By Denise Ross

This primary race on the reservation is likely to determine who’s the state senator from District 27 - incumbent Sen. Theresa Two Bulls or longtime Rep. Jim Bradford. The two Democrats are essentially both incumbents and reside in Shannon County, where 9 out of every 10 votes cast are for a Democrat.

Of all the surprising legislative primary races, this one surprised me the most. I’m not sure whether I thought the Democrats would all get along and play nice with each other, given their underdog status and aspirations of Capitol domination, or whether I just can’t imagine Ambassador Jim Bradford taking on the soft-spoken Theresa Two Bulls.

Bradford’s been in the Legislature longer, but the Two Bulls family name’s been around Pine Ridge longer than the Legislature has existed.

It’s difficult to see much daylight between these two on issues, so the race will probably be decided largely on personalities. And that, dear blog readers, is a tough call.

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By Denise Ross

It has come to my attention that the link I included in Gordo v. Gordo to the list of 2008 candidates proved as effective as driving a golf cart on a day like today. Which is too bad, as the list of legislative candidates is proving to be some of the most fascinating reading of the day.

So here’s a little lesson on getting directly to that list.

1) Go to the South Dakota Secretary of State website at http://www.sdsos.gov/ (or click here).

2) Drag that little hand thingy over to the “Elections & Voter Registration” tab (it’s blue on my browser).

3) When the list pops up below the tab, move the hand thingy to “Upcoming Election” at third from the top. Click that.

4) Find the link titled “2008 Candidate List” - fifth from the top of the first list.

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By Denise Ross

This “crop secret” report from the Chicago Tribune today reminded me of some photos Mr. Hoghouse took a few weeks ago when we visited his family in Aberdeen. And it reminded me of the farm bill hearing Sen. John Thune held in Brookings a year ago.

Crops matter. A lot.

At 3 a.m. Monday, federal officials will review intelligence so sensitive they must first surrender their laptops and cell phones to a security guard, severing all access to a curious world outside their sealed room.

Are they tracking terrorists? No. Do they know about nuclear weapons in North Korea? Definitely not. These officials work for the Agriculture Department. They will finalize their estimates of how many acres of corn, wheat, cotton, oats, barley and soybeans farmers will plant this year. …

The extreme secrecy surrounding agricultural reports dates back to 1905, when the agency discovered that one of its statisticians revealed the cotton acreage by raising and lowering window blinds …

There’s a reason corn leads the list in the second paragraph. The ethanol plant pictured below is just west of Aberdeen, and there’s a new one being finished, about a 10-minute drive west of this one, at the end of Wetonka Road. They are but two in a sea of ethanol plants in a tide that’s been doing nothing but rising during the past decade.

(Photos by David Larson)

Here’s a view of the existing plant, that’s been operating for years, and of the railyard that gave the Hub City it’s nickname way back in the day.

Below is a series of nighttime views of the plant, which is operating at night without any visible workers. I wish I had an audio recording to go with this. Imagine a lot of clanging over a bed of hissing.

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By Denise Ross

When an alleged credit card company recently withdrew its request for free city land in Mitchell, Mayor Lou Sebert blamed the Mitchell Daily Republic, for reporting what happened at a public meeting, and two members of the city’s Parks and Recreation board, for questioning a deal about which they had been given little information and no forewarning.

Sebert’s wagging finger might best be directed at his own mirror.

Park and Rec Board chairman Brian Johnson identified the real problem, the place where the train left the tracks, in this most recent story.

He speculated that the entire controversy might have been averted if the mayor and development corporation had taken a different approach with the Park and Rec Board.

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By Denise Ross 

With Sen. Jim Lintz, R-Hermosa, retiring from the Legislature, the battle of 2 Gordons rises up to fill the void in District 30. (See the official candidate list here.) 

Loooonnggtime legislator Gordon Pederson, R-Wall, the venerable recaller of the 1970s - and with astonishing detail and nuance - will be up against Gordon Howie, R-Rapid City, a spirited newcomer. 

Pederson might best be described as a member of the GOP establishment, a pragmatic sort who can see a problem coming from a mile down the road (that’s an attempt at a Transportation Committee joke - a committee chaired by Pederson) and can disarm most any argument with his folksy charm. (He once said to me: “That’s the way the pickle squirts.” I swear it’s true. If you know Gordon, you know it’s true. He also voiced, to another reporter, my favorite insult: “That’s lower than a snake in a wagon-wheel rut.”)

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By Denise Ross

Here I was, just sitting in the SDSU Student Union catching up on my e-mail and blogging, and I checked the Argus website, and there’s my name in a headline.

I was going to post on this later in the week, but the news is out. I’m a fellow. (A turn of phrase that Mr. Hoghouse has been having no small amount of fun with.)

I am the Lusk Fellow in Journalism at my alma mater this week, which is as weird for me as it is for the rest of you. I’ll be meeting with students, faculty and the new president. Maybe I’ll even get a tour of my old dorm room. (Oooh, and Ray’s Corner is a must. So, too, Jim’s Tap. Maybe I’m not fancy enough to be a fellow?)

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By Denise Ross

Former state Sen. Stan Adelstein, R-Rapid City, has filed petitions to run for his old seat in Rapid City’s District 32. So has the man who currently holds that seat, Sen. Tom Katus, D-Rapid City. Check out the Secretary of State’s candidate list here.

This storied race no doubt needs no explanation for the Hoghouse audience. There have been rumors that a Republican might challenge Stan in a primary. With the filing deadline on Tuesday, March 25, and a postmark grace period, we should know by week’s end if that will happen.

As a Rapid City resident (but District 35, not 32), I don’t have a good feel for this. Katus is visible and vocal yearround and seems generally to do himself favors when he’s out and about. But he is - and this is no criticism - sometimes strident and sometimes enjoys a partisan argument a bit too much to be electorally practical. (Which means reporters like to cover him.)

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By Denise Ross

Steve Sibson of Sibby Online fame has evoked the full range of emotion in the SD blogosphere and has been the unintentional inspiration for some of the best laugh-out-loud items I’ve ever seen. (Please don’t go, Sobby. I will miss you.)

This week, Sibby’s nemesis du jour - Pat Powers of the South Dakota War College - is auctioning off www.sibbyonline.com, with proceeds headed to charities. The donations will be made in Sibson’s name to, at least in one case, a pre-school institution that Sibson has reviled as “Marxist.”

Sibson sees this bit of prankster fun as an attempt to “destroy” him.

For some reason Pat Powers does not want a serious investigation into this issue, so he has issued a very personal and destructive campaign against me and this web site. …

(H)e is hellbent on destroying me.

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By Denise Ross

One term shy of a full run, state Sen. Bill Napoli, R-Rapid City, won’t seek re-election in 2008. Here’s the story in the Rapid City Weekly News, copyrighted and sent to the AP, so if it shows up elsewhere without proper credit, somebody’s not playing nice.

Anyway, the cantakerous politican who has entertained us for so many years says being outraged most of the time has finally wore him down.

Napoli said he feels like a dinosaur who doesn’t fit in the Legislature any more. He said the process and the people have changed.

“And maybe I don’t like it,” Napoli said. … “I’ve seen it going downhill for the last eight years. A lot of things I love and respect have disappeared.”

My very favorite part of this good read is Napoli declining to seek higher office. (Please, Sen. Napoli, for the media’s sake, won’t you reconsider? The debates alone need you.)

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By Denise Ross

When Gov. Mike Rounds issued a line item veto on Senate Bill 203, South Dakota’s general appropriations bill for FY2009, did he contradict his plea in the school lawsuit that he does not control what goes on with the state’s K-12 funding? (More here.)

“Whether or not the governor believes a school district needs more money is irrelevant to whether the Legislature has acted constitutionally,” (Attorney General Larry) Long said.

More to the point, it seems that Rounds is intent on retaining direct control over how South Dakota spends on K-12 despite the Legislature’s attempt to exert control over that portion of the budget. This from his veto letter:

I hereby exercise the line item veto and delete …

Section 38. No money appropriated for state aid to education in subdivision (2) of section 11 of this Act may be expended for any other purpose without specific legislative authorization. …

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