KRISTI NOEM

On the morning of Sept. 12, the governor announced she had surgery to address an injury that affected her lumbar spine. The recovery will greatly reduce her ability to travel for "several months," though she said she expects a full recovery.

On Aug. 22, a state ethics board referred a complaint to the Division of Criminal Investigations for an investigation into whether Gov. Kristi Noem had misused the state airplane. Shortly thereafter, calls began coming in for Mark Vargo, the Noem-appointed interim attorney general, to recuse himself from the investigation. On Sept. 9, Vargo obliged.

The complaint alleges malfeasance, conflict of interest and a handful of other abuses of office stemming from the July 27, 2020 meeting between Gov. Kristi Noem, her daughter Kassidy Peters and the then-director of South Dakota's appraiser certification program, Sherry Bren.

Tariq was presented with a corn-bassadorship by Gov. Kristi Noem's office, while the City of Mitchell proclaimed Saturday as Tariq 'Corn Kid' Day.

After a viral incident in Sioux Falls where two women confronted Gov. Kristi Noem at a campaign event, the governor was in high spirits at a campaign stop at the first day of the South Dakota State Fair.

The Government Accountability Board, created in 2017 as a successful ballot measure in the wake of a slew of scandals, is facing its first serious inquiry in the dual complaints levied against Gov. Kristi Noem. Combining the public nature of these complaints with the board whose work is meant to be confidential has created a conversation of how to increase transparency and trust.

During their meeting on Monday, Aug. 22, the Government Accountability Board made decisions on two investigations into ethics complaints against Gov. Kristi Noem. They referred an investigation into abuse of the state airplane to the attorney general and invoked a contested case hearing in possible conflict of interest relating to an appraisal license received by Noem's daughter.

The Ag Innovation Forum, hosted by the South Dakota Farm Bureau, included presentations from two producers in the cattle industry and a representative of Raven Industries, which is on the leading edge of autonomous agriculture. The speakers underscored how investments in high-tech planting and grazing can increase yield and meet sustainability goals.

Two new advertisements in the span of a week and a ratcheting up of attacks focused on record mean it just might be election season.