John Gossom

The South Dakota Board of Regents has approved a tuition and fees hike of 4.4%, which will amount to about $335 in increased costs for students in the state’s public universities. This brings the average cost for an in-state student with a full course load to $7,900 a year.

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On Tuesday, Sioux Falls’ City Council ignored the outcry of area residents and voted to annex the land on which Wal-Mart has set its sights. By the time you read this, it is very likely that the planning commission will have also disregarded the concerns of Wal-Mart’s future neighbors and voted to rezone the land as commercial.

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PIERRE - There are few things more maligned than the professional politician. They are just about as popular as cockroaches, but unlike the unwelcome insects, full-time legislators would actually do the state of South Dakota some good.

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PIERRE - In order to take control of the Senate, Republicans would need to pick up 6 seats. This opening represents a prime opportunity for them to gain one, as there is not a Democratic heir apparent in this deeply red state.

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PIERRE - Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner has signaled that he intends to force the President to agree to more spending cuts when next the debt ceiling needs to be raised, which should occur in May.

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It isn’t something that occurs to most of us very often, but there are few government actions that have the immediate power of a zoning decision.

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PIERRE - South Dakota ranks 12th in per capita income and lottery tickets are selling fast. These things are not unrelated, but you have to look beyond the surface to see why.

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WASHINGTON - The proposed extension of the Keystone XL pipeline has divided the political left.

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VATICAN CITY, Italy - In all the hubbub about the new Pope, you may have missed some local Catholic related news of note.

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PIERRE - Teen pregnancy is on the decline nationally, but is still stubbornly high in rural areas. This should be cause for more concern in South Dakota, given that very little of state qualifies as being non-rural.

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