Free Republic

Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin says she will oppose the health care reform bill expected to be considered this weekend in the House. The South Dakota Democrat says the plan falls short of her goals for health care reform and could threaten existing access to health care for many South Dakotans. Herseth Sandlin says she's also concerned it doesn't do enough to bring down the federal deficit and could affect future health care for seniors. The House could begin consideration this weekend of the 10-year, $1.2 trillion legislation that would extend health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and...

UNDATED (AP) - A couple charged with spying for Cuba over the last 30 years lived in South Dakota. Retired State Department worker Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, are charged with passing U.S. secrets to the communist government.

Police say a man was shot and killed Thursday morning in Brookings when he tried to break into a home. According to police, 23-year-old Bradley Joe Odens died at the Brookings hospital after being shot inside the home of a 28-year-old man shortly before 2 a.m. Police Captain Jeff Miller says Odens may have been confused as to where he was and continued to force his way into the home after being warned by the resident. Miller says Odens broke a window in a door as he was trying to get in. He says one shot was fired, hitting Odens...

The Union County Board of Commissioners has approved a Texas company's request to turn 3,800 acres north of Elk Point into a planned development district for a $10 billion oil refinery. Tuesday morning's 5-0 vote on Hyperion Resources' request came eight days after about 150 people testified for and against the refinery. Opponents at the public hearing had asked the commission to take its time before approving the request.

She may be 80 years old, but Martha Smith of rural Fairburn is still a good shot. She has lived her entire life on the family ranch in the Black Hills and last week encountered her first mountain lion. Smith says she heard her dog bark, looked outside and saw the big cat in the garden. She was afraid for the dog's safety so she grabbed her .22-caliber rifle, went outside, took a shot but missed so she called 911. Smith says she grabbed the gun again, went back out and found the cat, "a spittin' and a growlin’”, so...

A Particular Madness Understanding Iran's Ahmedinejad By David Pryce-Jones Ahmadinejad: outside world an unknown phenomenon Elected less than a year ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a president unlike any other. He is doing his utmost to alienate the entire West, mobilising as much military technology as possible, and now enriching uranium in quantities apparently enough for hundreds of nuclear warheads. "This is the result of the Iranian nation’s resistance," he boasts, and the work of "young scientists," adding that the nation does not get its strength from nuclear arsenals, but "relies on the sublime beliefs that lie within the Iranian and...

I'm nearly finished remodeling the old house I bought a few years ago, will be done in three months or so, and I'm planning to build a new house on an acreage next year as soon as I get the current one sold. I'm seriously considering building a log home if I stay in South Dakota, and wonder if anyone out here has had any negative experiences in building, living in, insuring, or financing a log house. Banks seem a little skittish about them, although I've never gotten a reason why. I've created a design and had the design approved...

A 72-year-old Sioux Falls man is stirring up quite a controversy. He's made it known he doesn't want deadbeats or people who can't speak English living in his rental properties. In fact, in February, Ron Johnson ran an advertisement in the Sioux Falls Shopping News stating that very fact while trying to rent out a home. Now Johnson has been ordered to undergo training on fair housing practices. Johnson says, "If you were to ask me if I'm prejudice, I'd have to say well it depends on what you mean by prejudice." Ron Johnson owns ten different rental properties. And...

Strong storms and 80 mile per hour windsare to blame for the death of a RAGBRAI rider in Iowa, early Monday morning. Police in Sheldon say a 27-year-old Michael Burke of New York was killed on the second day of the annual bicycle ride across Iowa. "He and two of his friends were in a tent in someone's front yard, and presumably the wind caused a large branch to fall from the tree," Sheldon Police Chief Lyle Bolkema said. "It killed him instantly." Burke's two friends in the tent were uninjured. Police say the death has cast a shadow on...

He served his time but now a convicted California murderer is in trouble here in KELOLAND. Sioux Falls Police arrested Jose Carlos Ventura Friday night for allegedly attacking a close relative earlier last week. But that's not the only thing he's wanted for. Ventura was just a teenager when he was convicted of second degree murder with a firearm in California. Now he's 27 and was released from a California Prison this past November. That's when he fled to live with his mother and two sisters in Sioux Falls. The same month Ventura finished serving his 10-year sentence, he skipped...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 1, 2004 Contact: Dick Wadhams, John Wood (605) 221-1010 INTERVENTION TO HEAD OFF ELECTION LOSS DASCHLE LAWYERS GO TO FEDERAL COURT AT 8:00 PM TONIGHT TO STEAL VOTES, ELIMINATE REPUBLICAN POLL WATCHERS SIOUX FALLS – Anticipating a loss to Republican challenger John Thune tomorrow ending his 26-year congressional career, Senator Tom Daschle will seek federal judicial intervention in the election process tonight, Monday, November 1 during an emergency hearing in federal court in Sioux Falls at 8:00 PM. The hearing will be before Federal Judge Larry Piersol who was appointed by Daschle to federal court...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A tribal judge has no authority to keep Republicans from watching Tuesday's voting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney James McMahon said Saturday. "It would be my interpretation of that order that it does not comply with the law, and I have let it be known to law enforcement that they should not be enforcing any order on the reservation which purports to keep the Republican Party away from the polls," he said. "If anyone does that, they're subjecting themselves to violating federal law." The Four Directions Committee, which calls itself a nonpartisan group...

A recent poll shows the South Dakota U.S. Senate race is a statistical dead heat. Republican John Thune wants to unseat Democrat Tom Daschle. In a race where it looks like every vote will count, Republicans have picked up support from an unexpected group: RV owners. People who live fulltime in recreational vehicles often have problems voting. South Dakota though is RV friendly. Several thousand RV'ers have registered to vote there. Sioux Falls, South Dakota — Trays of absentee ballots fill the tables in a back room at the Minnehaha County courthouse in Sioux Falls. Auditor Sue Roust riffles through...

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani will join John Thune for rallies in Aberdeen and Sioux Falls tomorrow, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29: 5:30 PM Aberdeen Rally Aberdeen Civic Arena, 225 3rd Avenue S.E. 6:45 PM Sioux Falls Rally Sioux Falls Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 211 North West Avenue

Republicans John Thune and Larry Diedrich have overcome double-digit deficits to draw ahead of their Democratic rivals, Sen. Tom Daschle and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, according to an independent poll. The Republicans' leads were between about 1 and 2.5 percentage points - within the poll's 3.5 percent margin of error - and pollster John Zogby of Zogby International warned that the Senate and House races in South Dakota were too close to call. "We've got two competitive races here," he said. Libertarian House candidate Terry Begay polled less than 1 percent. The Rapid City Journal, KOTA-TV and other state media outlets...

Tonight's debate Tonight marked the third debate held between John Thune and Senator Daschle. The debate tonight was reminiscent of the Dakotafest debate in August, where Daschle was thrown a severe beating. Thune has tremendous command of the facts, and the facts are against Daschle in this race, which is why he's trying to condition people not to listen to the facts by labeling them a "negative attack" or blinding them with his vaunted "clout." Thune began with a very important quote from Senator Grassley of Iowa published last week saying that Daschle's leadership position in the Senate has become...

The nearly 3,700 Republicans for Daschle list announced by the Democrat's re-election campaign Wednesday is suspect, Republican Senate candidate John Thune said. "Saying you've got all these names but not providing a list to the public to me is very phony," Thune said. "I believe they do have a lot of Republicans, but to tout this thing and say you're not going to disclose any of it suggests they're not very confident about the list." Thune, a former congressman, is challenging three-term incumbent and Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., in a heated and nationally watched race. A random check...

Over the last 2 months, my cat has had to kill two bats that have gotten into my house. I can hear the critters in the walls of the top floor. Once they are gone, I realize that I will have to seal everything up, so as to make sure they don't return, but I need them out first. I am positive theres a small group of them living in the attic. Has anyone had luck in mass killing these things? Any suggestions? All the websites I've seen have little helpful advice on eradication, one even suggested it was a...

Despite the cool temperatures, autumn is not yet upon us. But the season changed in South Dakota last Thursday. The day after the first debate in the state's U.S. Senate race, it became negative political ad season. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began running ads critical of incumbent Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D. This week, the American Medical Association joined the chamber in complaining about Daschle's position on medical malpractice insurance. Daschle's campaign found fault with the chamber's ads. The chamber is not from South Dakota — the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce is neutral in the race — and South...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Thune accused Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle on Tuesday of ducking several invitations to candidate forums and debates as the two contenders gear up their campaigns for the November general election. CLICK LINK ABOVE FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE