Denise Ross
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After retiring from his careers in teaching and insurance, former Mitchell resident Denny Pierson decided he had a duty to run for a statewide political office. As a Democrat and former state legislator in Republican-dominated South Dakota, Pierson said his first answer to party officials who asked him to run for state treasurer was, "No." "I kept thinking, 'We just can't leave another seat open where there is no choice for voters,' " Pierson said. "South Dakota history has been all Republican. If a good Democrat can convince people they're worthy and qualified for office, I decided to do it.
South Dakota's two U.S. senators said the terrorism threat perennially arising from the Middle East requires a global reaction from countries around the world. After President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations Wednesday, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Sen.
As South Dakota's U.S. Senate race sees closer polls and more attention, the three candidates trying to catch up with frontrunner Republican Mike Rounds hope for more debates and joint appearances at forums. The Rounds campaign decided early on to choose four debates and skip the rest. That remains the plan, said Rounds spokesman Mitch Krebs. Rounds, a two-term governor, has debated at Dakotafest in Mitchell on Aug. 20, at the State Fair in Huron on Aug. 29 and plans to participate in two upcoming debates that will be televised statewide, one on KELO-TV on Sept.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., rarely has kind words for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and Wednesday he promoted two bills that would shackle the agency on two fronts. One bill Thune is sponsoring would slow down the EPA’s plans to crack down on smog, and another would stop the agency’s plans to garnish wages a . Thune said he believes the agency plans to push both plans after the November elections.
FREEMAN — Two years ago, Kris and Walter Sahlis got news any parents would dread. Their 3-year-old daughter, Kahlen, had a rare disorder, possibly fatal. Dyskeratosis congenita, to be precise. Today, the Sahlis family gets to tell the best ending to that story. "She's as healthy as can be," Kris said in a recent interview with The Daily Republic. Kahlen, now 5, started kindergarten Aug. 21, and there are no signs she was ever sick, her mom said. Her disease was rooted in her telomeres, the ends of chromosomes that protect DNA strands from becoming entangled or merging.
OACOMA -- Longtime South Dakota journalist Terry Woster quoted the Grateful Dead when accepting his plaque, medal and ring as one of 10 inductees of the South Dakota Hall of Fame's class of 2014. "What a long, strange trip it's been," Woster said, then quickly noted the iconic and psychedelic rock band might not be the best reference before the banquet crowd bedecked in sparkling evening attire. He opted then for a line for nineteenth century poet John Keats: "Much have I traveled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen." Woster, a Daily Republic columnist, grew up o
More campers are flocking to South Dakota's state-run campgrounds, and state officials predict 2014 will be another record year. So far, this year is up 5 percent over 2013 — which is the record year — for the number of nights the state's 4,190 campsites have been occupied. As of the end of August, there have been 250,500 camping nights at state-run campgrounds, compared to about 238,000 by the end of August 2013. "It's safe to say we expect a record year as far as camping is concerned," said Doug Hofer, director of state parks for the Department of Game, Fish and Parks.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., called for the destruction of the terrorist group known as ISIS — the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — on the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. "These forces continue to carry out horrific atrocities," Thune told reporters in a conference all. "They've got to be stopped. They've got to be sought out and destroyed wherever they are operating." As he remembered serving in the U.S.
Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., has been frustrated by a lack of strategy to fight the Islamic extremist group that has taken over large swaths of Syria and Iraq, she said Wednesday. She hoped President Obama would change that in his prime time speech to the nation Wednesday night. Noem told reporters she is open to considering funding for a military effort and could even support deploying combat troops, depending on the details. "We have to hear the president's strategy. He is the commander in chief. It's his job to lay that out," Noem said.
While visitor numbers dipped a bit at major South Dakota tourist attractions such as the Corn Palace and Mount Rushmore, other categories such as motel occupancy and sales tax figures show a strong 2014 tourism season for South Dakota. That was certainly the case at the state Game, Fish and Parks' Snake Creek, Platte Creek and Buryanek campgrounds near Platte, especially over Labor Day weekend. "Have we been busy? Oh, yeah," said Justin Thede, district supervisor for those GF&P properties. "Our beaches were packed and we had no campsites.