Republican Larry Rhoden was sworn in as the new governor of South Dakota midday Monday.
He was elevated from lieutenant governor to become South Dakota’s 34th governor, after former Governor Kristi Noem officially became part of President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Rhoden will fill the final two years of the four-year term, with South Dakotans to vote for a governor next in November 2026.
The Senate confirmed Noem’s nomination for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in a 59 to 34 vote on Saturday, and she resigned her governor position.
Homeland Security is the third-largest cabinet department with more than 260,000, according to the department’s website. In her role, Noem will oversee federal response to natural disasters through FEMA, as well as anti-terrorism efforts.
The most politically charged aspect of her position will likely be border security, as Trump has promised to deport “millions” of people who are not in the country legally, a task in which Noem now plays a key role.
*Additionally, the Sioux City Council members in their Monday meeting will discuss buying two pieces of property near the Big Sioux River to carry out potential flood prevention measures.
The agenda for the 4 pm meeting at City Hall shows that properties owned by two people in the 1600 block of River Drive could be purchased as part of the riverside Flood Improvement Project.
According to a city council memo, the two owners decided against pursuing flood damage repairs and have agreed to selling those homes, for a potential combined cost of $291,000.
The Riverside neighborhood of Sioux City had some flooding damage after the Big Sioux River that flows by reached a record flood stage of 45 feet in June 2024.
*In other news, the big weeklong trans-Iowa bicycle ride in late July will start in Siouxland in Orange City.
The ride from July 20 to 26 will mark the 52nd year of The Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI.
The first day of the ride on July 20 will go from Orange City to Milford, which is just south of the heavy tourism spot in Okoboji. Day two will also be in Siouxland as riders will go from Milford to Estherville.
RAGBRAI organizers say the ride of 406 miles will have the second-shortest route of the ride’s history. The ending spot on the Mississippi River will be the town of Guttenberg.
Also concerning recreation news with Estherville, a $650,000 grant is coming to the town to place a recreational trail along a river.
The money will be used for trail amenities along the West Fork of the Des Moines River in Estherville, a town of 5,800 people.
The award was approved by the Iowa Transportation Commission this week, as part of the money the state directs for a federal recreational trails program. Estherville was one of four Iowa towns that received part of the overall $1.6 million for trail projects.
*In other news, some educators and parents are pushing back on proposed changes to Iowa’s K-12 science standards.
A draft of the standards submitted by a committee of educators and parents used the phrases “biological evolution” and “climate change.” But the version released to the public changed those terms to “biological change over time” and “climate trends.”
Mark Dorhout, a science teacher from Panorama, says teachers in small schools like his use the standards to make their own curriculum. He says new teachers might be more likely to follow them word for word.
“If you choose to teach the fossil record correctly, you're going to be using the word evolution on a repeated basis. And if you were a younger teacher, all of a sudden there is fuel to the ‘Well, that's not in the standards. You shouldn't be doing that’ ,” Dorhout said.
The Iowa Department of Education said standards outline what students should be learning but districts choose their own curriculum.
