As President Biden and other Democrats in Washington initiate an effort to “study” the US Supreme Court, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem issued the following statement via facebook this afternoon:
On the Road Again
By Sen. John Thune
For the last two weeks, I have been crisscrossing the state to meet with business owners, students, teachers, health care workers, community leaders, and South Dakotans of every walk of life. It might sound cheesy, but “Great Faces, Great Places” refers to a lot more than the faces on Mt. Rushmore. In cities and towns across the state, I always find people willing to spare a few minutes, or sometimes more, and I am incredibly thankful for the stories they share.
My first stop was North Sioux City, where I dropped by Dakota Valley High School to speak with students. I’m always impressed with the informed and thoughtful questions I get from South Dakota students. I also checked in on the VA outpatient clinic, where staff are working hard to ensure veterans who want the vaccine have access to it. The final stop of the day was a tour of Sterling Computers, a great South Dakota company that’s brought high-paying tech jobs into the area.
Next, I headed out west to Sturgis, Spearfish, and Newell, where I was briefed by firefighting teams, toured health care facilities, checked in with local residents, and had candid discussions with community and business leaders. A hopeful part of my time in West River was witnessing two local residents get their vaccine. It’s truly a testament to American ingenuity and grit that our country developed, manufactured, and distributed a safe vaccine in record time.
A highlight of my two weeks traveling the state was visiting St. Francis House. Its mission of moving people from homelessness to hope was especially poignant leading into Easter weekend. Fortunately, in 2018, my office was able to assist St. Francis House in getting the correct IRS designation to begin construction on a new facility. This meant its new (COVID-compliant) transitional home was up and running just in time for St. Francis to help hundreds of people safely through the pandemic.
After spending Easter weekend with family, I was back on the road to Madison and Yankton. I had discussions with health care staff at Madison Regional Health System and with local business and community leaders and Rotary Club members in both towns. I share many of the concerns I heard about Democrats’ plans for our country, and I reassured everyone I spoke to that I’m using every available tool to fight back against their radical liberal agenda. And, as always, I continue to do everything I can to promote issues important to South Dakota.
The last stop on the trip was back out west in Box Elder and Rapid City, where I was able to join the Box Elder community in celebrating the groundbreaking at the Liberty Center. This new addition near Ellsworth Air Force Base will give our airmen, their families, and the Box Elder community a new, world-class recreation facility. This is part of the larger plan for the Liberty Plaza development, which will further enhance the quality of life around Ellsworth as it prepares for the arrival of the B-21 Raider. This center will have a real impact on our service members and their families. I also toured the new Ascent Innovation Center – expanding on the success of the current incubator located on the SDSM&T campus. There is a lot of good work being done to foster the fantastic high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship we’re seeing in Rapid City. It’s really inspiring to see the investment being made in our state.
When the Senate is not in session, extended work periods allow me to make stops around the state and connect with South Dakotans with different backgrounds and expertise. Nothing is more critical to my work in the Senate than hearing from South Dakotans about their views on the issues we face as a nation. After the year we have had, it’s an opportunity that makes me feel particularly grateful.
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National Parks Week
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
April 9, 2021
South Dakota is lucky to call home to seven of our nation’s National Parks, Monuments and Recreation Areas. As we celebrate National Parks Week in the month of April, I can’t help but reminisce on the beauty of places like the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and the Missouri River.
The Badlands or the ‘Land of Stone and Light’ span more than 244,000 acres of our great state. Thousands of folks trek to its vast terrain every year. You can explore fossil trails with your kids, get your feet blistered on a long hike, or take the scenic route — whether you’re an avid hiker or a novice outdoorsman, there is something in the Badlands for you.
If someone mentions South Dakota, America’s ‘Shrine of Democracy’ is quick to come to mind. I don’t blame anyone outside of the state when that’s the first thing they mention during a conversation; it’s definitely a sight to see. For many of us, last year’s fireworks display at Mount Rushmore served as a glimmer of light during a dark year. I’ll continue to fight to protect this unique monument with my legislation, the Mount Rushmore Protection Act, as political activists seek to dismantle our great presidents’ faces.
And finally, the great Missouri River. Not as many people know this is a national recreational river, but if you live along the River, you’re well aware of its majestic, and sometimes unpredictable presence. You can hunt or fish right along the river – if you haven’t done so along the Missouri you should add that to your bucket list.
Despite tourism being down by 13% last year, South Dakota was one of the best performing states in the country. Tourism contributed nearly 5% of South Dakota’s economy last year – I’m hopeful that with the opening of the vaccine to all Americans, we can begin to welcome more visitors to our great parks.
No shock to SDWC readers, but Senator Thune is telling KOTA-TV today that he’s definitely running for US Senate in 2022.
Thune said that he’s raising money and doing what he feels is necessary to start his re-election effort.
and..
Thune said that he expects to make an official announcement later this year or early next year.
While a couple of others are busy running their mouths, it sounds like the Senator is getting ready to run a campaign.
2006 congressional challenger Bruce Whalen has posted a video to the island of misfit q-anon followers private Primary John Thune in 2022 facebook group announcing that he is going to challenge US Senator John Thune in the 2022 June Primary, telling the facebook group followers “this is just a brief announcement that I intend to compete against Senator John Thune for a Senate Seat.”
“Intend to compete” might be a strong statement, given that even with the backing of the GOP in 2006 Whalen fell short of 100,000 votes in the 2006 election, as noted by Ballotpedia:
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Stephanie Herseth Sandlin incumbent |
69.1% | 230,468 | |
| Republican | Bruce W. Whalen | 29.3% | 97,864 | |
| Libertarian | Larry Rudebusch | 1.6% | 5,230 | |
| Total Votes | 333,562 | |||
Running before, Whalen was plagued by a lack of fundraising, and a campaign which made disastrous missteps. So, he’s not exactly starting from a position of notoriety or electability.
But, it’s a free country.
Good luck with that.
Just opened up a box I’d received in the mail on some political ribbons I purchased recently all relating to the Edgemont & Hot Springs, SD area. (And I got a good deal). The main items I were after in the purchase were these great ribbons commemorating President Taft’s visit to Edgemont in October of 1911:
And if you’re interested in more about the trip, From the Pierre Weekly Press (26 Oct 1911):
And more recently, from the Rapid City Journal:
In October 1911, Taft made a three-day visit through South Dakota. It was the homeward leg of a swing through the western United States.
Taft’s railroad tour of the state included stops and speeches through larger South Dakota towns, as well as brief stops in smaller communities. The trip provided many people, and several towns, their first opportunity to host and hear a sitting U.S. president.
Taft arrived in Edgemont at 6:50 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21. The Lead Daily Call noted that as the president arrived in Edgemont, “he was greeted by cheers, hand clapping, and waiving of handkerchiefs.”
and…
Arriving later that evening in Rapid City, the president’s parade toured the town and its streets adorned with “electric lights.” When he arrived at his speaking engagement, eight Sioux Indian chiefs, including Chief Austin Red Hawk, greeted Taft. The delegation of chiefs presented the president with a peace pipe.
Read all about President Taft’s visit to South Dakota here.
I was familiar with the visit, but not that the citizens of Edgemont had produced any swag to go along with it. These will be a couple of great display items for my political ribbon collection.
Infringed.
By: Governor Kristi Noem
April 9, 2021
The Constitution doesn’t always use plain language, but when it comes to our right to defend ourselves, the Second Amendment is quite straightforward: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
It’s often been said that the Second Amendment exists to defend all the rest, including the First. I couldn’t agree more. That’s why the very first bill that I signed as governor was Constitutional Carry, which guarantees the right of every law-abiding South Dakotan to keep and bear arms.
I love hunting with my family. My grandma Dorris taught me how to bird hunt, and to this day my favorite way to decompress is to hunt big game with my brothers. The Second Amendment guarantees our ability to hunt, but it’s so much more important than that. Government exists to protect our rights, but that doesn’t preclude us from protecting ourselves and our loved-ones. In fact, our Founders intended the Second Amendment to include protection from a tyrannical government. That’s why they took up arms against Great Britain in the first place.
Unfortunately, many politicians seem determined to directly infringe on our right to bear arms, despite the Second Amendment’s clear wording that it “shall not be infringed.”
President Biden recently announced several executive actions regarding gun control. He claimed that these actions wouldn’t infringe on the Second Amendment. But that’s false.
President Biden’s actions include a Red Flag order. Such laws can be used to take away guns from a law-abiding citizen. They deprive individuals of both their liberty and property rights. And they aren’t just an infringement on the Second Amendment; they’re also a violation of both our Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure and our Fifth Amendment right to due process.
President Biden is also proposing new limits on firearm sales and ammunition purchases. But these, too, are infringements on the Second Amendment. What good is the right to keep and bear arms if you can’t first purchase them? What good is the right to keep and bear arms if you can’t buy ammo to load them? Why would we want to limit ammo purchases when we’re in the midst of a nationwide ammo shortage specifically because of the threat of gun control?
To top it off, President Biden indicated that his executive orders don’t go far enough, and he called on Congress to further infringe on the Second Amendment. In response to such threats to our rights, I promise that South Dakota will do everything in our power to defend your right to defend yourself and your loved-ones.
“Shall not be infringed” could not be any plainer. If only President Biden could be forthcoming and realize that his actions are a direct infringement on our right to keep and bear arms.
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The Center for Effective Lawmaking has completed a study, and a few weeks ago, announced the release of the Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) for the recently-completed 116th Congress (2019-21) in order to come up with a benchmark of the most effective lawmakers in Congress.
And according to the survey, South Dakota’s lone Congressman, Dusty Johnson, was cited as being the most effective Republican in the US House when it comes to Agriculture issues:
Top Performers in the 116th House, by Policy Area
Newly added to the CEL Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) in 2021 are Interest and Legislative Effectiveness Scores (ILES) in each of 21 different issue areas. These are based on issue area codes from the Comparative Agendas Project through the 111th Congress and based on issue areas found on www.congress.gov for the past decade. The methodology that we employed to construct these scores is the same as that for the overall LES; but we simply base our analysis on the subset of bills that each legislator sponsored in each issue area.
Throughout 2021 we will be releasing reports in which we highlight the scores in many of these different issue areas. For now, we list the top performing lawmakers in each area, by party, for both the House and the Senate. Readers interested in exploring these scores more thoroughly can find all of these scores in a new interface on the CEL website.
Most Effective Lawmakers in 116th House, by Policy Area and Party
Policy Area Top Democrat ILES Top Republican ILES Agriculture Gregorio Sablan (CNMI) 63.1 Dusty Johnson (SD) 2.83
Congratulations to Congressman Johnson and thanks for his service to South Dakota working to promote agriculture!
Governor Noem Names Aaron Scheibe as Chief of Staff
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that she will name Aaron Scheibe as her chief of staff.
“Aaron Scheibe is a dedicated public servant with years of experience in state government,” said Governor Noem. “Aaron has a deep love for our state, and I appreciate his willingness to serve in this important role.”
Scheibe, an attorney, will leave his private legal practice to join the Governor’s Office. He previously served in Noem’s administration in 2019 as a senior policy advisor, working in policy areas including public safety, transportation, tribal relations, and energy. Prior to that, Scheibe served from 2014-19 as deputy commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and from 2002-13 as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State.
“I am honored the Governor has asked me to rejoin her administration at this crucial time,” said Scheibe. “I look forward to working with the Governor’s team, her cabinet secretaries and their dedicated staff, and the Legislature to ensure South Dakota is an example of responsible, and responsive, government for years to come.”
A Pierre native, Scheibe is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and George Washington University School of Law. He and his wife, Laura, live in Pierre with their two sons.
Scheibe will assume his new role on May 1.
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Dakota News Now has the scoop over it’s competitor KELOland, as the Governor sits down and discusses a broad range of topics.. including what she anticipates South Dakota is going to do with Vaccine Passports:
As of now, the governors of Florida and Texas have both used executive power to ban the use of vaccine passports, and Governor Noem says she agrees with those actions.
“We’ve looked at drafting executive orders, I also want to make sure I’m not overstepping my authority and what I can do. The state government will certainly not be mandating or making sure that’s there’s any kind of enforcement on a vaccine passport and we’re looking at what implications are of these types of decisions and what we need to do when it comes to private businesses and other entities in local government as well.”
Read (and watch) the entire 20 minute interview here at Dakota News Now.