Articles

James Bialota | Nov. 11, 2026 Black Hills Harley kicked it off first this year, and a list of other local establishments offering veterans free meals can be found here. Black Hills Harley Davidson gets the credit for kicking off the traditional showing of veteran appreciation when they offered a free chili lunch and free beer. The food and drink were served by volunteers from the Rushmore chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, who also sold raffle tickets and accepted don

James Bialota | Investigation | Nov. 2 The South Dakota Governor has hidden from the press, denied press access, and excluded Republicans from his last-ditch attempt bus tour. In this article, we are releasing never before seen photos of Governor Larry Rhoden cowering in a Dollar General office while hiding from investigative journalist James Bialota. Shortly after these photos were captured, someone tampered with witnesses and press stories. Who could that have been? Was it

James Bialota | Investigation | Nov. 1 Taxpayers now seem to be footing the bill for a pet project of Pennington County State's Attorney Lara Roetzel. Additionally, Roetzel and Pennington County are already being sued by one individual. How many more will be suing for additional constitutional rights violations? The State’s Attorney’s recent fail at press intimidation at the Pennington County Commission meeting on 10/6/2026 compounds the issue, as Commissioner Hadcock tried t

Michael Vogt | Opinion | Oct. 30 Republicans are struggling all across the nation in the 2026 General Election, as evidenced by recent poll numbers, but in South Dakota we’ve seen some especially competitive races play out. Monae Johnson, sitting Republican Secretary of State, endorsed Democrat Terrence Davis to replace her instead of Republican Heather Baxter. We saw an extended primary where incumbent Governor Larry Rhoden took down populist conservative Toby Doeden. Bria

James Bialota | Investigation | Oct 28th, 2026 Before Martin J. Jackley’s campaign for US House started in 2025 for the Congressional primary election, information of Jackley’ vile past kept disappearing from the web, as if it was being scrubbed. Who was scrubbing it? We don’t know who, but we do know why; to make a bad candidate look more palatable. Significant negative stories on Jackley that have been scrubbed from searches (that don't include a specific dozen key words):

James Bialota | Opinion | Oct, 16, 2026 President Trump’s Cabinet and Secretary picks continue to disappoint, as vetting seems to be a major issue. This time, White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was ousted after only 5 days, and her actual legal expertise was called into question. This is after the continued fall of Kristi Noem, who was already fired/removed as DHS Secretary, and has now been removed as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas coalition, per CNN. Mu

Photo Credit: Texas Attorney General Website James Bialota | Opinion | Oct 14, 2026 We're going to talk national politics today and see why the Republicans are suffering so bad in the midterms. Is it tradition, or is it something worse? Traditionally, those that hold both houses and the Presidency going into the midterms see a drastic change, and usually the houses flip. We're not just looking at the House, though. This looks to be a Senate flip, which could be devastating fo

Photo credit: Kristi Noem DHS airport video James Bialota | Investigation | Oct 13th A Lawsuit has been filed against Lara Roetzel and Pennington County, 17 CIV 26-237. Roetzel is the Pennington County State’s Attorney, and is the chief lawyer and her office is party to any case for the State in every prosecution for Pennington County. With one current lawsuit already filed, are many more on the way? All this while Lara Roetzel is currently under threat of suit from multiple

The Bialota Network | Investigation | Oct. 8, 2026 James Bialota’s recent vindication suggests a possible conspiracy against him, and supports a link between a millionaire’s and lawyer’s fraud, the Rapid City Council, and Judicial Campaign Donations. Questions are now being raised about combining the 7th and 4th Circuit Courts (the South Dakota 7th Circuit is currently comprised of Pennington, Custer, Fall River, and Oglala Counties). In a ruling just filed today ( https://uj

James Bialota | Investigation | Oct. 5, 2026 Does the South Dakota Attorney General's office under Marty Jackley cover up crime reporting and South Dakota corruption? A recently released recording of a phone call appears to show just that ( https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1C52C7A4Pk/ ). In the phone call, a crime victim appears to have been attempting to report crimes committed by members of a state agency. The Attorney General's staff refused to identify herself, but demand

The Bialota Network | Opinion | Oct. 4, 2026 According to a Lake Research Partners Poll, Nikki Gronli (D) appears to be in striking distance of Marty Jackley (R) in the 2026 SD Congressional race (43% - 47%), and an Insight Research poll shows Brian Bengs (I) tied with Mike Rounds (R) in the Senate race (44%-44%). South Dakota is a historical Republican stronghold, but even well-established household names are beginning to struggle. Why? First, let's look at the Congressional

James Bialota | Investigation | Oct. 3, 2026 Well, with no surprise to anyone, South Dakota State Senator Chris Karr denied public comment on the minutes at the SD Legislature Executive Board meeting on 9/23/2026 until after they voted to approve the minutes. Sounds like Pelosi's infamous line "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." After Renae Randall noted that her whistleblower documents had not been made public, Karr attempted to move into commi

James Bialota | Investigation | Oct. 3, 2026 State Rep. Marty Overweg blocked public comment at the Government Operations and Audit Committee on 9/8/2026. Apparently, Overweg gets to pick who he wants to testify from the public according to LRC Staff, which doesn't appear to be anyone with something important to say (sounds like a Banana Republic in my personal opinion). On the bright side, State Sen. Taffy Howard voted to not accept the South Dakota Attorney General's Office