I’m getting reports over texts and e-mail messages that Jean (Vedvei) Rounds, former First Lady of South Dakota, and wife of former Governor and current US Senator Mike Rounds has passed away after battling cancer since 2019.
Please keep the Senator and the entire Rounds & Vedvei families in your thoughts during this time of loss.
It's always disappointing to see politicians using their power and platform to tear down a group of people based on their personal decisions. Our elected officials should be representing and respecting all South Dakotans whose beliefs and actions don't oppress and harm others. https://t.co/bznXtzBsbI
— Representative Erin Healy (@RepErinHealy) November 2, 2021
From Keloland news:
Thread on an update from @SanfordHealth on their COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which impacts all employees; they are not announcing how many exemptions were given or denied. The health system says as of 11/1, 99% of their employees are in compliance. Here’s what that means: (1/5)
— Dan Santella (@KELODanS) November 1, 2021
Spencer Gosch, Speaker of the House of Representatives announced today who will be serving on the committee who will investigate whether impeachment is appropriate for the Attorney General as a result of a September 2020 traffic accident, as noted in the Argus Leader:
Serving on the “Special Investigative Committee,” as Gosch referred to it, will be:
- House Majority Leader Kent Peterson, R-Salem
- Rep. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls
- Rep. Ryan Cwach, D-Yankton
- Rep. Mike Stevens, R-Yankton
- Rep. Steven Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls
- Rep. Doug Barthel, R-Sioux Falls
- Rep. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton
- Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids
A few interesting statistics if you’re looking at who has been appointed to the committee.
Of the Nine Committee members, 4 Attorneys are on the committee.. Rep’s Cwach, Stevens, Haugaard & Hansen. And 1, Rep. Barthel, is retired Law Enforcement.
Two of the members are from the Attorney General’s home town of Yankton, but none representing District 24, the legislative district where the accident occurred.
There’s no one from West of the Missouri River. And except for the Speaker himself, you don’t really have anyone appointed who is West of the James River Valley (Or North of Highway 34).
Three committee members are from Sioux Falls.. and up to 5 from the Sioux Falls Metro area if you extend that area to Canton & Dell Rapids.
And despite comprising 30% of the House, there is not a single woman on the list.
Redistricting, impeachment, and people who are unhappy there probably won’t be a anti-vaccination session.
Next week will be interesting, to say the least.
Happy #WorldVeganDay to all the hunters who enjoy harvesting vegan pheasant, deer, and elk! pic.twitter.com/ZxZWwC2WTi
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) November 1, 2021
After buying out 2 more South Dakota Daily Newspapers recently, Argus Leader parent company Gannett is apparently shipping their printing, and I would assume jobs, to another state:
The Sioux Falls-based Argus Leader newspaper will close its printing plant on Dec. 5, the news outlet announced with its parent company Gannett on Monday.
The press plant closure, located within the Argus Leader facility at 200 S. Minnesota Ave., is the “result of further consolidation in the newspaper industry,” Argus Leader news director Cory Myers said.
The paper’s printing operations will be moved to Des Moines, Iowa. Printing of the Aberdeen American News, Farm Forum and Watertown Public Opinion will also move to Des Moines.
Remind me again why it’s so important to have all those legals notices printed in those papers, when they’re moving production and jobs to Iowa?
Certainly, if it’s good enough for them to transmit news stories over the Internet to be printed in another state, why can’t the state and local governments move their official notices to strictly on-line, where people can print them at a library or at home?
The State GOP has been remembering Governor Frank Farrar this weekend, making a statement about his passing..
It’s hard to memorialize and quantify the incredible life of someone like Governor Frank Farrar. He rose to become State Attorney General, and the 24th South Dakota Governor at a young age, but more so than politics, we should remember him for his ability to reinvent himself.”
“After losing the race for Governor in 1970, Governor Farrar became a successful business leader in the banking community, with nearly 50 banks reaching across ten states, from South Dakota down to Texas, and from Nevada to Illinois.”
“When faced with terminal cancer at an age when most people would retire, Frank reinvented himself as a triathlete competitor in Iron Man competitions, running in punishing heat and swimming in the Hawaiian surf at age 73.”
Read the entire statement here.
The Republican Party also posted the retrospective video they used when awarding Gov. Farrar with a lifetime achievement award at the 2018 Republican State Convention:
From facebook: