Opinion

The outdoors are for all

Published by admin on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 11:30am

There once was a time that I didn’t like to go outside.

This drove people crazy. As a child, if someone asked me if I wanted to go outside, I’d respond: “No, thank you,” and then go back to playing NHL ’99 on my N64 or watching cartoons.

As a young child, the only time I remembered liking to play outside was when I was at my one friend’s house, who had trenches built in his yard so we could pretend we were fighting in World War II.

Amendments and initiated measure

Published by admin on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 9:32am
Greetings! Fall is upon us! Those of us who are blessed to live up in the Hills have had our first snow; six to eight inches at our place. It has come and mostly gone, but it’s great waking up in the morning to the cool, fresh air that smells so good and goes all the way down to the bottom of your lungs! I love living in the Black Hills!

Criminals are running wild

Published by admin on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 9:31am
It’s long past time we put an end to these endless attacks on law enforcement members and call a spade a spade. There have been a series of isolated incidents involving white police officers and minority perpetrators that have been in the news for the past several years.
Ever since the highly-publicized Aug. 9, 2014, incident in Ferguson, Mo., that resulted in the shooting death of a black 18-year-old man at the hands of a white police officer, our nation has witnessed a series of destructive riots like in Ferguson.

The miracle of the U.S. Constitution

Published by admin on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 9:13am
Constitution Day, Sept. 17, the day Americans celebrate the signing of the Constitution which was then sent to the states for ratification, is almost here.  The numerous attacks on it, its founders, and the anarchy in our big cities today should give us cause to reflect upon what a gift it was/is to mankind.  

My grand adventure — part one

Published by admin on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 10:48am

A few weeks back I got a harebrained scheme to solo the Owen Spalding route on the Grand Teton. Well, sort of. I got the idea to do the route. My partner was the one who suggested we solo it. I know some of you are confused so I will back up.

The Grand Teton is the tallest mountain in the Grand Tetons, which most of you know if a National Park in Wyoming. It stands at 13,776 feet tall and you can stand on the top of it. The easiest way to do so is to hike eight miles to the upper saddle from the Lupine Meadows trailhead. The trail ascends almost 6,000 feet in elevation.

Early voting begins next week

Published by admin on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 9:53am
Greetings and Happy Early Voting!
Yep, I said happy early voting, as the polls open next Friday, Sept. 18. This election is called the General Election. All candidates who won their primary elections June 2 now go forward for the final election. Those winning the General Election get sworn into office in January. The term they serve depends on the office, but is usually two or four years. The U.S. Senate and Public Utilities Commission terms are six years.

The evolution of newspapers

Published by admin on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 9:52am
We’ve  come a long way in the newspaper business in the past 140 years, and that’s an understatement of the year.
Can you imagine setting individual pieces of type in a line and doing this line after line? That’s the way printed material like newspapers were originally produced. Each piece of type was the same height, .918 inches to be exact. 

Give me real news or none at all

Published by admin on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 9:49am
I don’t know when I stopped watching the “news” on TV. Or reading the “news” in a daily newspaper.
The news I remember growing up and as a young adult consisted of the 5 and 9 o’clock news from a local TV station that included national and local news and weather.
My, how that has changed today.
I suspect it started with CNN broadcasting “news” 24/7. How do you fill that much time with the news of the day? Evidently with opinion, because that’s what I see largely on TV today. On every channel, not just CNN.

The most wonderful time of the year

Published by admin on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 10:54am

I’ve written about three seasons before, but I have yet to write about my favorite season: fall.

For me, in my post grad life as a journalist, fall starts the day I cover my first high school football game. This year, fall started on Aug. 28. You could say that’s early, but I don’t care.

Dealing with schools and COVID-19

Published by admin on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 9:46am
First, let me take a couple of alibis. Last week I asked where the three extra Electoral College votes came from. The answer is the District of Columbia, commonly called Washington, D.C.
Second alibi: In reference to “winner take all,” meaning that if you won the popular vote, you received all the electoral votes from that state; that is true except for Nebraska and Maine. In those states, electoral votes are divided out proportionately to the popular vote.