Opinion

After the Peace Commission had concluded their deliberations near Council Bluffs in the middle of May, 1825, they proceeded without unusual event to the village of the Ponca Indians at the mouth of the Niobrara River. It was here that a grand council was held and a treaty of friendship was concluded.

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) announced that the Board of Water and Natural Resources has approved $150.7 million in loans and grants for drinking water, wastewater, and solid waste projects in South Dakota.

The framers’ wisdom in vesting constitutional control over the war power—its “commencement, continuation and conclusion”—in Congress, as James Madison said, not in the hands of the president, has struck Americans squarely in the face in light of President Donald Trump’s fly-by-the- seat of his pants conduct of his war in Iran, one characterized by tactics without strategy and occasional public pronouncements that, like the mercurial summertime weather, can change from minute to minute. Trump’s arbitrary Truth Social Posts, designed to manipulate the financial markets, are a reflection what his former aide, Steve Bannon, once called his approach to governance--“just win the next five minutes.” They leave Americans to guess at this president’s strategy, goals and end game—if Trump even has any-- in his initiation of a war of choice, which currently costs the United States over $ 1 billion per day, in addition to his request to Congress for an additional $200 billion dollars. All this for something he absurdly calls an “excursion.”

A Letter for Sam Sam was a good dog, a farm dog, loyal, friendly, not a mean bone is his body. Sam was lured onto the neighbor’s property by a coyote hunter using a thermal scope and rabbit call Saturday morning, March 14th. They waited until he was 10 feet on the neighbor’s side of the fence before they gunned him down, several times. To add insult to injury, the owner of the dog was out with a spotlight calling for his dog, the hunters left the scene going down the driveway of the property they were hunting on, drove past the owner of the dog, never stopped, never apologized.

Dear Editor, The 2026 Pink Ladies’ Golf Tournament will be hosted by the Gregory Golf Course on July 25th, 2026. Letters were sent to both Burke & Gregory Golf Courses in October of 2025 asking for their proposals for hosting our Annual Golf Tournament. We requested the proposals to be submitted by December 1st, 2025. The Gregory Golf Course sent us their proposal by the deadline, therefore we awarded them the tournament. We did receive a proposal from the Burke Golf Course in January of 2026, but we had already set the date with the Gregory Golf Course. We will be sending out letters each year requesting proposals for the tournament and will award it to the golf course with the best proposal. Sincerely, The Burke Pink Ladies

Dear Editor: Erin Tobin Understands Agriculture — Because It Raised Her As a District 21 agriculture producer, I’ve spent my life working the land, growing crops, and doing everything I can in hopes of passing something on to my children. Here in South Dakota, agriculture is our way of life, and it’s worth protecting.

The military expedition into Dakota Territory was much more than just being a punishment of the Indians for their attack upon the Ashley party earlier. It will be noted that this difficulty occurred but a few years following the close of our second war with Great Britain, and the cause of it was ascribed to the mischievous and unsavory counsel, including many misrepresentations, of the British traders of the Hudson’s Bay Company. They made a special effort to not lose any opportunity to prejudice the Indians against the United States and the American traders.

Just last week, we wrapped up another legislative session – and what a session it was. At the beginning of the year, I outlined my Opportunity Agenda, focused on keeping South Dakota strong, safe, and free.

The National Park Service today announced fireworks will again illuminate the sky above Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026, to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. Public tickets for the event will be available through a lottery on Recreation. gov from April 8–12.

hoden As the 2026 Legislative Session wrapped up this week in Pierre, lawmakers have spent the past couple months working through the issues that matter most to South Dakotans. We accomplished a great deal, but one thing tops it all: we delivered the largest property tax cut in South Dakota history.