Christopher Vondracek, Grand Forks Herald

Christopher Vondracek

Grand Forks Herald

Rochford, SD, United States

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Past:
  • Grand Forks Herald

Past articles by Christopher:

Changing political turf in South Dakota upends races ahead of the 2022 elections

The state's biggest political leaders have touted inbound migration, so-called "blue state refugees" who flooded South Dakota. But the biggest driver of partisan races this coming summer and fall appears to be a redistricting process, log-jamming Republicans in primaries and opening up new turf for Democrats. → Read More

Victim’s family told investigators their concerns about cover-up in Ravnsborg case

A cache of over 200 investigative documents — including video, photos, and transcripts — was released by the South Dakota committee that, days ago, recommended not impeaching Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg for his role in a fatal crash in September 2020. The file reveals the AG's private communications with staff, his use of a cellphone and new details on pedestrian Joe Boever. → Read More

Dusty Johnson the unlikely lawmaker spearheading shipping reform

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson speaks with Forum News Service about his bipartisan act to unfetter clogged ports that have led to supply chain dilemmas for South Dakotans, from a dairy near the Minnesota border to a children's bicycle manufacturer in Rapid City. → Read More

Impeachment report offers Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg benefit of doubt on fatal crash

A House Select Committee's majority opinion -- backed by all six GOP members of the group -- pinpointed an errant bone fragment and Ravnsborg's own statements to express doubt on the South Dakota Highway Patrol's investigation that found that all four tires of the AG's car crossed a fog line before striking and killing pedestrian Joe Boever. → Read More

South Dakota House committee votes 6-2 to not impeach attorney general, only Democrats opposed

House Speaker Spencer Gosch, who chaired the GOP-dominated committee, said Jason Ravnsborg in killing a pedestrian two autumns ago did "not committee impeachable offenses." A minority report claims otherwise. → Read More

Ravnsborg impeachment committee meets prior to release of anticipated report

Nine lawmakers have been meeting since November to interview witnesses and officials about Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg's conduct and actions before, during and after he struck and killed a pedestrian Joe Boever on a rural South Dakota highway in 2020. An investigative report they'll deliver to the House of Representatives will be made public by Tuesday at the latest. → Read More

Legislature fails to override Noem vetoes on spending authority, prenatal care

A pitched fight that lasted from the 2022 session's earliest days between Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, and Gov. Kristi Noem over federal COVID-19 relief funding expenditures came to an end on Veto Day, with the House unable to hit a two-thirds' majority to overturn Noem's veto of the Karr-backed plan. → Read More

South Dakota leaders condemn hotel owner's racist comments

On Friday, U.S. Dusty Johnson called hotel owner's comments "repugnant," while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jamie Smith said the remarks were a reminder of the challenges faced by Native Americans in the state. → Read More

How Oscar Howe's 'Wounded Knee' painting found its way to the Eisenhower Presidential Library

A new major retrospective of the artist's works has gone up in New York City. One of his most provocative pieces remains in Kansas -- due, in part, to a surprise trip to Hollywood in 1960. → Read More

Oscar Howe exhibit in NYC brings Indigenous South Dakota artist to the masses

A first-of-its-kind collection of paintings spanning decades of the Yanktonai Dakota artist's career is on exhibit in New York City, and will arrive in Brookings, South Dakota, in 2023. Howe, a longtime professor in Vermillion who designed murals on the Corn Palace, was a seminal Indigenous artist. → Read More

Federal lawsuit: Rapid City hotel denied rooms to Native Americans twice in last two days

A hotel proprietor — in a now-deleted social media post — vowed to no longer rent to Native Americans after a weekend shooting. A local civil rights organization has sued, alleging blatant racial discrimination. → Read More

Gov. Kristi Noem signs bill limiting public universities from requiring CRT trainings

The bill that South Dakota's governor signed into law on Monday does limit seven so-called "divisive concepts" from being foisted upon students in orientations or trainings on the state's public universities or technical school campuses. → Read More

Rapid City hotel owner under fire for saying she won't rent to Native Americans

Mayor Steve Allender took to Twitter to say the hotel owner's statement -- which would run afoul of federal discrimination protections if enacted -- did not "reflect our community values." → Read More

Bird flu detected in South Dakota for first time since 2015

Two Charles Mix County poultry operations reported outbreaks of avian flu, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department said on Friday. Canadian and Snow Geese also have been infected. → Read More

Godfather of grocery tax repeal in South Dakota isn't hopeful issue will return in 2023

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives surprised observers this session by passing a repeal of the sales tax on food items, long a Democratic priority. Former legislator Ray Ring says he was pleased, but saw "ulterior" motives in passage of what amounted to a poison pill. → Read More

Rep. Johnson says daylight saving bill will pass if brought to House floor

The South Dakota Republican has previously brought a bill to end the clock-switching. Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed a measure to make permanent daylight saving time. → Read More

Rep. Dusty Johnson says Zelenskyy’s address to Congress was ‘history happening’

Both U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Johnson said they concurred with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's calls on so-called "secondary sanctions," or the blacklisting of Russia's business partners, as well as the supply of weapons, body armor, and fighter jets to Ukraine to defend against Russia's invasion of the eastern European nation. → Read More

Feds again deny Gov. Kristi Noem's Mount Rushmore fireworks plan, citing citing tribal opposition, wildfires

Nearly a year after what federal authorities called the "largest recorded fire" at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the National Parks Service rejected the Republican governor's request to stage a pyrotechnic event at the iconic mountain sculpture over Independence Day. → Read More

Billboards calling for Jason Ravnsborg's impeachment go up in Sioux Falls

The digital billboards that went up on Saturday are paid for by an organization registered as a nonprofit and supportive of Gov. Kristi Noem. Lawmakers on the impeachment committee signaled last week a report will come by end of month on their findings. → Read More

South Dakota Senate rejects K-12 'critical race theory' measure

But the Senate voted 27-8 to approve the standalone campus bill, prohibiting certain divisive topics from university staff and student orientation and trainings. The measure, which has already passed the House, now goes to Gov. Kristi Noem's desk. → Read More