Free Republic

While attempting to attack an amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill that would require a fence be built along Mexico’s border with the U.S. before legalization, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) made a significant geographical gaffe. Landrieu, who represents Louisiana in the U.S. Senate, was trying to undermine the amendment Sen. John Thune (R-SD) offered. In doing so, she tried to argue Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was more qualified to talk about border issues than Thune because McCain represents Arizona. “A smart fence, which is what Senator McCain and I want to build--since he’s from Arizona, I think he...

Herseth Sandlin passes on Senate run, leaving Republicans with early edge to win seat. ... Democrats had targeted the onetime congresswoman, who served from 2004 to 2011, as their top recruit in a seat currently held by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson. Even if Johnson had decided to run for another term, Republicans would have considered the solidly-Republican state one of their top pickup opportunities of the 2014 election. ... The state's former GOP governor, Mike Rounds, has already declared he will seek the Republican Party's nomination. While Rounds announced his campaign early and has high name-identification in the state, he...

Energy companies are lining up for their shot to drill in the Dakotas and Montana after a new government report revealed that a massive geological formation stretching across the states contains twice the oil and three times the amount of natural gas than was originally believed. While the new estimate is drawing smaller companies to the game, the larger players like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Continental Resources are pushing forward with ambitious multi-year plans to stake their claim in the industry. Continental recently announced a five-year plan to triple its production by 2017. The company’s growth is based on success in...

Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate. The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics. The question is whether two of the Democrats’ most promising potential candidates in Montana and South Dakota will pay a price for the leadership’s political maneuverings in Washington. Or will recruiting candidates who do not support President Obama’s gun control agenda have any effect on Democratic fundraising...

2014 retirements: Dems heading for the hills By: Alexander Burns April 23, 2013 04:49 PM EDT Doesn’t anyone want to run for Senate in 2014? Midway through candidate recruitment season, the bad news for Democrats is this: They are watching a generation of talent leave the Senate and head for retirement. The less-bad news: So far, few marquee-name Republicans are interested in these seats either. When Montana Sen. Max Baucus called it quits on Tuesday, he became the latest in a long series of senior legislators to announce that they’ve had quite enough of life on the Hill. National Democrats...

During a hearing into the constitutionality of voter identification laws enacted across the country, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) tore into claims by the Department of Justice that those laws were racially discriminatory. In the space of five minutes, Gowdy knocked down the claims, one by one, that a voter ID law passed in South Carolina in 2011 discriminated against African-Americans or was dissimilar to laws the Justice Department had cleared in a variety of other states. Gowdy began by noting that, when the Palmetto State’s voter identification law was passed, a third of the state’s congressional delegation were African-American; former...

Sen. Tim Johnson (S.D.) leaves the Final Four. There are now only three Senate Democrats who oppose gay marriage—Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), and Mary Landrieu (La.).

Obama quietly signs bill shielding airlines from carbon fees in EuropeBy Keith Laing - 11/27/12 02:02 PM ET President Obama has signed into law a bill that requires U.S. airlines be excluded from European carbon emissions fees. Environmentalists had framed the bill as the first test of the president's commitment to fighting climate change in his second term and urged him to veto it. Obama quietly signed it Tuesday over their objections. "The Obama administration is firmly committed to reducing harmful carbon pollution from civil aviation both domestically and internationally, but, as we have said on many occasions, the application...

GREENVILLE, S.C. —Greenville police are investigating vandalism at a restaurant, an attempted robbery and an assault all in downtown Greenville. They believe teens from the same group are responsible for all three incidents. The general manager of Grill Marks told WYFF, a group of teens walked into the restaurant around 9:30 Wednesday night, spent a few minutes inside and then proceeded to the outdoor seating area where they squirted ketchup all over the tables, walls, and floors. They also smashed salt shakers on the street. Surveillance video captured the teens in the restaurant. "It's just a pain because we had...

Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD), a Vietnam veteran who served in Congress for more than two decades, said Tuesday on Current TV that the movement for marriage equality is much like the movement for racial equality, and confidently declared that the Republican Party is now in the process of making the right to marry “the new conservative position.” “The main thing that caused me to change my mind was my work with veterans groups,” he told “Viewpoint” host John Fugelsang, explaining that he’s worked with a gay couple who want to marry and have a family. “It’s something like in...

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) will not seek reelection in 2014, The Hill has confirmed, putting another red-state seat up for grabs in the battle for control of the Senate. Johnson, who is serving his third term, will announce the news on Tuesday at the University of South Dakota, his former school. Johnson will be the fifth Senate Democrat to retire this election cycle. The decision gives Republicans another prime pickup opportunity as they work to win back control of the Senate. Republicans need to gain six seats to flip control of the upper chamber in 2014. Mitt Romney carried South...

A study by the Society of Actuaries estimates that the new federal health care law will raise medical claims costs in South Dakota by 29 percent. Medical claims costs are the main driver of health insurance premiums. The study estimates that President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act will raise claims costs nationally by an average of 32 percent per person in the individual health insurance market by 2017. That's partly due to sicker people joining the pool.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota intends to announce plans to retire when his term ends next year, Democratic officials told The Associated Press on Monday. Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2006 and later returned to the Senate and won re-election in 2008 while sometimes using a motorized scooter. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to pre-empt Johnson's formal announcement, expected Tuesday in South Dakota. His departure gives Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in a deeply conservative state. Johnson is...

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, does not plan to run for re-election when his current term ends in 2014, sources close to the matter and key Capitol Hill staffers said on Monday. Johnson, 66, joined the Senate in 1997 and has been widely expected to retire at the end of his term. He plans to make the announcement on Tuesday, the sources said. Johnson's staff said that he will hold a press conference at the University of South Dakota on Tuesday. His retirement would leave a vacant seat in a conservative-leaning state that could be...

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard has signed a bill making concealed weapons permits valid for five years, up from the current four years.

A TransCanada Corp. executive says opponents to the Keystone XL pipeline should consider one consequence of delays in building the oil pipeline — an increase in dirtier and more dangerous rail transport. Alex Pourbaix, president of energy and oil pipelines at the Calgary-based pipeline and utility company, says although rail has an important role to play in moving oilsands crude to market, there are downsides to consider. "For every mile you move a barrel of oil by rail, you emit three times the (greenhouse gases) that you do by moving it by pipeline and you have an order of magnitude...

US House Energy and Commerce Committee members released a discussion draft of legislation designed to jump-start approval of the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project. The draft bill by Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) would eliminate the need for a presidential permit and find that the Aug. 26, 2011, final environmental impact statement issued by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton satisfied all National Environmental Policy Act requirements. Reps. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and John Barrow (D-Ga.) cosponsored the proposal, which also would limit legal challenges to the project so it would not be delayed further. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred...

In a measure the state said would help stop massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut in December, so-called "school sentinels" will be tasked with protecting children. The controversial measure was signed by Governor Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, and will go into effect on July 1. It reflects a growing divide between those including President Barack Obama, who believe guns need to be more strictly regulated, and supporters of the National Rifle Association who argue that more guns keep people safer. In South Dakota, supporters of the "sentinel" plan argued that schools in rural areas were...

Eleven months ago, the old Battle Mountain Humane Society building north of Hot Springs on Highway 385, was consumed by fire. A faulty fluorescent light fixture was the cause of the catastrophe that killed 11 dogs and rendered Wagoner, who had an apartment in the building, homeless. Volunteers sprang into action, donations poured in from the area, state, nation and even from international donors. Celebrities such as NASCAR driver Ryan Newman stepped up through his foundation to lend a hand. Immediately next to the cement pad where the original building - a converted riding stable - stood last year, a...

US Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) were joined by 18 other senators from both parties as they urged newly confirmed Secretary of State John F. Kerry to approve the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline during this year’s first quarter. “The State Department received the new route approved by the state of Nebraska on Jan. 22…but [it] has yet to inform the public and stakeholders of a definitive process for the final decision,” the 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans said in their Feb. 22 letter. “We urge you as Secretary of State to ensure that this decision...

After seeing the American flag being disrespected several times, Cesar Zakahi finally had enough. The Stanley County School District custodian posted a picture of proof on his Facebook page. Then, he claims, was fired. Cesar claimed that a fellow female janitor had been throwing the flag on a shelf in the corner of the school’s boiler room for several months. He claims he had complained many times to the school’s superintendent about the flag’s treatment and decided to take matters into his own hands. ...

Canadians worried US president won’t honor Nebraska governor’s decision The Canadian government has suddenly turned edgy about hopes of seeing TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline clearing its final regulatory hurdle and spreading fresh optimism among Alberta oil sands and Bakken producers. Now that Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has sent a letter to President Barack Obama endorsing TransCanada’s proposed rerouting of the pipeline to avoid the state’s ecologically sensitive Sandhills region, the final verdict rests with the U.S. State Department which must issue a Presidential Permit for any pipeline crossing the Canada-U.S. border. At the same time a letter signed by 53...

Canadian provincial premier, 10 state governors, seek Keystone pipeline decision The sense of urgency among Canadian governments and oil producers facing a crude transportation bottleneck and the looming prospect of shut-ins has prompted one provincial premier to join 10 U.S. state governors in urging President Barack Obama to end procrastination and approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. “The energy relationship between the United States and Canada is vital to both our countries. It is an interest we share, transcending political lines and geographic boundaries,” the leaders said in a letter to Obama, hoping to gain the president’s attention as he embarks...

The Sierra Club has announced its approval for a "one-time" use of civil disobedience. The civil disobedience is intended to step up their efforts to oppose the Keystone pipeline. Many of the other groups opposing Keystone have been engaging in civil disobedience as a tactic, including arson-based ecoterrorism. This will be the first time in the Sierra Club's history that they have approved violating the law.

More than half the Senate on Wednesday urged quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ramping up pressure on President Barack Obama to move ahead with the project just days after he promised in his inaugural address to respond vigorously to the threat of climate change. A letter signed by 53 senators said Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman’s approval of a revised route through his state puts the long-delayed project squarely in the president's hands. “We urge you to choose jobs, economic development and American energy security,” the letter said, adding that the pipeline “has gone through the most exhaustive...

“I think you need to put everything on the table,” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D, told ABC News‘ George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday, “but what I hear from the administration – and if the Washington Post is to be believed – that’s way, way in extreme of what I think is necessary or even should be talked about. And it’s not going to pass.” The Washington Post article Heitkamp was referring to, reported that President Obama would soon seek to pass legislation “that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national...

Energy companies behind the oil boom on the Northern Plains are increasingly turning to an industrial-age workhorse - the locomotive - to move their crude to refineries across the U.S., as plans for new pipelines stall and existing lines can't keep up with demand. ... The environmental fears carry an ironic twist: Oil trains are gaining popularity in part because of a shortage of pipeline capacity - a problem that has been worsened by environmental opposition to such projects as TransCanada's stalled Keystone XL pipeline. That project would carry Bakken and Canadian crude to the Gulf of Mexico. Wayde Schafer,...

In the wake of the deadly Connecticut school shooting last week, one question has repeatedly surfaced in the Black Hills and across much of the country: Why would anyone want to own an assault weapon? One thing is clear — the high-powered rifles capable of shooting multiple rounds in a hurry are in high demand. After President Barack Obama said this week he would push to renew a ban on purchasing the rifles, local gun-shop owners said the weapons have been flying off their shelves. Meanwhile, gun owners in Rapid City cite diverse reasons for purchasing the weapons. Some say...

In anticipation of a long-awaited Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) public hearing on TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL (KXL) oil pipeline, the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday urged President Obama to approve the project. The DEQ's final hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Central time Tuesday in Albion, Neb. On Oct. 30, 2012, the agency released its draft report on a revised KXL route that avoids the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region in northeastern Nebraska. "With today's final [Nebraska] public hearing, the DEQ can conclude deliberations on this project," said API Central Region Director John Kerekes in...

When South Dakota’s former two-term Gov. Mike Rounds made it official last week that he would seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator in 2014, it was national news. After an election year in which Republicans began with high hopes of winning a majority in the Senate only to end with a net loss of two seats from their ranks, news that Rounds was poised to challenge Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson was truly something to cheer for the dispirited GOP. “Instantly competitive,” is how the Hill characterized the likely contest between conservative Rounds and two-term liberal Democrat Johnson (lifetime American...

It’s a decision President Barack Obama put off during the 2012 campaign, but now that he’s won a second term, his next move on a proposed oil pipeline between the U.S. and Canada may signal how he will deal with climate and energy issues in the four years ahead. Obama is facing increasing pressure to determine the fate of the $7 billion Keystone XL project, with environmental activists and oil producers each holding out hope that the president, freed from the political constraints of re-election, will side with them on this and countless other related issues down the road. On...

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

Now that the election is over, the oil and gas industry is holding the president accountable for promises made during his campaign. American Petroleum Institute called on President Obama to move forward with the stagnant project and grant approval in a conference call with reporters Thursday. "In our exit polls last week … it showed that 73 percent of Americans support more American production of oil and natural gas," stated API's Executive Vice President Marty Durbin. "Ninety-one percent believe that that production will lead to more American jobs – and 75 percent support building the Keystone XL pipeline. We encourage...

Who could imagine the sound of enemy fire would signal the last rites for our honored dead? In what may be among the most ironic acts of official neglect and insensitivity of the past seven decades, the Russian SKS rifle is now used in ceremonial service by some honor guards as the last sound our Native American veterans and their families hear as veterans are laid to rest across South Dakota. It is an act of omission and ignorance. The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. The Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova 1945 was...

As Canadian political and business leaders expressed optimism the proposed Keystone XL pipeline will win approval under a re-elected President Barack Obama, environmental opponents and the U.S. ambassador to Canada cautioned the energy megaproject isn’t a slam dunk. Obama’s Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, had vowed quick approval of the $7.6-billion pipeline if he had won Tuesday’s presidential election. But Obama, who earlier this year rejected TransCanada Corp.’s initial application because it needed more environmental review, has remained noncommital about the fate of the line, which would ship Alberta oilsands product to the U.S. Gulf Coast. In Ottawa, federal Natural Resources...

CUSTER (AP) — A rural Custer man who discovered a mountain lion lounging on his porch shot and killed the animal.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Becky O'Connell left her South Dakota home on the simplest of errands: to go to the store for sugar so she could make lemonade. When the 9-year-old didn't return, panic gripped Sioux Falls, prompting parents to round up their children and keep them indoors. But within hours, the mystery was solved — with a gruesome outcome. Becky had been kidnapped, raped and stabbed to death, left to die on an earthen berm near the Big Sioux River that rainy night in May 1990. Becky's killer, 60-year-old Donald Moeller, is set to die by lethal injection...

Monday, 22 October 2012 16:11 The Passing of George McGovern: A Liberal Who Got Mugged Written by Bob Adelmann George McGovern, known for his ultra-liberal stance on issues of his day, passed away on Sunday, October 21st, at Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at age 90. Active in promoting liberal programs almost from the first, McGovern was convinced that government could be used as an instrument to improve society, especially in providing food for the poor in America and around the world. He saw the American government and the United Nations as tools to promote sustenance for...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Russell Means, a former American Indian Movement activist who helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee, reveled in stirring up attention and appeared in several Hollywood films, has died. He was 72. Means died early Monday at his ranch in in Porcupine, S.D., Oglala Sioux Tribe spokeswoman Donna Solomon said. Means, a Wanblee native who grew up in the San Francisco area, announced in August 2011 that he had developed inoperable throat cancer. He told The Associated Press he was forgoing mainstream medical treatments in favor of traditional American Indian remedies and alternative treatments away...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — George S. McGovern, a proud liberal who argued fervently against the Vietnam War as a senator from South Dakota and suffered one of the most crushing defeats in presidential election history against Richard Nixon in 1972, died before dawn Sunday. He was 90. A spokesman for McGovern's family, Steve Hildebrand, told The Associated Press by telephone that McGovern died at 5:15 a.m. Sunday at a hospice in Sioux Falls, surrounded by family and lifelong friends.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. A South Dakota man who beat a prison guard with a pipe and covered his head in plastic wrap to kill him during a failed escape attempt was put to death Monday, in the state's first execution since 2007. Eric Robert, 50, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls at 10:24 p.m. He is the first South Dakota inmate to die under the state's new single-drug lethal injection method, and only the 17th person to be executed in the state or Dakota Territory since 1877. Robert had no expression...

Senator George McGovern is receiving hospice care. The family announced Monday afternoon that the senator is in Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls. It was just in August when the former Democratic presidential candidate gave up his homes in Mitchell and Florida to spend more time near family in Sioux Falls. His daughter told The Associated Press on Monday that the longtime South Dakota senator is "coming to the end of his life." Ann McGovern declined to elaborate, but noted her 90-year-old father's recent health problems. Last October, he was treated for exhaustion after a lecture tour. Two months later,...

RAPID CITY, SD - A North Rapid City neighborhood is in shock after an early morning shooting. Police say it happened during a home invasion where the home owner shot and killed the intruder shortly before 5 a.m. When police arrived they found at 21-year old Dallas Two Bulls' body. He was shot three times by a homeowner acting in self defense. Residents in the neighborhood woke up to an unfamiliar sight. "A couple of police cars and the crime tape spread across, there. And we were just scratching our heads wondering what was going on," neighbor Byford Avery said....

When my son R.J. came home for a visit last month, priority one was completing a passport application. His chamber choir is touring Italy next spring, and he wanted to be sure he had everything in order. We printed out the passport application and looked it over carefully, making sure he had everything needed. To be safe, we turned in his old birth certificate at the Register of Deeds office and got a new “raised seal” certificate. Rather than taking a chance with a digital photo taken at home, we went to the Wal-Mart Photo Center to have passport photos...

Dear Friends, Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest Tea Party political action committee, announced the “Winning for America” national bus tour today. The tour will travel through 25 battleground states that are key to conservatives’ victories in November.For the complete tour schedule, click here. This week the President and his party will be bragging about their legislative success, and rightfully so. After an $825 billion dollar stimulus, Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and the Auto Bailout, President Obama and the Democratic Congress got everything they wanted. The unfortunate truth is that these policies have failed to yield the results that were promised...

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – Beef Products Inc. sued ABC News, Inc. for defamation Thursday over its coverage of a meat product that critics dub "pink slime," claiming the network damaged the company by misleading consumers into believing it is unhealthy and unsafe. The Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based meat processor is seeking $1.2 billion in damages for roughly 200 "false and misleading and defamatory" statements about the product officially known as lean, finely textured beef, said Dan Webb, BPI's Chicago-based attorney. The lawsuit filed in a South Dakota state court also names several individuals as defendants, including ABC news anchor Diane...

Black Hills Corp. said Monday that its utilities will close some older coal-fired power plants because it would cost too much to bring them in compliance with new federal and state environmental regulations. The company said its Colorado Electric subsidiary will idle a plant in Canon City, Colo... The Black Hills Power subsidiary will suspend operations Aug. 31 at a coal-fired unit in Rapid City, S.D., and retire the plant in March 2014. It also plans to retire plants near Gillette and Osage, Wyo., in March 2014...

South Dakota has joined other states in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in a federal appeal involving Maryland's requirements for getting a permit to carry a gun.

South Dakota is doing everything it can to let downtrodden pregnant women know there are better, healthier options than abortion. In March 2011, South Dakota’s Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed the Abortion Informed Consent Statute into law. Although the constitutionality of the law was immediately challenged, and Planned Parenthood recoiled at the thought of mothers being informed of all the dangers abortion poses for them (in addition to the child), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that all major provisions of the law can stand. Generally speaking, this means that women seeking an abortion in South Dakota’s only abortion...