Commentary
South Dakota taxpayer dollars spent to make governor look good
Gov. Kristi Noem is a little young to be suffering from long-term memory loss, but she seems to be forgetting this statement she made to the Legislature during her 2022 budget address: “I recognize that taxpayer dollars are not our own – they belong to the people of South Dakota. We all must remember throughout […]
Try this in a small town
I’m not a fan of the controversial Jason Aldean song “Try That in a Small Town,” which glorifies vigilante violence. Unlike Aldean in his Nashville mansion, my three children and I actually live in a small town in impoverished Hopkins County, Kentucky. I sleep in our only bedroom with my toddler, while my daughter sleeps on the couch and […]
Mum’s the word: When questioned, Noem administration stays quiet
It may be best if journalists in South Dakota took a three-year break from asking questions of Gov. Kristi Noem or anyone in her administration. It would be less frustrating for them and they would likely have just as much information as they would if they kept asking questions for the last 36 months of […]
Are beavers always the answer? Not everywhere.
Beavers, through their assiduous dam building, can recharge groundwater and provide habitat for fish and wildlife. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, managers are bringing back beaver as part of trout and salmon management. “God bless beavers and their industrious nature,” writes Trout Unlimited’s Idaho-based Chris Hunt in Hatch magazine. “They make habitat for the […]
Noem-Lewandowski relationship doesn’t have to be an affair to be inappropriate
After reporting that Gov. Kristi Noem is allegedly having an extramarital affair, Ken Silverstein suffered a memory lapse. It happened on the Dakota Town Hall podcast. The hosts wanted to know if Silverstein’s Sept. 15 story about Noem was his first about South Dakota politics. Silverstein struggled with his answer — “I don’t think that’s […]
Goats can be a flammable forest’s best friend
Goats are particularly good at one thing: Eating. Unlike a horse or cow that leaves noxious weeds behind, goats eat the whole menu of pesky weeds, bushes and small trees. That means goats can be one of the answers to the growing problem of tinder-dry, highly flammable forests. In Durango, Colorado, former firefighter Jonathan Bartley […]
A disturbing conclusion about rising maternal deaths: Most are preventable
Our society faces a number of health care challenges, but the one I find most troubling is maternal mortality — women dying as a result of child birth. The actual numbers are quite small but the tragedy associated with them is immense. Furthermore, these deaths provide a window into the overall functioning, or rather the […]
Despite challenges, newspapers still the best source for local news
National Newspaper Week, Oct. 1-7, is a good time to consider the state of newspaper journalism in South Dakota. As a former newspaper editor, I come at this task with a certain nostalgia for the way things were “back in the day.” Like other businesses, newspapers have gone through some changes as a result of […]
A bright spot at the intersection of farming, electric vehicles and solar energy
The energy transition is in full swing across the U.S. and the world, but the changes now underway are not simple or linear. In an economy as complex and connected as ours, progress in one area will often affect other parts of the economy, creating winners and losers. And then there are the changes that […]
How two dead South Dakotans continue to feed the world
There are politicians who spend their entire careers pursuing power and fame. There are others who set aside those ambitions long enough to make a lasting difference. A reminder of that truism arrived recently in the form of a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The release said the department is awarding a […]
A little advice for the next leader of South Dakota’s Democrats
Shane Merrill is a farmer, so it’s a given that he knows all about hard work. Yet Merrill has set himself up to take on the hardest job in the state as chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party. Merrill had the chance to move up from interim chairman after the previous chairwoman, Jennifer Slaight-Hansen, […]
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 […]