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"If John Thune had his way, Brown County would be dead," by David Newquist, Northern Valley Beacon, http://browncodemocrats.blogspot.com/2004/12/if-john-thune-had-his-way-brown-county.html, 15 December 2004.

"South Dakota, the albatros state?," by David Newquist, Northern Valley Beacon, http://browncodemocrats.blogspot.com/2004/12/south-dakota-albatross-state.html, 13 December 2004.

The Christmas cheer has not reached Mr. Newquist. All but describing Aberdeen and Brown County as South Dakota's Falluja, he pens

[John Thune's] attitude about his political responsibilities was demonstrated at the outset by his initial treatment of Brown County. He did not open a service office in the area because he claimed it was an unnecessary expense for the taxpayers. He very quickly alienated some prominent people in the Republican Party, who have supported his opponents ever since. They say he has no interest in saving taxpayer money other than as a posture that is part of the baggage his party gives him to carry. He really did not want the extra work another service office might entail—and he had not the vaguest idea of how to go about setting one up

At the time he came into Congress, a number of infrastructure projects were being projected for northeastern South Dakota, centering on Aberdeen. A by-pass for US 281 was under development. A proposal for converting US 12 from Aberdeen to I-29 at Summit to a four-lane highway was receiving support. A new airport terminal building that could service the airlines and the security services adequately was proposed. John Thune kept his distance from all these [Brown County] projects under the guise that they comprised excessive spending.

An instance of his work on developmental issues involves the Homestake Goldmine. When it was proposed as a site for the National Underground Scientific and Engineering Laboratory, Tom Daschle very quickly involved himself and his staff in working on the project. The big problem was Barrick Gold, its owner. Barrick said it would donate the mine to the state if it could be relieved of any environmental liabilities associated with the gold mining operation. In other words, it wanted to be relieved of any responsibility for messes it had made, including the problems of toxic pollution caused by a mining process requiring cyanide. Daschle and his emissaries stepped in to see if something could be negotiated. However, that meant keeping up the interest of the scientists, too.

...

As long as Tom Daschle was in power, he could keep the Homestake alive as an option that could put South Dakota on the high-tech map. When he was defeated, a number of scientists said that the state was no longer an option for such high-level scientific research.