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Noem sucker punches South Dakota dentists • South Dakota Searchlight

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Noem sucker punches South Dakota dentists • South Dakota Searchlight


Sporting her new pearly artificial Texas smile, Gov. Kristi Noem this week punched South Dakota dentists in the teeth and ended up in court. 

Her video infomercial promoting her flight to Texas to obtain a mouthful of perfect teeth has been described as “bizarre” and “very weird.” Supporters and critics alike are aghast at her poor judgment. 

They’re also wondering if she has violated ethics rules. On Wednesday, the consumer advocacy group Travelers United said it sued Noem for “the lack of advertising disclosure” as required by the Federal Trade Commission. 

The nearly five-minute video that garnered worldwide media attention was first posted to Noem’s social media late Monday night.

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She tells her story of flying twice to Texas to obtain her new teeth because of problems lingering from a long-ago bicycle accident, and because she thought her appearance was a detriment to her ability to communicate. Why Texas?

“I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they are the best,” she said. 

Apparently none of South Dakota’s numerous skilled implant dentists are good enough to provide the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2021 best governor in the nation with teeth to match her stature.

Wait, isn’t this the governor who just recently posed as a dental hygienist in a Freedom Works Here advertisement recruiting people to move here?

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Isn’t she also regularly telling the nation how South Dakota is the best in so many ways? 

“Our state has become the number one state for individuals, families, and businesses to build the American Dream,” she said in her 2023 State of the State Address. “We are number one in the nation for personal income growth over the past several years. That is how South Dakotans build the American Dream by working hard and earning more than they have before.”

But South Dakota’s dentists just don’t quite make her grade. 

It’s not only the state’s dentists who were insulted by her words, but everyone who lives with imperfect teeth. One glance at photos of other politicians reveals that many of them have imperfections in their smile. 

Are they less effective communicators because of a crooked tooth?

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Gov. Noem believes her teeth distracted from her message.  

“I want when people look at me to hear the words that I say and not be distracted by something that I am wearing or how I look or even my appearance,” she said in the video. “I want them to focus on my thoughts and my ideas and what we can do to really make this country better. 

“So, for me to have a confident smile and have my teeth be something that is not a distraction but actually is appealing to people will be helpful because I think that it will make sure that we are focused on really the right points that I want to make and make sure that that confidence shines through.”

The governor also believes that only a perfect smile allows people to see that she is genuine. Now that the dental work is complete, “They can actually appreciate and see the kindness in my face and see the love that I have for them.”

Really, governor? Did you need to expose yourself and South Dakota to Travel United’s allegations of deceptive advertising and ethical lapses? 

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“Someone with a very busy job does not take time off of that job to make a free advertisement for medical services in another state. There are many dentists and cosmetic dentists in South Dakota,” the Travel United lawsuit said.

“No one with an extremely important job in South Dakota would fly to Texas to receive dental treatment and then sit in that office and film an advertisement without some form of compensation,” the suit continued. 

So, Travelers United, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, demands a jury trial, damages, legal fees and asks that Noem be permanently stopped “from advertising on social media without disclosing that she is advertising.”  

For Noem, however, it’s probably just bold strategy. 

She elevated herself to the top of the week’s news cycle just when Donald Trump clinched enough delegates to become the Republican nominee for president. 

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Noem is on Trump’s short list for vice president, and as Noem said in the infomercial, “People’s first impressions of you are important.” 

Perfect teeth and lawsuits – what more qualifications do you need? 

 

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South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with $69 million surplus

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South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with  million surplus











South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with $69 million surplus | DRGNews











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SD Lottery Millionaire for Life winning numbers for July 12, 2026

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The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at July 12, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 12 drawing

12-21-39-46-48, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

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Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

  • Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
  • Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
  • Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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Incarcerated women to move into new Rapid City prison to alleviate overcrowding

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Incarcerated women to move into new Rapid City prison to alleviate overcrowding


RAAPID CITY, S.D. — Incarcerated women will start moving into a new $87 million prison in Rapid City next month, a South Dakota Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed this week.

The medium-security prison will be the state’s second for women. The South Dakota Women’s Prison in Pierre has operated beyond its capacity for years, with dozens of people serving their sentences at the Hughes County Jail or in halfway house facilities.

The new prison in Rapid City, which was approved by state lawmakers

in 2023

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, will add 288 beds to the state’s capacity. The Department of Corrections will begin transferring women there next month, according to spokesperson Michael Winder, who said the exact date of full operations won’t be released for security reasons

The prison includes a work release area, a mother-infant building that lets new moms stay in a home-like environment with their babies, a vocational training facility to be staffed by instructors from Western Dakota Technical Institute and 96 beds for chemical dependency treatment.

The majority of the women held in South Dakota prisons are incarcerated on nonviolent drug charges, and 97% have a substance use disorder diagnosis.

“Drug addiction is a disease that must be treated,” Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb said at Friday’s ribbon cutting, adding that “Through dedicated treatment space and the therapeutic community, women will receive the counseling support and skills that they need to break the cycle of addiction and successfully return to their families and communities.”

The mother-infant program

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mirrors one launched a few years ago in Pierre

.

Mothers who qualify under security guidelines stay in a group home separate from the main prison facility with other women and children for the first few years of their child’s life. The program was launched by former Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko and was championed by Lamb in his first public conversations with lawmakers on the state’s budget committee during the 2026 legislative session.

From left, South Dakota Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb, Warden Eric Aldridge and Gov. Larry Rhoden cut a razor wire at an event to mark the completion of an $87 million women’s prison in Rapid City.

Photo courtesy Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office

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At Friday’s event, Gov. Larry Rhoden said family connections and parenting skills are key factors in rehabilitation. He framed the program as an extension of a commitment to the well-being of South Dakota families.

“This program gives mothers and their children the opportunity to build that foundation from the very beginning,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden also called out the vocational training, drug treatment and work release programs as vital to rehabilitation — and to public safety by extension. The state recently broke ground on a new $650 million men’s prison in Sioux Falls, which is set to replace the state penitentiary and is also designed to expand programming and rehabilitation.

When combined with pending policy recommendations from the state’s correctional rehabilitation task force, Rhoden said, the new prisons will help improve public safety statewide by reducing the number of people who return to prison within a few years of their release.

“At the end of the day, every person in our corrections system is a human being,” Rhoden said. “They are sons and daughters. They are mothers and fathers. People who’ve made mistakes but also have the capacity to change.”

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Winder, the corrections spokesman, told South Dakota Searchlight that staff will spend the next few weeks training at the new facility in preparation for the arrival of inmates in August.

The state hired Eric Aldridge

to serve as warden in March

. Aldridge, who came to South Dakota after a stint as warden of a medium-security women’s prison in Troy, Virginia, said Friday his goal is to “to facilitate an environment, an atmosphere, a culture where people learn, they grow, they heal, and where people develop through dignity and respect.”





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