Your tooth broke, it was painful, the dentist said it couldn’t be fixed and it had to be pulled. Now what?

That missing tooth, like a critical bolt missing from an engine, is a problem that may take months or years to show its face. Missing one or more teeth can lead to changes in bite, space between teeth resulting in food getting stuck and difficulty chewing and speaking.

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Read The Dakota Scout article that inspired this cartoon:

Each year when South Dakota closes its books, one question inevitably follows:

“If the state ended the year with a $69 million surplus, why didn’t we spend that money?”

It is a fair question and one I hear often from constituents. The answer begins with understanding how South Dakota builds its budget.

Unlike the federal government, South Dakota cannot simply borrow money to cover a deficit. Our Constitution requires a balanced budget. Every year, the Legislature must estimate how much revenue the state will collect and build a budget that does not spend more than that amount.

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Denny Sanford recently died at the age of 90. He lived a long, full life and leaves behind a legacy measured in billions of dollars given away. You cannot overstate the impact he had on South Dakota. You do not have to look far to find his name on a hospital, university, scholarship or building development. Nearly every South Dakotan has, in one way or another, benefited from his philanthropy. His generosity helped improve countless lives, and those contributions deserve to be acknowledged.

But philanthropy is not the only thing Denny Sanford should be remembered for. His legacy is more complicated than that. It is important to say that out loud.

In 2019, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received a cybertip involving an email account owned by Denny Sanford. The information was forwarded to the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Division of Criminal Investigation. Investigators identified 36 image files of child sexual abuse material in his email account. The images consisted of three unique photos, repeated several times, of three girls estimated to be between the ages of 8 and 15 years old.

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T. Denny Sanford was many things — but to me, he was a dedicated reader.

I have several emails saved from over the years as he responded somewhat regularly to news he read on SiouxFalls.Business. He once asked to meet with me because he was intrigued I had started my own media company and wanted to learn more about it.

I think Sanford continued reading our work as long as his health allowed. When I last saw him several months ago, he encouraged me to keep it up.

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I met Larry Rhoden over 25 years ago when he was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives, where I served as majority leader at the time. From the beginning, I recognized Larry’s leadership abilities and his honest desire to serve the people of South Dakota.

In his second term as a state representative, Larry was elected assistant majority leader and joined me in leading the House Republican Caucus. We brought different but complementary leadership styles to these roles, and together we worked to unify Republicans and move South Dakota forward.

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South Dakota has elected just one anti-establishment governor in the last half-century: Bill Janklow. The late Washington Post columnist David Broder called him a “combination of ‘prairie populist’ and ‘street-smart kid’” in an article 40 years ago. South Dakota Republicans may choose a second on July 28: Toby Doeden.

One always had my support — Janklow; the other, Doeden, now does.

I’m drawn to anti-establishment candidates and the qualities they bring with them that status quo candidates do not. They’re not encumbered by special interests, donors or political alliances, nor do they let long-held political views become ideological roadblocks. They tend to offer big ideas, and they are willing to challenge political norms to accomplish them.

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On July 15, 2026, Larry Rhoden hosted a campaign event that was reportedly organized by Dan Lederman.

Y’all remember him, don’t you?

Dan was a consultant and lobbyist serving as Summit Carbon Solutions’ most public-facing representative in South Dakota through LS2 Group, an Iowa-based public affairs and lobbying firm. Summit is the company that sought voluntary easements from landowners in South Dakota, and when the landowners refused, the company sued them and tried to take the land through eminent domain.

For those of you who want to say that he just happened to show up at the event, Lederman remains active in South Dakota Republican politics as chairman of the Union County Republican Party, where the fundraiser was held at Dakota Dunes.

This comes on the heels of the story that broke last week about Rhoden taking a $4,000 check from Nancy Turbak Berry. Y’all remember her, don’t you?

Nancy is chairwoman of the Freedom Amendment Coalition, a campaign organization created to advocate for Amendment G, the 2024 amendment that sought to establish abortion rights in the state constitution. The coalition worked alongside Dakotans for Health, which led the signature-gathering effort.

She argued that Amendment G would largely restore the abortion framework that existed under Roe v. Wade.

A few old sayings come to mind: “If you lie down with dogs, you get fleas.” “You are not responsible for what your friends do, but you will be judged by the company you keep.” “Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are.”

A vote against Toby Doeden is a vote against the principles the people of South Dakota hold near and dear. If you want more of the usual politics, with backroom deals and cozying up to abortionists and bad actors who would take away your generational land, then vote for Larry Rhoden.

Rickey Nickoli
Huron

The closest race in South Dakota this year wasn’t for governor. It wasn’t for Congress.

It was for mayor of Sioux Falls.

Four votes.

After nearly two days of recounts, enough legal arguments to make everyone’s eyes glaze over, and more national attention than anyone expected for a municipal election, Christine Erickson officially became Sioux Falls’ next mayor.

Credit where it’s due. Jamie Smith had legitimate questions about an election decided by four votes. More than 150 absentee ballots arrived too late to be counted, some precincts temporarily ran out of ballots, and there were enough irregularities to justify taking a hard look at the process. In today’s political climate, it would have been easy to spend months fighting it out in court.

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Read The Dakota Scout article that inspired this cartoon:

When asked about our vision for Rapid City, it’s simple: to be a community where kids thrive and families flourish. That is what separates healthy communities from those in decline. This vision is a driving force behind the proposed sports complex.

As we look to the future, we want the next generation to play, compete, and grow in high-quality facilities right here in Rapid City. We want parents and grandparents to share in those moments, building memories that strengthen our neighborhoods and our sense of belonging. The sports complex will also bring kids from different walks of life together, giving them the opportunity to build long-lasting relationships through sport.

Athletics, like the arts and other worthwhile endeavors, offer young people a powerful, productive outlet. They teach discipline, teamwork, resilience and leadership, essential life skills that extend far beyond the court or field. By channeling energy into structured competition and achievement, sports help shape confident, responsible individuals who become strong contributors to our society.

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As a registered nurse (RN) in South Dakota for the past 35 years, I can honestly say that it has been one of the greatest blessings in my life and yet is a profession in dire need of more, especially in our rural areas.

According to Klinski (2025), South Dakota is projected to have the third-worst nursing shortage in the United States by 2030, needing an additional 1,900 registered nurses (a 14 percent deficit). The state faces an estimated 1,000 nursing job openings annually as rural health care systems struggle with an aging workforce and geographic challenges.

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Hope everyone survived the Fourth of July with all 10 fingers intact.

The holiday always takes me back to America’s Bicentennial. Some of us are old enough to remember when President Gerald Ford seemed to spend half of 1976 celebrating our nation’s 200th birthday. Every town had a parade, every kid had a flag, and it felt like America was throwing itself one giant birthday party.

The 250th felt ... different.

Every state and community did its own thing, and maybe that’s where America is today. South Dakota had plenty of chances to celebrate. The national energy just never showed up.

The Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., was supposed to be the celebration of a generation. Performers backed out, the crowds stayed home and the aerial photos looked like a Sturgis rally for introverts.

Maybe America at 250 is like the rest of us at 50. We don’t need one giant party anymore. We’d rather grill a steak, watch the fireworks, complain about the mosquitoes and be home before the 10 o’clock news.

Fireworks are proof Americans will gladly sit in traffic for two hours to watch 15 minutes of explosions. Every year we swear we’re parking closer next time. Every year we don’t.

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Read The Dakota Scout article that inspired this cartoon:

More recount stories:

South Dakota has always answered the nation’s call to serve. From generations of servicemembers who have worn our nation’s uniform to the strategic importance of Ellsworth Air Force Base, our state has earned a reputation as a trusted partner in America’s national defense. That legacy is something every South Dakotan can take pride in.

Today, South Dakota has an opportunity to build on that legacy in a new way, not only by supporting America’s military but by becoming one of the nation’s leading centers for defense innovation and advanced manufacturing. That opportunity is too important to ignore.

The nature of national defense is changing rapidly. America’s military advantage will increasingly depend not only on aircraft, ships and armored vehicles but also on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, resilient supply chains and commercial innovation. The defense industrial base that supports our warfighters is evolving, and states that prepare today will help shape its future.

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As America marks its 250th anniversary, I keep coming back to one simple question.

What exactly are we celebrating?

Too often, we’ve reduced patriotism to symbols.

The biggest flag.

The loudest speech.

The politician who wraps themselves in the flag the tightest.

But I don’t think that’s what happened 250 years ago.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, ordinary people did something extraordinary.

They looked at the most powerful empire on Earth and said, “No.”

Not because they wanted a different king.

Because they didn’t want a king at all.

They believed something the world had never truly tested before: that ordinary people were capable of governing themselves.

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Stress surrounds us every day. We experience it in our personal lives, at work, in our relationships and through the constant stream of information from the news and social media. We live in a world of endless notifications, growing expectations and competing demands that pull us in multiple directions at once. We are often expected to be constantly available and do more than our time and energy allow.

However, our body and brain were not designed to handle this level of continuous stress and demand. As a result, many people struggle to maintain balance, manage stress effectively and protect their overall well-being.

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Lately, there have been a lot of conversations about big ideas for Downtown Sioux Falls: how we plan, how we grow, how we invest, and how we bring the community along with us.

Outside of downtown, two concerns come up. The first is “Downtown gets everything.” The second is “Voters do not want to spend the money.”

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Read The Dakota Scout article that inspired this cartoon:

The Sioux Falls City Council campaign has taught me a profound lesson. This city is a remarkable and diverse community that deserves to remain united.

Politics often feels divisive. In running for City Council, my sincere hope was that a nonpartisan race would allow us to stay focused on what brings us together. Throughout this journey, I noticed a striking contrast between the debate stages and the doorsteps. While the candidate forums focused heavily on technical policy items like data centers and tax increment financing districts, the citizens I spoke with at their front doors cared about the tangible matters that impact their daily lives. They want to talk about neighborhood safety, the cost of living, and road construction.

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