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NEWS-PRESS EXCLUSIVE
Gov. Kristi Noem visits SB South Dakota governor attends roundtable at Reagan Ranch Center
Mobile home park vacancy control approved By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem offered remarks during a televised roundtable at the Reagan Ranch Center in downtown Santa Barbara on Tuesday.
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem spoke to a conservative audience at the Reagan Ranch Center on Tuesday as part of a roundtable event aired by Newsmax. The governor discussed her political background, her upbringing and her perspective on issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, Afghanistan and the Biden administration on Tuesday with Newsmax primetime host Rob Schmitt. Their conversation aired on “Rob Schmitt Tonight” at 5 p.m. PT Tuesday. At the start of Tuesday’s roundtable, Ms. Noem began by telling the audience about her background in politics and her upbringing on a ranch in South Dakota. She shared that she first got into politics after her father passed away when she was just 22 years old. After he died, her family received a massive bill from the IRS for death taxes that threatened to bankrupt their long-standing family business. Seeing the impact the taxation was having on her family, Ms. Noem began to take action by attending meetings and lobbying for tax reform. This ultimately propelled her into politics, where she was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2006, served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and has served as governor of South Dakota since 2019. The governor encouraged members of the audience on Tuesday to run for political positions — even on the local level — and get involved in areas where they desire to see change. “What we need in this country is more people to say ‘yes,’” Ms. Noem said. “I’m not a believer that I’m the one who has to be there serving a different position to make the right decisions. I think that a lot of people right now, they’re questioning what’s going on in the government, and they need to look inside and say, ‘Do I need to run for something? Do I need to run for a school board or do I need to
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run for city council?’ Because we need people to show up that really do love this country and want to make sure it’s still there for our kids.” During Tuesday’s roundtable, the governor fielded a variety of questions from both Mr. Schmitt and the audience, offering her perspective on COVID-19, the Afghanistan withdrawal and immigration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, South Dakota was one of just a few states that did not enforce a mask mandate, social distancing requirement or lockdown period, even in the early stages of the pandemic. Ms. Noem defended this decision during Tuesday’s talk, saying she spent time talking with attorneys that specialized in Constitutional law to understand the authority she had as governor and also consulted with health officials. After these conversations, she ultimately decided to leave it up to the people of South Dakota to make their own health choices. “I’ve just been a big believer consistently that when you have a leader that oversteps their authority, especially in a time of crisis, that’s when you break this country,” Ms. Noem said Tuesday. “I didn’t want to be that leader, so I stood up in front of my people … and I told them, ‘Listen, I’m going to give you all the information that I have, I’m going to give you the science of the virus that I know, the data, the support, the help that we can (give) as a state government, but then I’m going to trust you. I’m going to let you use personal responsibility to make the best decisions for your family, but let you put food on the table and keep your business going and take care of your employees as well.” The governor also discussed immigration and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Tuesday, sharing with the audience that South Dakota is one of four states that is not accepting Afghan refugees through the nation’s resettlement program. She claimed that the Biden Please see NOEM on A3
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Pfizer submits data for vaccine use among younger children By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The South Dakota governor discussed a variety of topic’s during Tuesday’s roundtable, offering her perspective on COVID-19, immigration and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Pfizer-BioNTech submitted vaccine data for children ages 5 to 11 to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, spurring hope that a vaccine could be available for younger children by the end of October. The data encompasses results from a clinical trial that included more than 2,000 children. The FDA is expected to review this data over the next few weeks before considering an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). In a joint statement, Pfizer and BioNTech said a formal submission request for an EUA is expected to follow in the coming weeks, and the organizations also plan to submit to the European Medicines Agency. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told MSNBC on Tuesday he expects Please see pfizer on A4
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in s i de Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
Mobile home parks in the city of Santa Barbara will no longer be able to raise space rental fees beyond 10% between occupants. Members of City Council approved the addition of vacancy control to the City’s mobile home park laws in the hopes the change would preserve a source of affordable housing. “Mobile home housing really is one of the last bastions of affordable housing, certainly in the state of California and I think it’s very much true here in our own community,” councilmember Meagan Harmon said. “And for that reason, it’s absolutely imperative that we take any and all steps available to us to maintain the stability of that housing stock.” The decision was unanimous — despite claims from Flamingo Mobile Home Park that the ordinance is illegal. Vacancy control, atop pre-existing rent control, was established in the City’s 1984 mobile home ordinance. A judge in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the laws illegal, stating it took control away from the owners and gave homeowners an unequal share of power. City Attorney Ariel Calonne said a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court case “cut the legs out from under the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.” The circuit court’s opinion wasn’t directly overruled, but Mr. Calonne believes the 1992 decision gives the City the legal grounds to reinstate vacancy control. Flamingo’s attorney Please see MOBILE on A3
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-15-30-32-35 Mega: 23
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 7-5-9-1
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 18-30-43-68-69 Mega: 22
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 6-9-22-31-33
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 02-07-08 Time: 1:40.26
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 22-23-37-62-63 Meganumber: 19
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 5-6-2 / Midday 7-2-0