The Campbell County Fire Department is asking that people be patient during the ongoing wildfires, understanding that these past several days have been stressful on landowners and firefighters alike. And it’s caused some high-tension situations between residents and firefighters. “Our members have been threatened with bodily harm while standing their ground and completing their assignments,” the fire department wrote in a Facebook post. [Fire department asks residents to be understanding and patient with firefighters]As of Friday Wyoming wildfires have cleared nearly a half million acres of fences, power lines, dry grasses, sagebrush, ponderosa pine and juniper in Republican ranch country even as the Biden administration reaches out to ranchers who rely on moral hazard to survive. Northeastern Wyoming is under a fire weather watch through Sunday as wind gusts reach thirty five miles per hour, low humidity prevails and temperatures rise to as much as twenty degrees above normal.
8/31/24
Wyoming Republicans turn on firefighters, tribes as drought conditions worsen
8/30/24
SD Senate candidate graduate of Santa Fe's Southwestern College
She said managers and stewards need to be open to learning about traditional Indigenous practices of forest stewardship and prescribed burning. Many are revisiting these time-honored methods of managing fire-adapted ecosystems. “The key to continuing to evolve our understanding through ongoing study, while drawing wisdom from Indigenous forest management interfaces that coexisted with period fire for centuries before modern fire suppression policies. [Two Bulls work with CASA will make her an effective legislator]Preservation is a weak spot in the Republican agenda and if enough people believe forest and rangeland resilience is a bankable position the South Dakota Democratic Party needs to exploit it by fielding candidates who can convince voters to reject politicians like John Thune, Kristi Noem, Mike Rounds and Dusty Johnson who work for the grazing, mining and logging profiteers at the expense of public lands.
8/29/24
Schweitzer: "throw 'em out!"
Montana has never had more elected Republicans than we do today. Republicans control all the branches of government. These tax increases were placed on your shoulders without the help or consent of any Democrat. The Montana Republican Party is now the party of higher taxes and more government spending. Montana’s largest two property taxpayers are Northwestern Energy and BNSF Railroad. They each got millions of dollars in tax cuts. Northwestern sent the loot to corporate headquarters in South Dakota and then raised your electric rates. BNSF sent the stash to Fort Worth, Texas and increased freight rates to ship Montana’s wheat crop to Portland. Refineries, pipelines, transmission lines and mines all got big tax breaks and did not invest more in Montana or hire more Montana workers. They just sent your money to their shareholders. You gave the Republicans a chance and they raised your taxes. Throw'em out! [Schweitzer, Republicans raised your property taxes]In 2015, an email from a concerned Montanan alerted this blog to a move by the Park County Commission to redirect funds awarded in a lawsuit that were intended to clean up soil contamination now in repose within the city's unlined landfill resulting from decades of spills by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. Empire Builder passengers blamed BNSF Railway for the derailment near Joplin in 2021 because in much of the Mountain West that railroad owns the track bed over which Amtrak operates and kills grizzlies in conflict with the Endangered Species Act.
“Montana GOP Senate candidate touts his business. It’s losing millions.” “Several directors have left, including 1 who flagged concerns about internal auditing, as an unusually slow wildfire season in 2023 put the company at risk of defaulting on its debt” https://t.co/FIePi4NMV3
— JD ✍️ 🇺🇸 (@JDawsonTweets) August 29, 2024
8/27/24
Canadian company will test local control, tribal stewardship
Great Sioux Nation and Biden Administration representatives opened a path to joint stewardship of the Black Hills National Forest on Aug. 22. The leaders of their respective nations signed a memorandum engaging federal land managers with tribal experts in consultation, planning, and employment on sacred ground. The document is based on a federal template for MOUs. The directive’s title defines the intent: “Collaboration with the Great Sioux Nation Tribes in Relation to Forestry Planning, Healthy Forest, Workforce Development and Stewardship in the Black Hills National Forest.” In it, the tribes stipulated that their cooperation waives no treaty rights. Across the country, the Forest Service has entered into 180 similar stewardship accords with tribes. [Sioux Nation, U.S. Forest Service forge joint stewardship framework for Black Hills]In 2000 now-dead Republican South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow sold the state cement plant in Rapid City to Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC). Democratic legislators voted against Janklow's folly because GCC was exempted from mineral severance and was allowed to mine on ground owned by School and Public Lands. Limestone-rich state trust land near Dewey was leased for a dollar for 99 years and could be renewed twice so for three bucks GCC received the mineral rights for 297 years and school kids got screwed. During the 1980s and 90s the cement plant returned about $11 million a year but in 2013 the legislature had to kick in $4 million to the plant's retirement system and South Dakota still surfs the bottom for America's education dollars.
8/26/24
Wilson should withdraw from SDPUC race amid SDGOP disintegration
The agenda was executed almost exactly as it was promulgated, without any of the drama and contention predicted by naysayers like those at Dakota War College. It was a shame that their gaslighting probably convinced some state central committee members not to attend. [Stu Cvrk, Report from the South Dakota GOP Special Meeting on 24 August]
8/23/24
Gaia turns her attention to Wyoming, red state failure
Johnson County Fire Control District 1 is fighting the blaze along with Clearmont Fire, Powder River Fire, Wyoming State Forestry, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest [S]ervice. Seventy firefighters are deployed. [Northern Wyoming Wildfire Explodes To Nearly 200,000 Acres, Others Also Burning]Some Wyoming legislators just said screw it after the Freedom Caucus sank its claws into Cheyenne and Democrats aren't even bothering to run because of threats on their lives. So, turnout for the state's primary election barely registered as voters just stayed home as an expression of disgust for the extreme white wing of the Wyoming Republican Party.
Going into Tuesday, members and allies of the Freedom Caucus controlled about 26 votes in the 62-member House. By midnight, the caucus appeared to have secured at least 29 seats, according to an analysis by WyoFile of the complete but as yet unofficial results. The Freedom Caucus was also able to elect one of its own members, Rep. Chip Neiman (R-Hulett), to be the second-ranking officer of the body in 2023. Gov. Mark Gordon was the biggest donor to the Wyoming Caucus, personally giving $30,000, while the two largest donors to the Freedom Caucus were William and Jeanie Haas of Hulett, who donated $30,000 each. [Wyoming Freedom Caucus gains power, but November will determine statehouse control]The good news? Wyoming's suicide rate has more than doubled as the stingy state refuses to expand Medicaid and men are five and a half more likely to take their own lives.
Wyoming and Montana are the only states where at least 50% of buildings are at risk of wildfires. 54% of buildings in Wyoming and 51% in Montana are at risk of wildfires. Texas (45%), Oklahoma (44%) and New Mexico (43%) follow as the only other states with 40% or more of their buildings facing wildfire risk. [Wildfire Risk Highest in California, Florida, Texas]
8/21/24
South Dakota, Wyoming facing scorched earth
Wyoming and South Dakota reported the largest negative change. Wyoming saw 66% rated good to excellent, down 6 points from the previous week, and saw an 11-point increase in poor-to-very-poor grazing areas. South Dakota saw a drop of 8 points to 22% good to excellent and a 14-point increase in poor-to-very-poor ratings. [Progressive Farmer]
Red Flag Warning for this afternoon and evening for parts of northeastern Wyoming and southwestern South Dakota #sdwx #wywx pic.twitter.com/U1RXr6MGBb
— NWS Rapid City (@NWSRapidCity) August 21, 2024
8/16/24
Freedom to die: Sturgis means death without dignity
8/15/24
SDGOP, WYGOP devolving into political cannibalism
In its amended complaint, Life Defense Fund argues that if it wins, Johnson could issue a statement prior to the election instructing voters to disregard Amendment G, the abortion amendment. [South Dakota secretary of state now a defendant in abortion rights case]Tension is high in the Mountain West after threats from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Wyoming US Representative Harriet Hageman so local Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service offices and employees are on alert for militant zealots bent on violent disruptions or worse as federal agencies assess resource management plans.
With just over one week before the 2024 primary elections, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray has formally requested that several county clerks around the Equality State redo tests of voting machines. “To do this a week ahead [of the election] is absolutely deplorable,” Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) told WyoFile. “It’s a blatant move to try to force hand-counts of our ballots.” [Secretary of State calls for retests of voting machines 8 days before Wyoming primary elections]In 2023 Driskill was co-sponsor of a resolution that called on the federal government to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and allow horses wrangled from public lands to be diverted to meat processing domestically for shipment abroad. But even Driskill isn't white enough for some Trumpers and faced a solid write-in campaign from a former chair of the Crook County Republican Party.
“Senator Driskill’s false attacks on my integrity are inappropriate and defamatory,” Gray told WyoFile in an email. “It’s deeply disturbing because with his wrong and defamatory accusations, Senator Driskill is doing the very thing that he is accusing the Freedom Caucus of doing.” [WY Freedom PAC returns $25K donation to Crook County GOP after Driskill files complaint]
Democratic-controlled Michigan expanded voting opportunities through ballot measures while Republican-led South Dakota restricted access with legislative action. Both states believe that they're on the right track. Our latest: https://t.co/HnYJj9KNp1
— South Dakota News Watch (@SDNewsWatch) August 15, 2024
8/14/24
Noem failures are driving more educators from South Dakota
New Associated School Boards of South Dakota Executive Director Heath Larson said that vacancies are up about 100 from the end of July last year to the same time this year. That’s been following a trend of rising openings each year with a little less than a month to the start of classes in the state. The total openings as of the end of July sat at 353, up from 256 the year prior. Before that, there were 225 headed into the 2022 school year. [Teacher vacancies up in South Dakota with new year around the corner]Yes, pollution, crashes, blackouts, anthrax, Legionella, shigella, bovine TB, suicides, flooding, wildfires, hail, ecocide, crime, corruption, disease, drought, destruction, distrust and dependence: these are the Noem years.
“If we continue to underfund (education) and pay our teachers last in the region, I’m not sure that’s going to improve morale or performance," he said. "But investing in our teachers, investing in education might be the kind of thing that turns those trends around." - Sen. Nesiba pic.twitter.com/E6uRbWqTDb
— SD Democratic Party (@SoDakDems) September 22, 2023
8/12/24
Trump brings his dishonored drug dealer to Montana rally
Trump brought Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a former physician to the president, on stage to air his animus for Tester six years after Tester helped tank Trump’s effort to put Jackson in as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2018 by bringing to light complaints Jackson had overprescribed certain medications and was drinking on the job. “This man tried to destroy me. He tried to destroy my family. I’ve been waiting for six years to get back here for this night, to be with this man right here, to come after (Tester),” Jackson said, calling Tester a “Swamp hippopotamus.” [Trump rallies thousands in Bozeman in support of GOP Senate candidate Sheehy]Convicted felon Trump owes El Paso, Texas over a half million dollars and screwed Albuquerque out of $211,000 after a mudfest there.
8/11/24
Today's intersection: dumped wind turbines and energy giants
The story began with the company NextEra Energy, a large Florida-based clean energy developer. Often, expired turbine blades end up in a landfill. The fiberglass components are tough to reuse, creating a weak recycling market. Xcel Energy now owns the wind farm, but the company says it can’t move the blades because it doesn’t own them and described the situation as “isolated.” Xcel is still sensitive to the issue because the blade junk is not exactly building goodwill in a wind-rich area. [‘Seriously, this sucks’: How a small Minnesota town was left with a giant pile of wind turbine blades]Xcel Energy is responsible for part of the methane bubble over the Four Corners area and worse. In 2015 the Minneapolis-based utility even sued to prevent the hookup of a solar generating station for a Minnesota company and enjoys frequent rate hikes from the South Dakota Public Utilities Cartel (SDPUC). Several utilities are based in South Dakota because of the state's regressive tax structure — Northwestern Energy and Black Hills Power among them. In South Dakota the three elected Republicans on the PUC have taken a position opposed to net metering and the state's Koch-soaked legislature has considered but declined to pass legislation on the issue. No corporate taxes, a compliant regulator, a dearth of environmental protection and cheap labor make South Dakota the perfect dumping ground for earth killers like coal and eyesores like wind farms.
Wind power has stirred a storm in Yankton County. The proposed development is the Swan Lake wind project from NextEra Energy Resources. [Wind energy proposal fans flames at Yankton County Commission meeting]Ice storms and other calamities driven by anthropogenic climate hijinx routinely knock out electric power often resulting in lost lives and the inevitable cyber attacks on the US will take down the grid for days, even months causing food shortages and mayhem but the addition of virtual power plants or VPPs can change that handling some twenty percent of peak power demand by 2030.
Two years ago, NextEra Energy agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice related to accidental eagle fatalities at certain wind farms owned or operated by the company in Wyoming and New Mexico. The resolution resolved past fatalities and provided a framework that allowed NextEra Energy to move forward without a continued threat to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. [Florida Firm Proposes 600-MW Wyoming Wind Project Near Jim Bridger Plant]The cost of subsidizing, manufacturing, transporting, erecting, maintaining then removing and disposing of just one wind turbine eyesore bat and bird killer would take a thousand subscribers to energy self-reliance. Microgrid technologies are destined to enhance tribal sovereignty, free communities from electric monopolies and net-metering only gives control back to utilities enabled by moral hazard.
8/10/24
Howdy Doody Dusty breaking bad?
The provision builds on an earlier proposal introduced by Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.), two members of the House Agriculture Committee. Bayer helped craft that measure, then circulated it among lawmakers to rally support before later pushing the House to add it to the farm bill, the people familiar with the effort said. The House doesn’t yet have a vote scheduled on that package, which expires Sept. 30. In the meantime, Bayer also has sought to reshape federal, state and local laws, hoping to erect a blockade against future lawsuits. That measure could effectively shut down some of the lawsuits against Bayer, legal experts said. [Bayer lobbies Congress to help fight lawsuits tying Roundup to cancerSo, Mr. Johnson needs to be held accountable for coddling a would be dictator and building a war chest on the Big Lie, for his failures to support Medicaid, for voting against marriage, for not moving on immigration reform and for his culpability in driving talent from South Dakota.
It’s EPA’s job to protect people from exposure to dangerous chemicals. We’ve issued an emergency order to stop the use of the pesticide DCPA. This is the first time in almost 40 years EPA has taken this type of emergency action.https://t.co/GpCH4HLSBe pic.twitter.com/cwC7Q1kHq9
— U.S. EPA (@EPA) August 6, 2024
8/9/24
Basic income would buck panhandling in stingy Sioux Falls
In response to an increase of calls of public nuisance, TenHaken said the city has removed benches, removed access to landscaping, and even dyed fountains. [Sioux Falls city leaders urge residents to stop giving money to panhandlers]2020 presidential candidate, Andrew Yang wanted to implement a universal basic income of $12,000 a year and guaranteed income (GI) demonstration projects are underway in several states including in Colorado and New Mexico where cannabis is legal. Minnesota is still working on a basic income proposal but South Dakota is one Earth hating state where food insecurity is rampant and the infant mortality rate is nearly the worst in the US.
The Denver Basic Income Project (DBIP) is a program providing unconditional cash transfers to unhoused people living in Denver. The aims of the program are to test the feasibility and impact of guaranteed income for unhoused people.
All payment groups showed significant improvements in housing outcomes, including a remarkable increase in home rent and ownership, and decrease in nights spent unsheltered.
Participants reported positive shifts in financial wellbeing, with an increase in financial stability and a greater ability to pay bills and reduced reliance on emergency assistance.
Additional data analysis reveals that DBIP participation is tied to substantial cost savings in public spending and a large reduction in public service utilization, including emergency room visits, hospital nights, and jail stays.Want to fix prison overcrowding? Legalize cannabis. In fact, cannabis taxes have raised the standard of living in bluer states.
8/6/24
Walz was cannabis leader in Congress
Tim Walz, the second-term Minnesota governor with a folksy demeanor and a swath of experience inside and out of government, gained a spot on the Democratic ticket as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential choice. [Kamala Harris taps Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Democratic running mate]As of May, 2024 forty seven Native cannabis retailers are operating fifty seven stores in nine states for a gain of some thirty percent since January, 2023. Nations in Minnesota and New York lead non-tribal retail growth in those states but in California and Michigan the industry is reaching full flower very quickly, too. In Minnesota, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is constructing a 50,000-square-foot cultivation facility that will dwarf any state-licensed operations which are capped at 30,000 square feet.
8/3/24
SDFB couple indicted in federal fraud case
8/2/24
Midwestern Trump states still suck: Goss
8/1/24
Johnson's call for civility is vertiginous in its hypocrisy
We’ve all seen and felt the tension rising over the last several years, and we know the temperature and hateful rhetoric has gone well over its boiling point. Too often, we view those with differing opinions as enemies, rather than fellow Americans. Our country is not well-served by that. Anger is a powerful short-term motivator, but it isn’t a foundation for successful marriages, churches, businesses, communities, or careers. We must have thoughtful discourse among engaged citizens, not emotional attacks of enraged partisans. [Johnson: A call for civility]So, Mr. Johnson needs to be held accountable for coddling a would be dictator and building a war chest on the Big Lie, for his failures to support Medicaid, for voting against marriage, for not moving on immigration reform and for his culpability in driving talent from South Dakota.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune, the No. 2-ranking Senate GOP leader, said that former President Trump should focus on policy issues and not race in his campaign against Vice President Harris.https://t.co/1ZJ9CYOnGH pic.twitter.com/mNBEISkDkP
— KELOLAND News (@keloland) July 31, 2024