Since the Dakota Scout has launched I have had a subscription. I have also read hundreds of stories over the years of both of the journalists running the media organization. They are good reporters.
But the the resounding criticism I hear from readers (especially ones that are independents and left leaning) is they tend to lean a little right. I would argue they are more Libertarian then outright Republican Right, and if you have a conversation about their political leanings they will admit it.
What I did not expect was for them to play into the Republican Party rhetoric. As I was reading this story on District 15 candidates I noticed they called the Republican Candidates as members of the ‘Republican’ party and Democrats the members of the ‘Democrat’ party. This is the same rhetoric the Republican party members have been pushing for decades;
However, some Republican leaders have made a habit of referring to their opposition incorrectly and discourteously as the “Democrat Party.” The reason isn’t entirely clear; it may be meant to imply that the party isn’t sufficiently “democratic” in the general sense, or may just be meant as a petty insult.
That is all it is, a petty insult, and I expected more from the team at the Dakota Scout.
I get it, it is hard to start a media organization without catering to the Republican leaning business acumen in our state. Yes, there are many fine companies in SD that are run by moderate indies and Democrats but I’m not sure the capital is out there to support a more left leaning or even moderate news organization in South Dakota. I have caught the media time and time again in this city who just blatantly ignores the bad deeds of Republican lawmakers. Just look at the city election. Not one single news organization even bothered to check the voting records of those running. Why?
When I went to Bret Swanson’s website and saw he had an introduction video. I was expecting the same old boring kids, family, Noem’s plane crap, instead Bret took the opportunity to be a little sarcastic about the BS state Repugs spread about progressives;
My name is Bret Swanson, I am the radical left, here to takeaway your freedoms, every one of them. Please leave them on the table on the way out. I am pro-death and I want your guns, please leave them on the table on your way out.
If I lived in District 30 (Rapid City) this independent progressive would vote for Swanson twice (because you know, that’s what us liberals do best 🙂
Two things that will get me out of the house, free food and 5 blocks away 🙂 The pasta salad was fantastic!
I had a chance to talk to several candidates. A word of advice, the younger candidates need to loosen up a bit, they are wound tighter than a $2 watch.
One of the things I heard the most was the nastiness of the SD GOP Chair, Dan Lederman. You know that non-Christian guy who has a business in Iowa and lobbies for the Theocrat Saudis and CO2 pipelines.
His comment about the ‘clown car’ struck a nerve, and they are on fire about it. Dan would surely know what a clown is since he practices the art everyday.
It was a great event and the Dems need to duplicate events like this in every county and town in the state.
The SD Dem Party will meet for its state convention in July. I have been asking who they will run as constitutional officers, especially for AG and SOS. One candidate that may run against Chris Nelson for PUC is Minnehaha County Commissioner, Jeff Barth who will end his term on the commission in 2023.
I hope the Dems can find people to run for all the constitutional slots.
When I first heard about the calls to impeach AG Rumblestrips, my first response was that Noem was behind it and she was using her goons to wash her hands of the bloody spot;
I don’t know. I was on the phone. I just gave him an update and the governor called. They’re going to call me back. The governor is actually involved in this so that is why it is more specific. But it is nice because this person is running for president, I don’t know if they’re running for Democrat or Republican, so they have a huge… budget for the Senate race, which is coming up in a couple months. So that is why we need to do a good job, okay? -Angel Kane, Grand Solutions Inc.
But what is more confusing is why doesn’t the Democratic Party in Sodak have a candidate for AG? The rumor going around is that it will be a throw down between Rumblestrips and Jackboots for the nomination at the convention. Yeah, a corrupt former AG vs. a killer. Shakes couldn’t write a better tragedy.
While the Dems have secured an independent Libertarian to run against Thune, they have yet to find an AG candidate, a congressional candidate or a governor candidate.
I heard today that they tried to recruit John Claussen to run against Dusty but he said he did not want to. John tried to become the Executive Director of the Party, gave great testimony on re-districting, and has been involved with Democratic politics for decades.
But the big rumor is that Billie Sutton and Dan Ahlers MAY announce next week they are running for Governor and Lt. Governor.
I just got a call from a polling firm based out of N Sioux City SD (based on my caller ID). Â It asked if I would support Noem or one of the following Dem opponents, either Sutton, Huether, or Seiler.
I had heard about a week ago that there was going to be polling out there in an effort to push Sutton into the race. But what I find interesting is they would include someone who I thought was now a registered Indy (MMM) and someone who lost to Rumblestrips. While they were at it, why didn’t they also mention Michelle Erpenbach 🙁
Cincinnati, OH – Former Young Democrats of South Dakota President Heather Krause received the Young Democrats of America “Leadership in Action†Award at the YDA Biennial Convention.d
“I’m humbled to be granted this award and feel honored to accept it on behalf of the entirety of YDSD, which continues to work so hard to keep young progressive focused issues at the forefront of the conversation. Recognition from YDA validates our work and helps showcase to others in our community that YDSD is growing, strengthening, and ready to take on future elections to help create meaningful change in our state.†- Said Heather Krause, former YDSD President & Award Recipient.
“Heather is the reason that our organization is here in Cincinnati, representing South Dakota on the National Stage. She re-established the Young Democrats of South Dakota while the world was in the depths of a global pandemic. Throughout her term, she led the organization with a kind heart, even while marching through numerous stressful situations, both within YDSD and in her own personal life, that nobody could ever have planned for. She kept the heads of those around her held high when times were low. If the future leaders of South Dakota are anything like her, we’re in great hands. She is as deserving as can be of this award, and I was proud to accept it on her behalf. â€Â – Said Addison Miller, YDSD President. The Young Democrats of South Dakota are the official youth arm of the Democratic Party, advocating on behalf of and providing a space for all Democrats age 13-35.
The Young Democrats of South Dakota re-established themselves as an organization in August of 2020, with Heather Krause serving as YDSD’s inaugural President. The Young Democrats of America received 136 nominations for all of their award categories. Heather Krause is a recipient of one of four separate awards for individuals presented by the Young Democrats of America.
To refresh your memories, I am challenging two main points of state petition law: first, 2019 House Bill 1094, Rep. Jon Hansen’s (R-25/Dell Rapids) circulator badge and registry scheme now mostly encapsulated in SDCL 2-1-1.3–2.1.1.9, and the state’s requirement that initiative petitions be submitted a full year before the election at which you would get to vote on them.
There are so many constitutional issues with the legislation, I don’t even know where to start. If I had to make a bet on this, I would put $1K down in the first Aberdeen telephone booth video lottery casino I could find that they will win, and win huge.
I sometimes wonder if SD State Legislators take there pocket US Constitutions (if they have ever had one) and burn it before the first day of session.
MINNEHAHA COUNTY COMMISSION SAYS ONE EMT IS A-OK
I still have not figured out why they decided to go for this in the biggest county in the state;
AMBULANCE ORDINANCE HEARING Mr. Gearman gave a briefing on the proposed amendments as follows: Article 2, Section 6 updating language to align with South Dakota law and administrative rule; Article 6 to remove the requirement of consent and a written agreement between two licensees for special events; and Article 14 updating language to align with South Dakota law and administrative rule regarding minimum personnel requirements Other minor changes were made for the purposes of consistency and formatting. Speaking in favor of the amendments, Dr. Jeff Luther, Rural Ambulance Quality Assurance Director, explained that he believes reducing the requirement from two emergency medical technicians (EMT) to one EMT would not cause a decrease in quality. Tim Haight, 3403 W 93rd Street, Sioux Falls, inquired about the proposed amendment to Article 6. Maggie Gillespie, Senior Deputy State’s Attorney, responded to Mr. Haight’s question explaining that he would need to contact his own legal counsel if he had legal questions, and that the change to Article 6 only removes the requirement to obtain consent from the existing service area ambulance service for a special event. Jay Masur, 25968 476th Ave, Sioux Falls, Med-Star Paramedic Ambulance President & CEO, spoke in opposition to lowering the number of EMTs. Dr. Luther responded to the concerns brought forward by Mr. Masur explaining that smaller ambulance services struggle to find enough people to serve. Therefore, the requirement of two EMTs made it hard to operate. Additionally, many Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Deputies are trained EMTs with impressive response times. Mr. Gearman explained that the ordinance is a minimum standard. Ambulance services may choose to set their standards at any level they want as long as the minimum is met. MOTION by Karsky, seconded by Barth, to approve Ordinance MC31-6-19, the 2019 Ground Ambulance Licensing Ordinance. By roll call vote: 5 ayes. The entire Ordinance is on file and available for inspection at the County Auditor’s Office.
I think it is a cost saving measure for the for profit ambulance services. It will be interesting to see how staffing changes.
SOUTH DAKOTA DEMOCRATIC PARTY FINALLY GETS THEIR SH*T TOGETHER
The state party’s Central Committee elected Randy Seiler to serve as the chair on Saturday, according to a party announcement. Seiler, the party’s vice chair, has been serving as the interim chair since Paula Hawks resigned as chair in September. SDDP Executive Director Stacey Burnette jointly resigned with Hawks.
Isn’t it crazy that stuff is not so bad with the Dem party in SD? I kind of wonder what kind of BS has been concocted over the past couple of years. I hope in the name of transparency the party tells us what has been going on and how they are going to fix it. This could be a great moment for them rooting out the corruption. As an Indy, I have never liked the party system. It just seems like a system that needs to go away and make government on all levels non-partisan. I had a friend tell me once that he doesn’t belong to ‘clubs’ because they seem to ‘clubby’ with lots of rules and other stupid crap. It always made me laugh, because I agree.
CITY SHUTS OFF EMERGENCY SIRENS FOR THE WINTER
I just think this is weird. Why wouldn’t you want to make sure they work all year long? There are other ‘disasters’ you might want to warn citizens about in the winter besides tornados. I almost wonder if this has to do with the embarrassment of the tornado warning system failing this summer and they are trying to minimize the failure. Hey, McFly, that is over and done with, time to move on and make sure they work moving forward. Don’t people learn from their mistakes anymore?
WHO IS BEHIND THE STACE NELSON CASE
The rumor mill has been on full cycle that the SD GOP is behind going after Nelson about blocking people of FB. They have been wanting to get Stace for his big mouth for years, and I think they want to bury him with this Federal case. I think it is funny how the SD GOP is concerned about the 1st Amendment when they want to hurt someone, but the rest of the time they are the most secretive party of all time. And corrupt. If you want to apply these rules to Nelson, which I think that is a good thing, you also have to follow them to. So if you want to make sure politicians are not blocking people on FB, maybe in the next session you should pass sweeping open meeting transparency laws . . . wait, maybe that is why Stace in trouble, he told us about the warts of the GOP.
The day to day stress of being a police officer can be difficult to manage. Which is why the Sioux Falls Police Department is developing a new program to help officers with their mental health.
It's an exciting time at the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls. Not only is it celebrating its 60th anniversary, the zoo is also celebrating the births of six new red wolf puppies.
