Government

COMMENTARY
Gov. Kristi Noem greets former President Donald Trump at a rally Sept. 8, 2023, at The Monument in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

So this is what passes for ‘unity’ in the Trump era

BY: - September 16, 2023

There was a time in 2004 when South Dakota Democrats had plenty to celebrate. This was back in the days before South Dakota politics was awash in red. It was likely even before the days when anyone would characterize states as red or blue. On the national level, there was a short time when South […]

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, left, of Navigator CO2, participates in a debate about carbon dioxide pipelines Aug. 22, 2023, at Dacotah Bank Event Center in Brookings while moderator Sara Frankenstein looks on. (Courtesy of David Bordewyk)

Carbon pipeline company has not ‘taken any state off the map’ after SD permit rejection

BY: and - September 15, 2023

A recently failed permit application is not necessarily the end of a carbon capture pipeline company’s goal of building in South Dakota and four other states, according to a company spokesperson.  “We have not taken any state off the map,” Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, of Navigator CO2, told South Dakota Searchlight in an interview Friday. The South […]

Signage at an early voting center on Sept. 23, 2016, in Minneapolis. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

On Democracy Day, newsrooms unite for pro-democracy coverage

BY: - September 15, 2023

It’s no secret: U.S. democracy is under serious threat. Politicians use rigged maps to entrench themselves in power, allowing them to ignore the will of voters. Hundreds of members of Congress, state lawmakers, and top state officials — including chief elections officials — deny the results of the last presidential contest. And a leading candidate […]

A Sioux Falls election polling place on the morning of Nov. 8, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

‘Future’ of voting unrealized: Few counties adopt vote centers and e-poll books

BY: - September 15, 2023

Vote centers and electronic poll books were touted as the future of voting in South Dakota more than a decade ago. The state was one of the first to allow counties to establish vote centers where anyone in the county could vote on Election Day, regardless of their residential address or precinct. Vote centers require […]

COMMENTARY
People raise their hands to signal their intent to speak in support of an ordinance that would restrict carbon pipelines at a Minnehaha County Commission meeting on May 23, 2023, in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Democracy demands less time behind closed doors for local governments

BY: - September 15, 2023

Hear about something called “Democracy Day” and it’s easy to imagine it refers to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the White House and the federal government. But democracy isn’t limited to the halls of Congress. Democracy plays just as big a role in the county courthouse and city hall. The most common display of […]

Legislators on the Study Committee on County Funding and Services address a crowd at the South Dakota County Convention in Sioux Falls on Sept. 13, 2023. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Task force will ask Legislature for millions to help with county legal costs

BY: - September 14, 2023

The top proposal to come out of the legislative summer study on county funding could cost an estimated $35 million to $50 million annually, according to a committee member. The proposal would set a cap on public defender and court-appointed attorney costs for counties, likely around $10,000 for each case, while the state would cover […]

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican, talk to reporters in the Senate Daily Press Gallery about congressional action on artificial intelligence. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

U.S. Senate to examine AI’s wide-ranging impact, Schumer and Rounds say

BY: - September 14, 2023

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said Thursday they’re part of a bipartisan and private-sector consensus about the need for government oversight of artificial intelligence on a range of issues. Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Rounds held an informal bipartisan news conference Thursday to discuss […]

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions from reporters at a White House briefing on Sept. 13, 2023. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

White House slams ‘baseless’ House GOP impeachment inquiry as ‘political stunt’

BY: - September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House is lambasting the House GOP’s decision to open an impeachment inquiry into unproven allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s international business scheme during his time as vice president in the Obama administration. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he directed several of the chamber’s […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in the U.S. Capitol. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

U.S. House Speaker McCarthy tells committees to launch Biden impeachment probe

BY: - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he has directed several House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into unproven GOP allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s business dealings when he was vice president in the Obama administration. “These allegations paint a picture, a picture of corruption,” […]

An apartment building under construction on June 13, 2023, in eastern Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Seven housing projects get boost from long-delayed infrastructure program

BY: - September 12, 2023

A state board signed off Monday on the first grant dollars from a $200 million housing infrastructure program that had been mired in controversy through two state legislative sessions. Box Elder was the big winner at the September meeting of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, at which seven applications for infrastructure grants were reviewed […]

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s EMS team staff the single ambulance station that serves their reservation in rural South Dakota. (Courtesy of Rosebud Sioux Tribe Communications Department)

You might need an ambulance, but your state might not see it as ‘essential’

BY: - September 11, 2023

When someone with a medical emergency calls 911, they expect an ambulance to show up. But sometimes, there simply isn’t one available. Most states don’t declare emergency medical services (EMS) to be an “essential service,” meaning the state government isn’t required to provide or fund them. Now, though, a growing number of states are taking […]

Chamberlain City Administrator Clint Soulek, left, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Sept. 11, 2023, at the Chamberlain Municipal Airport. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Biden administration ‘making it happen’ on infrastructure, Buttigieg says in SD

BY: - September 11, 2023

CHAMBERLAIN — After the previous presidential administration talked about addressing the country’s infrastructure, “We’re actually making it happen,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Monday in South Dakota. Buttigieg is on a two-day tour of the state to spotlight federal investments in infrastructure. His first stop was the Chamberlain Municipal Airport, which recently […]