Incoming School of Mines president and former new Mexico Congresswoman Heather Wilson doesn't care much for gay people. She also apparently doesn't care for doing the paperwork the federal government expects of contractors at its nuclear labs:

Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson collected nearly half a million dollars in questionable payments from four federally funded nuclear labs after she left office, the Energy Department's inspector general says in a new report ["IG Report Finds 'Questionable' Payments to Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson," AP via Fox Business, 2013.06.11].

Just what work did Wilson do for those labs? Maybe nothing... and maybe illegal lobbying:

Officials at the Nevada Test Site and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee acknowledged there "were no deliverables" associated with $30,000 the two labs paid Wilson, according to the Associated Press.

The contractors that run the labs billed the payments to the government "even though they did not receive evidence that work performed under the agreements had been completed," the report said.

The contractors, which include Lockheed Martin, Bechtel and other companies, have since paid back most of the money to the government but an investigation continues. In all, the government recovered $442,877 of $464,203 paid to Wilson, the report said.

In addition, the report said that Sandia and Los Alamos appear to have improperly used Department of Energy funds to pay Wilson to lobby the federal government to expand lab funding, which is prohibited activity [Jennifer Naylor Gesick, "School of Mines President Embroiled in Controversy," Rapid City Journal, 2013.06.12].

Wilson denies the lobbying charge. But no deliverables? No evidence of work performed? Yeah, I might ask for my money back, too.

If those labs ask Wilson to refund them the money that they've refunded to the government, she'll have to work from next week Monday, her first day on the job at Mines, until about November 1, 2014, at her promised Regental annual salary of $321,260 to pay off her shady contracting.

Lincoln County is responsible for sending one of the most Tea-baggin'est contingents of legislators to Pierre. District 6, the Lennox-Tea-Harrisburg corner of the county, elected ultra-conservatives Ernie Otten, Herman Otten, and Isaac Latterell last year. The other three districts that include Lincoln County (12, 13, and 16) are also all Republican. Lincoln County also gave Mitt Romney 62.0% of their vote, higher than the statewide average of 57.9%.

Now the Ottens, Latterell, and other conservatives must turn with the rest of their soaked constituents and urge Governor Dennis Daugaard to ask President Barack Obama for money we don't have to help them recover from the wrath of God:

So far, Lincoln County has seen $800,000 in rain and flood damage this spring and county officials say costs continues to rise with each storm that moves through.

"Every time we get a rain like this it just aggravates that. There are places where the dirt it falling away from culverts so there may be a hole in the road," Lincoln County Emergency Manager Harold Timmerman said.

Timmerman says on Tuesday, the Lincoln County Commissions plan to ask for a state disaster declaration to be sent to Governor Dennis Daugaard.

...Back on May 10th Lincoln County was declared a federal disaster after the spring snow and ice storm that caused millions of dollars worth of damage across [South Dakota] [Stephanie Gregory, "Lincoln County Hoping for Disaster Declaration After Flooding," KELOLand.com, 2013.06.09].

The hypocrisy of asking for money from a federal government against whom you vigorously campaign is a daily occurrence in South Dakota. But it wouldn't be hypocrisy if, instead of undermining civic spirit by demonizing government with cries of "Socialism!" and "Tyranny!" politicians like Otten, Latterell, and Kristi Noem would lead their constituents in honest conversations about the need to work together as a community through government to solve practical problems like cleaning up natural disasters.

Spearfish is a city keenly concerned with appearances... to some extent, rightfully so. The Queen City's stunning panoramas are a good chunk of the reason people visit and settle here (and why houses cost so much). Several years ago, Guido Della Vecchia donated a big chunk of the west side of Lookout Mountain to the city so people looking east from the city would see the mostly unspoiled splendor of that signature mountain rather than a housing development as now dominates the south Sandstone side.

In the interest of keeping Spearfish looking good, the Republicans who run the city have expanded Spearfish's sign ordinance. The new ordinance does expand liberty: leaving Spearfish's sign ordinances as they were prohibited shopkeepers from putting out temporary signs. Now entrepreneurs can hawk their wares with sandwich boards and banners, as long as they remain "tasteful" and "creative":

Debra Fletcher, the owner of Hudson and Main in downtown Spearfish opened her store this year, and during the time she was allowed to set a decorative sandwich board outside business has improved.

“It’s like night and day when it comes to how many customers come through the door,” she said. “When I have the sign out, I get so many people coming by simply because they saw that I’m featuring ‘caramel apples’ or whatever else … I’m relieved the council went this direction” [Heather Murschel, "Sign Code Expands," Black Hills Pioneer, 2013.06.08].

The full revision includes some clinkers and tidbits:

1. Temporary signs may not be placed on any utility poles. That means no tacking your flyers for lost puppies or midnight raves on the phone pole.
2. "Election signs may be posted no earlier than 60 days prior to and removed 48 hours after an election." I understand the city's effort to save words here, but the grammatical effect of that sentence is to say that election signs may be removed 48 hours after an election. Does that mean we have to leave them up until two days after the vote? And does that mean I can leave my Rick Weiland sign up until Christmas, 2014, just to rub Noem voters' face in it?
3. A special events provision commits the same error: "Special event signs shall not be posted earlier than 24 hours prior to, and removed 2 hours after the close of a special event." Technically, that says you shall not take down your rummage sale sign 2 hours after closing. I guess you can do it an hour after, or three hours after, but at two hours after, your sign pullers had better take break.
4. Permanent flexible banners "must be legible and without any sagging, folds or wrinkles." There's a metaphor written into city code that should make retirees nervous. And I wonder if the illegibility ban means city planner Jayna Watson will come give you a ticket for bad graphic design.
5. Section C.2.c.III says temporary signs "must be removed at the close of business each day." This section includes election signs. So help me out: does that mean I have to pull my "Vote Labor! Vote Science! Vote Dem!" sign from my yard each night before the election? And if I'm a blogger, just when is my daily "close of business"?
6. No flashing in Spearfish! Flashing electronic signs are out.
7. So are signs with moving parts... which alas, means my little one and I won't be able to cheer when we see the wavy orange balloon guy flapping his arms out front of the car dealer by Walmart.
8. The new code grandfathers in existing signs that don't conform. But if the owner makes any major change to the sign, boom! the code kicks in. And every non-conforming sign has to be brought into compliance by September 17, 2024.

Whew! With all these rules, you'd think Democrats were running the show in Spearfish.

Governing surveyed senior-level state and local officials on gun policy. Among the interesting results is that government officials may carry guns more frequently than the general population. The Governing Index survey finds 47% of these officials saying they own guns. Johns Hopkins research finds guns reported in 33% of households among the general population.

A higher rate of gun ownership among government officials could signal that the Tea Party has obtained its not-quite Jeffersonian goal of a government that fears the people. It seems more likely, however, that the difference results from the male skew of a pool of government officials. We fellas do like our bang-bangs.

Gun owners and non-gun owners consistently differ in support for various gun policies. But 73% of gun-owning officials and 95% of non-owners support background checks on every gun sale (that's 85% total, close to the 89% of the general public that support that policy). Majorities of state and local government officials support banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and conducting regular gun buyback events.

While a majority of the surveyed officials support increasing funding for school resource officers, they get queasy about putting guns in the hands of school staff. Asked if they would like to "Require that every public school train and arm at least one staff member with a gun," 85% of the non-gun owners and 59% of the gun owners said no. That's 73% of officials expressing reservation about something like South Dakota's school gunslinger law.

Even public officials who choose to own firearms appear to recognize that the Second Amendment is not absolute, especially not in schools.

Gordon Howie and his pal Mike from Breaking Bad call for government action against religious folks down in Custer County:

It's good to see that even Gordon Howie can recognize the danger religious fundamentalism can pose to civil order and human rights. If the ten-year-old Pringle compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints has been holding people captive, not filing birth and death certificates, and forcing women into polygamy, then there is most certainly good cause for state and local government action against these yahoos. It's just funny to hear anti-government theocrat Gordon Howie calling for such government action against true believers of a different stripe.

For the second time in two years, the Lake Herman Sanitary District finds itself without a quorum. Last week Friday, board member Charlie Stoneback submitted the following notice to Lake County Auditor Bobbi Janke and others:

The purpose of this e mail is to announce my resignation, to take effect immediately, from Lake Herman Sanitary District (LHSD) Board of Directors (BOD).

With the "stalling" of the Banner facility plan, the most value added contribution I can make to the tax payers of LHSD is to remove myself from the BOD. Thanks to all the folks who provided me support in the sewer system effort, but especially John Maursetter who went above and beyond in accompanying me to meetings and providing me excellent counsel.

Very respectfully submitted,

Charles K. Stoneback

The Lake Herman Sanitary District board has three seats. One seat has remained vacant since 2008. Stoneback's departure leaves the remaining board member—me—asking two empty seats for a second.

As was the case last time the board lacked enough members to do business, I can write checks to pay the bills and carry actions previously authorized by the board. I'll check with counsel, but I'm assuming that includes convening a public meeting in July to allow Banner Associates from Brookings to present its sewer feasibility study for discussion. That public meeting is a necessary step in obtaining DENR funding to cover the $19,800 cost of preparing the study. I can also accept and approve septic tank permits so folks can proceed with new construction and septic system replacement. Beyond that, though, we can't have one guy unilaterally imposing any new policy on Lake Herman.

My term on the board ends after our July 9 election (oh yeah, gotta have a meeting to officially declare that date!). I'm not running for re-election. The board has never had more than one candidate express interest in serving in any given year. So if history holds its course, the board will remain unable to conduct new business, and my nefarious plot to dissolve the Lake Herman Sanitary District will come to pass this summer without my lifting a finger. If you'd rather my libertarian machinations not come to pass, Lake Herman neighbors, you'd better find a couple of people willing to serve.

The South Dakota Department of Education is angling to charge me more for the privilege of holding my South Dakota teaching certificate.

My friend Ken Blanchard tells me that more money doesn't result in better outcomes. I can't imagine the state is going to provide me a better teaching certificate with the extra money they want me to throw at the bureaucrats in Pierre. So why, oh why must I throw more money at my teaching certificate?

And if the state does increase my cost of doing business, are my fellow teachers and I justified in turning to our school boards and asking that they throw more money at us to cover our increased costs, even as we continue to provide the same quality service as before?

A couple week's ago, sports columnist Dan Carlson stunk up my local paper by pontificating that the Boston bombing demonstrated that gun regulations are useless. "Government cannot protect us," Carlson asserted, calling apparently for a return to the state of nature and survival by shotgun (or eventually by slingshot, since you only get shotguns when people organize communities with government that permit the luxury of specialization of labor and public resources to support manufacturing...).

Yeah, sure, government can't protect us... except when it does:

FBI officials said Monday that they foiled a terrorism attack that was being planned in a small western Minnesota town, but they offered no details about the exact targets of the attack _ or the motive of the man accused of having a cache of explosives and weapons in a mobile home.

The FBI said "the lives of several local residents were potentially saved" with the arrest of Buford Rogers, 24, who made his first appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Rogers, of Montevideo, was arrested Friday after authorities searched a mobile home he's associated with and found Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and firearms, according to a court affidavit.

"The FBI believed there was a terror attack in its planning stages, and we believe there would have been a localized terror attack, and that's why law enforcement moved quickly to execute the search warrant on Friday to arrest Mr. Rogers," FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said Monday [Amy Forliti, "FBI: Minnesota Raid Disrupts Planned Terrorist Attack," AP via Beatrice Daily Sun, 2013.05.06].

A guy named Buford (nicknamed Bucky) making Molotov cocktails in a trailer park—wow! Who writes this stuff?

Note again the initial charge allowing the authorities to keep this guy locked up:

According to a federal affidavit, FBI agents from the domestic terrorism squad searched the mobile home in Montevideo and discovered Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and firearms. The affidavit said Buford was there at the time, and one firearm recovered from the residence was a Romanian AKM assault rifle.

In an interview with authorities, Rogers admitted firing the weapon on two separate occasions at a gun range in Granite Falls, the affidavit said. Rogers has a 2011 conviction for felony burglary and is not allowed to have a firearm [Froliti, 2013.05.06].

Sure, gun regulations won't keep guns out of bad dudes' hands. But when we find those bad dudes plotting mischief, we can look at their guns, say, "The law says you can't have that; you're going to jail," and thus keep those bad dudes from hurting anyone while we investigate their machinations.

Worth noting: the FBI says the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office joined a host of agencies in the May 3 Montevideo raid. I wonder what brought the Minnehaha heat across the state line and five county lines to bust up this trailer park arsenal?