Patrick Lalley

3 weeks ago | mitchellrepublic.com | Patrick Lalley |Patrick Lalley

It turns out that lots of South Dakota communities want to be the site of the next state penitentiary. And a few of them have a pretty good pitch. Mitchell, Aberdeen and Huron were among the dozen new sites forwarded since Gov. Larry Rhoden “reset” the discussion following months of acrimonious debate over plans for a new 1,500 bed prison just south of Sioux Falls, the price tag for which is creeping ever closer to $1 billion. There were eight more proposals for spots in the metro as well.

4 weeks ago | thedakotascout.com | Jonathan Ellis |Patrick Lalley

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -48:21Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Did you miss last week’s episode of The Scouting Report? Downloaded hundreds of times since subscribers of The Dakota Scout received it in their inboxes last week, there’s still time to catch up.

1 month ago | siouxfallslive.com | Patrick Lalley |Jonathan Ellis

South Dakota continued to expand its industrial hemp footprint in 2024 as Texas quickly gained ground, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Hemp Report . As defined in the 2018 Farm Bill, the term “hemp” is a cannabis plant with a no more than 0.3% concentration of the chemical that results in a high, known as THC. According to the report, which was released on Thursday, South Dakota farmers planted 3,900 acres of hemp – a 22% increase from 2023.

1 month ago | siouxfallslive.com | Patrick Lalley |Stu Whitney

The scene outside Thursday’s Watertown Rotary luncheon turned raucous in the presence of South Dakota’s senior U.S. senator. Not long after the event, staffers urged Republican U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune into a black sedan as protesters outside Watertown’s Elks Lodge yelled “do your job.” Before he left, though, Thune said he didn’t take issue with the people doing the yelling.

1 month ago | siouxfallslive.com | Patrick Lalley |Jonathan Ellis

Julian Beaudion, a small-business owner and former state trooper from Sioux Falls, announced Thursday that he is seeking South Dakota’s Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mike Rounds. “This campaign isn’t about me — it’s about securing a future where South Dakota’s working families don’t get left behind,” Beaudion said in a statement. He and his wife co-own Swamp Daddy’s Cajun Kitchen, and he also operates The Hub, a professional development program.