Larry Rhoden

As a whole, owners of farm and ranch land in South Dakota will be paying slightly less in general-education taxes in 2014 than they did this year, the state task force on agricultural land assessments learned Wednesday.  Meanwhile, the general-...

 Who received money from the South Dakota Telecommunications PAC last year?    In the spring campaign cycle, the PAC reported giving $500 to Rep. Brian Gosch, R-Rapid City; $1,000 to Sen. Corey Brown, R-Gettysburg; $250 to Sen. Joni Cutler, R-Sioux...

Presiding officers  Speaker of the House is Brian Gosch, R-Rapid City. Senate president is Lt. Gov. Matt Michels. Senate president pro tem — aka No. 2 — is Corey Brown, R-Gettysburg.  Gosch and Michels generally run the House and Senate...

PIERRE — When it comes to clout, no other place has the power base that Rapid City, the Black Hills and the western ranch counties do in the 2013 session of the Legislature.  The speaker of the House is Republican Brian Gosch of Rapid City. The...

Editor's note: As part of the coverage of the 2013 legislative session, the American News will provide, on most days, a list of 10 pieces of information helpful to understanding what is — and sometimes isn’t — happening at the state...

The only fight fiercer than big hospital groups battling each other for business in South Dakota might be when somebody wants a change in state law to make it easier  to take some of their patients.   The two big Sioux Falls health care organizations,...

 PIERRE — A Senate panel added an automatic adjuster Monday to a proposal to increase legislators’ daily expense allowance.  Rep. David Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, wants the per diem to be changed to $123 from the current $110.  He brought an...

Legislators publicly unveiled most of the details this morning of a comprehensive approach for economic development incentives for big business projects that wouldn’t otherwise come to South Dakota and for community , school, housing and highway...

PIERRE — The Legislature returns today for its first, last and only week of five working days to bring the main run of the 2013 session to a close. Here’s a quick look at some of the key topics during the final week: State budgets  The...

PIERRE -- The battle is done for this year in the Legislature over public access to the water over private land that has been flooded. Landowners' lobbyist Mike Shaw and state Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Jeff Vonk sat side by side and pledged to a...

PIERRE -- State senators decided Wednesday that local voters should have the opportunity for the final word if their school board decides to put armed sentinels in the district’s buildings and at school events.  That major change was one of...

 PIERRE — Managed care by insurance providers attempts to control costs of health services for patients. This legislative session, South Dakota lawmakers decide whether to let patients choose physicians and other health care services outside of...