Opinion

What the State of the State lacked

Published by admin on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 9:27am
Gov. Kristi Noem’s State of the State message was more than 45 minutes, but what she left out of the address was more instructive to me than what she stated. The following is a short list of what issues were not addressed.
First, Gov. Noem did not speak about fulfilling her campaign promise of reducing the sales tax increase with the tens of millions of dollars collected from taxing internet sales to South Dakotans.
Second, Gov. Noem did not speak about fulfilling her campaign promise of confronting escalating property taxes.

Week one of the session is over

Published by admin on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 9:23am
Greetings! Week one of the 95th Legislative Session is in the books. The first week starts slow with the governor giving the State of the State address on Tuesday, followed by the State Supreme Court Justice’s address on Wednesday and the Tribal Leader’s address on Thursday. We had terrible weather East River, so we had an abbreviated Friday to allow those folks to make it home. Some even decided to stay in Pierre and not risk the bad roads.
Here are a few high points of the week:

What the county GIS office does

Published by admin on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 9:21am
The Geographical Information System (GIS) office provides geographical-related resources to county offices, emergency services and government agencies. The office support scounty goals by maintaining data related to parcels, roads, infrastructure and 9-1-1 addressing in Custer County. The department maintains a countywide addressing system and is responsible for issuing and maintaining rural addresses. The department also supports municipal, county, state and federal emergency response and recovery services by maintaining an automated dispatch mapping system.

Grassroots patriots represented at rally

Published by admin on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 9:20am
It probably disappointed a lot of liberal folks and their cohorts in the national news media when the annual Pro-Second Amendment Rally in Richmond, Va., last Monday did not result in any kind of significant confrontations. This was in no small way due to the lack of objective reporting of the event which drew tens of thousands of patriotic Second Amendment advocates from all over the country, not just Virginia.

Appreciating those who protect, serve

Published by admin on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 9:17am
In the waning hours of National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on Thursday, Jan. 9, a South Dakota Highway Patrolman was earning our appreciation (and his well-deserved pay) in a big way. 

Taking a bite out of my 50 list

Published by admin on Thu, 01/16/2020 - 11:19am

My 50 firsts list is officially being ticked!

I am kind of a foodie. There was a time when I only ate four things — hot dogs, chicken fingers, pizza and french fries.

But now… I eat almost anything and food is one of my passions.

That being said, I have a few 50 first food dreams that I have not yet fulfilled. Like the rest of my list when it comes to food I have done a lot of things so far.

Morrison another key retirement

Published by admin on Thu, 01/16/2020 - 8:44am
It appears 2019 (and the early part of 2020) was the year of retirement, as Custer County lost some stalwart employees who long served at their various places of employment. The year started with the retirement of “Sully” Sullivan, the affable UPS driver who delivered to Custer for many years. Longtime postmaster Larry Stalder also called it a career in 2019, and the city recently lost another big name in the public service realm as city public works director Bob Morrison retires from that capacity Friday.

Time to roll out all-decade teams

Published by admin on Thu, 01/16/2020 - 8:42am
My, how 20 years flies by.
This year marks the beginning of my 19th year at the Custer County Chronicle. What a ride it’s been. It seems almost impossible to believe that I’ve now contributed to around 1,000 issues of this paper. It’s hard to wrap my mind around.

Americans tired of endless wars

Published by admin on Thu, 01/09/2020 - 10:05am
News of an American rocket attack that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq last week was hailed by most Republicans and condemned by most Democrats. This comes as no surprise considering the deep political divide we have in this country today. If you changed the name of our president from Trump to Obama you may have a complete reversal of opinion on this matter. This is how ridiculous the deep divide has become in America.

Thankfulness is always in season

Published by admin on Thu, 01/09/2020 - 10:02am
Thanksgiving may be over, but it is always in season to be thankful for what we have, how much or how little we perceive that to be.
I recently read that the Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who nevertheless set aside a day of thanksgiving.
Our late pastor used to tell us if we didn’t think we had anything to be thankful for, we could be thankful that when it snows or rains, that it doesn’t just dump on us all at once — that it comes down in tiny droplets or snowflakes.