WASHINGTON – U.S. Soldiers with the North Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska Army National Guard, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, responded to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (WHCAD) at the Washington Hilton in Northwest Washington April 25.

The Guardsmen were at the WHCAD at the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as an additional patrol unit created specifically for the event, which celebrates the contributions of news organizations and independent journalists alike who provide notable coverage of the presidential administration.

“Our mission was to assist the U.S. Secret Service with crowd control,” said Capt. Kevin Peatrowsky, an operations officer with the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) assigned to JTF-DC.

As the Guardsmen were monitoring their area of operations, they saw USSS agents sprint toward the hotel entrance. “They were running full speed with their weapons drawn,” said Sgt. 1st. Class Allen Haney, a team member with the Arkansas National Guard. “We immediately followed suit.”

Staff Sgt. Kristen Confer, a NENG combat medic and battle captain, recalled her response to the incident: “We fell back on our basic training. You run toward danger and move in a way that makes sense for the situation.”

According to Confer, the Guardsmen entered the hotel and immediately began securing the scene and ensuring that the guests evacuated safely. At the direction of a federal agent, Confer began a rapid trauma assessment on the suspect, which resulted in finding knives and ammunition on the shooter. Simultaneously, the Arkansas Soldiers moved outside to provide crowd control at a pedestrian barricade outside the hotel.

“From there, we assisted wherever we could,” said 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, a National Guardsman from North Dakota who served as the officer in charge of the mission. “We were initially helping with crowd control. After that, we realized that the USSS had begun rerouting everyone in the hotel, so we moved to the doors. We were controlling entry into the venue, so we had moved a couple more people outside, so we had 5 inside, 8 outside.” Both Arkansas and Nebraska worked well alongside one another and alongside the federal agencies. Hill also noted that relying on his Soldiers allowed him to move among teams, which helped him plan and coordinate with various agencies.

According to 1st Lt. Jonathan Goins, a platoon leader with the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas Soldiers also helped establish a security perimeter for the presidential motorcade’s staging. Later, the team assisted federal agencies and MPD with crowd control, which helped clear the way for the President and Administration officials, he said.

“Guardsmen on this mission represent the very best of the nation,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. “The world got a brief glimpse, but I see them each day serving and doing amazing things across the District.”

Related Links

The Official Website of the National Guard | NationalGuard.mil

State Partnership Program | NationalGuard.mil

The National Guard on Facebook | Facebook.com/TheNationalGuard

The National Guard on Flickr | Flickr.com/TheNationalGuard

The National Guard on Instagram | Instagram.com/us.nationalguard

The National Guard on X | X.com/USNationalGuard

The National Guard on YouTube | YouTube.com/TheNationalGuard

Before Ted Carter leveraged his position to get the woman he later admitted having an “inappropriate relationship” with a job at Ohio State University, he asked at least two University of Nebraska-related organizations to consider hiring her.

The Lincoln Journal Star reported April 28 that Carter tried to get military podcaster Krisanthe Vlachos a job at the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Foundation in 2023 while he was still president of the University of Nebraska System.

Ohio State released a nearly 50-page report April 21 detailing the investigation into Carter’s downturn. It included new details about Carter’s relationship with Vlachos. That report prompted the University of Nebraska System to conduct its own internal review of Carter’s potential dealings with Vlachos during his time as president there.

Related Ted Carter article: Read Ohio State’s full report on former president Ted Carter

Vlachos and Carter appear to have met at a Veterans in Energy forum in Washington, D.C., in March 2023, earlier than initially reported, according to Ohio State’s internal report. Carter was president of the University of Nebraska System at the time and a keynote speaker at the conference.

Vlachos later described the forum to others “as the start of their friendship, the occasion when she asked him to mentor her son who was joining the Navy, and when she asked him to cohost her podcast,” the report read.

It’s not clear from the report how quickly their relationship developed or if the relationship was romantic, though The Dispatch previously reported that it was romantic.

According to public records reviewed by The Journal Star, Vlachos sent Carter a link to her resume at his NU email address a few weeks after the conference concluded in April 2023. Carter forwarded the message two days later to Rick Evans, executive director of National Strategic Research Institute. NSRI is one of 15 university affiliated research centers nationwide designated by the U.S. Department of War.

Evans replied to Carter’s email two days later.

“Looking at her profile, her skills are probably best aligned to the Contracts and Business Operations Coordinator position you approved us to hire,” Evans wrote.

(SOUTH DAKOTA SEARCHLIGHT) – Estimates of homeowner savings abounded recently as South Dakota lawmakers and Gov. Larry Rhoden approved property tax reduction legislation.

It’s been difficult, however, to find two other estimates: 1) the extra money consumers will spend to fund reduced property taxes with higher sales taxes, and 2) the net savings for homeowners after their extra sales tax spending is subtracted from their property tax savings.

South Dakota Searchlight’s effort to answer those questions led to these estimates: The average South Dakota homeowner’s total savings if they receive both forms of property tax relief could be $1,080 annually. Meanwhile, the average South Dakota household could spend $360 more per year if subjected to both sales tax increases. When it’s all said and done, that’s a net yearly savings of about $720 for homeowners.

To learn how Searchlight arrived at those rough estimates, keep reading. But first, a bit about the new laws.

The new laws

One of the new laws allows the statewide sales tax rate to return to 4.5% next year, after a temporary reduction to 4.2% since 2023. The revenue from the increase will be allocated to the school funding formula to reduce the amount of property taxes schools need from local homeowners.

The other new law allows counties to impose their first-ever sales tax at a rate of up to 0.5%. That revenue will go toward credits to reduce the county’s portion of homeowner property taxes.

Estimating property tax savings

To estimate average property tax savings for homeowners, Searchlight asked the state Department of Revenue for the average assessed value of owner-occupied homes in the state. The department did not provide that figure.

But it did provide the total taxable value of all owner-occupied properties for taxes payable this year: $62,211,360,002.

The department also provided the total number of owner-occupied properties in the state: 253,263.

Dividing the total taxable value by the number of owner-occupied properties yields an average value of $245,639.

“However,” the department said, “this number may include both houses and additional structures such as unattached garages.” The department added that the impact of those additional structures on the average valuation is minimal.

The owner-occupied classification, which lowers the levy applied to an owner’s primary residence, can be applied to a single-family dwelling, an attached or unattached garage, and the parcel of land where a home stands. The new property tax reduction law applies specifically to single-family dwellings.

To account for the minimal impact from additional structures, Searchlight rounded up to $250,000 as the average taxable value of homes in the state.

Revenue from the increase in the statewide sales tax rate is expected to reduce property taxes by $1.683 for each $1,000 of a home’s taxable value, according to the state Bureau of Finance and Management. For the average home with a taxable value of $250,000, that’s about $420 of savings.

Homeowners’ savings if their county enacts a 0.5% sales tax to fund property tax credits will vary across the state, because counties have different property tax rates and varying levels of potential sales tax revenue. But the Governor’s Office has estimated that the average savings will be $660. The office arrived at that number by taking the total, estimated new revenue generated if every county implemented the plan, and dividing it by the number of owner-occupied properties, which should approximate the average savings per homeowner.

Thus, the total annual property tax savings for the average homeowner receiving both forms of relief would be $420 plus $660, which adds up to $1,080.

Estimating extra sales tax spending

To arrive at an estimated extra amount of spending for the average South Dakota household (meaning a house or apartment) on higher sales taxes, Searchlight first needed an estimate of the average household’s annual sales-taxable spending.

Searchlight spoke with the Dakota Institute, a nonprofit economic research and analysis organization in Sioux Falls. The institute suggested dividing the total of certain categories of taxable sales (excluding categories that are likely purchases by businesses) by the state’s 382,302 occupied housing units (including apartments), resulting in an estimate of about $82,000 in annual taxable spending per household. However, institute CEO Jared McEntaffer noted many of those purchases were still probably made by businesses and tourists, so the true average is lower.

Gov. Larry Rhoden’s finance commissioner pointed Searchlight to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report stating that the average U.S. household spent $77,280 in 2023. Sales tax does not apply to some expenses, such as prescription drugs or mortgage payments. After subtracting such categories of spending that are unlikely to be taxed and adjusting for inflation since 2023, Searchlight settled on $45,000 as the estimated average annual sales-taxable spending per South Dakota household.

If that average household is subjected to both of the new sales tax increases, it would be the equivalent of an additional 0.8% tax. On $45,000 of spending, that would be $360 of extra sales taxes annually.

In a household subjected to only the 0.3-percentage-point statewide sales tax increase (without a county sales tax), that would be $135 of extra sales taxes annually.

Estimating net savings, and complications

If the average homeowner saves $1,080 annually on property taxes from both forms of relief and spends $360 annually in extra sales taxes, that homeowner’s annual net savings would be $720.

Homeowners in counties that do not enact a sales tax for property tax relief would receive, on average, the $420 in property tax relief from the statewide sales increase and spend $135 on higher sales taxes, for a net savings of $285.

Those are rough estimates. Actual situations will vary widely across the state. Household spending varies by income. Homes in rural areas are typically valued lower than in urban areas. Counties have different property tax rates, called levies. Some counties may choose to enact a sales tax for property tax relief, and others may not. In counties that do adopt a sales tax, the amount of revenue available for property tax relief will vary. And people who live in counties that do not adopt a sales tax will likely travel and spend money in counties that do.

And, for households that rent rather than own their home, it’s all just a sales tax increase.

South Dakota Searchlight is part ofStates Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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