South Dakota

Rep. Dusty Johnson backs Senator Rounds push for investigation into mail service in South Dakota

Published

1 month ago

December 11, 2025

Rep. Dusty Johnson backs Senator Rounds push for investigation into mail service in South Dakota

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) -Congressman Dusty Johnson is backing Senator Mike Round’s push for an investigation in postal service delays in South Dakota.

Johnson took to social media saying Senator Mike Rounds was right to ask for an investigation into postal service delays in South Dakota. Rounds had previously sent a letter to the postal service’s inspector general asking for her to find the cause of mail delays in South Dakota. Rounds said in his letter he has heard from hundreds of constituents across South Dakota. Johnson opened up with KOTA Territory News about his support for the investigation.

“I think the postal service is a terrible disaster,” said Johnson.

Johnson noted that in the past the service did what he said was a pretty good job. Johnson says despite sending letters and making phone calls with the postal service, he has not gotten any answers.

“I have asked if I can come down to one of their facilities, get a tour so I can better understand what’s going on behind the walls. They have refused to even let me, a member of congress, come learn about how they conduct their business. And so, this appears to be an enterprise that A, is not improving, B, isn’t communicating why there, why there failing and C doesn’t even appear to be particularly interested in getting better,” explained Johnson.

Rounds has pointed to the problem as being that mail traveling across or into South Dakota taking indirect routes. Rounds previously took a meeting with the postmaster general however the senator appears not satisfied with the outcome.

Rounds wrote in part in his letter, “I expressed my concerns about this to the Postmaster General (PMG) Steiner who downplayed such issue existed in South Dakota.”

In a letter sent to Rounds in October, Postmaster General David Steiner said that fixing issues at central region plants in Chicago, St Louis and Kansas City will likely improve outcomes and that at the time it was something the USPS was actively working on. The postmaster general acknowledged poor performance for first class mail at the beginning of the year and mid-summer but noted that it has since improved. During the week ending September 19th for South Dakota’s postal district, about %93 percent of first-class mail was delivered on time and roughly %97 percent was delivered within one day of its expected arrival. The postmaster general said he wanted to focus on the %3 percent that’s not getting to its destination on time.

“It may be only a small percentage of the mail, but because we deliver hundreds of millions of pieces each day nationally, the raw number is large,” wrote Steiner.

Steiner emphasized that some mail in South Dakota has always left the state for processing before going to another part of the state. The postmaster general explained that some mail requires certain sorting equipment and therefor some mail travels to plants with the right equipment.

The postmaster general also maintained in his letter that mail going to and from the same area in South Dakota is not leaving the state.

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South Dakota

California crypto startup moves to South Dakota as debate over proposed wealth tax heats up

Published

3 hours ago

January 21, 2026

Press Room

California crypto startup moves to South Dakota as debate over proposed wealth tax heats up

California cryptocurrency startup BitGo has moved to South Dakota ahead of its initial public offering and amid a heated debate about a proposed ballot measure to tax billionaires.

The company that had been based in Palo Alto is now based in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to a December filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

BitGo, which is targeting a valuation of $1.96 billion, offers tools to businesses that help them manage their digital assets and keep them secure.

It occupies 5,250 square feet of office space in Sioux Falls as part of a lease scheduled to expire in 2028, the filing said. As of September, the digital asset infrastructure company said it had office space in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Canada, India, Germany, Singapore, South Korea and Dubai. It had 566 full-time employees.

The rise of remote work has made it possible for businesses to recruit employees outside of their main headquarters. BitGo’s career page lists openings for a variety of roles — some of them remote — including in California and South Dakota. Some jobs, though, asks applicants whether they can work on-site.

The filing doesn’t say why the company moved its headquarters. Business leaders who have been critical of California regulation have been relocating their headquarters. Database management company Oracle and social media company X moved their main offices.

SFGate earlier reported on BitGo’s move.

An initiative to tax some of California’s wealthiest residents still needs enough signatures to make it on the November ballot, but it’s already sparking a lot of backlash. Under the Billionaire Tax Act, Californians worth more than $1 billion would pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth. Most of that funding would go toward healthcare to help offset widespread cuts by the Trump administration.

Critics of the proposal include BitGo Chief Executive Mike Belshe, who said on X that a new tax would also harm startups.

“Who in their right mind would found a new business in California if California does this?,” he wrote in late December.

Although some tech moguls, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, recently have moved some of their companies out of California, proponents of the proposal say concerns that billionaires will flee are overblown.

The proposed tax would apply to about 200 California billionaires who reside in the state as of Jan. 1. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the union behind the initiative, said that it would raise $100 billion, and that most billionaires haven’t moved.

BitGo didn’t immediately respond to questions about its headquarters.

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South Dakota

DRG Agriculture In-depth podcast: South Dakota agriculture seen at 2026 Rose Parade®

Published

15 hours ago

January 20, 2026

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DRG Agriculture In-depth podcast: South Dakota agriculture seen at 2026 Rose Parade® | DRGNews

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South Dakota

South Dakota visits Omaha following Djobet’s 25-point game

Published

1 day ago

January 20, 2026

Press Room

South Dakota visits Omaha following Djobet’s 25-point game

South Dakota Coyotes (10-10, 2-3 Summit League) at Omaha Mavericks (9-11, 2-3 Summit League)

Omaha, Nebraska; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Omaha plays South Dakota after Paul Djobet scored 25 points in Omaha’s 73-62 win against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

The Mavericks are 6-3 in home games. Omaha ranks fourth in the Summit League with 14.0 assists per game led by Ja’Sean Glover averaging 3.3.

The Coyotes are 2-3 in conference matchups. South Dakota is 5-2 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 12.6 turnovers per game.

Omaha is shooting 47.0% from the field this season, 3.7 percentage points lower than the 50.7% South Dakota allows to opponents. South Dakota averages 6.1 more points per game (83.1) than Omaha allows to opponents (77.0).

The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lance Waddles is shooting 42.1% from beyond the arc with 2.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Mavericks, while averaging 15 points. Djobet is shooting 51.7% and averaging 13.2 points over the last 10 games.

Isaac Bruns is shooting 44.5% and averaging 20.7 points for the Coyotes. Cameron Fens is averaging 14.9 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mavericks: 6-4, averaging 76.0 points, 30.8 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.1 points per game.

Coyotes: 5-5, averaging 82.5 points, 30.2 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 5.9 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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