Opinion

I guess I’m a runner now?

Published by admin on Thu, 03/18/2021 - 11:04am

There’s something I’ve started doing that I hated when I was younger: running.

When I was younger, I hated running. I’ve always associated running with some sort of punitive thing from lacrosse. Nothing makes me have flashbacks to childhood terror like hearing a whistle and someone yell, “Get on the end line!” after we were goofing around too much at practice.

Legislature passes $5.1 million budget

Published by admin on Thu, 03/18/2021 - 9:25am

Whew! The 96th Legislative Session is in the books. What’s that Alka Seltzer commercial? “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, Oh, what a relief it is!”

Open government is honest government

Published by admin on Thu, 03/18/2021 - 9:23am

When government fails, it’s the rare public official who says, “Oops. My fault.”
That’s human nature, particularly for officials in the public eye who may have to run for office again. No one wants to be held directly responsible for letting the public down.
Case in point is the recent catastrophe in Texas, when unexpected winter storms left 4 million homes without power, ruptured pipes and tainted the water supply for many.

Biden fiddles while border in chaos

Published by admin on Thu, 03/18/2021 - 9:22am

If there ever was a modern-day version of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, it would be President Biden seemingly paying no attention to the massive mess his administration has made at our Southern border. One of his many executive orders after taking office a few short months ago was to lift security at the Southern border and stop construction on the wall that former President Trump was trying to get built with no help from Democrats.

Looking back at the year of Covid

Published by admin on Thu, 03/18/2021 - 9:19am

Feb. 19. 2020.
That was the first time a story about COVID-19 appeared in this newspaper.
At that time the virus was spreading in other countries, but the focus of the story in the Chronicle was the risk to South Dakotans and how much a threat it could be to tourist season.
The first paragraph of the story is laughable in hindsight.

What a year it has been

Published by admin on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 9:34am

What a year! No, it’s not the end of a calendar year, school year, or fiscal year; but a COVID-19 year. March 13, 2020 is a day that will be seared into my brain forever. Our school district began to game plan for a potential COVID-19 disruption to our school district in early March 2020. We formed a committee of teachers and completed a series of “what if’s” and worst-case scenarios. The uncertainty of the next few days gave me anxiety that ultimately led me to clarity.

The Muppets and Dr. Seuss—what’s next?

Published by admin on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 9:33am

I know I have written about this before, but when “they” mess with Dr. Seuss it warrants being mentioned again.

The movement to “cancel culture” or as I like to call it “treat everyone the same” is flat out dangerous.

We are not all the same. Right now I am reading “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus.” The basic premise of the book is that men and women are completely different in the language they speak. Men retreat into caves when they are stressed or having problems; women talk about things. Men want to fix problems, women want to be listened to.

Treatment of Gov. Noem is unfair

Published by admin on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 9:09am

Greetings! It’s the last week of the 96th Legislative Session! I’m very proud of the fact that we had our session in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We in the legislature and the governor, in the executive branch, figured out how we could have session instead of how we couldn’t.  I read we are the only state in the union that didn’t alter our calendar with delays and breaks or cancellations.

Racing to the session’s finish line

Published by admin on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 9:09am

As we enter our last full week of the 2021 session, the Senate has three impactful bills that were “Smoked Out” using Rule 7:7 last week.  These three bills are HB1075, HB1212 and HB1217.  All three are very good bills and because the smoke out procedure was successful they were brought back to life for more time on the Senate floor. When one third of the chamber (12/35) stands for a bill, it brings that respective bill for more discussion and a possible vote on the floor.  

This time auctions turned out better

Published by admin on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 9:07am

It appears two recent auctions of high profile land in Custer County have turned out well for all parties involved.
On Friday, Feb. 12, the remaining 133 acres on the former STAR Academy property south of Custer was sold to two local couples in the construction business for $1.325 million. Local couples Mark and Kim Nielsen and Haylee and Paul Vershure say part of their plan is to subdivide the property and construct residential homes on lots ranging in size from three to five acres.