together.
After the war, they came back to South Dakota.
My dad had been thinking about a career in the Navy, but his dad asked him to come back and run the family hardware store. My dad said that his heart sank, but he knew what he had to do. So he came home and went to work for his dad.
The hardware store struggled, so dad eventually went back to school to get a teaching degree. All parents are teachers for their kids, but my parents were my teachers several times over. Kids usually get a break from their parents when they’re at school, but my dad was a teacher at my high school. He was also a coach. And the athletic director. And he drove the bus. And my mom was the school librarian. So it’s safe to say my brothers and sister and I were pretty much always under the watchful eye of my parents. I never had my dad for a class, but my brother Rich did. Rich was the valedictorian of his high school class, and the only B he got in high school was from my dad. That was Dad for you.
He never showed any preference or gave any of his kids better treatment than anybody else. In fact, some of us might argue that he gave us a harder time because we were his kids! He believed very firmly that you had to earn your achievements. As a coach, my dad taught us about being a team player. He made it clear that being on a team was not about building your personal statistics but about making the players around you better. It’s a lesson I’ve carried throughout my life, and one I try to live by every day.
A few years ago, the Jones County School District named the auditorium in Murdo after my dad in recognition of his service and achievements at the school. It was particularly special since my dad was one of the volunteers who originally built the auditorium. My dad told me that he was more scared up on the scaffolding of that building than he’d ever been flying off a carrier during World War II.
You might think that with my dad as a coach and athletic director, sports were the main focus around our house, and they certainly were a big part of our lives. But my mom was determined that we would grow up to be well-rounded people, and my dad always supported her in that. They worked hard to ensure that we grew up with a perspective on life that went beyond just the latest sporting event. Mom made us study piano and, during the summers, come in from outside and read for an hour every day. We complained at the time, but I know that all of us today are grateful to her and my father for that.
Mom and Dad made a good team – Mom was an optimist and Dad was a pessimist – or, as he’d put it, a realist – and they really balanced each other. We didn’t have material riches growing up, but we were beyond rich in those things that money can’t buy but that lend purpose, joy, and meaning to life. All of us Thune kids are very grateful for that heritage.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention something that was life-changing for my parents, and that was their strong faith in Christ. My dad has always had real discernment and wisdom – in no small part because of his daily dependence upon God in his life. He’s always prayed for wisdom, and God has blessed him with it.
Dad, thank you for the example of faith, integrity, character, and humility you’ve given to me and Bob and Rich and Karen and Tim. Thank you for faithfully serving God’s purpose for your generation, and happy 100th birthday.
The Magic of Christmas By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
As we celebrate the holidays with our loved ones, we are reminded of the true reason for the season: the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. His teachings remind us to be kind to others, share our gratitude for all the good things in our lives and give back to those less fortunate. Through these acts, we can experience the real magic of Christmas.
You may be surprised to hear that Christmas magic is alive and well even in the most unlikely of places—the United States Capitol. Despite what you too often see in the news, we don’t always disagree and bicker. We certainly have our differences, but I have made many friends in Washington on both sides of the aisle. The camaraderie we share as legislators seeking to improve the lives of all Americans is amplified during the Christmas season, and we enjoy taking time out of our busy days to celebrate.
Since joining the Senate, I’ve been a regular member at weekly prayer breakfast meetings. Our group is made up of both Republicans and Democrats—we leave our politics at the door and focus on what we have in common, which is our shared faith. At a recent prayer breakfast, we celebrated Christmas by singing some of our favorite carols. I have made good friends through our prayer breakfasts—men and women I may not have gotten to know on a personal level otherwise.
The annual bipartisan Secret Santa gift exchange is another holiday tradition we celebrate on Capitol Hill. Each of us is given the name of a senator from the other party, and we all get together for a reception to exchange small gifts. This year, I was able to wrap up some of my favorite chocolates from Deadwood’s Chubby Chipmunk to give to Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada. Senator Tom Carper of Delaware gave me a baseball cap commemorating USS Delaware SSN 791, a nuclear attack submarine that was commissioned shortly after USS South Dakota SSN 790.
Of course, none of us would be able to celebrate the holidays freely if not for our men and women in uniform. This time of year we are reminded of those who are spending the holidays away from home as they fight to protect our freedom. Our servicemembers deserve our eternal gratitude for the sacrifices they make on behalf of our country. I spent some time this month writing holiday cards to our troops stationed overseas thanks to the American Red Cross’s Holidays for Heroes event. They set up tables in the Capitol each year for members of congress and our staffs to send warm wishes to our armed forces.
This year, our family is grateful for God’s many gifts, including our ten wonderful grandchildren who all live in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area near our home. We’re also grateful for Jean’s team of hardworking doctors and nurses who have given us hope that she will beat her cancer diagnosis. Thank you to everyone who has said a prayer for her this year. We wish all South Dakotans a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
This year, we finalized a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, gave our troops a pay raise, and in what can only be called a Christmas Miracle – Congress passed a budget. We got a lot done this year, but I wanted to make sure you got my Christmas list just in case there was a little more room in the sleigh.
All I want for Christmas is…
A bipartisan agreement on lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
Funding for border security. I do have to say thanks for getting $1.3 billion secured this week.
A strengthened Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule or passage of my bill, the RFS Integrity Act.
A functional budget process.
A finalized trade deal with China.
Good weather for our farmers and producers.
Passage of the Ben Reifel Post Office bill and the Tribal School Federal Insurance Parity Act.
More access to broadband in rural South Dakota.
And last, but not least, to see the Anti-Robocall TRACED Act signed into law by the president. Nobody wants to deal with pesky robocalls during the holidays.
Now Santa, I know these are some big ideas and there are only a few days left in the year. But I hope you can help us get a few more wishes checked off our Christmas list.
When this time of year rolls around, I’m always surprised, somehow. It’s not as if I didn’t know it was coming. It just seems like the years go a bit too fast these days and, all of a sudden, Christmas is here once again.
There’s no doubt people are starting to prepare for the holidays earlier. More and more we find ourselves rushing through the days and never really stopping to enjoy what is going on around us. I have to remind myself that this is a time to slow down, spend time with family and friends, reflect on the Reason for our celebration, and remember all that we are thankful for.
For my family, we often do this around table games. Recently, our go-to has been Yahtzee. Who would have thought that five dice could bring so much entertainment? I have no idea how Bryon does it…. It’s amazing how many times that man can get a large straight!
Whatever it is that brings your family together, I hope you remember this: Christmas is special. It is about being thankful for what we have and the country we are blessed to live in… A country that is secured by our heroes who may not get to be home with their families this season. Christmas is about peace – disconnecting from your daily chaos to prioritize the people who are dearest to you. And most importantly, Christmas is about celebrating the story of Jesus – our invitation for a reunion with God.
This Christmas season, hold the people you love tightly. Reflect on the year gone by and the areas you’ve grown. Give thanks regardless of your circumstance. Set goals for the new year. And maybe play some Yahtzee too.
So, apparently Lora Hubbel is upset with me again, blasting me on both twitter and facebook:
Why is Lora triggered again? Beats me. I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to glean from a video of some guy talking about chemtrails being used in “terraforming the earth.” But, this is Lora Hubbel we’re talking about, so it’s obviously going to start at the level of nuttiness, and immediately head straight towards bat-sh*t crazy.
In looking into it, I almost instantly regretted going down the rabbit hole. What am I allegedly a “dummass” (sic) and a “small minded fool” in Lora’s mind for not being aware of?
Apparently Lora questions my intelligence because – according to Mike Adams – we should know that the earth is being transformed for occupations by “non-human biologicals.” A.k.a, space aliens:
Based on the urgency of the revelations that are now undeniable, I’ve decided to go public with information that shows Earth is being terraformed and prepared for a “post-human era.” At the same time, humanity is being mass-poisoned, indoctrinated and driven to cultural suicide.
This is all part of the planned genocide of human beings and the occupation of planet Earth by non-human biologicals which need a colder planet, a collapse of plant life, dimmed sunlight and lower oxygen concentrations in the lower atmosphere. (These are all goals of the so-called “climate change” narrative being pushed by Earth’s globalists, who are obviously working against the interests of humanity.)
If she thinks that preparing for a space alien invasion somehow makes her “look good,” as she declared on Facebook.. you go with that Lora. You go with that.
After reworking their financials a month or so ago, South Dakota Democrats had been showing a little rosier picture. But a month later, despite dumping expenses, they’re still spending as much as they’re taking in, if not a little more.. but now they’ve got a loan to pay back.
$61,462.09 raised, which includes a $25,000 loan. So it’s really just $36,462.09 raised. Against $38,910.71 spent. So.. that’s actually a deficit of $2448.62.
They’ve got $63,412.17 cash on hand, including the loan. So, $38,412.17 cash on hand, plus the loan proceeds. Considering they started with $40,942.07 Cash on hand, they’re moving in the wrong direction.
While they’ve got that additional $25,000 of “credit card” on the plus side.. it also adds to their outstanding debt, leaving them $71,863.73 in the hole. Taking that against their actual cash on hand, that leaves them $8451.56 in the red.
Spending more than they take in, getting loans without moving ahead, and moving in the wrong direction. Now THAT’S the South Dakota Democrat Party we all know!
Dear Santa