South Dakota War College

My name is PP, and I deal in rumors . Although, "dealing" would imply I make money off of them. Having had to replace a video card and power supply, plus other costs associated with the blog (like my trip to RC during session), let me assure you that's not the case. But I do often find myself at the center of a malestrom of confirmed and unconfirmed information. The most recent? About a dozen people have told me that an anonymous letter was sent out to the media in an attempt to assassinate the character of an elected official as prelude to the State Republican Convention. My advice to those who hear about this as an impetus to unseat an incumbent? Republican delegates, be very, very wary. As I said, I deal in rumor. I hear this stuff day in and day out. My inbox fills with it. And that's ok. If I know it to not be true, I dismiss it. If the factor of "truth versus fiction" is unknown, I consider the source. Is it credible? Is there supporting evidence or th...

Former Republican Scott Heidepreim oficially announced today that he' srunning as a Democrat against Dick Kelly. Ahe also announced some interesting people on his campaign team. From the Argusleader.com website : Heidepriem said he’s running for the city’s District 13 Senate seat “for one simple reason. Pierre’s priorities are wrong for South Dakota and wrong for District 13. I’m running for the Legislature to create more opportunities for our children. “We need to provide more resources for our teaches and our schools. We also need to work to assure that we keep our streets and our schools safe for our kids.’’ A lawyer who has lived with his wife, Susan, and two sons in Sioux Falls for more than a decade, Heidepriem also said he’s concerned about wages, health care and economic development. Jean Beddow and Dick Gregerson will be campaign co-chairs. Read it all here . Jean Beddow from Mitchell isn't a surprise, but Republican Lobbyist Dick Gregerson is. I had head about it a fe...

I always wondered why the Argus Leader had been promoting the odd notion that it was ok for an insurance agent to end up as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy that they had written. Now I know why they've been ramming that notion down their readership's throat: South Dakota's Supreme Court says the state Division of Insurance can revoke Sioux Falls agent Steve Tinklenberg's license for accepting a $25,000 policy from a former client. In a unanimous decision released Thursday, the court said records in the case provide "clear and convincing evidence to support the revocation of Tinklenberg's license." It appears to be the final word on a long-running and highly publicized case that included Tinklenberg's acquittal on criminal charges and the state's payment of $57,500 to the agent after he accused Division of Insurance investigators of violating his civil rights. "I'm not a bitter, angry man at all with this outcome," said Tin...

South Dakota Politics and Elections is running an on-line poll for the Gubernatorial Race between Governor Rounds and Jack Billion. I'd encourage you to go check it out here and to vote for the Republican of your choice. ;)

The South Dakota Republican Party is making their push for the 2006 GOP convention... Which I'm attending on behalf of Brookings county. I even managed to finangle my way in to being the delegation's Vice-Chairman. Which, if called on to do so, means I have to have rudimentary math skills as I might have to count votes. Anyway, here's the release with what the State GOP is using as a theme for the 2006 convention: South Dakota Republicans FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Max Wetz Tuesday, June 13, 2006 605-222-4125 Republican 2006 State Convention set PIERRE – The South Dakota Republican Party is putting the final touches on its 2006 State Convention, which will be held June 23-24 at the Watertown Event Center in Watertown. “This is a great election year and this is going to be one of the best conventions ever,” said Executive Director Max Wetz. “We have many great events planned for our delegates and ...

If you haven't noticed (if they're not there, hit your browser's refresh button), I changed up a few pictures at the top of the page. Manny Steele, Dennis Schmidt, Isaac Lattrell, Katy Dressen, and a few others are gracing the top banner for a while (or until someone displaces them by coughing up $20 a month for a banner ad linked to their website). I'm well on track to beating my record of 12,000 visitors this month, so it's not like you won't be getting some exposure. e-mail for details.

Tony Mangan over at KCCR News is reporting that State Senator Bob Gray is going to be going for the top political position in the State Senate this next winter when the GOP caucus meets (usually in November/December) to pick officers: District 24 Senator Bob Gray says he may run for a leadership position in the state Senate next year. The Pierre Republican is unopposed this year for a second term in the Senate. And with some Senators either retiring or losing primaries last week, that means the Senate will have a different look. Leadership positions are open and Gray says he is thinking for one of those spots. He says a lot depends on the fall elections and whether the G-O-P keeps its majority in the Senate. Legislators will gather in party caucuses after the November election to select their leaders. Gray says he will make a decision later this summer or early fall. I also have it on good authority that you might see one of the big winners from the June primary also considering a chal...

At KSFY , it's being reported that the new owner of the old Governor's Mansion has put up a website asking people what he should do with it. Governor's Mansion - A Rapid City dentist, Leon Brodie, plans to renovate the former governor's mansion, but he's not quite sure what it should be. So, he's set up a web site to take public suggestions until the end of the month. According to the website : The current owner , who has recently purchased the home, would like to know your thoughts on what should be done with the old governor's mansion. One person with too much time on their hands noted: "I think it should be a restaurant. It could be a theme restaurant and you could find out the favorite meals of all the past Governor's that lived in it and call those dish's but that Governor's name. Part of it could also be a bed and breakfast with each room dedicated to the past Governor's. " Tally S. Oh come on . It's a house. "Part of...

My friend Todd Epp sent out a release for his candidate, Jack Billion noting that Jack was interviewed by the DNC Blog recently: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : (Released June 14, 2006) FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Epp at 605.221.6143 or tepp@billionforgovernor.com NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY INTERVIEWS JACK BILLION ON ITS BLOG SIOUX FALLS--The National Democratic Party interviewed Jack Billion for its blog today. Dr. Billion is the Democratic candidate for governor in South Dakota. The DNC's Tracy Joan Russo interviewed Jack and wrote a blog entry entitled "50-State Strategy: South Dakota--Meet Jack Billion." It is located at http://dnc.org/a/2006/06/tell_me_a_littl.php . For more information, contact Todd Epp at the information below. So, I went and took a little gander to see what the other side has to say about the election : What would you like to see change in South Dakota? Five of the ten poorest counties in Amer...

During the primary, I saw this ad, and thought to myself "I've been there and it's happened to me." What am I referring to? Ads destined for newsprint which look nice on the computer screen, but end up with muddy tones of grey in the final outcome. I've been using tabloids for years, designing most all of them by scratch; hammering out text by myself or with a writing partner. 9 out of 10 end up looking great. And then I had one destined to be used statewide. It had a great flag graphic half-toned in the background for the cover. On the computer it looked crisp and sharp and very attractive. And after it printed, my initial reaction was "what happened?" My crisp greyscale flag graphic was a muddy washed out mess. It looked more like the 1950's era Blob than a prod icon of American symbolism and patriotism. Maurice has similar problems here. His picture which probably looked great on the computer screen actually is too close of a blend with its back...

From the Rapid City Journal : A Rapid City man said Wednesday he doubts he will be able to collect enough petition signatures to force a statewide referendum on a measure that would force all who are arrested for drunken driving to provide blood samples for alcohol testing. Kent Hazelrigg wants to require that statewide vote in hopes that voters will reject the law passed by this year's Legislature. He contends the new law, which is scheduled to take effect July 1, is unconstitutional because the forced withdrawal of blood would violate the U.S. Constitution by making people incriminate themselves. "We don't have to prove our innocence," said Hazelrigg, who moves houses and does dirt work. Hazelrigg needs 16,728 valid signatures by Monday to refer the blood-testing measure to a statewide public vote in the November election. He said he now has only about 3,500 signatures. "I ain't giving up on nothing, but I don't see it happening," Hazelrigg sai...

(Hat tip to Mt. Blogmore). Shortly after taking the reigns of the Western Governor's Association, Governor Mike Rounds led the bipartisan delegation in unanimously passing a resolution calling on states and cities to reduce human-caused greenhouse gases. From the LA Times: The resolution said that 11 national academies of science from major nations have agreed that climate change is occurring and is "influenced by human activity." It also said that the governors support taking steps to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. and... ... Republican governor, South Dakota's Mike Rounds, said that "one of the things we agree on is there are a number of different causes that we recognize, and the scientists recognize, are the cause of global warming." Asked if that included human causes, Rounds said: "Absolutely." Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, said governors "need to be thinking about what we can do at the state and regional leve...

The Argus Leader has a story this morning about how Roger Andal, who was recently in the news over being berated by a US Senator over his criticism of John Thune, passed away after surgery. Roger Andal, former state commander of the Disabled American Veterans, died Tuesday in Omaha from complications after surgery for Crohn's disease. He was 57. Andal's friends and colleagues said he fought tirelessly for veterans' rights. and... "He took no prisoners. He really went for it all in the pursuit of the truth," said Rick Weiland, a friend who met Andal in the late 1970s during Tom Daschle's campaign for U.S. House. Read it all here . Andal was also a two-time Democratic Candidate for the state legislature on the Democratic Ticket.

I'm giving a few new politically related blogs a tryout. Shirley from Ruminations is back after a hiatus (I believe she had another child in a futile attempt to catch up to me). I added an RSS feed on general South Dakota blog related topics from multiple sources. Wubbie's World , a SD Republican Blog is now in the mix. The North Central States Observer , a weblog covering ND, SD, Nebraska and Minnesota and Iowa is her for some more regional flavor, as is Ryne McClaren's Blog, the panhandle pundit , which covers South Dakota and Nebraska. If you notice any South Dakota Politically related weblogs that I'm missing, left, right or otherwise, let me know, and I'll get them added if their RSS feeds are working right.

Sorry for light posting. The family has been here for the last few days, and my computer took a major dump last night, losing a power supply. I got most of the family out of town, with the exception of my #2 daughter who decided to hang out with dad for the week. We did a family thing by ourselves, and we went and took in CARS tonight. ( excellent movie , BTW.) We even managed to run into South Dakota Broadcaster Tony Dean and his wife at the theatre. Although I thought I saw another SD political figure there out of the corner of my eye, but it was dark, so no confirmations. I did manage get the computer off the bench, and I'm oficially back up and running after a power supply transplant. (Luckily I had one on hand intended for a computer I was thinking of building). Lots of upcoming excitement in the next couple of weeks with the Party conventions. Dems get to pick who they're offering up for the slaughter that occurs every 4 years. (Otherwise known as the Constitutional Offic...

In Dave Kranz's column in the Argus Leader this morning , State Senator Ed Olson (who was in Pierre yesterday) explains in his opinion why he thinks the election which threw three of it's founders out of office was not a repudiation of the organization: The poorly attended primary was not an indicator of strength or weakness of the group, he said. "It's onward and upward," Olson said. "I know there was a tremendous amount of work done by those who staunchly oppose us, but the premise was we wanted to be a group people were comfortable with, Republican, Democrats, pro or anti-abortion, whatever. I look at that turnout and say now more than ever, something has to change." Respectfully, I'll disagree with Ed. When he was in town yesterday, I waved at him as I walked by at the Capitol because I like Ed. He's a good guy, despite the fact I don't agree with the MAINstream thing. And similarly, I don't know that I concur with his assessment of t...

Rats. Yes, I understand why they are doing it, but it doen't mean I have to like it. The Argus Leader is reporting today that the State Library here in Pierre is going to be removing services duplicate to those already being offered by local libraries. The days of the State Library being one more option for Pierre area residents looking for books and periodicals probably is about over. A consultant is recommending that the State Library dump many of its walk-in services – novels and non-fiction books and public-access computers, among them – and focus on services that can’t be easily duplicated by local libraries. “We will move away from the public library model,’’ said state Librarian Dorothy Liegl at one of several public meetings scheduled this week to give citizens a look at recommendations from the consultant. ‘The State Library will work more directly with local libraries.’’ The consultant, Mary C. Bushing of Montana, said her review of state services and her set of recom...

From the Dallas Morning News, Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth participates in a Rally to tear down the Texas GOP: Senate hopeful Barbara Ann Radnofsky challenged Democrats on Saturday to mount a campaign of "courage and optimism" to reverse the GOP tide in Texas. Speaking to about 6,000 Democratic delegates and alternates, Ms. Radnofsky cast her campaign to unseat Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as an opportunity for voters to reclaim trust in government. Her speech capped a two-day convention that served as a sendoff for a Democratic slate looking to win its first statewide election in more than a decade. Political moderates dominated the proceedings, beating back a challenge for state party chairman by liberal activist Glen Maxey of Austin, a former House member who was Texas' first openly gay lawmaker. Featured speakers during the biennial gathering included Gen. Wesley Clark, a 2004 presidential candidate, and U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., who...

Dave Kranz goes through a laundry list of possible Billion running mates in his column in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader today: Lars Herseth, Houghton; Craig Schaunaman, Aberdeen; Mel Olson, Mitchell; Sharon Casey, Chamberlain; Ron Volesky, Huron; Renee Sutton, Burke; or a Republican defeated on June 6th. He's forgetting the best one .

How many lawyers does it take to file a campaign finance report on time? I don't know, but it must be one more than Judge AP "Pete" Fuller is using in his election campaign. Because none of the two or three on his campaign committee managed to get it done. In this article that appeared on the front of the Rapid City Journal' s local section this past Saturday, and was featured prominently on their website on Saturday, Judge Fuller got zinged by his opponent Lance Russell (Disclosure: yes, Lance is a friend of mine). Upstart challenger Russell had the audacity to question why his opponent was not following the financial reporting statute. The reply from Judge Fuller: "I forgot." That, despite being informed of the deadline at the time petitions were taken out. And again at the time shortly before the campaign finance reports are due. AND while not mentioned in the article, I'm told they were also reminded of this at the mandatory campaign training that ...

Terry Woster wrote in this morning's Argus Leader about South Dakota PACs, and how they're proliferating in South Dakota Political races: Actress and activist Jane Fonda might not have campaigned in South Dakota this spring, but her involvement in legislative races is documented in a finance report in the secretary of state's office. Fonda's name appears up on the pre-primary election report - Residence: Atlanta, Ga., Place of employment: retired - of Women Run! SD, one of about 100 political action committees required to file regular reports of campaign receipts and spending. Hot-button issues like abortion have attracted political contributions from a variety of out-of-state groups. Anyone may form a political action committee in South Dakota. When they do, they have a creature that isn't subject to contribution limits that apply to individuals. For example, an individual may give a statewide candidate no more than $1,000 and a legislative candidate $250 in any o...