4/1/25
Dump your Tesla for a Scout!
3/28/25
Deep borehole could be resurrected after Summit defeat
After public outcry scuttled its eminent domain scam federally subsidized Sioux Falls, South Dakota chemical company POET, that enables nitrate pollution to grow corn for ethanol, entered an agreement to transport waste carbon dioxide through Nebraska in an existing natural gas pipeline to a sequestration site in Wyoming. After being denied permits Summit Carbon Solutions is petitioning courts to end litigation where they are the plaintiffs.
Some Great Plains states, such as Minnesota and Wyoming, report on the total tonnage of hazardous materials carried by rail in their states, but South Dakota does not. In an email response to questions, Jack Dokken, the air, rail and transit program manager for the South Dakota Department of Transportation, said the federal government is responsible for regulating rail shipments in South Dakota, but the state can respond to a release of hazardous materials. [11 billion-pound mystery: The chemicals South Dakota trains carry]
3/27/25
Area man training drone pilots in Ukraine
The American president and his VP trying to shout down Zelensky will go down as one of the most disgraceful moments in American history.
3/19/25
South Dakota still among most federally dependent states
South Dakota ranks as the third-best state for doctors, in part because physicians have one of the highest starting salaries in the country, at $5,330 per month. The state ranks particularly high when it comes to the yearly salaries for psychiatrists ($273,000) and general internal medicine physicians ($318,000). In addition, doctors in The Mount Rushmore State pay less for malpractice insurance premiums than people in most other states. South Dakota also ranks well in the number of physician assistants per 1,000 residents, and has around 8.5 hospitals for every 100,000 residents, which is one of the highest numbers in the country. [Best and Worst States for Doctors (2025)Cimpl Meats in Yankton has released some 250 workers after American Foods Group said the location isn't profitable and is moving its operations to Missouri.
3/16/25
Threatened species, Forest Service, Wyoming, warring ranchers, sheriff, politics colliding in northern Black Hills
No legal fix has yet been found for the state land lease issue in the Moskee area that left two ranchers at loggerheads over grazing rights [sic]. However, Bearlodge District Ranger Patrick Champa visited the Crook County Commissioners last week to explain how the U.S. Forest Service has been working with the Office of State Lands and Investments to tackle the problem once cattle are turned out for the year. USFS does not require fencing on its leases. [Mediation ongoing for Moskee grazing issue]Now, extended drought in the region is causing a bump in the number of pine beetles like Dendroctonus ponderosae and Ips pini so Neiman Enterprises has compelled the BHNF to request comment on proposals for commercial logging on 8,000 acres of National Forest System land four miles south of Beulah, WY and on 6,372 acres and fuel treatments on a total of 15,170 acres of NFS land on the South Dakota side of the border.
3/14/25
HMC responsible for 'death map' in New Mexico
The leftover slurry was piped into two unlined earthen pits, the largest the size of 50 football fields and filled with over 21 million tons of uranium mill tailings. Over time, the uranium tailings decayed into radon gas; meanwhile, radioactive contaminants seeped into four of the region’s aquifers. Residents compiled a list of neighbors who died of cancer — they called it the Death Map. In fact, the conditions necessary for contaminants to infiltrate a fifth aquifer in a single generation — not a thousand years — could already be in the making. The future of the site seems all but predetermined: a wasteland in the truest sense, and a national sacrifice zone. Adding to the uncertainty is a recent announcement that the Trump administration intends to cut personnel at the EPA by up to 65 percent. “We’ve been poisoned to the gills,” says Christine Lowery, the Cibola county commissioner. [Poisoning the well]Nearly a century of residue from Homestake and the Black Hills Mining District affects millions of cubic yards of riparian habitat all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Although the Oahe Dam was completed in 1962 sequestering most of the silt the soils of the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne Rivers are inculcated with arsenic at levels that have killed cattle. Endangered pallid sturgeon, paddlefish, catfish and most other organisms cope with lethal levels of mercury throughout the South Dakota portion of the Missouri River.
3/12/25
Wife of Brookings Earth hater makes plea for Medicaid protection
My own personal connection to Medicaid comes from my 20-year-old daughter who has a developmental disability. My other connection to Medicaid comes from my role as chief executive officer for Northern Hills Training Center (NTHC), a community-based support provider, where our mission is to “support people to have meaningful lives”. For NHTC, almost 90 percent of the funds we receive are generated through the Medicaid program. Significant cuts to federal Medicaid funding will place additional financial strain on the state budget, forcing us to absorb the increased costs. State budgets must prioritize mandatory Medicaid services, leaving optional services like NHTC as a community-based service vulnerable to reductions. [Why should you care about Medicaid funding?]That SDGOP condones, encourages and even pays Pat Powers to threaten, malign, bully and libel women while their party standard-bearers preach the protection of women is a measure of hypocrisy that strains human gauges. He has long been banned from this forum and other South Dakota related sites because of a constant stream of bigotry, misogyny and other hate speech. Pernicious Pug Powers, who makes a stopped clock look like a well-greased machine, salts his blog comment section with a seemingly infinite variety of aliases that threaten or jeer his political enemies.
3/9/25
Another day of red flag warnings for failed red state
The 2025 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 22.1 MAF, 86% of average. The runoff forecast is based on current soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack, and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks. Mountain snow normally peaks near April 17. [Defense Visual Information Distribution Service]
3/8/25
South Dakota falls down on passenger rail
From my inbox.
The South Dakota Senate Stumbles
The enthusiasm from South Dakotans has been overwhelming this past year after the FRA Long-distance Service Study recommended Amtrak serve the Mount Rushmore state for the first time in its nearly 54 year history!
Regrettably, earlier this week the South Dakota Senate voted down House Concurrent Resolution 6008 on the Senate floor Monday 18-17. This comes after it passed the House Transportation Committee 13-0, House Floor vote, and Senate Transportation Committee 6-0 (with one absence).
The following statement was made during the Senate floor debate: “I did some research on Amtrak. Sometimes, you can get 90% funding for that, which is great, I think we heard that. However, they’ve done this in other states and they’ve measured that it costs almost $100,000,000 per mile of line. That’s a big number, even if you take the 90% for federal coverage, that’s $10 million per mile to put a passenger rail service in.”
Questions remain where these cost examples were found or what led them to worry about “eminent domain” being needed to bring Amtrak to the State.
South Dakota Amtrak Facts, FRA Long-Distance Study
First, the FRA Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study was very clear that it was only evaluating existing legally-secured railroad rights-of-way for service; there would be no “Greenfield” alignments. Cost estimations for new track were limited to “New track connections to connect the end-to-end route.” In the case of the route across South Dakota, no new track connections or eminent domain would be needed for the proposed route via Pierre.
Second, it is perplexing to try and understand where the Senator found these numbers for “$100,000,000 per mile of line.”
The Denver to Minneapolis/St. Paul route referenced in HCR 6008 has an estimated total of $6,276 to $8,160 Million for the “passenger specific costs” of the entire route (with one year operations added). Over the 1,136 miles of the entire route, that works out to only about $5.5 million/mile - $7.2 million/mile. Even when considering freight “capacity related projects” that may additionally be needed, this is still considerably less than the $100 million/mile referenced during the floor debate. Additionally, there is reason to believe some of these costs are inflated from realistic estimates. The study does not include the benefits of economies of scale from overlapping segments and infrastructure such as stations that would be used for multiple services. These costs would further be reduced by using the “categorical exemption” clause the FRA can approve to remove burdensome red tape of the environmental review process.
Nationally, costs for similar passenger rail projects can be compared. Examples include:
The 90mph Northern Lights Express (Twin Cities to Duluth) project being developed in Minnesota has been estimated to cost up to $600 million for the 152 mile length or $3.95 Million/mile.
The highly-successful higher-speed $6 Billion Brightline Florida project over its 235 mile length averages out to $25 million/mile. Operating at speeds up to 125mph, this has turbocharged real estate investment around their stations, the primary motivation for their service. Brightline’s projects are considerably higher due to the higher-speeds involved, urban congestion, and using a greenfield alignment along a state highway; issues that will not impact the routes across South Dakota. Former Florida Governor and current US Senator Rick Scott was even an investor in Brightline.
The 2020 Washington State East-West Rail Study found that reimplementing service would only cost $6.1 Million/mile in 2025 dollars, even though the study undercounted potential ridership and benefits, and overestimated infrastructure costs.
100+mph across the South Dakota prairie? Yes please!
South Dakota Transportation Spending
South Dakota has been spending considerable sums for other transportation projects around the state; many times exceeding the costs for passenger rail transportation.
The state is funnelling over $1 billion dollars into roadway expansion around the Sioux Falls metropolitan area with the $210 Million, 8.7 mile, South Veterans Parkway ($24 million/mile), $49 Million 85th Street interchange project, and a further $800 million announced last September.
West River the state is spending $72 Million rebuilding an existing 15 miles of US Highway 385 in the Black Hills ($4.8 million/mile).
The widening of E. 10th Street in Sioux Falls and creation of the Veterans Parkway necessitated procurement of privately-held land. If the SDDOT has been able to safely and satisfactorily navigate these examples, I have every faith in their ability to assist development of passenger rail services on existing lines within our state. We owe it to our economy and further generations to ensure this investment is made for our continued prosperity.
The continuing consolidation of the aviation industry has endangered service to many smaller airports including those in South Dakota. If it were not for Essential Air Service subsidies, Aberdeen, Watertown, and Pierre would not have public air service (about $15 million/year).
While highways and airports are important, for our interconnected transportation network, rail should also receive the same amount of support from our legislators.
In conclusion
In conclusion, I cannot blame any of our SD Senators (or House members) for voting down this resolution. After over 50 years of deliberate exclusion by power-players in Washington D.C., it will take some time to advocate and educate our State representatives on what these services will mean for our citizens and how much they truly cost. Public citizens need to keep advocating and educating their elected officials on these matters.
East Coast Elites trying to throw us off the map are not going to make their over-built projects any cheaper. We deserve good quality service, too.
Expanding Amtrak to South Dakota is feasible, cost-effective, and achievable. With hard hitting leaders on the national level like Senator Thune, Senator Rounds and Representative Johnson, we can make that happen! If it were not for US Senator Francis Case, we would not have I-29 between Sioux Falls and Fargo.
If you attend a Legislative Cracker Barrel this weekend, please consider asking your state Senator how they voted on the resolution and explain their reasoning in light of the facts laid out here.
Together, East River and West River, we can accomplish so much, including this long-need expansion of Passenger Rail service to our state. We owe it to our successors to do all in our power to make it happen!
Dan Bilka, March, 2025
3/7/25
Bankers, farmers finding out as Trump fucks around
3/5/25
Timeline cleanse on march to doomsday
In a landmark victory for wild horse protection, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado has overturned the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) controversial Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), ruling that it violated multiple federal laws by failing to undergo required National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Administrative Procedures Act (APA) requirements. The court found it was “not hard to imagine” that slaughter of wild horses could be “fairly traceable” to BLM’s actions regarding the national AIP program, and noted the legally required need for vigorous public comment and agency review, which the BLM failed to conduct. [Federal Court Overturns BLM's Controversial Cash Incentive Adoption Program]But with the end of civilization at hand having more ponies is probably a good thing, right?
3/2/25
Odenbach: make America great again but not upstream of my house
Dare we ask, do we want or need more open-pit mining in this area? Will another hundred septic tanks upstream from your house make your quality of life better? HCR 6010 is just saying the quiet part out loud. [VIEWPOINT | Protecting the Black Hills]Odenbach's resolution has Democratic support but how can a legislator who believes America is only great when Republican presidents are in power revere an executive who is slashing the EPA, promising to clearcut the Black Hills National Forest, pledging to mine public lands sacred to Indigenous peoples, erasing the workforce and putting septic systems in sensitive habitats all in the name of making America great again?
2/28/25
Red flag warning for red states is all too familiar
2/25/25
NorthWestern Energy drafts bill to shield Montana utilities from wildfire liability
Some of the state’s largest insurance companies also spoke against the bill, because it would make it harder for them to recover costs associated with fire damages. They said that could ultimately lead to homeowners paying higher premiums, or could cause companies to stop insuring homes in Montana. The state auditor’s office opposed the bill for similar reasons. [Bill would shield utility companies from wildfire liability]A wildfire sparked by a distribution line owned by Mountrail-Williams Electric Co-op killed two people in North Dakota in 2024. Power lines owned by Southern California Edison are being blamed for the Eaton Fire.
2/24/25
Ecoterrorist ETP launches SLAPP suit against water protectors
Energy Transfer, the Big Oil corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, is seeking $300 million in damages from Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International, accusing these organizations of playing a central role in organizing the Indigenous-led resistance to the pipeline back in 2016. The lawsuit is one of the largest Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) cases ever filed, and one of the biggest cases to go to court in North Dakota. Trial begins on February 24, 2025. These types of cases masquerade as ordinary civil lawsuits, but their true purpose is to retaliate against those who speak out against harms. Such meritless lawsuits are meant to silence or bankrupt opponents by dragging defendants through a long, lengthy, expensive legal process. [Greenpeace organizations go to trial on high-stakes SLAPP lawsuit that could redefine protest rights]Learn more at the North Dakota Monitor.
2/23/25
40 acres for sale near Madrid, New Mexico
2/21/25
Author: Trump intended to run the world, updated
Call me old fashioned, but being Russia’s KGB agent “Krasnov” since 1987 should disqualify Trump from being President of the United States. Retroactively, immediately, and forever.
— Andrea Junker (@Strandjunker) February 22, 2025
Former Chairman of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) Alnur Mussayev claims that the Soviet KGB recruited Donald Trump before the collapse of the USSR, assigning him the alias Krasnov. He claimed that the U.S. political elite is well aware of Trump’s dependence on the Kremlin but cannot openly acknowledge it due to the country’s global standing. [Inside Soviet recruitment: Kazakhstan’s former security chief claims Trump was a KGB asset]
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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump stole the 2024 election by lying to Latinos and Black men about migrants taking their jobs; and through stochastic terrorism they threatened violence against millions of people especially of color who otherwise would have showed up at polling places to vote. And with the confirmation of Kash Patel the Federal Bureau of Investigation is on the path to become the Stasi, the repressive secret police that crushed dissent in East Germany until 1990.And Hungary's a very important country for Americans to understand because Hungary is a country that elected democratically a leader, Viktor Orban, who then initially - mostly legally - slowly eliminated many of the checks and balances, many of the institutions of Hungarian democracy, making it impossible for him to lose an election. So he culled the Hungarian civil service by changing labor laws, replacing professional civil servants with members of his party. He changed the nature of the Hungarian courts over a period of time. He captured Hungarian media, both through putting pressure - financial pressure on independent media, empowering oligarchs and people around him, businessmen who are close to him to buy or take over Hungarian media and then transform their nature. And slowly over time, he also repeatedly changed the constitution, which enabled him to change the way elections are run. [Journalist describes Trump's movements as a 'regime change' towards authoritarianism]It sure looks like the Trump Organization intends to fire the scientists working for the public good so more microplastics, antibiotics and pesticides can be broadcast throughout the food web and introduced into wild spaces while the elites and shareholders enjoy the spoils of capitalism.
2/19/25
Earth haters could appeal after federal judge rules in Gila cattle case
The Forest Service contended in their response to the suit that the feral cattle in the Gila — descendants of a herd abandoned in the 1970s on the Redstone grazing allotment at the northern edge of the Silver City Ranger District — have not been raised or kept by humans for generations, so therefore do not qualify as livestock. The cattle, the Forest Service argued in the response, are destructive to the riparian areas of the Gila Wilderness and also pose a danger to hikers and others who go to the forest for recreation. [Cattle Growers skeptical of ruling in feral cow case]
2/16/25
Polluting pork industry GOP Nebraska governor calls for nitrate study
Bacteria in human bodies can turn nitrate, a colorless, tasteless and odorless chemical, into nitrite and then convert it to nitrosamine, a known probable carcinogen. Out of nearly 29,000 private well owners the state reached out to, only 3,478 samples were sent back. The state study happened because it’s a step toward Pillen’s goal of reducing overapplication of nitrogen fertilizers, said Laura Strimple, the governor’s spokesperson, in an email statement. [Many Nebraskans still under threat of high nitrate in drinking water, report finds]After public outcry scuttled its eminent domain scam federally subsidized Sioux Falls, South Dakota chemical company POET, that enables nitrate pollution to grow corn for ethanol, has entered an agreement to transport waste carbon dioxide through Nebraska in an existing natural gas pipeline to a sequestration site in Wyoming according to a press release.
2/10/25
Metal tariffs could restart landfill mining
2/9/25
SD county named for a war criminal whining about maintaining FS roads
The United States Forest Service paid Custer County $166,978.15 to maintain its roads in the county that the public travels on, also known as Schedule A roads in county highway department parlance. At the Jan. 22 meeting of the Custer County Commission, county highway superintendent Jess Doyle presented an update to the commission that showed in 2024 the county spent nearly $1.7 million in county taxpayer money maintaining those same roads, showing that while the Forest Service does give the county some money—and free gravel—the cost of maintaining its roads still far exceeds what the county receives to do so. Also discussed at the meeting was the National Wilderness Preservation System, in which there is potentially nearly 7,000 acres of county land that the government is eyeing as potential designated Wilderness area. The lands are already part of the Black Hills National Forest. [War Criminal County Chronicle]
2/8/25
Colorado rethinking semiautomatic rifle ban as Trump seizes power
One Democratic cosponsor, Sen. Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs, now says he won’t vote for the measure, citing doubts over its reach and concerns from his constituents. The governor said in deciding whether to sign or veto the bill he wants “to make sure it doesn’t interfere with legal, law-abiding gun owners in our state for hunting, for home defense or sport.” [Colorado Senate debate on bill banning manufacture, sale of semiautomatic guns delayed amid negotiations with Jared Polis]Trump's "Coup Klux Klan" has been assaulting Colorado neighborhoods threatening local control, angering American citizens who know it's only a civil violation to be in the country without authorization and as of Friday no one has been charged but communities are bracing for violent blowback.
“If they don’t trust law enforcement, they probably won’t go to them and tell them, hey there is a dangerous thing happening in my neighborhood,” said Laura Lunn, an immigration attorney at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, who works out of the GEO detention center, which houses immigrants. “When you blur the lines between these different agencies, you are causing distrust within the community of both agencies.” [Immigration raids in Colorado, both highly visible and cloaked in secrecy, rattle advocates and local authorities]Trump is escalating militant tactics that mirror Ruby Ridge and Waco but his actions are deeply reminiscent of the 1992 autocoup perpetrated by Alberto Fujimori who dismissed the legislative and judicial branches of the Peruvian government and claimed their powers for himself. Like Fujimori Trump is a career criminal and convicted felon whose offspring are reactionary toadies.
2/6/25
Migrants not showing up for work, momentum building for general strike
The California Farm Bureau says fears in the Central Valley have led to migrant farmworkers not showing up for work, which has virtually halted the area's citrus harvest. https://t.co/A2giCQaert
— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) January 27, 2025