'Spotlight' exposes underbelly of Roman church

South Dakota's legislature is hiding clergy crimes while Minnesota is prosecuting predator priests.

Boston's disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law lives amidst splendor in Rome after resigning his office.

The upcoming release of a movie detailing the Boston Globe’s 2002 investigation into the Catholic Church’s cover-up of clergy abuse may bring up “horrific memories” for New Mexico victims of sex abuse, Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester said. In a recent letter to Archdiocese of Santa Fe priests and parishioners last week, Wester said that the movie “Spotlight” is a chance for the faithful to pray for abuse victims. New Mexico was at the center of similar scandals years before the Boston stories. The Diocese of Gallup, which serves a large part of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Arizona, filed for bankruptcy in 2013 as lawsuits mounted over claims of clergy sex abuse. [Albuquerque Journal]

Like a dozen other US Roman churches have done the Helena, Montana chapter of the sect faced 362 claims of sexual abuse and filed for bankruptcy.

After a cassock with ties to the Sioux Falls diocese resigned amid clergy crimes, jaws are dropping.

A day after the deadline for filing clergy abuse claims against the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese, interim Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the number of victims who stepped forward as “staggering.” With the full list of creditors now in sight, the archdiocese will begin working in bankruptcy court with the victims’ committee, insurance companies and others to review the claims. Hebda argued that a speedy end to the bankruptcy proceedings is good for everyone. [StarTribune]

A Sioux Falls cleric is closely tied to Archbishop John Nienstedt, a defendant in the case.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on Friday criminally charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for its "role in failing to protect children and contribution to the unspeakable harm" done to three sexual abuse victims of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Wehmeyer said he asked the archbishop a couple of times, 'Are you aware of my past? Are you aware of my record?' Wehmeyer said that Nienstedt brushed it off and replied, 'I don't have time to look into that stuff.'" [Minnesota Public Radio News]

Nienstedt is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of St. Thomas where Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain serves on the Institutional Advancement Committee. They are standing together in the front row in this photo.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Paul J. Swain as the eighth bishop of Sioux Falls on August 31, 2006 and he was consecrated as Bishop of Sioux Falls on October 26, 2006. Bishop Swain previously served as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.--bio, Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.

When Bob Carlson was bishop of the Sioux Falls chapter of the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers he testified for the defense at Bill Janklow's manslaughter trial.

"Girl Scouts is exhibiting a troubling pattern of behavior and it is clear to me that as they move in the ways of the world it is becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values," Carlson wrote in a letter dated Thursday. "We must stop and ask ourselves — is Girl Scouts concerned with the total well-being of our young women? Does it do a good job forming the spiritual, emotional, and personal well-being of Catholic girls?"

Read the rest here.

The leader of the Roman Church is slowly cleaning house of pederastic predators but is taking heat from Republicans for his stance on curbing human-induced climate change and from progressives for his intent to canonize a colonizer accused of raping children.

South Dakota's Ku Klux Klan "opposed Roman Catholicism because it feared Catholic involvement in politics."

Both South Dakota dioceses are up to their areolae in debt to the white christianic ruling class for covering up crimes committed by pederastic priests where Catholic congregations and the state's legislature have engaged in obstruction of justice for decades. In South Dakota the Roman church has been behind the seizures of hundreds of American Indian children in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

As lawsuits and the US Department of Justice swamp the Roman church the future of the religious cult isn't looking very rosy.

According to one sect bean counter, attendance at Mass in the parishes in the Sioux City, Iowa diocese has dropped by 27 percent since 2008.

Officials with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux City have unveiled a restructuring plan that would greatly reduce the number of parishes across its 24-county region in northwest Iowa. There are currently 108 parishes in the Sioux City Diocese and, under the draft proposal, 41 parishes would be closed or merged by 2025. The 67 parishes that remain would be grouped into 31 “clusters[.]”

Read or listen to the justice news at WNAX.

For decades survivors of abuse from Roman Catholic clergy have been silenced by a sweeping conspiracy in the hierarchy.

...Phil Saviano, who was abused by a priest when he was 11. He is one of the film’s heroes, played by actor Neal Huff. Saviano said he was also thinking of those who did not survive, like Patrick McSorley, who was 12 years old when a priest named John Geoghan began molesting him. [Boston Globe]

And:

"This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican," said producer Michael Sugar. "Pope Francis, it's time to protect the children and restore the faith."

Read it all here.

Australian Cardinal George Pell said on Sunday the Catholic Church made "enormous mistakes" and dismissed cases of sexual abuse of children in "scandalous circumstances", as he became the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on Church abuse. The Australian inquiry into sexual abuse cases which occurred decades ago has taken on wider implications about accountability of Church leaders because of Pell's high position in the Vatican, where he now serves as finance minister.

Read more here.

Although nothing untoward ever happened to me as an altar boy at Our Lady of Good Counsel my girlfriend in high school told me their family attended Mass elsewhere because Father Louis J. Miller had done something bad and was transferred to the Elkton parish under Sioux Falls, South Dakota cleric, Lambert Hoch who was born in Elkton.

Louis Miller was elevated to monsignor then was decapitated in an automobile accident near Pierre in 1968.

For our new episode, we sat down with the reporters portrayed in @SpotlightMovie. Listen: https://t.co/OcxN6VkKJA pic.twitter.com/B8X4Z3xyt8

— Reveal (@reveal) February 21, 2016

Another Vatican cleric admits church wrongdoing

Boston's disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law lives amidst splendor in Rome after resigning his office.

Australian Cardinal George Pell said on Sunday the Catholic Church made "enormous mistakes" and dismissed cases of sexual abuse of children in "scandalous circumstances", as he became the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on Church abuse. The Australian inquiry into sexual abuse cases which occurred decades ago has taken on wider implications about accountability of Church leaders because of Pell's high position in the Vatican, where he now serves as finance minister.

Read more here.

According to one sect bean counter, attendance at Mass in the parishes in the Sioux City, Iowa diocese has dropped by 27 percent since 2008.

Although nothing untoward ever happened to me as an altar boy at Our Lady of Good Counsel, my girlfriend in high school told me their family went to Aurora because Father Louis J. Miller had done something bad and was transferred to the Elkton parish under Sioux Falls, South Dakota cleric, Lambert Hoch who was born in Elkton.

Louis Miller was elevated to Monsignor then was decapitated in an automobile accident near Huron in 1969.

Academy Award winner calls on Roman church to expose predators

Both South Dakota dioceses are up to their areolae in debt to the white christianic ruling class for covering up crimes committed by pederastic priests.

For decades survivors of abuse from Roman Catholic clergy have been silenced by a sweeping conspiracy in the hierarchy.

...Phil Saviano, who was abused by a priest when he was 11. He is one of the film’s heroes, played by actor Neal Huff. Saviano said he was also thinking of those who did not survive, like Patrick McSorley, who was 12 years old when a priest named John Geoghan began molesting him. [Boston Globe]

And:

"This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican," said producer Michael Sugar. "Pope Francis, it's time to protect the children and restore the faith."

Read it all here.

In South Dakota the Roman church has been behind the seizures of hundreds of American Indian children in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act where Catholic congregations and the state's legislature have engaged in obstruction of justice for decades.

"F--- yeah," Michael Keaton yelled when #Spotlight won the Oscar for best picture pic.twitter.com/9rQEM1B7W6

— Variety (@Variety) February 29, 2016

Sioux City diocese slashing parishes

As lawsuits and the US Department of Justice swamp the Roman church the future of the religious cult isn't looking very rosy.

According to one sect bean counter, attendance at Mass in the parishes in the Sioux City, Iowa diocese has dropped by 27 percent since 2008.

Officials with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux City have unveiled a restructuring plan that would greatly reduce the number of parishes across its 24-county region in northwest Iowa. There are currently 108 parishes in the Sioux City Diocese and, under the draft proposal, 41 parishes would be closed or merged by 2025. The 67 parishes that remain would be grouped into 31 “clusters[.]”

Read or listen to the justice news at WNAX.

Although nothing untoward ever happened to me as an altar boy at Our Lady of Good Counsel my girlfriend in high school told me their family went to Aurora because Father Louis J. Miller had done something bad and was transferred to the Elkton parish under Sioux Falls, South Dakota cleric, Lambert Hoch who was born in Elkton.

Louis Miller was elevated to monsignor then was nearly decapitated in an automobile accident near Huron in 1969.

Both South Dakota dioceses are up to their areolae in debt to the white christianic ruling class for covering up crimes committed by pederastic priests where Catholic congregations and the state's legislature have engaged in obstruction of justice for decades.

Happy Birthday, Lynnie!

Lynn Kurtz Larson would have been 60 today. She was killed in 1995 in a car/bicycle collision on the Moody County, South Dakota road outside her farm. The family called her Lynnie the Pooh.

Mutual friend, Nadene Deiterman Greni has penned a remembrance.

I remember Lynn on our first day of school at St. Mary's. She had long, flowing brown hair and wore a baby blue dress. Even though it was the first day, she was the 'new girl' because the rest of the class had met for one day in the spring. [Nearly/a/Data Geek]

One of the first jobs we kids learned after moving to the farm in the Spring of '64 was picking rock. I was almost ten, sister Lynn was eight. We learned to drive taking turns at the wheel of that old tractor and wagon moving at a half a mile an hour while Dad did most of the real work.

Finding stone hammers was our reward for clearing glacial till from those fields not knowing that they had been left there by the ancestors of those killed at Wounded Knee. Blood from our oft-smashed fingers is still on some of those rocks.

Roman church in heat of 'Spotlight'

South Dakota's legislature is hiding clergy crimes while Minnesota is prosecuting predator priests.

Boston's disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law lives amidst splendor in Rome after resigning his office.

The upcoming release of a movie detailing the Boston Globe’s 2002 investigation into the Catholic Church’s cover-up of clergy abuse may bring up “horrific memories” for New Mexico victims of sex abuse, Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester said. In a recent letter to Archdiocese of Santa Fe priests and parishioners last week, Wester said that the movie “Spotlight” is a chance for the faithful to pray for abuse victims. New Mexico was at the center of similar scandals years before the Boston stories. The Diocese of Gallup, which serves a large part of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Arizona, filed for bankruptcy in 2013 as lawsuits mounted over claims of clergy sex abuse. [Albuquerque Journal]

Like a dozen other US Roman churches have done the Helena, Montana chapter of the sect faced 362 claims of sexual abuse and filed for bankruptcy.

After a cassock with ties to the Sioux Falls diocese resigned amid clergy crimes, jaws are dropping.

A day after the deadline for filing clergy abuse claims against the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese, interim Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the number of victims who stepped forward as “staggering.” With the full list of creditors now in sight, the archdiocese will begin working in bankruptcy court with the victims’ committee, insurance companies and others to review the claims. Hebda argued that a speedy end to the bankruptcy proceedings is good for everyone. [StarTribune]

A Sioux Falls cleric is closely tied to Archbishop John Nienstedt, a defendant in the case.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on Friday criminally charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for its "role in failing to protect children and contribution to the unspeakable harm" done to three sexual abuse victims of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Wehmeyer said he asked the archbishop a couple of times, 'Are you aware of my past? Are you aware of my record?' Wehmeyer said that Nienstedt brushed it off and replied, 'I don't have time to look into that stuff.'" [Minnesota Public Radio News]

Nienstedt is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of St. Thomas where Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain serves on the Institutional Advancement Committee. They are standing together in the front row in this photo.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Paul J. Swain as the eighth bishop of Sioux Falls on August 31, 2006 and he was consecrated as Bishop of Sioux Falls on October 26, 2006. Bishop Swain previously served as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.--bio, Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.

When Bob Carlson was bishop of the Sioux Falls chapter of the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers he testified for the defense at Bill Janklow's manslaughter trial.

"Girl Scouts is exhibiting a troubling pattern of behavior and it is clear to me that as they move in the ways of the world it is becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values," Carlson wrote in a letter dated Thursday. "We must stop and ask ourselves — is Girl Scouts concerned with the total well-being of our young women? Does it do a good job forming the spiritual, emotional, and personal well-being of Catholic girls?"

Read the rest here.

The leader of the Roman Church is slowly cleaning house of pederastic predators but is taking heat from Republicans for his stance on curbing human-induced climate change and from progressives for his intent to canonize a colonizer accused of raping children.

South Dakota's Ku Klux Klan "opposed Roman Catholicism because it feared Catholic involvement in politics."

Both South Dakota dioceses are up to their areolae in debt to the white christianic ruling class for covering up crimes committed by pederastic priests where Catholic congregations and the state's legislature have engaged in obstruction of justice for decades.

New episode! Attempts to hide sex abuse in the Catholic Church continue, even after @GlobeSpotlight's reporting. https://t.co/ItJ9tGXGlI

— Reveal (@reveal) February 20, 2016

Unlike many films about reporters, “Spotlight” accurately depicts the frustrations and joys of breaking a big story https://t.co/8ftjjpEako

— ProPublica (@ProPublica) February 25, 2016

Updated: Vermont legislature poised to legalize cannabis; Daugaard evolving

Update, 1412 MST: a bill legalizing cannabis in Vermont will go to the House after the state's Senate voted to pass it.

Final approval came on a 17-to-12 vote Thursday after one senator switched what had been a no on an earlier vote to a yes. Sen. Rebecca Balint, a Windham County Democrat, said she switched due to an amendment seen as favoring smaller growers of marijuana versus large commercial interests.

Read it here.

And, from South Dakota:

Gov. Dennis Daugaard says his views on a medical marijuana measure have changed since it was amended to legalize the use of a cannabis derivative for seizure disorders. Daugaard said Thursday that he hadn't thoroughly vetted the measure, but would be likely to support Senate Bill 171 if it arrived on his desk. [Dana Ferguson]

And:

The Montana Supreme Court says medical marijuana providers should be paid for their services, but it also restricted them to selling the drug to three patients each. [Associated Press]

...........

Cannabis is no longer listed as a gateway drug on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) website.

Washington, DC has seen arrests and jail times plummet after legalizing cannabis as former Attorney General Eric Holder comes out in favor of rescheduling the herb.

The Vermont Senate has voted in favor of legal cannabis. 55% of state residents favor legalization according to a poll conducted by Vermont Public Radio.

After one more vote, it will move to the House, which will need to approve it before it ends up on the governor's desk. But Gov. Peter Shumlin has said he supports the bill. An October 2015 survey by Gallup found 58 percent of Americans support legalization.

Read it all here.

Vermont would be the first state to legalize through the legislature. Rhode Island's statehouse is also hearing testimony on legal cannabis.

Aquarius Cannabis, a U.S.-based branding company in the medical and recreational marijuana industries, today announced that it has signed a binding agreement with Flying Eagle Advisors, a Native American-owned cannabis management consulting and financing company, to be the distribution, branding, and cultivation consulting partner in a series of cannabis cultivation facilities owned by Native American tribes in the U.S. Aquarius will earn 9.77% of the gross wholesale sales of products grown in the facilities, once sold by an Aquarius-licensed distribution partner. Aquarius will earn 5% of gross revenue earned by the vertically integrated cultivation and manufacturing operation, and will receive between $12.50 – $75 per pound cultivation consulting fees based on the level of success the clients have growing its brands. [press release]

A Canadian judge has ruled that patients can grow their own and the country's premier has pledged to legalize for adult casual use.

EPA compels BNSF Railway to resolve spills in Plains states

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway has agreed to resolve oil spills, improve prevention and its response capacity in Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement with the BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), resolving alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act at several locations in the states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. These include a March 2010 discharge of approximately 3,750 gallons of diesel from a locomotive in Mobridge, South Dakota affecting Lake Oahe[.]

Read the rest here.

In Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) EPA is awarding proposals ranging from $300,000 to $1,500,000 that would significantly reduce diesel emissions and exposure.

Millions of acres are being farmed for ethanol by burning diesel fuel. Logging is diesel fuel-intensive. Diesel can be distilled from wood waste ground in the landing processing some with mobile pyrolysis systems.

South Dakota is one state that has completely fallen down on protecting the environment.

Harvey cars at depot, Lamy, #NewMexico, 1926-1930?
Photographer: Edward A. Kemp (POG 053651) #atsf pic.twitter.com/HZmsBDIfAZ

— POG Photo Archives (@pogphoto) February 23, 2016

Seth, Lyle Jeffs arrested; FLDS compounds raided

Update, 25 February, 1200 MST:

Jeffs, 42, appeared today in federal court in Rapid City, one day after his arrest near the compound he is alleged to lead near Pringle. He is a high-ranking member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a reputed polygamist sect that U.S. prosecutors allege has access to a vast system of closed-off and secure hideouts in South Dakota, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, western Canada, Mexico and South America. [Rapid City Journal]

..........

$20 says the Bundy and FLDS arrests are linked.

"Seth Steed Jeffs was arrested Tuesday morning in Custer County, South Dakota, and will have an initial appearance in federal court in South Dakota."

Lyle Jeffs, who has been running the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for his imprisoned brother, has been indicted on food stamp fraud charges, the U.S. Attorney for Utah announced Tuesday. Also indicted was Seth Jeffs, brother to both Lyle and FLDS President Warren Jeffs. Jeffs and a number of other FLDS Church members — in Utah and South Dakota — were arrested, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Read it all here.

This post has been getting traffic and now i know why.

A secretive religious group linked to national cases of polygamy and the marriage of underage girls may be expanding to the Edgemont area, and there may be little Fall River County officials can do. The property in question was part of the estate of Buddy Heck and was left to Doris Seabeck and to Carolyn Fines. Seabeck is Heck’s sister and is the personal representative of his estate. Seabeck signed the purchase agreement, which is being contested by Fines in the courts. The commissioners said that as Carolyn Fines is state’s attorney Lance Russell’s mother, there may be some conflict of interest on the county’s part. [Rapid City Journal]

In 2011 Russell was censured by the state's judiciary for leaking grand jury testimony.

Following arrests and a death during a siege by Mormons in Harney County, Oregon tensions are high where white people are becoming conflicted about whether sedition is an appropriate response to perceived government tyranny.

Court documents released yesterday emphasize lot of what we knew of #FLDS Lyle Jeffs: he's spoiled. From January: https://t.co/rwiRWzCKWn

— Nate Carlisle (@natecarlisle) February 24, 2016

Teabag Rounds, GOP leadership: "block the black guy!"

Let's face it: John Kasich looks like he could keel over dead any second.

Faltering Republicant presidential candidate Ben Carson said President Barack Obama was raised white.

South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds says he wants to see a Justice with similar views to Antonin Scalia. Rounds says he doesn’t think hearings should be held this year. [WNAX]

Mike Rounds and GOP leadership: "see? Obama isn't colored: let's block his black ass!"

Just before lunchtime Tuesday, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that, during a closed-door huddle with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, they had reached a consensus not to hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee that President Obama might put forward this year. As Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, notes, the alternative was a full-blown confirmation battle, in which individual GOP members would have needed to take positions, and ultimately cast votes, on a flesh-and-blood nominee. “McConnell recognized, This can only divide us—‘us’ being Republicans,” says Sabato. [The Atlantic]

Ezra Klein says the national GOP is broken.

The GOP is already holding on by a string when it comes to their control of the Senate this year, given the number of seats they have to defend in states won by President Obama and the increasing likelihood of the party putting forth an incredibly unpopular Presidential candidate in Donald Trump. [Public Policy Polling]

A Democratic Senate confirmed Anthony Kennedy, Ronald Reagan's nominee to the Court in his last year in office and failing to confirm an Obama nominee could significantly increase voter turnout, which historically works against GOP.

Hearing that Rep. Cole is from the Chickasaw Nation, Scalia said: “Don't forget you belong to a conquered race.” [Indian Country Today]

4-4 decisions affirm the lower benches and an equally divided Court would uphold affirmative action, union rights and abortion protection.

Scalia's death is just one more teaching moment about why Democrats need to control the judiciary and should be a clarion call for Tom Daschle to get in South Dakota's US Senate race but he is all to cognizant that the state is a 77,184 square mile institution for the criminally unwell.

Rounds is rumored to be considering an exit from the US Senate.

So, who is a President Donald Trump's nominee: Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, Ted Cruz or Tom Cruise?

Senate Republican leaders say they won’t meet with an Obama Supreme Court nominee https://t.co/vymWVcV2CK pic.twitter.com/48D8HhTfL7

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) February 23, 2016

Watered-down cannabis bill passes SD Senate

With bipartisan support, South Dakota Senate Bill 171 legalizing cannabidiol passed 20-15.

Sen. Blake Curd, a physician from Sioux Falls, said some people could give him "a hard time for supporting the use of the marijuana derivative, but he doesn't care because it could help." Sen. Bruce Rampelberg of Rapid City who sponsored the bill as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee said SB171 allows CBD as a treatment for epilepsy. Curd said lawmakers want to protect life at all cost and SB171 is the very least the legislature could do. In committee Curd added the amendment to SB171 that stripped all other forms of cannabis from the bill.

Even arch-conservative Betty Olson voted to pass saying there are many medications more dangerous to children than CBD is.

In accordance with the kurtz template South Dakota's legislature snuffed out industrial cannabis.

It's not impossible that SB171 will be hog-housed later in the session to further relax South Dakota's draconian cannabis laws.

Thanks to Dana Ferguson of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and Kealey Bultena from Bill Janklow's idea of public radio for their coverage of the 2016 legislative session.

Seth Jeffs arrested; FLDS compound in Pringle could be raided

Update, 25 February, 1200 MST:

Jeffs, 42, appeared today in federal court in Rapid City, one day after his arrest near the compound he is alleged to lead near Pringle. He is a high-ranking member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a reputed polygamist sect that U.S. prosecutors allege has access to a vast system of closed-off and secure hideouts in South Dakota, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, western Canada, Mexico and South America. [Rapid City Journal]

..........

"Seth Steed Jeffs was arrested Tuesday morning in Custer County, South Dakota, and will have an initial appearance in federal court in South Dakota."

Lyle Jeffs, who has been running the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for his imprisoned brother, has been indicted on food stamp fraud charges, the U.S. Attorney for Utah announced Tuesday. Also indicted was Seth Jeffs, brother to both Lyle and FLDS President Warren Jeffs. Jeffs and a number of other FLDS Church members — in Utah and South Dakota — were arrested, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Read it all here.

A secretive religious group linked to national cases of polygamy and the marriage of underage girls may be expanding to the Edgemont area, and there may be little Fall River County officials can do. The property in question was part of the estate of Buddy Heck and was left to Doris Seabeck and to Carolyn Fines. Seabeck is Heck’s sister and is the personal representative of his estate. Seabeck signed the purchase agreement, which is being contested by Fines in the courts. The commissioners said that as Carolyn Fines is state’s attorney Lance Russell’s mother, there may be some conflict of interest on the county’s part. [Rapid City Journal]

In 2011 Russell was censured by the state's judiciary for leaking grand jury testimony.

Following arrests and a death during a siege by Mormons in Harney County, Oregon tensions are high where white people are becoming conflicted about whether sedition is an appropriate response to perceived government tyranny.

Pierre ranks low in quality of life among state capitals

Hey, South Dakota isn't 51st in something!

Santa Fe, New Mexico ranks #2 in quality of life among America's state capitals while Pierre, South Dakota is in the muck at 44th. Pierre edges out Santa Fe in cost of living because air service in Pierre is a bridge to nowhere, it's a shit hole and nobody wants to live there not even Lee Schoenbeck.

Read the rest here.

At this time, there seems to be a sense that there is little anyone can do about our state politics and that our choices are limited to tolerating it or leaving the state.

Read more about red state collapse here.

Jackley: states better at protecting environment than EPA

Sometimes, even blue states like Massachusetts have to be dope-slapped by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The United States Supreme Court [sic] is expected to decide next month whether or not it will hear the case involving the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. Rule. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who heads up the National Association of State Attorney’s General, says if the High Court were to rule on WOTUS, a 4-4 vote would favor those challenging the rule. He says states have done a better job protecting the environment than the EPA. [WNAX]

South Dakota is one state that has completely fallen down on protecting the environment.

So-called 'Americans for Prosperity' a Koch-funded group with a lobbyist based in Sioux Falls signaled to legislators that they will lose campaign funding from the Kochs unless they act to reverse the progress the US Environmental Protection Agency has made in South Dakota.

Unfortunately, in South Dakota, the Department of Ecocide and Natural Ruination (DENR) is governed by those same offenders and therefore effectively neutered.

When Republican domination is literally deadly to wildlife and humans alike maybe it's time for a little hope and change.

BREAKING: Sen. Kirk splits from GOP leaders, says Obama should nominate Supreme Court pick. https://t.co/MpVvmTySIp pic.twitter.com/8NzKUySDkJ

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) February 22, 2016

Rapid City Journal: legislature needs more diversity

Looks like the Rapid City Journal editorial board is holding a gun to its collective head.

At this time, there seems to be a sense that there is little anyone can do about our state politics and that our choices are limited to tolerating it or leaving the state.

Read more about red state collapse here.

Findings of blogger-generated idea to be presented in Hot Springs

The Southern Hills community took this blogger's advice and asked Black Hills State University to look into ways to make the town more accessible to the area that includes the Oglala Lakota Nation.

Students from Black Hills State University will present their tourism study for the city of Hot Springs to the community on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at the Mueller Civic Center Annex, at 5:30 p.m., before the regular city council meeting at 7 p.m. The public is invited to come hear the findings. For more information, contact City Hall at 745-3135. [Hot Springs Star]

The South Dakota Democratic Party should book their 2016 state convention in Hot Springs.

A sewer runs through it: the chemical toilet re-revisited

Brookings is not just home to South Dakota's porcine prevaricator it's where the Big Sioux River becomes very, very poisonous.

Remember when Bill Janklow gutted environmental protection in the chemical toilet?

“We found Shiga toxin genes in levels that are equivalent to what you would see in Third World countries, where people are dying in massive outbreaks,” School of Mines graduate student Kelsey Murray said Thursday. The results prompted board members of the Brookings-based water district to commit another $25,000 to continue precision genetic testing, dependent on the city of Sioux Falls committing $100,000 in state revolving fund money to match it.

Read more about the horrors here.

When South Dakota's senior US Senator is calling 'silly' an end to lead contamination in the watersheds that support all life in the state you know things are upside-down.

As crazy as that sounds, if the liberal wing of the president’s party and EPA bureaucrats had their way, they’d even regulate the tackle South Dakotans use to reel in walleyes from the Missouri River and ban the lead ammunition they use to bag ringnecks in the prairie. Thankfully, last year Congress passed and the president signed legislation that included my provision to permanently block the EPA from an outright ban on lead ammunition used in the field. [op-ed, some idiot on John Thune's staff]

Lead is a potent neurotoxin.

The most significant hazard to wildlife is through direct ingestion of spent lead shot and bullets, lost fishing sinkers, lead tackle and related fragments, or through consumption of wounded or dead prey containing lead shot, bullets or fragments. Although lead from spent ammunition and lost fishing tackle is not readily released into aquatic and terrestrial systems, under some environmental conditions it can slowly dissolve and enter groundwater, making it potentially hazardous for plants, animals and perhaps even people if it enters water bodies or is taken up in plant roots. [US Geological Survey]

The Victoria Lake area above Rapid City is lead Superfund site in the making.

Lead is released by coal-fired power plants, too.

In Flint, Michigan a Republican governor could go to prison for telling residents that lead in the water is no big deal.

So-called 'Americans for Prosperity' a Koch-funded group with a lobbyist based in Sioux Falls signaled to legislators that they will lose campaign funding from the Kochs unless they act to reverse the progress the US Environmental Protection Agency has made in South Dakota.

Unfortunately, in South Dakota, the Department of Ecocide and Natural Ruination (DENR) is governed by those same offenders and therefore effectively neutered.

When Republican domination is literally deadly to wildlife and humans alike maybe it's time for a little hope and change.

Rounds contemplating resignation

A source in Governor Dennis Daugaard's office has just told this reporter that Senator Mike Rounds (Teabag-SD) is again preparing to resign his US Senate seat after the South Dakota Department of Education's cancellation of any new grants or contracts with Mid Central Educational Cooperative.

Rounds has repeatedly called for the abolition of the US Department of Education.

Stay tuned.

Former Sioux Falls cleric calls for boycott of Girl Scouts

When Bob Carlson was bishop of the Sioux Falls chapter of the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers he testified for the defense at Bill Janklow's manslaughter trial.

"Girl Scouts is exhibiting a troubling pattern of behavior and it is clear to me that as they move in the ways of the world it is becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values," Carlson wrote in a letter dated Thursday. "We must stop and ask ourselves — is Girl Scouts concerned with the total well-being of our young women? Does it do a good job forming the spiritual, emotional, and personal well-being of Catholic girls?"

Read the rest here.

Both South Dakota dioceses are up to their areolae in debt to the white christianic ruling class for covering up crimes committed by pederastic priests.

✏️ Le #Pape et la campagne présidentielle américaine #FeelTheBern (@Patbagley) pic.twitter.com/u00qACancb

— B3zero (@B3zero) February 19, 2016

.@Pontifex vs. @RealDonaldTrump: Catholics in the US are politically homeless https://t.co/SEnBWbnlUl pic.twitter.com/diUorqwXwy

— The Conversation (@ConversationUK) February 20, 2016

Pew: Obama's approval ratings similar to Reagan's

The Yankton Press & Dakotan editorial board isn't very happy with the Republican congress:

THUMBS DOWN to congressional Republicans who have decided they won’t even listen to the Obama administration’s final budget proposal. In a move that breaks decades of tradition and foists a middle finger at the president, GOP has decided not to invite White House budget director Shaun Donovan to budget hearings. “Rather than spend time on a proposal that … will double down on the same failed policies that have led to the worst economic recovery in modern times, Congress should continue our work on building a budget that balances and that will foster a healthy economy,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Georgia). So, in a blatant election-year move, the GOP has decided to ignore the president, whose proposal is usually a starting point for negotiations anyway. In fact, this is doubling down --- but more so on the exasperating, disrespectful political theater that has overtaken Capitol Hill and has given Congress some of its lowest approval ratings ever. Apparently, these politicians just can’t help themselves. [We Say]

Ouch.

A plank of the Southern Strategy seeking to assuage poor white people in the wake of the civil rights movement, the so-called 'War on Drugs' declared by the Nixon White House, then institutionalized by the Reagan and Clinton Administrations, redefined caste in the United States becoming a policy tool for the mass incarceration of non-white men.

Our poll in December 2015 showed that 46% of Americans approve of Barack Obama’s job performance – a rating that’s been steady throughout 2015, and is up 4 percentage points from a year prior. Over the course of Obama’s presidency, his average approval rating among Democrats has been 80%, compared with just 14% among Republicans. During Ronald Reagan’s presidency, an average of 31% of Democrats approved of his job performance. Reagan’s approval rating dropped to 49% in January 1987 during the Iran-Contra scandal, but he left office two years later with a 63% rating. The presidents with the starkest gaps between their highs and lows in job approval are George W. Bush and his father.

Read the rest here.

President Reagan removed the photovoltaic cells from the roof of the White House destroying the country's momentum toward an energy-independent future.

SB171 headed to senate floor

In accordance with the kurtz template South Dakota's legislature snuffed out industrial cannabis but will continue to debate legalization.

Thanks to a wide, bipartisan vote in the Health and Human Services Committee Senate Bill 171 as amended is headed to the floor for further debate. Senator Bradford recalled the use of native plants during testimony and Sen. Curd admitted bill is not perfect. One senator smacked down law enforcement for going down the slippery dope slope.

It's not just South Dakota's law enforcement industry lying about crimes attributed to legal cannabis.

Also by a wide, bipartisan margin the Commerce Committee in the Iowa House voted to legalize cannabis to treat epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and end-stage cancer.

Iowa legislative committee passes cannabis bill

By a wide, bipartisan margin the Commerce Committee in the Iowa House has voted to legalize cannabis to treat epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and end-stage cancer.

It’s a scaled back version of legislation that was considered in the Iowa Senate last year. Republican Representative Zach Nunn of Bondurant urged his colleagues to “keep an open mind” about the changes. The vote was 17 in favor and six opposed and it’s now eligible for debate in the 100-member House, although the speaker of the House has indicated the state should let federal officials decide the issue first. Representative John Forbes, a Democrat from Urbandale who is a pharmacist, says a study published in a medical journal last June shows medical marijuana “is NOT a gateway to more illegal use.” [WNAX]

In accordance with the kurtz template South Dakota's legislature snuffed out industrial cannabis but is expected to continue debate on legalization of cannabidiol (CBD).

SB171 action: Curd amendment passes, action deferred

Testimony on Senate Bill 171 in the South Dakota Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee pitted cannabis advocate, Melissa Mentele against members of the law enforcement industry but in final remarks in defense of the bill former Rapid City Mayor Jerry Munson gave the best speech of his career.

Policing for Profit and civil forfeiture are sole motivators in opposition to SB171. One cop even admitted selective enforcement. Paul Bachand has ties to Big Booze and Big Pharma.

One of the only physicians in the legislature, Blake Curd offered an amendment that would legalize cannabidiol (CBD) and with the support of a majority Republican committee it passed.

Further action has been deferred until Friday.

There is no money for South Dakota education in medical or industrial cannabis and no video lootery revenue goes to the state's tribes.

"All cannabis use is medical."

Over-prescription is blamed for a majority of overdose deaths in Colorado: 2/3 are from pharmaceutical opioids, 1/3 are from heroin.

Lance Russell: video lootery addiction okay, screw South Dakota families

Dan Kaiser is at least one South Dakota legislator with a close relative combating leukemia. Even if he chooses to step down to spend more time with his son it might bring some comfort to know that cannabis is an effective treatment.

There is no money for South Dakota education in medical or industrial cannabis and no video lootery revenue goes to the state's tribes.

In South Dakota's District 30, obese long-time State Representative Lance Russell says he's challenging sitting State Senator Bruce Rampelberg.

Russell and his nutball caucus want to tax those least able to pay for education funding.

When South Dakotans began playing the lottery nearly 30 years ago, they were barely scratching the surface of what was to come later. While most people play the lottery responsibly, a small percentage have paid a devastating price. Debbie says it got to the point where she was spending three to four thousand dollars by 10 o'clock in the morning. "When it got to the point where it was ferocious, I took money," Debbie said. Lots of money - nearly $200,000 she embezzled from her employer. She was caught and spent two and a half years in prison. "There's an increase in crime, an increase in problems with employment, and an increase with family problems," Nancy Loken a Keystone Treatment Center Counselor said. [The Dark Side of Video Lootery, KELO teevee]

"We need more than the lottery money to fund education [because] lottery dollars are not enough,” said Republican State Senator Deb Soholt.

Russell is term limited in the SD House. Russell noted that Rampelberg “has enticed him into the race with less than conservative votes and positions he’s taken such as on medical marijuana, tax increases, and bills such as Rampelberg’s sponsorship of Democrat Bernie Hunhoff’s corporate income tax measure.”

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Nation is moving forward with their plans to revive their cannabis operation after members of South Dakota's extremist legislature said they don't want reservations to thrive.

SDGOP blog bully Powers embraces usury but cannabis prohibition is not nanny-statism. He has kids suffering from autism yet he publicly decries an effective therapy for the afflicted. A source close to the Powers family told this reporter that he is secretly medicating his sick children with cannabis.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to hear testimony on medical cannabis today: it's a small step for compassionate conservatism but a major leap for South Dakota families.

Cannabis prohibition is not protecting South Dakota kids any more than video lootery is.

Governor Daugaard: if you adopt my template i will support the creation of Spearfish Canyon State Park.

Ecoffey: cannabis could boost economic development on the rez

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Nation is moving forward with their plans to revive their cannabis operation after members of South Dakota's extremist legislature said they don't want reservations to thrive.

The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 11-1 to kill a bill that would've removed part of a state law that criminalizes traces of THC in the body. South Dakota's cannabis laws are the most draconian in the US.

The fact of the matter is that the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation deserve a functioning economy. After roughly a hundred years of failed federal policies poverty on the reservation is a constant as our working class is being forced to move off reservation in search of work. Something radical has to occur and as a tribal-nation that may require the flexing of our inherent and prehistoric sovereign rights. What the state of South Dakota truly fears about marijuana legalization is the impact that it will have on its communities that have based their economies in for-profit incarceration schemes and the petty extortion of individuals who are caught either using or under the influence of marijuana. Without a steady supply of non-violent offenders there would be no point in employing all these prison guards and court officers. [Brandon Ecoffey]

"All cannabis use is medical."

As another brutal winter smothers the Great Plains leaving residents on the verge of suicide one more writer sees hope.

A day late for President's Day, but still, fuck em. pic.twitter.com/v1SuX4JkUC

— Cante Zuyawin (@CanteZuyawin) February 16, 2016

"All cannabis use is medical"

God might not be enough for religious states: they lead the nation in anti-depressant use.

As another brutal winter smothers the Great Plains leaving residents on the verge of suicide one writer sees hope.

If there is one observation I feel compelled to share after five years in the cannabis industry, it is that I do believe that all cannabis use is medical. When the modern medical cannabis movement began a little over a decade ago, very little was remembered about the benefits that the cannabis plant has to offer. The phytocannabinoids produced by the plant are in essence exactly what the body needs to maintain a healthy, balanced endocannabinoid system. So if you think you are a recreational user of cannabis, you might want to think again. [Erica Freeman]

According to “Surveillance Report,” from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “apparent” per capita alcohol consumption is trending:

According to their study, 43 states increased their inebriation, with the West leading the way by 3.4 percent, followed by 2.3 percent in the South, 2.1 percent in the Northeast, and 1.7 percent in the Midwest. South Dakota 2.76

Rich people can save themselves: they merely flee South and complain that immigrants are taking over the workforce; but, poverty chains those who live in despair year 'round.

The Peoples Republic of Brookings is not just home to South Dakota's most obese GOP blogger.

Brookings was ranked the fifth-drunkest city in America by an article published by Bustle.com, and the article is now circulating around Facebook and other social media outlets. According to a Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.8 percent of the Brookings population is classified by the CDC as heavy drinkers. Heavy drinkers are defined as adult men having more than two drinks per day and adult women having more than one drink per day. In order to rank the top ten drunkest cities, the percentage of binge drinkers and heavy drinkers from the CDC studies were added – giving Brookings a total of 35.5 percent combined binge and heavy drinkers. [Jordan Smith Editor-in-Chief, SDSU Collegian]

Obesity and mental illness are closely linked, especially in northern tier states like South Dakota.

In fact South Dakota is slipping. Just last year, the state ranked 19th but even that ranking would put us well behind most of our neighboring states. But why does South Dakota rank so low and what's being done to improve that rank? It's a test South Dakota is failing.--Jake Iverson, KSFY.

Alaska suffers as do northern tier red states where access to affordable health care is virtually non-existent. Megan Edge writes:

Alaskans have to wait until December 21 to see the light slowly increasing daily, and for most that day can’t come soon enough. “It looks like seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) is related to low light levels,” said psychologist and depression specialist Suzanne Strisik. “[That] is when we are around the holidays and we are trying to adjust to those low light levels.”

Migration must be celebrated, not outlawed. Statehood for Mexico would mean more people could save themselves from brutal winters in the North.

Rapid City is a scary place: just look at the bags under Gordon Howie's eyes. Shorter days and longer nights especially around the winter solstice mean more people die by their own hands.

The building that has been home to the Deadwood High School Bears now Lead-Deadwood Elementary came to mind at my conclusion to make Deadwood an adult destination.

So, opium use is as historic in Deadwood as gambling is.

That makes the Gulch the logical location for a cannabis-friendly zone.

Pew: Obama's approval ratings similar to Reagan's

The Yankton Press & Dakotan editorial board isn't very happy with the Republican congress: