Free Republic

Law enforcement responded to reports of "shots fired" at a residence just north of Box Elder shortly after 4:00 PM Wednesday afternoon. Box Elder Police officials say the incident was the result of an apparent home invasion. By about 4:30 PM they said the witness was still in the home being interviewed by the Meade County Sheriff's Office. Law enforcement officers were seen inspecting the backyard which was marked off by police tape and there was a hole in the glass of a back door. Chief Deputy Tom Wiltz told Black Hills FOX later Wednesday night that the woman in...

PIERRE, SD - A bill recently passed in the South Dakota House of Representatives would give more rights to employees. But some say it takes too many away from the business. House Bill 1132 passed with a vote of 49 to15. The backbone of the bill would let employees keep guns and ammo in their locked cars on company property, but some say it goes too far. Nearly the same bill failed in Pierre last year. Representative Marc Feinstein says the main difference this time is a new group of sponsors and the backing of the National Rifle Association. He...

PIERRE, S.D. — Two lawmakers who said they were threatened with smear campaigns if they didn't support a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons without a special permit nonetheless helped kill it Friday.

Thousands of Pennington County residents have permits to carry concealed handguns. If Rep. Don Kopp gets his way, they won’t need a permit. Kopp’s HB1015 would let any South Dakotan who can legally carry a gun conceal their handgun without having to get a state-issued permit. “This just doesn’t penalize the citizens, to make him buy a permit to defend himself — which I believe is unconstitutional,” said Kopp, R-Rapid City. Under the current system, people who want to carry a concealed weapon have to pay $10 and undergo a background check in order to get their permit. Applications can...

I've been job hunting for a while, and had to cast my net out in a wider arc. I'm looking at a possiblity in Sioux Falls, SD. I've never been there and never known anyone from there. Is it nice? Full of lefties? etc. Thanks in advance!

Dozens of people gathered at the Sioux Falls Convention Center Saturday night for a straw poll. The event is being put on by the South Dakota Republican Party. Voters could pick one of the 8 republican candidates. Tickets were $25. Herman Cain won the poll coming in with 35% of the votes. Newt Gingrich 23%. Mitt Romney 20%. Rick Perry 7%. Ron Paul 5%. Michele Bachmann 4%. Rick Santorum 3% and Jon Huntsman 0%.

Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern has been hospitalized for fatigue in South Dakota, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday. Jullie Ward, a spokeswoman for Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, said the 89-year-old former senator from South Dakota was admitted to the Sioux Falls hospital for fatigue after completing a lecture tour. McGovern, a South Dakota congressman from 1957 to 1961 and U.S. senator from 1963 to 1981, ran for president against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972 and lost in a historic landslide. He ran for president three times, making a try for the nomination in 1968 and 1984 in...

The Summerset man who fired a loaded gun during a re-enactment of a shootout last month in Hill City that wounded three tourists is a convicted felon who has been arrested at least 15 times since 1982. Paul Doering, 49, spent more than 50 months in Minnesota prisons for six felony convictions, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Pennington County authorities determined that the bullets that injured Jose Pruneda, 52, of Alliance, Neb., Carrol Knutson, 65, of Birchwood, Minn., and John Ellis, 48, of South Connellsville, Pa., on June 17 came from Doering’s gun. Three of four bullets fired...

Persistent Northern Plains rainfall and heavy mountain snowpack is setting the stage for the worst flooding on the Missouri River since 1993, reports Allen Motew, QT Weather meteorologist. These extreme levels of flooding are predicted to last for at least the next month. “The entire Missouri River Basin is flooding – only to get worse over the next several weeks,” Motew reports. “Abnormal rainfall is now expected to continue (or increase for many) across 1000’s of miles and millions of acres over the next eight days, from Alberta to Ohio.” Motew says recent reports show that the Missouri River is...

Fresh off its decision to ask an administrative law judge to stop Boeing's move to step up production in South Carolina because Boeing cited its wish to lower the risk of suffering more strikes, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is stepping up its game. Now Obama's NLRB is planning on suing two states, Arizona and South Dakota, seeking to invalidate those states' constitutional amendments that prohibit card check. This is just the latest step in Obama's campaign to reward and empower unions (and their campaign piggy banks) at the expense of jobs and growth (see "Unions Still in the...

Lisa Marie Johnson is a very brave woman. Lisa is a former Catholic Nun living in South Dakota. Lisa was on the forefront of the American Laws for America Courts legislative battle in South Dakota. Lisa has been on the forefront of the effort to expose the bizarre situation of four (4) mosques in Sioux Fall, SD a city of a mere 120,000 people. Most of the Muslims in Sioux Fall are from Somalia. Most recently Lisa organized a very successful screening of Iranium to a standing room only crowd of 300, with Frank Gaffney, Founder and President of the...

Sen. John Thune NOT Running for President February 22, 2011 12:09 P.M. By Jim Geraghty Tags: John Thune John Thune will NOT be running for president. For months now, my wife Kimberley and I have received encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and supporters from across South Dakota and the country to run for the presidency of the United States. We have appreciated hearing their concerns about where the country is headed and their hopes for a new direction. During this time, Kimberley and I and our two daughters have given a great deal of thought to how we might best...

South Dakota Man Arrested For 131st Time Published: February 17, 2011, 8:19 AM RAPID CITY, SD - Authorities say they arrested a Rapid City man for the 131st time after he was caught drinking hair spray. Pennington County prosecutor Joss Zellmer says 53-year-old David Black Crow was charged with ingesting an intoxicant other than an alcoholic beverage, and disorderly conduct. Black Crow pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to serve about a year in jail. The judge said he was unsure if Black Crow can be rehabilitated.

Tell potential presidential contender and South Dakota's most nationally visible "pro-life," Republican elected official, U.S. Sen. John Thune, to speak out against the reckless "justifiable homicide" bill in his home state's legislature! Dear Have you heard the latest out of South Dakota? A right-wing state legislator, in an effort to advance the embryos-are-citizens-too movement and demolish a woman's right to choose, has introduced a bill which would make homicide "justifiable" if done to protect the life of an unborn child. This is an unbelievably extreme attack on women's reproductive choice ... one that transcends the choice issue and crosses all...

SD lawmakers reject bill targeting Islamic lawsWednesday, 16 February 2011 11:37 PIERRE, S.D. (AP) _ The South Dakota Senate State Affairs Committee has rejected a bill that would have prohibited state courts from using certain foreign laws, including forms of Islamic law known as Sharia. The bill would have made void any court decisions or contracts signed in a country that doesn't have the same protections as the U.S. and South Dakota constitutions. Republican Sen. Dan Lederman of Dakota Dunes said his bill would protect South Dakotans who travel abroad or deal with foreign countries. Lederman's proposal mimics laws discussed...

With the legal fight over President Obama's individual mandate ongoing, even though such a mandate is unquestionably unconstitutional to anyone who has actually read the document, five South Dakota lawmakers have decided to use their newfound powers within the U.S. Constitution to mandate all residents in the state to purchase a firearm. However, I must inform all who read this that the lawmakers are only proposing this law to make the point that the federal government has no right to mandate a citizen to purchase any product under the Constitution. Though, I am quite sure that most residents of South...

SD House panel rejects health care nullifying billWednesday, 26 January 2011 09:43 PIERRE, S.D. (AP) _ A bill that would declare the federal health care overhaul unconstitutional has failed in a South Dakota House committee. The bill declares that any federal legislation that ``interferes with the right of any person'' to choose their health coverage is unconstitutional. Supporters argued during a Wednesday hearing that states have the right to nullify legislation that they feel violates the Constitution. Both state and national Republicans have argued for a repeal of the overhaul. But Republicans on the House State Affairs Committee said they...

North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad's retirement plans underscore a big problem for Democrats in 2012 and beyond. Farm Belt and Southern voters who prefer a Republican president but have often backed moderate Democrats for Congress seem increasingly inclined to vote GOP in all federal races. Republicans rejoiced at Conrad's announcement this week, convinced they can win the open seat in 2012 and hold it for years to come. They see it as a replay of last fall's North Dakota election, in which Republican John Hoeven easily won the Senate seat vacated after 18 years by Democrat Byron Dorgan. They also...

Load Sturgis, SD --(Ammoland.com)- The same American family that brings you COR®BON Ammunition, is proud to announce their new endeavor; the COR®BON Law Enforcement Training Center. CLETC is a new, modern firearms training center, located in Sturgis, South Dakota. It offers first class training for Law Enforcement agencies, individual officers, and civilians. Although, geared primarily for the advanced standards of law enforcement training, the site will also be open to civilians seeking quality training. The facility offers handgun, rifle and shotgun, at various tactical ranges. The classroom is state of the art, with all the current technical equipment. Students will...

Bruce Baartman travels nearly 20 miles one way each Sunday to attend church. The Luverne, Minn., man and his family are one of several area families that have broken away from their Evangelical Lutheran Church in America-member (ELCA) congregations to form a new church in Brandon, Heritage Lutheran Church. The new Lutheran church members say, has been organized on heritage and faith. “With Christ and the Word as our cornerstones, we honor heritage and pass on our faith,” is the mission statement the congregation is following. “It would’ve been easy for me to stay in my hometown of Luverne but...