Opinion

James Wahlstrom

Published by admin on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 9:13am
James L. Wahlstrom, 78, of Hermosa, S.D., died March 6, 2020, at Seven Sisters Living Center in Hot Springs, S.D.
James proudly served in the U.S. Army.
Condolences may be left at chamberlainmccolleys.com

Confessions of an accidental cartoonist

Published by admin on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 9:12am
I have a confession to make. I just have to get this off my chest. As the official cartoonist for the Chronicle, my conscience is strong-arming me to admit that I kinda sorta got the job under false pretenses. 
Whew! That feels better. I’ve admitted it publicly and I feel unburdened. I’m free! What’s that? You want to know what false pretenses? Well, OK. Here’s the whole sordid tale from the very beginning. 

We must learn from our history

Published by admin on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 9:07am
This past week, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered the governor’s new riot legislation. This year’s version of the riot legislation was supposedly designed to overcome a constitutional challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  As you remember from last year, the governor’s riot legislation was struck down as unconstitutional by a federal Judge. The governor chose to pay the ACLU $173,000 rather than appeal the ruling to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Only one week left in session

Published by admin on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 9:07am
Greetings! One week to go! We just completed legislative days 29-32. We had our last crackerbarrel of the season held at the School of Mines in Rapid City March 7. I was one of four speakers to start off the session. I remarked that I felt like I was supposed to give a book report on a great novel but didn’t get to read the last chapter. Or maybe I was to give a report on a movie but didn’t see the last 15 minutes. What I’m eluding to is the last four days of session where everything comes to fruition.  

What happened to the simple things?

Published by admin on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 10:41am

All throughout life, we seem to be seeking bigger and better things. We want that new phone that does all the things, we want a new car with all the bells and whistles, we want a bigger and nicer house.

Yes, these things are nice and sometimes are needed, but are these material things make our life complete? To me, the answer is a resounding no.

I may not seem like it at times, but I’m a pretty simple person. It doesn’t take a whole lot to make me happy.

The almost perfect storm

Published by admin on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 9:15am
Greetings! We’re at the end of week seven of the 95th Legislative Session. We completed days 25-28.  Day 28 was “Crossover Day.” We wear black on Crossover Day in memory of all the bills that were killed by each chamber.  Basically, crossover means all the House bills that made it through committee process need to be voted on.  Those House bills that are passed then cross over to the Senate and the Senate bills that have passed cross over to the House.

A life sentence means life

Published by admin on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 9:14am
This past week the Senate Judiciary Committee considered legislation to allow murderers sentenced to life sentences to be eligible for parole after serving either 30 or 40 years of their life sentences. In South Dakota, unlike many states, a life sentence actually means life in prison for murder.  

Time to give up on community center

Published by admin on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 9:06am
There is no more lipstick for the pig, as the saying goes. It’s time for the City of Custer to wave the white flag when it comes to the current iteration of the Custer Community Center. Luckily, it appears the current Custer City Council has done just that.

Covering tragedy no fun but necessary

Published by admin on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 9:01am
We have received a lot of postive feedback on the way we covered the recent standoff downtown between law enforcement and suspected armed robber Christopher White. I won’t rehash the story again, as most of us know by now how it unfolded and how it ended in tragedy when White turned his gun on himself.

Did you get in on the film festival?

Published by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 10:23am

Since the film festival was just in town I figured I would write about movies. If you missed this year’s film fest you missed an opportunity to support the local arts and independent filmmakers telling a story they find near to them. I am glad I did not miss this opportunity and I hope you didn’t either!