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Civil Rights Advisory Cmte Talks Racism, Body Cameras, Minority Policing...
Don’t call me next Friday afternoon; my March 24 is spoken for: On Friday, March 24, 2017, the South Dakota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will convene a public panel session...
View ArticleVideo: Kristi Noem Town Hall in Watertown
Here’s today’s just-concluded Watertown town hall with Rep. Kristi Noem, recorded by Anne Weyer. The moderator is former District 5 Senator Ried Holien: Always fun hearing anti-regulation Republicans...
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Rounds Chats with Six Voters in Murdo
It looks like Senator Mike Rounds got six people to come sit and have coffee with him on Monday at his “coffee event” in Murdo: Senator Marion Michael Rounds, Tweet, 2017.04.10. Six people out of maybe...
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EPA Taking Public Comment on Azarga Uranium Mining Permits thru May 19
The Environmental Protection Agency is taking public comment on the two draft permits it wants to issue to foreign corporation Azarga/Powertech to shoot water into the southern Black Hills to bring...
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Wiik: Presenting Text of Legislation to Voters Distorts Opinions
Some Minnesota IT folks have put together TakeBackYourState.com. The website’s goal is to give voters “a forum to share their opinion on the bills being discussed and voted on by their State...
View ArticleEPA Extends Comment Period on Azarga Uranium Project thru June 19
Rep. Kristi Noem is trying to spin the Department of Energy’s cancellation of the Deep Borehole Field Test as evidence that her Führer is hearing the anti-nuclear concerns of South Dakotans. I don’t...
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Task Force Invites Ballot Question Sponsors to Testify—See You There, Lisa...
Hey! I may finally get to meet Lisa Furlong on Wednesday! Legislative Research Council, invitation recent ballot question sponsor, 2017.06.13. The Legislature’s Initiative and Referendum Task Force...
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Citizens, Lobbyists Speak to Initiative and Referendum Task Force
Citizens awaiting public testimony before Initiative and Referendum Task Force, State Capitol, Pierre, SD, 2017.06.21. What can we learn from yesterday’s public testimony before the Legislature’s...
View ArticleI&R Task Force Already Requests Seven Draft Bills
After just a day and a half of hearings, the Initiative and Referendum Task Force has already asked the Legislative Research Council to draft at least seven bills. This list of bill draft requests,...
View ArticleI&R Task Force Should Recommend Multiple Citizen Panels, One for Each...
The Interim Task Force on Initiative and Referendum meets tomorrow to consider twenty draft proposals for reforming (and, all too frequently, hurting) South Dakota’s ballot measure process. Among the...
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DFP Commenters Write Equivalent of 31 Novels in 2017!
Readers talk a lot on Dakota Free Press. Who talks the most? Here are the 50 commenters who clicked “Post Comment” most frequently in 2017: Thirteen of you, from Leslie down on this chart, average a...
View ArticleMinnehaha GOP Prefers Long Legislator Answers to Lots of Constituent Questions
What the SDGOP spin blog calls “more substantive,” I call running scared to the echo chamber. This weekend, instead of helping sponsor the traditional Chamber of Commerce legislative coffee, the...
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New Progressive Group Meets Saturday; Brown County Democratic Candidates...
Let’s see how much progress we can make…. This could be interesting: a new progressive (opposition? resistance?) group is coalescing in Aberdeen. The Brown County Progressives for Change popped up on...
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DENR Taking Public Comment on How to Spend VW Diesel Settlement thru June 15
Bob Mercer reports that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is inviting public input on how to spend South Dakota’s $8,125,000 share of the $16.1 billion Volkswagen is coughing up in...
View ArticleGanje: SD Govt Poo-Poos Public Input
Rapid City lawyer and writer David Ganje wryly imagines a conversation between himself and state government to depict Pierre’s arrogant resistance to public participation in state affairs: Ganje: Do...
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LEAD Hosting Volunteer Training, Legislative Candidate Forum in Aberdeen...
LEAD South Dakota continues to organize and provide the public with opportunities to engage with state-level politics. On Saturday, August 25, they’re coming to Aberdeen to train volunteers at 1 p.m.,...
View ArticleHeidelberger Meta-Initiative Available for Review
The Secretary of State has posted another potential initiative for the 2020 ballot—my initiative on initiative and referendum! Technically, we should call an initiative about initiatives a...
View ArticleFacing Dwindling Print Circulation, Sioux Falls Paper Reduces Reader Letters
With one month before the statewide election, that Sioux Falls paper is reducing citizens’ opportunity to offer timely content in the state’s largest newspaper: While today’s social media age allows...
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Citizens Practice Redistricting; Cory Flips the Map to Avoid Gerrymandering!
The League of Women Voters hosted a forum on redistricting last night here in Aberdeen. Along with a detailed speech from NSU political geographer Dr. Erin Fouberg and comments from a distinguished and...
View ArticleTop 32 Dakota Free Press Blog Posts: Commenters’ Favorites!
With the Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight, the closest to the final bell since 1953, when the Soviets lit their first fusion-based bomb‚ we could say the biggest news story is Trump hasn’t...
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