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South Dakota Searchlight •

State wildfire division celebrates $4 million investment in new facilities amid busy season • South Dakota Searchlight

RAPID CITY — Firefighters who’ve been busy battling wildfires in South Dakota’s Black Hills celebrated the opening Monday of two state-funded buildings to house their trucks, equipment and training.
Jay Wickham, the director of South Dakota Wildland Fire, has advocated for new facilities for many of the 28 years he’s worked with the division.
He used the word “grateful” to describe his feelings Monday.
“Just a huge gratitude so that our people have a place they can call home, that they can be pr...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Three candidates pledge changes on Medicaid, ag, taxes and education while governor touts results • South Dakota Searchlight

SIOUX FALLS — Three men who want to be governor of South Dakota vowed to do things differently than the current administration on topics including Medicaid, agriculture, taxes and education, while the governor said his results justify keeping him in the job.
The four candidates for the Republican nomination met in their second televised debate Monday evening, aired by South Dakota Public Broadcasting in partnership with South Dakota News Watch. Early voting is scheduled to begin Friday for the J...
South Dakota Searchlight •

$4 million for gunsmithing program is latest economic development grant from governor amid campaign • South Dakota Searchlight

RAPID CITY — South Dakota’s governor, who’s in the midst of an election campaign, awarded another grant Tuesday from an economic development fund he controls.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden announced a $4 million Future Fund award for Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City. The college will use the money to move a gunsmithing school from Colorado and incorporate it into Western Dakota’s offerings for students.
Rhoden, who attended Western Dakota decades ago but didn’t graduate, made the an...
South Dakota Searchlight •

State providing $6 million to grow national security jobs, governor announces • South Dakota Searchlight

BOX ELDER — South Dakota’s governor took the next step Wednesday in his effort to make national security the state’s “next big industry” by announcing the creation of the South Dakota Defense Institute.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who formerly served in the National Guard, identified national security as a primary economic development focus in his State of the State address three months ago. He made Wednesday’s announcement at the Black Hills Defense & Industry Symposium.
“The federal governme...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Governor candidates clash over inmate rehabilitation as state builds new prisons • South Dakota Searchlight

Two Republican candidates for governor of South Dakota spotlighted dueling plans Tuesday to prevent repeat crime.
As Gov. Larry Rhoden announced new efforts by his prison rehabilitation task force, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson pledged to create his own task force while slamming the lack of progress on the issue during the recently concluded legislative session as “unacceptable.”
Their concern about recidivism is rooted partly in recent decisions by Rhoden, his predecessor Kristi Noem and the Legislat...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Governor’s approval opens South Dakota housing loan fund to big-city airport projects • South Dakota Searchlight

A state loan fund intended to incentivize housing construction will soon be available for airport improvement and maintenance projects in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
The change is in legislation that lawmakers approved earlier this month and South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed into law Tuesday while visiting the Rapid City Regional Airport.
“More gates, more flights and more destinations means more visitors, more business and more opportunity,” Rhoden said.
The money for the loans...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Wildfire near Custer damages 10 properties, authorities say • South Dakota Searchlight

A wildfire that’s grown to more than 11 square miles near the city of Custer in South Dakota’s Black Hills had not caused any injuries as of Saturday night but had damaged about 10 properties, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office said.
The damage ranges from sheds and garages “all the way up to some homes being lost,” said Sgt. Derrick Reifenrath in a video update on Facebook about the Qury Fire.
He said local road closures remained in effect and asked for patience as firefighting continued and ha...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Higher sales taxes for lower property taxes: Final plan takes shape at South Dakota Legislature • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — After dozens of bills and months of debate about options for reducing homeowner property taxes, South Dakota lawmakers settled Wednesday on plans to use revenue from new and increased sales taxes.
State senators voted 20-13 on Wednesday in favor of the last major part of a multi-bill approach. Senate Bill 245 would capture $114 million in ongoing annual revenue from next year’s scheduled increase of the statewide sales tax rate from 4.2% to 4.5%, and would use that money to reduce local...
South Dakota Searchlight •

New South Dakota law allows voters to challenge other voters' citizenship • South Dakota Searchlight

Voters in South Dakota will soon be able to challenge other voters’ citizenship.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed legislation into law last week that authorizes challenges by individuals and election officials.
“We do a lot of things right in South Dakota, and our election integrity is something to be admired and emulated by other states,” Rhoden said in a news release.
The new law will not affect the June 2 primary election, because it won’t take effect until July 1, which is the regular eff...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Whatever lawmakers do about property taxes, it’s too late to save us from the price of ‘Freedom’ • South Dakota Searchlight

A state senator recently offered an insightful opinion on South Dakota’s property tax conundrum.
He was arguing, unsuccessfully, for a bill incentivizing data center construction. But his comments made a broader point.
“What’s happened in South Dakota is we get people moving here for freedom, and that’s great,” said Sen. Steve Kolbeck, R-Sioux Falls. “But then they work from home. And there is no large commercial building paying property tax.”
In other words, people need public services such as...
South Dakota Searchlight •

A missing senator, a failed search and two dead data center bills: The SD Senate’s chaotic day • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — A member’s unexplained absence and an unsuccessful search for him contributed to the defeat of two bills intended to incentivize data centers Tuesday during a chaotic afternoon for South Dakota state senators.
“It’s not a good look for the Senate,” said Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings. 
The absent senator was John Carley, a Republican from Piedmont and an opponent of both bills. As the fate of the data center legislation hung in the balance due to a close margin of support and opposition, se...
South Dakota Searchlight •

County sales tax idea moves ahead as effort to prolong statewide sales tax reduction fails • South Dakota Searchlight

A proposal to let counties reduce homeowner property taxes by charging a sales tax advanced Wednesday at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre, while an effort to maintain a lower statewide sales tax rate failed.
The county sales tax plan is from Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. It would let counties levy up to a half-percent sales tax and use the money to offset the county’s portion of property taxes on owner-occupied homes, in the form of credits to property owners.
The Senate Taxation Committee vot...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Lawmakers endorse adding school coaches as mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect, but not clergy • South Dakota Searchlight

Debates about which types of authority figures should be mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect ended in one proposal’s failure and another’s advancement Wednesday at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre.
The state House of Representatives approved a bill that would add coaches of school activities to a list of mandatory reporters in state law that includes teachers, health care providers, child care workers and others. The bill’s next stop is a state Senate committee.
The legislation’s sp...
South Dakota Searchlight •

South Dakota Republican leaders argue about economic development in front of reporters • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — The divide in South Dakota’s Republican Party over the government’s role in economic development spilled into public view Thursday at the state Capitol as two of the party’s top leaders argued in front of reporters.
The back-and-forth happened during the Republican legislative leadership team’s weekly press conference. Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, was answering a question about proposals for a moratorium on construction or expansion of large data centers.
Backers of a...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Controversial SD House member Phil Jensen suspended for two weeks from Republican caucus • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — South Dakota House Republicans have suspended Rep. Phil Jensen from their caucus meetings for two weeks because of his remarks about Democratic votes on legislation dealing with religion.
Jensen, of Rapid City, is no stranger to controversy. 
Last month, leaders changed his committee assignments and publicly scolded him after he protested the seating arrangement in the House Education Committee. Last year, leaders stripped his vice chairmanship of that committee after he filed legislati...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Bills to loosen gun restrictions fail in SD committee after on-target questions from lawmaker • South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — A pair of questions that struck the bullseye contributed to a South Dakota legislative committee’s uncharacteristic rejection of two bills to roll back concealed gun laws Monday at the state Capitol.
The first bill would have relieved college students of the requirement to obtain a permit before carrying a concealed pistol on campus.
The questions came from House Education Committee member Jim Halverson, R-Winner, who opposed the bill. He directed the questions to Nathan Lukkes, who tes...
South Dakota Searchlight •

The clearest critique of Noem’s conjecture about a shooting is, unwittingly, from her successor • South Dakota Searchlight

For yet another reminder of what a poor job Kristi Noem is doing, just ask her handpicked replacement as governor of South Dakota.
Not directly, mind you. Larry Rhoden will defend her to the hilt if asked about her by name.
But ask him indirectly, or just let him talk awhile, and he’ll criticize her actions without even realizing he’s doing it.
That happened often during the beginning of his tenure as governor, when he spoke repeatedly about the need for a “reset” on nearly every important issue...
South Dakota Searchlight •

For Don Barnett, the 1972 flood was 'tattooed on my brain and on my soul' • South Dakota Searchlight

Don Barnett, who died Monday at age 83, was the 29-year-old mayor of Rapid City when it was struck by a flood that killed 238 people on June 9, 1972. He received widespread praise for leading the recovery and helping to ensure that the city never again overbuilt in the Rapid Creek floodplain.
Barnett was photographed by Johnny Sundby and interviewed by Seth Tupper — now the editor of South Dakota Searchlight — for a 2022 book, “Surviving the ’72 Flood,” and a South Dakota Public Broadcasting doc...
South Dakota Searchlight •

A New Year’s resolution for South Dakota: Stop flushing dollars, then pinching pennies • South Dakota Searchlight

There was nothing under the tree this Christmas for South Dakota’s schools, state employees and health care providers.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden proposed no funding increase for them in the next state budget.
“Because our revenues haven’t grown much, we have to keep them flat this year,” Rhoden said during his annual December budget address.
Hearing that news so close to the holidays, I was reminded of the climactic movie scene in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” when a wife takes her...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Health Department warns of measles exposure in Rapid City • South Dakota Searchlight

The South Dakota Department of Health is warning the public about a potential measles exposure at the Rapid City Regional Airport. 
The notification came as the agency’s website lists three new measles cases in the state since November.
The new cases are the state’s first since June, and they raise the number of confirmed measles infections this year in South Dakota to 15.
At the Rapid City airport, the potential exposure was caused by a Butte County resident with a confirmed measles infection,...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Wounded Knee Massacre site protection bill passes Congress • South Dakota Searchlight

The U.S. Senate sent President Donald Trump a bill Thursday that would protect a portion of the Wounded Knee Massacre site on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, sponsored the legislation in the House, where it passed in January. Sen. Mike Rounds sponsored the legislation in the Senate, where it passed Thursday, with Majority Leader John Thune as a cosponsor. Both are Republicans from South Dakota.
Johnson released a statement saying “the time is now here to prop...
South Dakota Searchlight •

Governor: 'Not much I’ve seen that I could support’ in legislative property tax proposals • South Dakota Searchlight

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, who has his own idea to reduce property taxes, does not sound impressed with 19 recommendations from a legislative task force.
“I’ve realized that there’s not much I’ve seen that I could support,” Rhoden told South Dakota Searchlight during a visit to Rapid City last week.
The governor’s own proposal, which he announced in March, would authorize an optional sales tax for counties. The revenue would be used to reduce property taxes for homeowners. 
“And I’ll say th...
South Dakota Searchlight •

New prison’s programs will reduce state's world-leading rate of incarcerated women, official says  • South Dakota Searchlight

RAPID CITY — No other place in the world incarcerates women at a higher rate than South Dakota, according to research by a prison-focused nonprofit, and the construction of a second women’s prison in the state could be viewed as a continuation of that trend.
The new leader of the state’s prison system said Thursday it’s the start of a turnaround.
“It’s not going to show overnight,” said Nick Lamb, “but it will show in a few years. You’ll see a substantial decrease.”
The staff and space devot...
South Dakota Searchlight •

South Dakota governor bets on policy over politics while launching campaign to keep his job • South Dakota Searchlight

RAPID CITY — South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden launched a campaign to keep his job with an expression of his philosophy.
“Good policy makes good politics,” he said.
The comment came during remarks Tuesday at the Hotel Alex Johnson in downtown Rapid City, where Rhoden formally announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for governor next year in the June 2 primary election.
He has competition from three other declared candidates for the party’s nomination: U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, busi...
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