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State is content to be a benchwarmer in aquatic invasive species battle
Pathetic best describes South Dakota’s response as zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species transform the state’s lakes and rivers. While Minnesota invests heavily in education and research to counter the impacts of zebra mussels, our state gives lip service. Leadership flows down from Gov. Kristi Noem and, since protecting our water is not important […]
At the border, politicians play while migrants pay
Sister Teresa Ann Wolf from the Mother of God Monastery in Watertown recently comforted a young, pregnant Guatemalan woman who collapsed in pain after crossing the Rio Grande River, her baby breached and both lives in peril. Gov. Kristi Noem recently flew to the Texas border, where she joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and a […]
Riding the tilt-a-whirl of ag land values
The dizzy tilt-a-whirl of rising South Dakota agricultural land values may be slowing, but the challenge of keeping pace is enough to make people queasy. Two recent reports, one in late July by Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA), and another in August by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide the latest insight into […]
Public Lands Rule would benefit wildlife and sporting traditions
As a sportsman who enjoys getting out on public lands and waters, I was heartened when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently released a proposed Public Lands Rule that elevates conservation as one of the multiple uses on federal land. Not surprising, however, was South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s decision to fly off to […]
Pollution carried by major floods is killing our lakes
The state of South Dakota’s lackadaisical, careless approach to protecting its lakes and streams from agricultural pollution is glaringly apparent when floods are viewed from an airplane. Hundreds of acres of plowed fields sent tons of black soil down the Big Sioux River during the week of April 8-15. Significant amounts of mud ended up […]
Moving nominations from conventions to primaries would put power where it belongs
In a legislative session jammed with efforts to take rights away from South Dakotans, one bill would have dramatically improved the way our top leaders are elected. Senate Bill 40, which as previously written would have changed how the two major parties select the state’s top constitutional officers, was gutted by the House this week […]
South Dakota woman explores societal conflicts in podcast with ‘Harry Potter’ author
It seemed as if everything “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling touched turned to gold. Her series about the boy wizard captivated the world and she became the most famous female author ever known. Then “it all blew up in the summer of 2020,” wrote Clark, South Dakota, author Megan Phelps-Roper in a Feb. 14 article […]
On ag pollution, state’s carrot doesn’t work and the stick is a twig
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) Secretary Hunter Roberts confirmed what long has been known about South Dakota during a Jan. 19 briefing before a legislative committee. South Dakota gives only lip service to controlling agricultural pollution. In a broad discussion, Roberts told the House Ag and Natural Resources committee that financial efforts to […]
Several early bills show some legislators could use a dose of common sense
It puzzles me why some South Dakota legislators, who depend on voters for their jobs, are so afraid of their constituents. And why isn’t common sense a legislative job requirement? Oh, right. Voters establish the job criteria. Maybe that is why some legislators are petrified. If they voted the legislator into office, what might they […]
Political squabbling stalls vital housing investments
The Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes and inaction by our state’s political leaders have had a dramatic negative effect on South Dakota’s real estate market. A series of interest rate hikes has caused residential sales to decline while the price per single family home is up. Additionally, the inventory of houses available for sale is […]
Blizzard therapy: Find solace in reading about storms that were even worse
What better is there to do during a four-day snowstorm than to think about past snowstorms? “Blizzard therapy” is what author Carey Goldberg called such behavior after he read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “The Long Winter” during a 2015 snowstorm. My blizzard therapy caused me to stumble across several little-known historical writings. One comes from the […]
With budget, Noem plays Santa and the Grinch
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem played Santa Claus and the Grinch during her budget address Tuesday. Listening closely were state legislators who know they must pay the bills once the thrill of new gifts has faded. Particularly excited on Tuesday were Democrats, a small minority in the Legislature. Noem delivered their Christmas morning dreams come […]