Commentary

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes questions from the media after his campaign rally at Legends Event Center on Dec. 20, 2023, in Phoenix. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

South Dakota drug conviction is among the baggage RFK Jr. brings to the ballot

BY: - August 10, 2024

Bill Walsh picked up a ringing phone in Deadwood during the fall of 1983 and heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s voice. “Bill, I’m off the wagon,” Kennedy said, according to Walsh. “I’ve got a flight coming in tomorrow.” The two had become friends in 1980. Kennedy campaigned in South Dakota that year for his uncle, […]

A camouflaged turkey hunter sits along wooded cover as the sun rises over public habitat near Yankton. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Attempts to influence GF&P are a reminder: Wildlife belongs to everyone

BY: - August 3, 2024

During retirement, one of my freelance assignments was covering the Legislature for the South Dakota Newspaper Association. I enjoyed the work, though the weekly travel from my home in Brookings was daunting. One day, having just arrived in Pierre and making my way through the Capitol, I saw some officials from the Game, Fish and […]

A mural painted on the side of a boarded up apartment complex in Eagle Butte depicts an infant holding the hand of an elder. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota)

State should confront Indigenous foster care and prison numbers

BY: - August 1, 2024

The Indian Child Welfare Act is a federal policy that seeks to keep Indigenous families and communities intact by regulating the removal of Native American children from their homes and the placement of children in foster care or adoptive homes. The goal of ICWA is the preservation of Indigenous communities and the safety and health […]

(Getty Images)

Gannett has few journalists, but plenty of lawyers

BY: - July 21, 2024

It was just a year ago that this space was used to question Gannett’s business plan for its newspapers in South Dakota. A declining amount of local news in the Gannett papers — the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the Watertown Public Opinion and the Aberdeen American News — fostered an effort to change the laws […]

First Amendment of the US Constitution text, with other Constitution text above. (iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Praising free speech while trampling on it

BY: - July 17, 2024

It was Newspaper Day 2020 at the South Dakota Legislature. The morning was filled with press conferences featuring the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties. Then newspaper editors and publishers hosted a lunch at the Ramkota for their legislators, using the time to explain why House Bill 1241, which sought to change the definition […]

A JBS processing plant stands dormant after halting operations on June 1, 2021, in Greeley, Colorado. JBS facilities around the globe were impacted by a ransomware attack, forcing many of their facilities to shut down. (Chet Strange/Getty Images)

Expansion of antitrust enforcement in agriculture is a hopeful sign for farmers and ranchers

BY: - July 12, 2024

I’m a fourth-generation Brown County farmer and cattle rancher determined to make it possible for my children to be fifth-generation family farmers. That’s why I’ve been advocating since the 1980s for enforcement of antitrust laws protecting family farmers and ranchers from abuse and market manipulation by meatpackers.  Now, as president of South Dakota’s largest agriculture […]

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after she introduced him at the Monument Leaders Rally hosted by the South Dakota Republican Party on Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Challenge accepted: Reading Noem’s book yields even more damning info 

BY: - July 6, 2024

Like many South Dakotans, I was intrigued by Gov. Kristi Noem’s chances for being selected as Donald Trump’s running mate, and I paid attention to the release of her book, “No Going Back.” When her promotional appearances turned into the book tour from hell, it was hard to look away.  During an interview with Stuart […]

Guns on display in 2023 at Caso’s Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Aristide Economopoulos/for NJ Monitor)

Shedding tears as we shed our common sense on guns

BY: - July 5, 2024

It’s enough to make a grown man cry. And one of my friends did just that during a recent school board meeting here in Rapid City as he was trying to offer public comment about a pending board decision on guns in schools. Yes, guns in schools. How’s that for dissonance? Remember those “What doesn’t […]

Fireworks are offered for sale at a department store on the first day of New Year's Eve fireworks sales on Dec. 29, 2008, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)

Fireworks sales have fallen back to Earth after years of explosive growth — here’s why

BY: - July 4, 2024

It’s the Fourth of July — a day of parades, barbecue and, of course, fireworks. But while parades and barbecues are still very popular, shockingly, this year fireworks are less so. Imports of fireworks reached a peak in 2022 of almost US$600 million, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. But today, just two years […]

Gov. Kristi Noem speaks during a bill-signing ceremony March 6, 2024, at the Capitol in Pierre. (David Bordewyk/South Dakota NewsMedia Association)

Flood washes away Noem’s false veneer of leadership

BY: - June 27, 2024

Severe weather brought a deluge to southeast South Dakota recently and exposed Gov. Kristi Noem’s faults. While the rain fell, she abandoned the state for a political conference and television interview. When catastrophic floodwaters surged toward McCook Lake, her cursory appearance there — along with her lackluster crisis communications and departure for an out-of-state political […]

The Senate convenes during the 2024 legislative session. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Primary upsets could cause a hard right turn in the Legislature

BY: - June 25, 2024

It has been known for some time that there are two Republican parties in the South Dakota Legislature. Now one of them is getting bigger. The Republican primary earlier this month saw 14 legislators defeated. Add to that 21 Republican legislators who chose not to seek reelection or were term-limited in their chamber and did […]

An employee collects money while holding packages of marijuana at Top Shelf Cannabis, a retail marijuana store, on July 8, 2014, in Bellingham, Washington. Top Shelf Cannabis was the first retail marijuana store to open in Washington state, nearly a year and a half after the state's voters chose to legalize marijuana. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

With marijuana on the ballot, it’s not just about good times. It’s also about money.

BY: - June 20, 2024

To the casual observer, it might look like South Dakotans are addicted to voting on recreational marijuana. Legalizing grass was on the ballot in 2020, 2022 and will be again in 2024. For the backers of legalized marijuana, the high point came in 2020 when voters here approved a constitutional amendment with 54% of the […]