Opinion

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.

Sept. 11 will be a special day

Published by admin on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 9:40am
Not everything bad happened on Sept. 11. For one thing, our oldest son was born on that day five decades ago. For another, the Custer County Chronicle was founded on that day 140 years ago, making us the oldest continuously-operated business in the Southern Black Hills. This is something we plan to celebrate Friday, Sept. 11, with an open house, refreshments and drawings. It will be held in our building at 522 Mount Rushmore Road from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to stay away from any large groups coming in a tighter time period. 

Prescient words from Mr. Lincoln

Published by admin on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 9:17am
Back in early ’70s my oldest brother, Durwin, came back from a several month sojourn in California overflowing with tales about the glories of The Golden State. I especially hung on his every word when he described his several visits to Disneyland, Walt Disney’s “Happiest Place on Earth.” 

My dog is tougher than yours

Published by admin on Thu, 08/27/2020 - 10:36am

My dog Sadie is incredible! Besides being an amazing rock climbing dog and incredible stand up paddle boarding pup, she can add to her resume extraordinary extreme hiker.

Mom dragged her up to Florence Lake. This is a 20-mile round trip hike at about 11,000 feet. Not crazy far. Or crazy high. But Sadiegirl hiked it car to car in 10 hours!

Yes you read that right.

Sadie was woken up at 3:40 a.m. after spending the night truck camping, sleeping on her “perch” inside the Toyota Tundra.

She skipped breakfast, even though mom pleaded with her to eat.

Breaking down the Electoral College

Published by admin on Thu, 08/27/2020 - 10:09am
Greetings! With the Democratic Convention completed and the Republican Convention taking place, I thought it would be a perfect time to visit about the mechanics of the presidential election.  First off, the winner of the election needs 270 or more electoral votes to become president, right? Well, what happens if neither candidate gets to 270? Let’s discuss.

Jasper was one fire for the ages

Published by admin on Thu, 08/27/2020 - 10:08am
Twenty years ago on Thursday, Aug. 24, at about 3 p.m.  or so we were on our way back from Newcastle, Wyo., heading to Custer on Highway 16 when we spotted a plume of black smoke several miles up ahead. This would be the start of the Jasper Fire of 2000 and occurred just about seven months after we had purchased the newspapers in Custer and Hill City. We had already experienced a big April snowstorm earlier in the year.

Positives in a negative world

Published by admin on Thu, 08/27/2020 - 10:07am
Man, is the world a bummer right now. Maybe more specifically, the U.S. is a bummer.
This has been a year for the books, and not in a good way. Who would have thought the devastating Australian bushfires from January wouldn’t even register anywhere near the top of the bad things that have happened this year when they were burning out of control?

School is here again

Published by admin on Thu, 08/20/2020 - 10:21am

Back to school, back to school.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Chances are you’re reading this either the day Hill City students are going back to school or the day after.

Let me tell you what: as a child, one of my favorite days of the year was the day I went back to school. Yes, I was always sad to see the summer end, but I was probably one of a handful of kids in the entire nation who loved school.