Military
$1.5 billion of construction planned for new bombers at Ellsworth
RAPID CITY — The Air Force will spend $1.5 billion on 35 construction projects to accommodate new bomber planes at a base near Rapid City, according to the base commander. Nine projects are underway, said Col. Derek Oakley, who leads the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base. He spoke Friday to the Black […]
National Guard soldiers return from $850,000 Texas border deployment
Fifty South Dakota National Guard soldiers from a unit based in Watertown have returned home after a month-long, $850,000 deployment to Eagle Pass, Texas. Ian Fury, spokesman for Gov. Kristi Noem, released some details of the deployment Wednesday after previously declining to divulge information during the deployment “for operational security reasons.” The unit, Alpha Battery, […]
Details scant on Guard’s border deployment as Noem visits troops
Gov. Kristi Noem confirmed Tuesday that 50 South Dakota National Guard soldiers are on a previously announced deployment to the nation’s southern border, but she didn’t say what unit they’re from, how long they’ll be there, what it’ll cost, or exactly what they’re doing. South Dakota Searchlight sent messages about those and other aspects of […]
Active-duty military would work without pay in shutdown, White House warns
WASHINGTON — The White House is warning that a partial government shutdown would mean 1.3 million active-duty armed services members must keep working without receiving paychecks and hundreds of thousands of Pentagon employees would face furloughs. The Biden administration on Tuesday blasted what it’s now calling an “Extreme Republican Shutdown,” saying it would undermine national […]
Johnson subjects military funding to partisan politics, despite pledging otherwise
How times have changed for the Republican Party. It was once the party of law and order. Now Donald Trump, its top candidate for president, is facing his third recent indictment, this time for fomenting the overthrow of the very government he purportedly wants to lead. It was once the party of business, but now […]
Veterans exposed to burn pits, toxins urged to apply for retroactive benefits
WASHINGTON — A deadline for a year’s worth of backdated benefits is fast approaching for U.S. veterans suffering illnesses after exposure to open burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxins. Nearly a year ago, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act, a law supporters describe as the largest expansion of veteran benefits in U.S. history. […]
Defense bill passes Senate with Thune & Rounds support, but deep divide with House looms
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators avoided a heated partisan split as they passed the massive annual defense policy package late Thursday — in stark contrast to the GOP-led House version, in which far-right members included language to restrict abortion access and transgender care for service members. Senators passed the National Defense Authorization Act, 86-11, but lawmakers […]
Johnson votes yes on defense bill that targets abortion access, trans health, racial equity
The U.S. House approved Friday an annual defense authorization bill loaded with GOP rollbacks of Pentagon policies on abortion and transgender health care, as well as efforts to boost racial equity. Republican amendments targeting social policy issues turned a typically bipartisan measure preserving the nation’s military security into another front for the culture wars, similar […]
Noem orders National Guard troops to Mexican border again
Gov. Kristi Noem announced plans Thursday to deploy more South Dakota National Guard troops to the nation’s southern border this summer. Noem has sent South Dakota soldiers to the border previously. She said the new deployment comes in response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s request for assistance. Noem is joining 12 other Republican governors who […]
Rule change would make foreign purchases near Ellsworth reviewable
When a Chinese company was on the verge of building a corn milling plant last year near an Air Force base in North Dakota, people concerned about national security wondered why the federal government hadn’t stopped it. As it turned out, a federal committee tasked with reviewing foreign investments in the U.S. lacked jurisdiction over […]
First tiny homes for vets ready in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS – Project managers and advocates threw open the doors of the first five tiny homes for veterans in Sioux Falls on Tuesday morning. The homes are the first in a planned village of transitional housing for homeless veterans in southeast South Dakota. The village is about a mile from downtown Sioux Falls, tucked […]
Abortion services to remain available at the VA after close U.S. Senate vote
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs can continue providing service members with access to abortion in cases of life-threatening complications, rape or incest, after the U.S. Senate narrowly blocked a measure Wednesday that would have scrapped a new Biden administration rule. The VA policy, which also includes abortion counseling, was established after the U.S. […]