Opinion

STAR is up for sale again

Published by admin on Thu, 07/16/2020 - 8:51am
STARAcademy is up for sale again! The sale is set for Sept. 16 at 11 a.m.  at the Custer County Courthouse. This is the third time in the past three years that it has been on the auction block.  
STAR Academy served as a juvenile detention and treatment center until the Daugaard administration closed it in 2016.  It went up for sale in the fall of 2017 and failed to sell. Then in January 2018, it sold to several business partners in the Custer area for $2.34 million, which was the appraisal price.

Not every day is special

Published by admin on Thu, 07/09/2020 - 10:52am

We have a whole slew of holidays coming up; don’t you know?

That’s right! According to Nationaldaycalendar.com, July 8 is National Freezer Pop Day! July 9 is Cow Appreciation Day! July 10 is National Kitten Day and National Pina Colada Day!

I could literally go on and on about how every day is a national something day.

Former logger: forest in trouble

Published by admin on Thu, 07/09/2020 - 10:51am

Forest management mistakes can no longer be swept under the rug. The recent editorial by Dave Mertz points out that there is not enough standing timber left in the Black Hills (BH) to sustain the current timber harvest. He claims a great deal of data gathered on the part of the Forest Service (FS) supports this.  The recent fires, the horrible mountain pine beetle infestation, along with the current rate of harvest will run us out of timber to harvest at this current rate.

Plenty to do at the library

Published by admin on Thu, 07/09/2020 - 10:51am

“Laughter is the fireworks of the soul,” Unknown

The library is open! Our hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please enter at the north door by the book drop. Please put all returns in the book drop because we are quarantining library material for a minimum of three days. We are asking that masks be worn and that you use the provided hand sanitizer.   

It was a night to remember

Published by admin on Thu, 07/09/2020 - 9:04am
President Donald Trump’s timely message at Mount Rushmore National Memorial last Friday evening was just what Americans needed to hear after threats were made to the monument itself and historical statues across the country were defaced or destroyed in the past several weeks.

Reporting from a place of bias

Published by admin on Thu, 07/09/2020 - 9:01am
Several week ago, I wrote a story about Danny and Rachel Canete, siblings whose feelings and reactions to the social justice demonstrations taking place around the country couldn’t be more different. I jokingly told their mother, Kim Canete, that Thanksgiving dinner must be a hoot.
I decided to do the story because it greatly interested me and I believed it would make for a really good story. I still believe it made for a good story. The question is, did I do it in an unbiased, fair way, like journalists are supposed to?

An Independence Day for the ages

Published by admin on Thu, 07/09/2020 - 8:51am
Greetings! Holy cow, was that the greatest Independence Day celebration ever, and it was right here in South Dakota; more specifically, the grand jewel of our state, the Black Hills!  Marcia and I had the distinct privilege of receiving tickets to Mount Rushmore.  Our experience was that we felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Well, I guess a couple of lifetimes, as this was the first time a president came to celebrate Independence Day at Mount Rushmore since statehood in 1889.

You did what this weekend?

Published by admin on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 11:19am
I did something the other day I never thought I would do in a million years. I was so nervous about trying it, but figured “what the heck?” As the kids used to say: YOLO.
My heart pounded just thinking about it, and I was kind of gripped with fear. As adventurous as I am, this was way out of my comfort zone! And considering a low speed version of this made me sick….I had to put on my big girl pants to commit. Before I tell you the outcome let me tell you what I did.

Celebrating Independence Day

Published by admin on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 10:30am
Greetings! Are you ready for probably the biggest Independence Day celebration event in the Black Hills of South Dakota? Here’s a rundown.
July 1 – Charlie Kirk, originally scheduled to speak at the Capitol in Pierre, will be at the Ramkota, Rapid City—200 tickets total. Charlie founded Turning Point, USA in 2012 at the age of 18. He is an inspirational speaker for young people. This event starts at 1 p.m..

Celebrate America!

Published by admin on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 10:28am
The United States of America may not seem to be much united as we prepare to celebrate another birthday of its independence from Great Britain on July 4th. Looks can be deceiving because we believe there is a silent majority out there that is fed up at what they see happening in our country today and are ready to celebrate all that is good about America on July 4th.