South Dakota
As presidential campaign rockets toward end, 7 big things that happened this weekend • South Dakota Searchlight
WASHINGTON — On the final frantic Sunday of the presidential race, while Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a Black church service in Michigan, former President Donald Trump told supporters at a Pennsylvania rally that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after he lost the 2020 presidential election.
At a campaign rally at an airplane tarmac in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Trump again perpetuated the falsehood that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him and claimed that this year’s election would also be stolen because election results could take a while to be counted.
“These elections have to be decided by 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock on Tuesday night,” he said. “Bunch of crooked people.”
Election officials have warned that results could take days to finalize.
The comments came as new polls showed good news for Harris. A highly regarded pollster in Iowa showed a shocking lead for Harris there and New York Times-Siena College polls of the seven major battleground states showed slight leads for Harris in some Sun Belt swing states, while Trump made gains in the Rust Belt.
As the campaign dwindles to its final hours, here are seven key developments from this weekend:
Trump says he ‘shouldn’t have left’ White House
Trump spent much of his Lititz rally complaining about the election process and media coverage, seeming to repeat his false claim that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
“I shouldn’t have left, I mean, honestly,” Trump said. “We did so well, we had such a great — so now, every polling booth has hundreds of lawyers standing there.”
He also joked about shooters targeting reporters covering his event, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported.
He pointed to protective glass covering him on two sides and noted a press section was on another side of him.
“To get me, someone would have to shoot through the fake news,” Trump said. “And I don’t mind that so much.”
In a statement that seemed to contradict the plain meaning of Trump’s remark, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung denied Trump was encouraging violence against reporters.
“The President’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else,” Cheung wrote. “It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats. In fact, President Trump was stating that the Media was in danger, in that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield, also. There can be no other interpretation of what was said. He was actually looking out for their welfare, far more than his own!”
Harris heads to the Big Apple
Harris made an unscheduled trip to New York City Saturday, where she made a surprise appearance during the cold open of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” alongside actress Maya Rudolph, who portrays the veep in the live sketch comedy show.
In the three-minute opener, Rudolph approaches a vanity dresser and wishes she could talk to “someone who was in my shoes” as a “Black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.”
Rudolph turns toward the faux mirror, and Harris, on the other side, responds, “You and me both, sister.”
They wore identical suits and Harris turned to Rudolph and said that she is “here to remind you, you got this.”
“Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors,” Harris said, joking about a recent campaign event where Trump tried to open the door to a garbage truck.
Rudolph cackled, doing an impersonation of Harris’ laugh, before the two women began a pep talk with puns of Harris’ first name.
“Now, Kamala, take my palmala,” Rudolph said. “The American people want to stop the chaos.”
“And end the dramala,” Harris said.
Harris and Rudolph then stood side-by-side and said they were going to vote for “us.”
Harris joked and asked Rudolph if she was registered to vote in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Harris headed from New York to Michigan, where she spoke Sunday at the historically Black Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit.
Polling bombshell in a non-swing state
Polling in the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, reported a shocking lead for Harris in a state that Trump easily won in 2016 and 2020, with women and independent voters breaking for the Democratic presidential nominee.
The poll shows Harris leading with 47% of likely voters compared to 44% with Trump, according to the Register.
The Trump campaign quickly called the Iowa poll “a clear outlier,” and instead cited a poll by Emerson College as accurate, which showed the former president having 53% support compared to 43% for Harris.
Trump also took his grievances to his social media site, Truth Social.
“All polls, except for one heavily skewed toward the Democrats by a Trump hater who called it totally wrong the last time, have me up, BY A LOT,” he wrote. “I LOVE THE FARMERS, AND THEY LOVE ME.”
The New York Times/Siena College Sunday polls found that Harris is improving in North Carolina and Georgia while Trump has gained in Pennsylvania and maintains a strong advantage in Arizona. Harris is still ahead in Nevada and Wisconsin, according to the poll, but Michigan and Pennsylvania remain tied. The poll of Georgia showed Harris with a 1-point edge.
Both candidates were within the polls’ margins of error, meaning that the seven swing states could tip to either candidate.
While both Democratic and Republican politicians have expressed confidence in winning the election, polling experts said during a panel hosted by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute in late October there’s no way to know for sure who will control the White House until all the votes are counted.
Kristen Soltis Anderson, founding partner at Echelon Insights, said there’s about a 60% chance that this year’s nationwide polling has been mostly correct, though she emphasized that the people who focus their careers on political polling are dedicated to providing a realistic understanding of where campaigns are headed.
“We are trying our very hardest to get it right,” Anderson said. “Even if you don’t believe in our altruism or even if you don’t believe in our academic and intellectual integrity, believe in nothing else than our financial incentives. You want to be the pollster who was right. It is very good business to be the pollster who is right.”
Jeff Horwitt, partner at Hart Research, said during the panel his firm has wrapped up its polling for this election year and expressed skepticism about the polls that emerge close to Election Day.
“Because our job, for our political clients, is to tell them the contours of the election,” Horwitt said. “How do we convince voters to vote for our candidate? What are the most effective messages? What do we have to think about? So the public polls are seeing now, they’re super interesting, and they’re important, but they’re not actionable.”
Trump welcomes sexist insult
As Trump spent his weekend in a campaign blitz across North Carolina, he welcomed a sexist remark from a rallygoer in Greensboro who suggested that Harris worked as a prostitute.
During the Saturday night rally, Trump questioned whether Harris’ previously worked at a McDonald’s. Her campaign has stated that she worked the summer job in 1983. In a campaign photo opportunity, Trump visited a closed McDonald’s in Pennsylvania where he handed fries to pre-screened people at the drive through.
“It’s so simple,” Trump said. “She’s a significant liar, and when you lie about something so simple, so she never worked there –”
“She worked on a corner,” a man from the crowd shouted.
Trump laughed at the crude comment.
“This place is amazing,” Trump said. “Just remember, it’s other people saying it, it’s not me.”
Harris has significantly gained support with women, according to the Pew Research Center. Trump has often dismissed criticism that he has lagged among women.
During a rally last week in Wisconsin, and in an attempt to win over women voters, Trump said that he would protect women and “I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not.”
Trump repeats ‘father of fertilization’ claim
At a Greensboro, North Carolina, rally Saturday, Trump again called himself “the father of fertilization,” a title he first gave himself during a Fox News town hall with women voters last month.
“I consider myself to be the father of fertilization,” he said Saturday.
The Iowa poll — and other late surveys — showed a stark gender gap, with women voters increasingly preferring Harris.
Nearly twice as many Iowa independent women voters, 57% to 29%, favored Harris. That represents a major gain for Harris since a September survey by the same pollster showed the vice president’s edge with independent women was only 5 percentage points.
Democrats have sought to exploit their advantage with women voters by emphasizing Trump’s record on abortion access. The former president appointed three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted in 2022 to overturn the federal right to an abortion.
A flurry of state-level policymaking on reproductive rights has followed, including restrictions on in vitro fertilization, a common fertility treatment.
Trump has said he opposed an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that outlawed the treatment in the state, but had not previously taken a position on the issue.
Early voters up to 76 million
More than 76 million voters had already cast ballots through early and mail voting by midday Sunday, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
Roughly half of those have come in states that track voters’ partisanship. About 700,000 — roughly 2% of the total — more Democrats have voted in those states than Republicans, but the numbers include California, where Democrat Joe Biden won more than 5 million more votes than Trump in the 2020 election.
Among the six states — Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Colorado, Idaho and Virginia — that track voters’ gender, women accounted for 54% of the vote, compared to 43.6% for men.
‘Election eve’ blitz
The candidates for president and vice president plan to sprint across the key swing states in the campaign’s final days, with particular focus on Pennsylvania, the largest of the contested states where polling has shown a deadlocked race.
The Harris campaign announced Sunday the vice president would be in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Monday, the night before Election Day, for rallies and musical performances. Scheduled entertainers and speakers included Oprah Winfrey, The Roots, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
Harris is also set to hold an event in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a majority-Latino city, on Monday. Part of Harris’ closing message has highlighted racist comments Trump and his supporters have made about Latinos.
After spending much of the weekend in North Carolina, Trump will also hold a rally in Pittsburgh on Monday evening.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, will be in Milwaukee on Monday.
Trump running mate Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance will hold events in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania on Monday.
Harris will hold an election night watch party at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
Trump’s watch party will be at his Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
South Dakota
UMC Women’s Basketball uses big second quarter to beat South Dakota School of Mines | KROX
The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s basketball team is taking on the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota this evening.
FIRST QUARTER –
UMC jumped out to a 4-0 lead with baskets from Willow Thiel (Fresh. Perham) and Nicole Hernandez (Sr. Oak Creek, WI). After a Mines basket, UMC responded with five more points with an Emma Miller (Jr. Albertville), another Thiel basket, and two free throws from Riley Jenkins (Soph. Galesburg, IL) for a 9-2 lead to start the game. Mines made another basket before Miller made a basket, and Thiel added two free throws for a 13-4 lead with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. Mines made a three-pointer before Thiel connected on a pair of free throws, and Miller made a layup for a 17-7 lead. Mines finally got the offense going and went on a 7-2 run to get within a 19-14 deficit with one minute remaining. UMC’s Miller made a basket before Mines finished the quarter with a three-pointer, and the Golden Eagles took a 21-17 lead into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER –
UMC dominated the second quarter as Hope Dudycha (Soph. Austin) got things going with a three-pointer, and Jenkins added a free throw. After a Mines basket, it turned into the Jenkins and Thiel show as the two went on an 11-0 run on their own for a 36-19 lead with 18 seconds left in the half. That is right. UMC held Mines to only two points over nine-plus minutes of the quarter. Mines made a three-pointer with four seconds left in the half, and UMC took a 36-22 lead into halftime. Mines only made two of 15 shots from the field in the second quarter and were 9 of 33 in the first half.
THIRD QUARTER –
Mines started the second half on a 7-2 run before Dudycha and Miller made baskets for a 42-39 lead. After Mines got within a 12-point deficit, UMC’s Jenkins made a three-pointer, and Dudycha scored six points for a 51-32 lead with less than four minutes left in the quarter. Mines chipped away at the deficit and got within a 54-41 score before UMC’s Miller ended the quarter with a three-pointer for a 57-41 lead going into the final quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER –
UMC led 60-45 when Dudycha made a basket, and Jenkins converted a three-point play for a 65-45 lead with 6:27 left in the game. Mines made a basket before Hernandez and Thiel scored two points apiece for a 69-47 lead. The teams played even the rest of the way and the Golden Eagles won 74-55.
UMC improves to 2-4 on the year and will travel to Minot State on Tuesday to start Northern Sun Conference play. Mines drops to 0-5 on the year.
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Final
UM-Crookston
21
15
21
17
74
South Dakota Mines
17
5
19
14
55
For UMC
Points
Rebounds
Assists/Steals
Emma Miller
19
10
3 assists/1 steal
Riley Jenkins
16
7
4 assists/1 block
Hope Dudycha
16
3
2 steals/1 assist
Willow Thiel
16
9
1 assist
Nicole Hernandez
5
8
1 block/1 assist
Emme Munch
2
Tags:
South Dakota
Iowa Supreme Court upholds land survey abilities of pipeline companies in Summit case • South Dakota Searchlight
The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s decision that Summit Carbon Solutions is allowed temporary access to properties for surveying, because it is a pipeline company that would be transporting a hazardous liquid.
The case involved Kent Kasischke, a Hardin County landowner who refused to let Summit surveyors on his land to survey for their proposed pipeline that would transport carbon dioxide, primarily sequestered from ethanol plants, to underground storage in North Dakota. The pipeline route includes South Dakota.
The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case in early October.
Kasischke argued Iowa Code section 479B.15, which allows a pipeline company to enter private land to survey, was unconstitutional because the invasion of property required compensation.
Justice Thomas Waterman, who issued the court’s decision, said Kasischke’s argument “fails.”
“He has no right to exclude the surveyor because section 479B.15 is a lawful pre-existing limitation on his title to the land,” the decision said.
Carbon pipeline company reapplies for South Dakota permit
According to the decision, this is consistent with rulings in “at least four” district courts, including the Iowa District Court for Hardin County that originally ruled in the case, and with Supreme Court decisions in North Dakota and South Dakota.
The decision in South Dakota, while it upheld the constitutionality of a similar statute in the state, was touted as win by those opposed to the pipeline because it said the company must prove it is a common carrier and said surveying was only constitutional if they were “minimally invasive superficial inspections that, at most, cause minor soil disturbances.”
A press release from the Iowa Easement Team and Bold Alliance, groups opposed to the pipeline that supported Kasischke, and his attorney, Brian Jorde, said the Friday Iowa Supreme Court’s decision “sidesteps” questions around surveying.
“Right now Iowa has no guardrails as to the level of invasive activity a pipeline company can do to private property as they can claim anything they want to do falls under ‘survey’ or ‘examination,’” the press release said.
Jorde, who has represented numerous landowners in cases against Summit, said “we will have to go back to the Court” to address the limitations, with a hope that Iowans will be granted the “same protections” as South Dakotans.
As part of its ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s decision that Summit Carbon Solutions is a pipeline company and fits the definition under Iowa Code by transporting a hazardous liquid.
Kasischke argued the supercritical carbon dioxide that would be transported in the pipeline was not a liquid.
Waterman’s written decision said the court relied on testimony from the district court trial for its decision, though he noted that since the district court trial, the Iowa Utilities Commission (then the Iowa Utilities Board) “determined that supercritical carbon dioxide is a liquefied carbon dioxide.”
The CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions, Lee Blank, said in a statement Friday the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision was a “win for infrastructure projects across the state and the nation.”
“It underscores the importance of balancing landowner rights with the need to advance critical infrastructure that benefits communities, agriculture, and the broader economy,” Blank said.
The press release said the ruling “confirms” the company has met “all statutory requirements” and it supports infrastructure “vital to enhancing economic competitiveness and ensuring energy and agricultural sustainability.”
Opponents of the pipeline project said in their press release, the ruling “did not conclude” the proposed 2,500 mile pipeline is a public use, nor that the company is a common carrier.
However, Summit was granted use of eminent domain in August when the Iowa Utilities Commission approved its permit.
A final element of the case was whether or not Kasischke had a tenant on the property who would have impacted Summits’ efforts to provide adequate notice of their plans to survey his property.
Waterman wrote the court agreed with the district court’s credibility analysis calling Kasischke’s testimony on the issue “evasive and not credible.”
Jorde and the Iowa Easement Team called this “puzzling and disappointing, but a minor issue to the appeal.”
The Iowa justices affirmed that Summit complied with notice requirements and the district court’s ruling and injunction.
South Dakota
Missouri State football vs South Dakota State: Scouting report, score prediction for Saturday
Missouri State football coach presser before South Dakota State
Missouri State football coach Ryan Beard previews the Bears’ season finale against No. 3 South Dakota State.
Missouri State football will play its final game as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and as an FCS program when it hosts the two-time defending champion this weekend.
FCS No. 18 Missouri State (8-3, 6-1 MVFC) will host FCS No. 3 South Dakota State (9-2. 6-1 MVFC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Plaster Stadium. The game will be the Bears’ finale as they are ineligible to qualify for the postseason because of NCAA rules regarding their move to the FBS.
South Dakota State continues to be a national championship contender with their lone FCS loss this season coming Oct. 19 in a 13-9 loss to FCS No. 1 North Dakota State. The Jackrabbits also lost on opening day in a 44-20 defeat at FBS Oklahoma State.
Missouri State has an outside chance at still winning a share of the MVFC. The Bears would have to beat SDSU while requiring North Dakota State to lose to FCS No. 4 South Dakota.
South Dakota State football features star QB Mark Gronowski
SDSU senior quarterback Mark Gronowski had both power conference and large NIL offers after earning the Walter Payton Award last season. He opted to stay at South Dakota State to try and lead it to its third straight title.
Gronowski isn’t putting up the same numbers he did last year, averaging about 28 fewer yards while already surpassing his season total in interceptions in four fewer games, but he’s still among the FCS’ elite.
He’s a 62% passer and is a capable runner and hasn’t thrown a pick over his last four games.
SDSU football has an elite rushing attack
Ranked third in the FCS in rushing, the Jacks are averaging nearly 250 yards per game with four different backs gaining 50 or more yards per game.
South Dakota State doesn’t have a Joplin-area running back leading the team in rushing this year as it has in the past (Joplin’s Quin Renfro is redshirting after Isaiah Davis was drafted in the fifth round by the New York Jets). But Amar Johnson is getting his turn as the leadback after being an all-purpose weapon last year. He’s averaging just 77.5 yards, but is an explosive play waiting to happen.
The Jackrabbits continue to have one of the best offensive lines in the subdivision. Slowing this down will be a challenge for the Beas, having given up 215 or more rushing yards in three of the last four weeks, including a season-worst 364 yards to North Dakota State last week.
South Dakota State has the best defense in the FCS
Only ranked behind a pair of Pioneer and SWAC schools and a 4-6 Saint Francis team, it’s safe to say South Dakota State has the best defense in the subdivision, considering who it’s faced.
SDSU has a top-20 defense in every category and is first in points allowed, allowing just 12.7 points per outing. The Jacks haven’t given up more than 17 points in a game since the season’s first two weeks.
Score prediction: South Dakota State 34, Missouri State 17
Missouri State hasn’t been capable of stopping the run against the elite offensive lines it’s faced this year. South Dakota State might have the best ground game out of anyone the Bears have faced and that will be trouble heading into their final test.
South Dakota State will play this game motivated by potentially earning the No. 1 overall seed in the FCS Playoffs, hoping South Dakota can knock off North Dakota State. The Bison’s game starts an hour before the Bears-Jacks game, maybe opening the door for SDSU to rest some starters in the second half if they have the game put away.
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