Articles

Q&A: SDSU president says salaries, enrollment driving up costs

David Chicoine acknowledges some students in danger of being priced out of college degree.

• David Chicoine

GOP official joins with Democrats to support open government

PIERRE — The Republican governor’s chief of staff and a Democratic leader in the Legislature agree that public bodies should be allowed to keep minutes during closed-door meetings, but some Republican legislative leaders oppose the idea.

Surviving Mathis child says father is innocent of murders

Duane Mathis interviewed for first time about 1981 deaths of his mother, brothers. He says his father kept photos of the family members who were killed and faithfully put flowers on their graves.

• Mathis murders: 30 years later some authorities remain convinced of John Mathis' guilt
• CORRECTION: Evelyn Gerlach living in Corsica

Construction anticipated on grain project near Kimball

KIMBALL — At least one massive grain-loading facility will be built soon between Kimball and White Lake, and another could be built northwest of Kimball, according to backers of the respective projects.

• Railroad construction

Olson apologizes for 'hate democracy' comment

City Councilman Mel Olson apologized Monday for earlier saying that people who want a city manager “hate democracy.”

• Mel Olson

One-third of students at GBR out sick today; virus suspected

Mitchell School District and state health officials are investigating the cause of an illness that has one-third of the students at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary out sick today.

South Dakota's Rep. Noem does not name cuts when questioned

When asked three times Thursday by The Daily Republic to say what spending she wants to eliminate from the federal budget, Rep. Kristi Noem punted twice before citing a set of proposed environmental regulations she wants to forestall.
Later in the day, her spokesman said she supports numerous cuts, including reductions or eliminations in funding for high-speed rail projects, cap-and-trade technical assistance, and subsidies for the Washington Metro rapid transit system.

Thune calls for ban on carbon regulation

U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., pledged support Wednesday for a Senate measure that seeks to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon emissions.
Thune said the measure, which is actually a proposed amendment to small-business legislation, could receive a vote as soon as today.

Mitchell's jobless rate rises above 5 percent

Mitchell’s unemployment rate is above 5 percent for the first time in nearly a year, but a report with the data says employment fluctuations are a normal part of the economic recovery. According to data released Friday morning by the state Department of Labor, the city’s February unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. That matches the unemployment rate from last March and is the highest rate since then. It’s the city’s third consecutive month of rising unemployment.

Thune: Democrat cuts ‘puny,’ ‘meaningless’

The $4.7 billion that Senate Democrats want to cut from federal spending is “puny” and “meaningless,” according to U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
Thune, during a Wednesday morning conference call with reporters, said the proposed cut is barely more than the average of $4.3 billion added to the nation’s deficit each day since the current fiscal year began in October.

Columns

TUPPER: Shift development focus more toward local firms

Though Verifications and Dakota Pork seem about as different as two companies can be on the surface, they had at least one underlying trait in common: Neither company’s leaders had any real tie to Mitchell other than a bundle of incentives.

• Seth Tupper

TUPPER: South Dakota's words, meanings and whatnot

We recently received a South Dakota-tailored news release about the fifth edition of the Dictionary of American Regional English. In the lead paragraph of the release, somebody tried to cleverly string together all of the South Dakota-specific words in a few sentences:

• Seth Tupper
• More fun with words

TUPPER: Concern for openness finally reaches the top

Somebody at the top finally gets it. That somebody is Mitchell’s very own Dusty Johnson, the chief of staff for Gov. Dennis Daugaard. Speaking Thursday about a directive the Daugaard administration often gives to bureaucrats, he said this: “It’s your job to provide the information, not to find ways to hide it.”

• Seth Tupper

TUPPER: Thune fits the part of VP

Though senator says he’s not interested, he would be good choice for running mate.

• Seth Tupper

TUPPER: Online numbers show readers want 'bad news'

Although people often claim they want “good news,” the first stories they read and the ones they talk about with their friends are the ones most people would classify as “bad news” — crimes, catastrophes and random oddities, typically in that order.

• Seth Tupper

TUPPER: Mitchell’s paralysis is a problem of leadership

Someone whose opinion I respect asked me recently if I think Mitchell is “paralyzed.” The question stemmed from the latest in a string of City Council actions to get pummeled in the local court of public opinion.

• Seth Tupper

OPINION: Three yards and a cloud of political dust

The way some Republicans describe it, the Environmental Protection Agency is lurking behind every post, rock, tree and tall stand of grass in the countryside, waiting to persecute a farmer for kicking up a little dust with his tractor.

• Seth Tupper

OPINION: Big-ag criticism comes to state’s ag university

SDSU will show the documentary "Food, Inc.," which takes production agriculture to task. One of the film's narrators, author Eric Schlosser, will visit the campus to deliver the Harding Lecture and serve as the journalism department's Lusk Fellow.

• Seth Tupper

TUPPER: The word ‘drought’ needs opposite to make it less imposing

There is no entry for “chalant” in the dictionary, and few people are labeled as “canny,” yet lots of people are called “nonchalant” and “uncanny.” Similarly, lots of folks are “uncouth,” but hardly anybody is ever described as “couth.”

• Seth Tupper

TUPPER: Luckiest fans are the ones farthest away

As a Minnesota Twins fan in South Dakota, I consider myself luckier than the fans who live practically next door to Target Field. For me and thousands of other fans who populate the far reaches of “Twins Territory,” the drive to Minneapolis is a journey, Target Field is a destination, and the game is an escape.