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The prairies of the Nebraska Panhandle and South Dakota were among the filming locations for Fortress of Sin, a movie set to premiere on Saturday, June 11
Ragged Sky Productions is proud to announce the premiere of “Fortress of Sin,” a thriller featuring several native born Nebraskans in the cast and crew.
The film is the brain child of Paul Chomicki, the genre cult film actor from such comedy horrors as Deadly Xmas and Paranormal Halloween. While in Los Angeles, Chomicki befriended Nebraska filmmaker, Christian Voss.
Voss told Chomicki his plans to return home to Nebraska, where films could be make easier while utilizing local talents.
Frequent collaborator Dave Campfield suggested Nebraska would make the perfect backdrop for Chomicki’s screenplay Fortress of Sin, a story that chronicles one father’s search for his daughter across haunting and powerful backdrops.
Prepped with a budget of under $8,000, Voss, Chomicki and Campfield assembled a team that included regional theater director and actor Ryan Lovell.
“I received a call from Christian Voss about appearing in a local film, and I jumped at the opportunity,” said Lovell. “I've always been a stage actor with only one small film role to my credit, so I was looking forward to the opportunity to be in front of a camera again.” Lovell became instrumental in production, and took on the job as assistant director.
The cast also includes Katie Otten from Omaha, whose body of film work continues to grow. Says Katie “The best part of this entire experience was the friendships that forged from being on screen with others who love it as much as you do. I will cherish that forever,” Otten said.
Fortress of Sin deals an issue relevant to many of those who live in Nebraska and South Dakota regions, the disappearance of many woman of Native American heritage. “Fortress” hopes to shine some light on the situation. It’s already won several international awards at festivals, including Best Feature Film at the Eastern Europe Film Fest.
Lovell further added this is not a documentary, but a film to bring to light on the fact that Native American and indigenous women go missing every year. He further likened it to the popular Liam Neeson movie “Taken.” While Chomicki’s other productions have been a bit on the “campy” side, Lovell said Fortress of Sin completely shifts gears and goes a different direction.
Lovell, a teacher, isn’t sure how people will see him after they watch the movie, as he plays the bad guy, “the one everyone’s going to hate.” Included among the cast are students who have been in previous school productions.
Locations in the movie will be familiar, as much of the filming was done in Hay Springs, Rushville, Gordon, Pine Ridge Reservation and the South Dakota badlands.
“We tried to keep it as regional as we possibly could,” Lovell said, “but we had a couple guys in Iowa we had to film.” He added everyone they worked with was great and wanted to be involved, including a couple youth from Oelrichs, S.D. who showed up the day of filming and wanted to be in the movie.
“They gave up an entire weekend to shoot some film. It was a huge collaboration on everyone’s part. Nobody’s getting paid. We’re not making any money off of this. We’re just trying to make films and get our name out there.”
Fortress of Sin will be screening Saturday, June 11, at 7 p.m. at the Gordon Theater. Several of the stars will be in attendance. Lovell said there will be a “red carpet roll out” in front of the theater at 6:30 p.m., with hors d’oeuvres and champagne. There will also be screenings of the film in Los Angeles and Omaha.
The film will be released to streaming and DVD later this month by Wild Eye Releasing.
Ryan Lovell
Paul Chomicki
Christian Voss
Fortress Of Sin
Dave Campfield
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2022-06-03T21:44:50Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Nebraska produced thriller premiers next week | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/nebraska-produced-thriller-premiers-next-week/article_72bb718d-f449-5439-b404-f476ec367a1c.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/nebraska-produced-thriller-premiers-next-week/article_72bb718d-f449-5439-b404-f476ec367a1c.html
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Denim Young re-signs with Sabres
Badlands Sabres defenseman Denim Young (right) helps shield the puck to allow goalie Maxim Currie to make a save in the second period of an Oct. 9, 2021 game against the Butte Cobras at Roosevelt Park Ice Arena.
The Badlands Sabres announced Friday that defenseman Denim Young has re-signed with the team ahead of the 2022-23 season.
"We are very excited that Denim has decided to sign back with us" Sabres head coach Brendon Hodge said. "He brings a competitive edge with him that we are hoping will spread throughout the whole team this season.
Young, a Billings, Montana native who turned 20 years old in April, scored one goal and collected 13 assists in 45 games played with Badlands in its inaugural season. The 5-foot-7, 155-pound right-hander also posted a plus-minus rating of plus-2.
"Denim came to us from (the now defunct Missoula Bruins) and he really impressed me as a coach by the way he competed everyday, whether it was practice or games," Hodge said. "He was always a player who would come up to me after practice wanting to get better at his trait and asking for input. We will be counting on him for his leadership, as well as his everything else he brings to the table."
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2022-06-03T21:44:56Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Denim Young re-signs with Sabres | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/denim-young-re-signs-with-sabres/article_85b9b5d2-9038-59f8-aca9-7e97c30d9459.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/denim-young-re-signs-with-sabres/article_85b9b5d2-9038-59f8-aca9-7e97c30d9459.html
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Lakota oral history series complete, available to public
A seven-episode, comprehensive Lakota oral history series was completed May 27 and is now available for the public. The entire series, “Heart Of All Oral History Project,” can be heard at heartofallohp.com
The series represents two-and-a-half years of work, and the finished episodes total 11 hours and 47 minutes of interviews with 47 elders and community members on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The episodes previously aired on KILI radio, podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and iHeart, and on South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
In January 2020, students on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation began working on an unprecedented project intended to shine a light on the Lakota, who are widely recognized as being one of the last indigenous holdouts against American colonization efforts. With support from a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, the project committed to using the Lakota oral history tradition to create an audio series.
The project covers a broad range of topics including creation stories, Crazy Horse, Buffalo Nation days, reservations, Fort Laramie, Wounded Knee, boarding schools, and the sacred Black Hills, the “Heart Of All.”
The episodes explore the history and future of a people known for defeating the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn, along with the stories of such prominent historical figures as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Black Elk. More recently, the Lakota are remembered for the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1980 decision to compensate them $105 million for the theft of the Black Hills, and for their involvement in the much-publicized Standing Rock protest in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
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2022-06-03T21:45:02Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Lakota oral history series complete, available to public | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/lakota-oral-history-series-complete-available-to-public/article_8d9f57d9-570c-5a02-b5b7-85c71501c83c.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/lakota-oral-history-series-complete-available-to-public/article_8d9f57d9-570c-5a02-b5b7-85c71501c83c.html
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Rapid City Fire Department celebrates fire academy graduates
In red shirts from left: Styles Inmon, Austin Goddard and Dayton Butler run down Main Street in Rapid City on Friday for the Rapid City Fire Department's graduation run with firefighters from the department. Inmon, Goddard and Butler graduated from the RCFD's fire academy.
The Rapid City Fire Department celebrated the graduation of three new firefighters from the fire academy on Friday.
The three graduates: Styles Inmon, 35, Dayton Butler, 33, and Austin Goddard, 25, ran with 16 other firefighters from Fire Station 1 on Main Street to Seventh Street and looped back to the station via St. Joseph Street in the morning for the celebratory graduation run. The official graduation for friends and family was held at 2 p.m. at the Journey Museum.
From left: Dayton Butler, Styles Inmon, and Austin Goddard hold a 2022 Rapid City Fire Department flag. The three graduated from the department's fire academy on Friday.
Courtesy of the Rapid City Fire Department
The recruits were hired to help with the department’s increasing call volume, as well as to help fill vacancies, according to a RCFD press release. Shift operations will start on Sunday, June 5th.
Training instructor Lt. Scott Jungck said the firefighters who joined the graduates on the run chose to participate off-duty because the event was important to them.
“It brings the new recruits and it brings the firefighters on the floor together in a little bit of camaraderie, physical camaraderie,” Jungck said. “There were some people that have been here for a year, and there are people here that have been here for 24 years.”
The 8-12 week fire academy trains recruits on structural fires, wildland firefighting, hazmat basics, rescue basics, and emergency medical services to state standards requirements and National Pro Board Standards, which certifies firefighters nationwide for structural firefighting and hazmat operations.
“If they ever decide to take another career somewhere else, that's got reciprocity nationwide,” Jungck said.
Jungck said trainees also learn the specifics of working at RCFD and what, how, and why the department follows certain procedures.
“Every town is unique, every city is unique, every district’s unique,” he said. “The main thing is we have a huge wildland urban interface, so that’s houses in the woods, woods in the city, so that’s one of the unique factors of Rapid City we teach them about.”
For this particular group of graduates — one of the smallest groups the department put through the academy — what stood out to Jungck through training was their ability to take direction.
“It makes me feel like I'm a good instructor so that I don’t have to keep repeating myself five, six, seven times. If you think about our job, we don’t have the time to do that. We give you an assignment, you need to do that assignment to the best of your ability,” he said. “That's why I'm looking forward to these three graduating, to see that go forward and to see them grow up and be leaders in this fire department.”
Inmon, Butler and Goddard all started at volunteer departments, so the training was a continuation rather than a starting line.
Styles Inmon
Inmon’s experience in the military as a combat engineer who was deployed to Afghanistan drew him to firefighting.
“One of the things you don’t get in everyday work life is the camaraderie, the brotherhood, the sense of purpose and belonging to something bigger than yourself. Service gives me purpose,” Inmon said.
He volunteered for the last two and a half years at the Black Hawk Fire Department and worked part time for about a year with the Box Elder Fire Department. Inmon said while volunteer departments still train as much as they can with the resources available, there can be constraints that paid departments don’t have.
“Here in a career paid department, our job is to train to be ready, so that’s our profession. Unfortunately, sometimes funding with volunteer departments isn’t there for some of the good training. People work everyday jobs, and sometimes the training is scarce just because of time,” Inmon said.
Through the training, Inmon said he learned the way RCFD operates.
“It’s definitely right in line with all the standards of NFPA,” he said.
Dayton Butler
Butler volunteered at a northeast volunteer fire department for two years before the fire academy at RCFD. He had planned to join the military, but that ended up not working out. After working as a retail manager and then safety personal in the oilfields of North Dakota, he made the decision to look elsewhere.
“I started exploring other options. I found out my grandfather was in the fire service down in Texas, so I am following in his footsteps,” Butler said. “Once I got on the volunteer department and started seeing what the job was, I learned how rewarding it was. It was a lot of hard work, but it’s definitely rewarding being a part of that.”
Butler said the training at RCFD's fire academy was more in-depth than his time at a volunteer department.
“When you get all day to do it, you get a lot of repetition and you learn your skills, and you can execute them blindfolded basically,” he said.
Even though the group’s first shift is Sunday, they’re not done learning yet.
“We are still in training. We have a probationary period of one year, and throughout that year, we will still be learning and knowing what the trucks do. We are trained to do firefighting but knowing where the tools are and everything else comes with time,” he said.
Austin Goddard
Goddard, the youngest of the group, is also the newest to the firefighting profession.
“I volunteer in Spearfish,” Goddard said. “I started seven months ago.”
Originally from Arizona, Goddard worked as a whitewater guide in Cody, Wyoming and then worked ski patrol at Terry Peak before fire caught his eye.
“It’s an awesome opportunity, a very cool job, so pretty excited about that. I did have a couple other individuals that I know that have been in this profession, and they only had great things to say about it, so that’s what got me interested,” Goddard said.
Goddard echoed his colleagues that the training is more in-depth.
“Shout out to the people that volunteer, they work just as hard, but now we’re able to kind of get a little bit more in-depth with technique and with learning how to properly do everything,” he said. “With volunteer, they give you the basics, and it’s kind of up to you to take it to that next step if you want, but here it’s always hands on. They’re always helping you. They’re always trying to get you to that next step.”
The department will be opening another application process this fall for 15 positions. Jungck said that anyone who is interested should apply. Applicants need to be 18, have a driver’s license and a clean record.
“This is a great job. It’s got great benefits,” Jungck said. “You get to do really cool stuff all day, all night. And you help the community save lives. What better job could you want? It’s serving the community, helping others. If you want that kind of job, please, please, please apply. Go to the city website. Apply there. If you apply, we will contact you. ”
Scott Jungck
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2022-06-03T21:45:14Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City Fire Department celebrates fire academy graduates | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-fire-department-celebrates-fire-academy-graduates/article_e8bfda69-9d4a-5129-a49c-57089d9ddbfa.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-fire-department-celebrates-fire-academy-graduates/article_e8bfda69-9d4a-5129-a49c-57089d9ddbfa.html
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This photo from 2021 shows what was at the time The Cave Collective's new location in the brick portion of the building. The collective is now set to dissolve by July 1, Mary Haan, board president announced.
The collective's board president, Mary Haan, announced the decision through the nonprofit's social media pages and website May 30.
"The board has voted to dissolve The Cave Collective as a nonprofit and close our doors at the end of July. I share this news with an incredibly heavy heart," Haan said in the announcement.
Events and shows scheduled through the end of July will take place as scheduled, except for open mic night, which was canceled according to the collective's social media. Otherwise, the collective will be closed.
"The best option for keeping artists' tours on track and everything was just to maintain the commitments that we've made for these booked bands," Haan told the Journal Thursday. "Just trying to have this negatively affect the least amount of people possible. That's goal number one right now."
Haan said the board voted on May 28 to remove Dexter Carman and NaTasha Carman from the board. The decision went into effect on May 29.
Haan said the board made the decision due to social media posts regarding the Carmans' personal matters. Haan said one post also spoke on behalf of the collective without approval of the board.
She said the board also decided to dissolve the nonprofit due to the public nature of the posts and concerns about broken trust between leadership and the community the collective serves.
Haan is also moving out of state by July 1 and did not feel comfortable leaving the collective without taking action.
"In my estimation, the people that should mentor young people would hopefully have some interpersonal communication skills, would have some some follow through, some understanding of how their words and their actions affect others," Haan said.
The remaining five board members are currently working with nonprofits in hopes to transfer the lease at 406 Fifth Street to a similar nonprofit or collective.
"There are a lot of people who have been really involved in this awesome work, whether it's helping at the coffee bar, or leading an art class for free, or teaching music lessons for free or tutoring kids for free," Haan said. "Whoever takes over the lease, I want them connected to all of these people who have put in time, and that includes the members of the board as it stands right now. I would hope that their heart for the work would continue."
Mary Haan
Cave Collective
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2022-06-03T23:50:59Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Cave Collective set to dissolve at end of July | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/cave-collective-set-to-dissolve-at-end-of-july/article_0c04544e-bc33-58c5-a5a6-ef157f831c2d.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/cave-collective-set-to-dissolve-at-end-of-july/article_0c04544e-bc33-58c5-a5a6-ef157f831c2d.html
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Connie Uhre, 75, owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel, is shown Friday spraying a Native American demonstrator with a cleaning product. Uhre has been arrested on three counts of simple assault
An owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel who was arrested on three counts of simple assault was released the same day using a program funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, which she has been publicly against.
Rapid City police officers arrested Connie Uhre, 75, May 27 for assaulting three demonstrators outside the Grand Gateway Hotel. In multiple videos from demonstrators at the NDN Collective picket line boycott event, Uhre could be seen getting out of her vehicle and spraying at least three demonstrators with Pledge, a cleaning spray. At least one was sprayed directly in the face.
NDN Collective began boycotting the Uhre businesses following racist remarks from Uhre on social media where she said Native Americans would be banned from the hotel's property.
Helene Duhamel, spokesperson for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, said Wednesday that Uhre was released using a program funded from the MacArthur Foundation grant. The program uses what's called a Public Safety Assessment.
Duhamel said the assessment is a strategy with the grant to make sure the office is using jail space wisely.
"Just so we're not keeping someone incarcerated that shouldn't be," she said. "(Uhre) was charged with a low-level offense."
The Pennington County Sheriff's Office and the Seventh Judicial Circuit were awarded $4.1 million between 2015 and 2021 from the MacArthur Foundation, including five grants in criminal justice. The office participates in the Safety and Justice Challenge Network, which aims to address over-incarceration by reducing jail misuse and overuse and disparities in jail usage, according to the foundation website.
According to data provided by the sheriff's office, between June 2018 and December 2021, an average of 9% of individuals booked into the jail were released using the Public Safety Assessment program.
The assessment looks at the flight risk for someone charged with a crime. The jail looks at pending criminal charges, prior convictions, violent crimes and failures to appear in court. It also weighs the risk someone poses to the community rather than the nature of their charge.
Duhamel said prior to using the assessment, those arrested on low-level offenses would have to post a cash bond to be released. She said the jail moved away from cash bonds for low-level offenses and low-risk offenders so that people without money wouldn't be placed at a disadvantage over those who could afford to pay a cash bond.
"Over the last several years we've incorporated the best practices to use our jail space wisely," she said.
Uhre and her son, Nick, have made public statements against the MacArthur grant.
In a presentation with more than 50 slides sent to Rapid City hotel owners and to South Dakota Citizens for Liberty, Nick blamed the MacArthur grants for what he described as an increase in crime. He also blamed the rising crime rate on police inaction and Native Americans, presenting the idea that a "race war" was on its way.
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2022-06-03T23:51:12Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Uhre released on MacArthur grant program following arrest | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/uhre-released-on-macarthur-grant-program-following-arrest/article_6d29415c-40b8-56f8-9528-a08fb4627013.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/uhre-released-on-macarthur-grant-program-following-arrest/article_6d29415c-40b8-56f8-9528-a08fb4627013.html
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Danny "Dan" Lee Duncan
RAPID CITY - Danny "Dan" Lee Duncan, 77, passed away peacefully on December 27, 2021, in the early morning hours - on his own schedule to not inconvenience anyone.
A celebration of life will be 1:00pm-4:00pm on Saturday, June 11, 2022, at the Counts Car Club House located at 5301 Mill Road in Black Hawk, SD 57718.
Online condolences can be left at www.osheimschmidt.com.
Danny "dan" Lee
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2022-06-04T05:30:24Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Danny "Dan" Lee Duncan | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/danny-dan-lee-duncan/article_a311a67b-f6d0-5c69-bdf2-4ff4ec505f26.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/danny-dan-lee-duncan/article_a311a67b-f6d0-5c69-bdf2-4ff4ec505f26.html
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Kathryn "Kathy" Jeanne Stverak
RAPID CITY - Kathryn "Kathy" Jeanne Stverak 78 of Rapid City passed away Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
Visitation will be 5:00p.m.-7:00p.m. on Wednesday, June 8th at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home. A funeral service will be 10:00a.m. Thursday, June 9th at the Funeral Home, with burial to follow at Mt View Cemetery in Rapid City, SD. Online condolences may be left at www.osheimschmidt.com
Kathy was born on November 4, 1943, in Centerville, SD the daughter of Arnold and Estella (Sorensen) Andersen. She grew up and attended school in Turner County and graduated from Centerville High School.
Kathy attended South Dakota State University in Brookings. She graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Nutrition and Food Science and served as a Registered Dietitian.
Kathy was united in married with the love of her life George Charles Stverak on August 12, 1967, in Watertown.
After completing her residency in Detroit, MI., she worked as a dietitian as her and her husband lived in Wilmot. After a couple of years, they moved to Estherville, IA, Yankton, and finally settling in Rapid City.
Kathy worked as a registered dietitian for Rapid City Regional Hospital for almost 20 years and retired in 2000.
In 1980, George and Kathy took a chance on themselves and purchased the Rushmore Mountain Taffy Shop located in Keystone and now located in Hill City. This family business has become a familiar destination in South Dakota's tourism industry to this day. In 1994, they opened another location in Medora, ND, where it remains open to this day. In 2000, George and Kathy built a commercial property called Teddy's Village in Medora that houses the Rushmore Mountain Taffy Shop and other tourist stores.
During her "retirement", Kathy could be seen helping run her family's businesses in the Black Hills and in Medora, ND. She enjoyed spending time with family and looked forward to facetiming with her grandson, CJ as well as making him sugar cookies. She enjoyed time with friends, playing cards and spending time with her family.
Grateful for sharing her blessed life were her husband, George Stverak of Rapid City; daughter, Anita Stverak of Rapid City; twin sons, Jason Stverak and his wife Nicole and their son, Charles Joseph "CJ" of Ashburn, VA, and Jeffrey Stverak of Rapid City; brothers, James Andersen of Keystone, and Charles Andersen and his wife Margaret of Yankton; a sister, Annette Wanwig and her husband Dan of Gig Harbor, WA; nephews, Chuck, David, Todd, Bjorn, Joshua and Creighton; nieces, Lois, Carin, Kristen and Kim; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Kathryn was preceded in death by her husband, George and her parents, Arnold and Estella Andersen.
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2022-06-04T05:30:36Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Kathryn "Kathy" Jeanne Stverak | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/kathryn-kathy-jeanne-stverak/article_805b7c4b-4d0c-548b-a65d-976930a8e10a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/kathryn-kathy-jeanne-stverak/article_805b7c4b-4d0c-548b-a65d-976930a8e10a.html
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Patricia Marie (Sears) Hazledine
Patricia Sears Hazledine was born in Chamberlain, South Dakota, on March 9, 1933, to John and Eva Sears. She joined her parents and older sister Shirley on the family ranch south of Belvidere, South Dakota. Pat had many good memories of living on the ranch (doing early morning chores with her dad and jumping off the chicken coop to learn to fly) and starting school in Belvidere. The family moved to Spearfish, South Dakota, in 1946. Pat graduated from Spearfish High School in 1951. She then attended Colorado Women's College in Denver for one semester, where she majored in theater, wrote scripts, and acted in plays. After that semester she returned to Spearfish and earned her teacher's certificate at Black Hills Teacher's College.
Pat married Gerald Hazledine on November 21, 1954. Gerry and Pat had four children together: Linda Kay, Lawrence John, Sandra Lea, and Michael Todd. The family lived in several places over the years, where Gerry worked as a schoolteacher. In addition to being a stay-at-home mother for years, Pat worked as a kindergarten teacher in Belle Fourche, a substitute teacher, and later shared her love of history by working at the Carbon County Museum in Rawlins, Wyoming. She and Gerry moved back to Spearfish in 2000, "snow birding" down to Casa Grande, Arizona, for several years. They moved to Rushville, Nebraska, in May of 2017.
Pat was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church. She was a member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, and a member of Jobs Daughters. She was a Red Hatters member and made it to as many Spearfish High School girl's coffees as possible. Pat enjoyed reading books of all genres, dancing, camping, crafts, and musicals. She was a huge and loyal Bronco's fan. Later in life, she came to enjoy and regularly watched "Dancing with the Stars". Pat was an energetic, compassionate, caring and kind woman her entire life and made lifelong friends wherever she lived. Pat had great pride in all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great interest in all of their endeavors, achievements, hopes and dreams.
Pat peacefully passed away on May 29, 2022, with her family by her side. She is preceded in death by her parents John and Eva Sears; her sister, Shirley (Sears) Bickel, her son, Lawrence John Hazledine, and granddaughter, Sophia Rose Jones-Hazledine. She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Gerald Hazledine; daughters: Linda (John) Nemec of Midland, SD, and Sandra Lowery of Belle Fourche, SD, son, Michael (Cate Jones) Hazledine of Rushville, NE; grandchildren: Jessica (Jon) Gamotis, Heather Lowery, Rachael Lowery, Evan Jones-Hazledine, Benjamin Jones-Hazledine and Ivy Jones-Hazledine; great-grandson, Leon Gamotis; and her nephews, nieces and their families. She is loved and will be sadly missed.
Memorial Services will be held at a later date. A memorial has been established and donations may be sent to Chamberlain-Pier Funeral Home, PO Box 366, Gordon, NE 69343.
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2022-06-04T05:30:55Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Patricia Marie (Sears) Hazledine | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/patricia-marie-sears-hazledine/article_3ffa03eb-8462-5db8-9408-67f7c06805ae.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/patricia-marie-sears-hazledine/article_3ffa03eb-8462-5db8-9408-67f7c06805ae.html
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Wayne Allen Kunz
WHITEWOOD - Wayne Allen Kunz, 70, of Whitewood, SD, died at home June 2, 2022, following a long battle with cancer. A memorial service will be held Sunday, June 5, 2022, 2:00 p.m., at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Whitewood, SD. Livestreaming of the service may be viewed and condolences may be sent at www.kinkadefunerals.com.
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2022-06-04T05:31:07Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Wayne Allen Kunz | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/wayne-allen-kunz/article_b3b58e68-c6cf-54ec-a277-ab047343503d.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/wayne-allen-kunz/article_b3b58e68-c6cf-54ec-a277-ab047343503d.html
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Sasquatch give up big seventh inning, lose 10-4 to Fremont
Trailing 3-2, the Spearfish Sasquatch allowed seven runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-4 loss to the Fremont Moo at Moeller Field in Fremont, Nebraska.
Andrew Johnson hit his first home run of the season for the Sasquatch (2-8), a two-run shot in the ninth, while leadoff batter Johnny McHenry tallied a pair of doubles and Trey Vorwald recorded a two-hit night with a run and an RBI.
Starting pitcher Jack Hostetler picked up the loss on the mound, surrendering six runs on six hits and two walks while striking out eight on 95 pitches and six innings.
Spearfish takes on the Moo (3-1) in the second game of the three-game series Saturday.
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2022-06-04T05:31:13Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Sasquatch give up big seventh inning, lose 10-4 to Fremont | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/sasquatch-give-up-big-seventh-inning-lose-10-4-to-fremont/article_8b823a19-1a46-574c-86c4-3655eb662410.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/sasquatch-give-up-big-seventh-inning-lose-10-4-to-fremont/article_8b823a19-1a46-574c-86c4-3655eb662410.html
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Both school and Rapid City administrators need to brag about the retirement benefits, not just pay. The South Dakota State Retirement plan is one of the best in the nation. Pay may be low but the retirement benefit more than makes up for it.
After the flood in 1972 they created the greenway through the center of Rapid City which is a great thing. Why did they build a high school and the civic center right in the middle of the floodway?
When Joe Biden says: "Tough Times Ahead" and a transition is coming, that's 'code' for 'recession.' It's deliberate, believe me when I tell you.
Taxpayers should not have to pay for the kind of books as described in the Journal. It is simply pornographic material. The entire class should be dropped. Somehow I was able to be well educated and a productive member of society without being taught this kind of subject matter in high school.
It seems like there is no end to the grants coming out of DC, but you do understand I hope, that grants are not free money, it's money taken from you by the IRS from your income tax.
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2022-06-04T13:46:21Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Your Two Cents for June 4 | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/your-two-cents-for-june-4/article_e44b4490-5b62-5a6c-bc06-9a96d0c96996.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/your-two-cents-for-june-4/article_e44b4490-5b62-5a6c-bc06-9a96d0c96996.html
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Harold Higgins
Editor's note: This is the first in a four-part series talking with former Rapid City Daily Journal employees and what they remember from their perspective covering the 1972 flood.
Higgins moved to Rapid City where he had rented an apartment on the bottom floor of a house in between Fifth and Sixth streets, just on the north side of Rapid Creek.
Higgins was so new to Rapid City, he hardly knew the streets. He said he figured out how to get from his apartment to work. But that was about it.
“I was broke. It took me a couple of days, just kind of sponging off friends until I could get an apartment… It was a basement apartment, very nice little basement apartment in the basement in a house right up against Rapid Creek, the back you walked out of the backyard, and there was a creek,” Higgins said.
While at home the night the rain began to come down, Higgins said he recalled the warnings scroll across the KOTA television station about heavy rains and possible flooding along Rapid Creek.
“I thought well, OK, two things. Number one, I'm a reporter, I need to grab my camera and get out there and see if I can get some pictures,” he said. “As well as I'll be able to get a handle on how high the creek is near my house. And just whatever the situation is.”
With his camera bag in hand, Higgins walked across his neighbors' yards to avoid the water which was already beginning to fill the streets.
As he made his way over toward the Fifth Street bridge, he could see the water was rising faster than he thought.
“Not only was it pitch black in the rain, I couldn't see where I could get out of the water. So I thought I better get up that bridge,” Higgins said. “So I just got up to the bridge and that must have been when the dam broke or just before because that's when that big wave came down the road.”
Higgins said a split-second decision to grab onto a mailbox to pull himself out of the water to reach the bridge probably saved his life, as he was able to prevent himself from being swept away by the current and managed to cross the bridge before it went underwater.
“I thought, ‘OK, well, what do I do now?’ And, of course, I was the young cub reporter, I thought, ‘Well, I guess I better start reporting on this,’” he said.
Being new to the Journal and the area, Higgins was unsure of the police department’s location but knew the fire department was just around the corner from the Journal as he passed it on his way to work — the few days he had been on the job.
Not knowing if anyone was at the Journal, Higgins wanted to see if they had any assignments for him to cover — only to find the newsroom empty at the time. So he decided to head back over to the fire department.
Higgins said most of the fire trucks were already out except for one that was stuck because one of the doors in the front didn’t fully open. Whether it was the power outage or the door had come off the track, Higgins wasn’t sure.
Eventually the truck got out. Then, Rapid City Fire Chief Ken Johnson asked for volunteers to help in rescue operations. Higgins immediately volunteered.
“I thought if there's going to be any news or photographs. Maybe this is where it's going to be for me,” he said.
As the truck got out, Higgins was joined by four other men from Ellsworth Air Force Base. The men in the fire truck headed out looking for people.
“There were people who needed help but sometimes there was no way we could get to them. There were a couple instances where we did kind of the human chain thing and helped pull some people out of the water who were kind of floundering out there,” Higgins said. “I don't even remember how long it went on. I'm sure it went on for hours but it seemed like in my memories like in minutes.”
All throughout the night, they pulled people from partially submerged vehicles.
With power out, the fire department was using a portable radio from a pickup truck they had taken for communication. As they were investigating a report of children stranded on top of a house trailer, they all went down a safety line along railroad tracks shouting and using flashlights producing no results. So they headed back to the truck.
Once back at the truck, faint shouts were heard from the location they had just been, so they all went back down the safety line again with a fireman shouting, "Everybody hold onto the damn rope, I don't want to see anybody let go of it."
They found a middle-aged man who appeared to be in shock as the source of the shouts. They were able to carry him out of the water and back to the truck.
Despite numerous buildings on fire throughout the night, Johnson had already established rescuing people was more important than any burning buildings.
As it got to be daylight, Higgins headed back to the Journal’s building where he found some of his bosses and coworkers now hard at work gathering and writing news stories of the night’s event.
Friday night’s power outage forced the Journal to miss printing of their Saturday edition entirely, leaving Sunday as the first edition since the flood.
Soaking wet, covered in mud, the Journal's Wire Editor Jerry Mashek told Higgins to write up something brief to put across the AP wire as he was one of the first reporters to provide firsthand reports of what happened.
“They had already sent a couple of (para)graphs about the flood and that there was a flood in Rapid City, but of course at that point we didn't know the death toll or how much damage there was,” Higgins said.
For the remainder of the day, Higgins said he stayed in the office making calls, helping out the other reporters, doing cut lines for the Journal’s staff photographer Don Polovich and helping out where he could.
“I spent most of the time trying to get information and generally being stumped most of the time,” Higgins said.
Nearly a full 24 hours since he first left his apartment, Higgins finally headed back home.
“Where I crossed the bridge to see where my house was. It was completely obliterated. There was nothing, zero, nothing standing there,” he said. “Somebody else told me and I don't remember exactly when, but somebody in the area told me that the house had caught on fire and just burned down and just disintegrated.”
Higgins' story about coming home to find his apartment had burned up as a result of the flood ran in the special flood edition of the June 26, 1972 Rapid City Journal.
With nothing but the clothes on his back, and his mud-clogged camera, Higgins stayed with fellow Journal reporter Ron Bender for the next few nights.
“Literally my shoes started just kind of falling apart and the seams started coming apart on my blue jeans as well,” he said. “I went to the Red Cross. And they gave me a complete new outfit of clothes, jeans and shirts.
“And you know, one outfit such as one pair of jeans and a shirt and I forgot there's a voucher token or something that I could go to. I think I went into the Red Wing Shoe Store to get a new pair of boots. They had to replace my clothes so quite literally all I had — zero, nothing.”
For the next few weeks, it was an all-hands-on-deck situation in the newsroom with everyone doing their part to cover the news.
“It was obviously a big event, everybody was pumped up about trying to get the paper out because we knew we had a public service,” Higgins said. “Not only the stories so that people could get the context to what had happened, but we also want to start to get the public service information out about where to get water, where to get help... We were starting to get the names of people who had died in the flood so we were starting to collect those names as well as the missing.”
Higgins said he spent a couple more weeks as a reporter before returning to his post as an obituary writer.
One particular story that always stuck with him was reporting on the identification of victims and the grief that family and friends felt in receiving the bad news.
“People are anxious. When people are grieving or they're worried about a missing person they think surely there must be a mistake. Surely they've found my relative and they've made a mistake of some sort, but I don't believe that was the case,” Higgins said.
Searchers would collect the bodies, where they were transported to one central funeral home in hopes of being identified quickly. Bodies were laid out pending identification, before being stored in refrigerated trailers.
But for many, it wasn’t as easy as finding a driver’s license or other easily accessible pieces of identification. Not only were the victims treated rough by the flood, but quite often bodies had sat out for several days.
Higgins said the task of helping to identify the victims went to Bernie Christenson, with the Division of Criminal Investigation.
“It's hard for people to realize the conditions and the trauma of what went on in that water in that creek. I think those guys were being as careful as they could,” Higgins said.
Higgins went on to have a long career in newspapers including stints in Aberdeen, California, Colorado and eventually as the publisher of the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press before retiring. He currently resides in the Denver metropolitan area.
“I had a long career in the newspaper business and was in a lot of cities,” Higgins said. “I remember people from those other jobs, those other newspapers, those other cities, but not as vividly as I remember them — the people I was in the newsroom with at the Journal.”
Harold Higgins had been working for the Rapid City Journal for just eight days before the June 9, 1972 flood.
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2022-06-04T15:52:30Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: 'I’m a reporter, I need to get out there' | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-i-m-a-reporter-i-need-to-get-out-there/article_986cf5d8-2937-5b57-91f1-c341386ab37f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-i-m-a-reporter-i-need-to-get-out-there/article_986cf5d8-2937-5b57-91f1-c341386ab37f.html
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Award-winning journalist Seth Tupper and award-winning photographer Johnny Sundby, both of Rapid City, produced a new book “Surviving the ‘72 Flood: Eyewitness Accounts from One of the Nation’s Deadliest Disasters.”
Erica Lane Harvey
After the carload of friends she was riding with reached flood waters on West Main Street on June 9, 1972, teenager Kay (Liebig) Schriever instinctively ran through a flooded parking lot to the Rushmore Building’s fire escape, and to safety, as friends remaining with the car lost their lives. Schriever's is one of the experiences documented in “Surviving the ‘72 Flood: Eyewitness Accounts from One of the Nation’s Deadliest Disasters.”
Ozzie Osheim, 95, who told of his experiences during the 1972 flood for the new book “Surviving the ‘72 Flood: Eyewitness Accounts from One of the Nation’s Deadliest Disasters.” Osheim talked about working in an overwhelmed funeral home in the aftermath of the flood that killed 238 people. Funeral directors including Osheim worked together to conduct hundreds of funerals.
“Surviving the ‘72 Flood” tells of many tragic losses that occurred on June 9, 1972, but its stories and photos also document Rapid City residents’ survival, luck, cleanup, heroism and hope.
Through personal interviews, photos and research from historical documents, the book recounts 27 survivors’ harrowing experiences. Text on the book’s back cover explains factors that contributed to the disaster:
“A line of thunderstorms hovered over the Black Hills of South Dakota and dumped up to 15 inches of rain in some locations over a span of only six hours. Thousands of people in Rapid City lived and worked along the banks of Rapid Creek, at the foot of the Black Hills. When a flood surge struck the city that night, many people in the floodplain were unprepared for the scale of the disaster.”
Tupper and Sundby initially planned about a dozen interviews and photos but kept finding more flood survivors willing to share their stories, Sundby said. Almost all the interviews and photo shoots took place at the locations where disaster struck on June 9, 1972.
“We have had some people say, ‘Why would you want to make people relive this painful event?’” Tupper said. “Some won’t want to. It is still too painful to relive the flood, but really we did the book to preserve the history. By the 75th anniversary, a lot of survivors will be gone. Every story not recorded is one lost.”
Tupper and Sundby both said preserving the flood history is vital to help new generations – and newcomers to Rapid City who don’t know about the flood – understand the importance of keeping the floodplain open and preventing development there.
“When you hear some of the firsthand accounts of what people went through, that gives you a whole new perspective,” Tupper said. “When survivors say, ‘We don’t ever want this to happen again,’ it’s very affecting, and that history should be preserved so that when those debates open in the future, people have things to reflect back on to see how terrible this really was.”
Many of the survivors in the book were young adults in their teens and early 20s at the time of the flood, and they’re now in their 60s or older. Ozzie Osheim, now 95, tells of working in a funeral home inundated with flood victims and encountering families who sometimes came back day after day searching for missing loved ones.
“History has to be preserved,” Sundby said. “All these stories have to be recorded in part so people respect Rapid Creek and respect the laws of the city to establish the greenway. I think that’s one of the most important things. A lot of people are wanting to develop things in the greenway and the less they know about the flood, the more they will want to do that into the future.”
Sundby was born and raised in Rapid City. His fifth birthday was June 10, 1972. His family lived near Pinedale Elementary School, so their home wasn’t flooded. He recalls that his aunt and uncle’s home was lost, so they brought their belongings and took refuge at Sundby's house. He said that he, like others in the city whose homes were farther from the path of destruction, didn’t realize until days later how devastating the flood had been.
“It’s important to realize how much power can be unleashed from Rapid Creek after a big rain storm,” Sundby said.
For those who lost homes and loved ones in the flood, Tupper said the pain is still evident. Two interviews that affected him most deeply were with Mike Faust and Kay Schriever. On the night of the flood, they were two teenagers who didn’t know each other well but happened to be in the same car cruising through the city.
“It was a Friday night and they got caught in rising water near the Rushmore Building on West Main. The water was rising so fast. Kay got out and ran to the fire escape and all the others got stuck in the water,” Tupper said.
There were six teenagers in the car. Three lived and three died. One of those who died was Schriever’s friend Gayle Nemeti, 17. She got out of the car and was near the Payless building when a back wall blew out. Her body was found among the debris. Schriever was asked to identify Nemeti’s body at an overwhelmed funeral home.
Sundby photographed Schriever for the book on the fire escape where she took refuge from flood waters.
“Her emotions were very raw,” Tupper said. “To stand there and hear her tell that story, you start to (understand) the terrible toll it took, the way they’ve had to carry that pain and suffering the rest of their lives.
“Hearing her talk about her friend, the pain was just as fresh as maybe it happened yesterday. It was a real eye-opener,” he said.
Conducting the interviews and photo shoots at the locations where tragedy struck was the right decision, Sundby said, because it seemed to aid survivors in remembering details as they talked about their experiences.
“People were so open about sharing their stories,” Sundby said. “The environmental portraits say a lot about how the city has changed.”
While “Surviving the ‘72 Flood” is a series of historical and cautionary tales, it’s also a testament to people’s resilience.
“There’s so many people that saw it happen, actually saw their loves ones swept away. It’s terrible, but I was amazed at the way they were able to pick up and carry on and live productive lives,” Tupper said.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting has created a companion documentary and podcast, “Surviving the ‘72 Flood.” Those can be found at sdpb.org/flood along with other content about the 1972 flood.
The documentary will premiere at 6:30 p.m. June 8 as part of special programming at The Journey Museum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1972 flood. Tupper and Sundby will be signing copies of their book.
“Surviving the ‘72 Flood: Eyewitness Accounts from One of the Nation’s Deadliest Disasters” can be purchased in Rapid City at Books A Million, Found by Weathered Vane, Prairie Edge, Mitzi’s Books, the Hotel Alex Johnson Mercantile, The Journey Museum, and at Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center in Lead, Jenny’s Floral in Custer, Stage Stop Leather & Gifts in Hill City, and at Mount Rushmore Society’s three outlets – 830 Main St. in Rapid City, a bookstore at Mount Rushmore, and at the Rapid City Airport. The book also can be ordered by contacting Sundby at johnnysundby.com or Tupper at sethtupper.com/.
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2022-06-04T17:54:19Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: New book recounts survivors' stories | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-new-book-recounts-survivors-stories/article_56d15ba0-4199-58d2-9723-f8349bd9e150.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-new-book-recounts-survivors-stories/article_56d15ba0-4199-58d2-9723-f8349bd9e150.html
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Kathryn Stverak, 78, of Box Elder died after a two-vehicle crash May 31 on U.S. Highway 16, approximately five miles south of Rapid City.
The South Dakota Department of Public Safety said Monday that Kathryn Stverek, 78, died at Monument Health Rapid City from injuries sustained in the accident.
According to a news release, preliminary crash information indicates that Stverek was driving a 2010 Buick LaCrosse eastbound on Highway 16 when the vehicle veered to the right and struck a guardrail. The Buick then crossed both eastbound lanes, went through the median and into the westbound lanes where it collided head-on with a westbound 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport.
Tony Mangan, public information officer for the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, said law enforcement was called to the crash around 12:30 p.m. May 31 to mile marker 60.
Stverak, suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries. She was not wearing a seat belt.
Barry Porter, 66, the driver of the Honda, and Marina Porter, 65, the passenger, both had to be extricated from the vehicle. The two occupants, who are from Rapid City, suffered serious non-life threatening injuries and were transported to a Rapid City hospital. Both were wearing seat belts.
Highway 16 was shut down for 48 minutes and then limited to one lane opened for 12 additional minutes before the scene was completely reopened to traffic.
South Dakota’s Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the crash. All information released so far is only preliminary.
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2022-06-06T19:01:02Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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UPDATE: Names released in fatal 2-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 16 | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/update-names-released-in-fatal-2-vehicle-crash-on-u-s-highway-16/article_dfd52e5b-9c5e-52fd-aebd-087e3067ae0b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/update-names-released-in-fatal-2-vehicle-crash-on-u-s-highway-16/article_dfd52e5b-9c5e-52fd-aebd-087e3067ae0b.html
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On Thursday, June 2, at about 7:22 p.m., Sergeant Chet Swanson and Officer Mark Cloyd were dispatched to a report of a disturbance and possible stabbing at a residence located at the trailer court of 1010 Maple Street.
The officers arrived on scene and contacted a male identified as Joseph Little Moon Jr., 37, who directed the officers into the residence where a male victim was located laying on the couch with a stab wound to the upper groin area.
The victim was asked who stabbed him and the victim identified Little Moon as the suspect. Sgt. Swanson spoke with Little Moon who made admissions to the incident, including that he had stabbed the victim with a blade that was concealed within his walking cane.
Chadron rescue personnel arrived on scene and the male victim was transported to the Chadron Community Hospital for treatment of his injuries. The officers collected additional statements and photographed the scene.
As a result of the investigation, Little Moon was placed into custody and transported to the Dawes County Jail where he was booked for the charges of second-degree assault, a Class IIA felony, and carrying concealed weapons, a Class I misdemeanor. Bond for Joseph Little Moon Jr. was set at 10% of $50,000.
The Chadron Police Department was assisted by Chadron Fire Department.
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2022-06-06T23:00:14Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Arrest for assault, carrying concealed weapon | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/arrest-for-assault-carrying-concealed-weapon/article_05489708-5509-5828-a3c4-0847c559f47a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/arrest-for-assault-carrying-concealed-weapon/article_05489708-5509-5828-a3c4-0847c559f47a.html
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Hope Grows Brunch celebrates cancer survivors
The Hope Grows Brunch, part of National Cancer Survivors Day, honors and celebrates the lives of cancer survivors while raising awareness about the challenges survivors face. The brunch will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday in the Alpine/Ponderosa Room at The Monument, 444 N. Mount Rushmore Road.
All cancer survivors, including those who have been recently diagnosed with the disease, and their loved ones are invited to attend.
Cancer survivor Doris Cardwell will be the featured speaker. The program will include talks by Scott Guidotti, general manager of the Monument Health Sports Performance Institute Powered by EXOS, and Kristi Gylten, director of the Monument Health Cancer Care Institute.
Tickets are $5 each, and each ticket is a donation to support future cancer care community education events. Go to monument.health/hope-grows/ to buy tickets online.
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2022-06-06T23:00:20Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Hope Grows Brunch celebrates cancer survivors | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/hope-grows-brunch-celebrates-cancer-survivors/article_28896fa7-53d7-5d7d-87dc-01066bc6874b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/hope-grows-brunch-celebrates-cancer-survivors/article_28896fa7-53d7-5d7d-87dc-01066bc6874b.html
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How does your garden grow: gardener springs life from Badlands soil
Gardener Nancy Horton sits surrounded by her garden, producing flowers and vegetables in the tricky terrain of the Badlands.
Horton's grandson Nolan smiles amid her tomato patch — a favorite of hers when she was growing up gardening with her mother.
Nancy Horton's garden near the Badlands, including her "soul garden" featuring flowers, in addition to produce.
Cages wrapped in plastic protect Horton's plants from a unique Badlands gardening challenge: wind.
The Badlands are known for their dramatic rock formations and towering spires — not so much their fertile soil.
The unique terrain of the Badlands is referenced in the name itself, historically referring to the rocky terrain, lack of water and extreme temperatures.
For Nancy Horton, an avid gardener and retired dietitian, the terrain was no deterrent. Her green thumb has managed to spring life from the Badlands soil for the past 40 years.
Horton has been gardening near the Badlands as long as she’s lived there — since 1980. Her garden produces everything from tomatoes, broccoli and onions to what she refers to as her soul garden, where she plants flowers to “feed her soul.”
Flowers don’t typically grow well in the Badlands, Horton said, so she chooses ones that do. One of her favorites is called a “four o’clock,” named for when it blooms, also known as the Marvel-of-peru.
While flowers feed her soul, vegetables feed her belly, and she's managed to grow plenty in the Badlands soil. Her lineup this year alone includes lettuce, spinach, potatoes, onions, peas, green beans, carrots, Swiss chard, sweet corn, summer squash, winter squash, cucumbers, broccoli, watermelons, green sweet peppers, tomatoes and celery.
The planning process begins in the winter, with a seed catalog usually arriving in December. The catalog, she said, is a good place to get ideas and “get your mind going.” She’ll compare what she planted last year with what she wants this year, along with the layout of the garden.
“You don’t want to plant the same thing in the same spot every year,” she said. If it’s something she likes to eat, she’ll plant it. With the exception of okra — those she plants for the beautiful flowers.
Once she has her seeds ordered, she’ll till the garden — usually once in the fall and once in the spring.
Planting season can begin as early as April, with harvesting beginning as soon as May and going as late as December, in some cases. In between planting and harvesting, Horton is maintaining. This includes weeding and protecting the plants from the unique elemental hazards of the area.
Freezing is always a concern for gardeners in South Dakota, but in the Badlands, wind presents an additional obstacle. Horton combats the high winds by using cages that she covers with garbage bags.
She also uses carpeting to protect from weeds and lays down blankets when a freeze is coming.
Perhaps the greatest challenge of gardening in the Badlands, however, is the soil. Horton has a good spot scoped out by a creek, but she still does what she calls amending the soil. She brings in better soil, which she mostly gets from composted hay and straw.
“I bring it in and just pile it up,” she said.
Growing up in Armour, gardening has been a part of Horton’s life since childhood. She grew up on a farm, helping her mom garden.
She said she has always loved tomatoes, she said. And weeding.
“A lot of people don’t like weeding, but I do because you can definitely see that you’ve made progress,” Horton said.
She’s also had the joy of watching her four children carry on with gardening they learned from her. Even her husband Rick gets involved, rerouting the hot water from their deep well so it's cooled by the time it reaches her garden.
“It’s pretty neat,” she said.
While Horton has been exposed to gardening her entire life, she leveled up on her gardening knowledge about 20 years ago when she completed a Master Gardener course through South Dakota State University Extension.
The program included a service commitment in volunteering her time as a resource for gardening questions.
“It was just wonderful, and they know so much, and I loved it all,” she said, highly recommending the course to anyone interested in gardening.
Gardening has fed Horton’s soul, mouth and even her vocation. A registered dietitian, she said gardening influenced her professional endeavors.
“Because I like food,” she laughed. “I like everything that’s involved in food. And, so of course, I know that fresh is always better.”
The benefits of gardening are stacked for Horton — in addition to feeding her soul and mouth, she gets to be outside, and its "great exercise." She'd also tell you it teaches patience — something she claims to have in short supply.
“But God shows me that every day,” Horton said.
One thing Horton would tell anyone not familiar with gardening: “If you don't plant, you're not going to get anything.” The seeds don't grow in the package, she said. “You're discouraged and all that — you still got to try.”
She’ll continue battling the wind and praying for rain. Every year she says she won’t plant so much, but this isn’t that year. She even added fruit trees for apples and pears. She joked that her SDSU Master Gardner instructors said if you live in the Badlands, you should just buy your fruit.
Not Nancy Horton. She prefers to work the Badlands soil, feed her body and soul and continue to do so as long as she can.
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2022-06-06T23:00:27Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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How does your garden grow: gardener springs life from Badlands soil | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/how-does-your-garden-grow-gardener-springs-life-from-badlands-soil/article_075e509c-137a-5301-9747-410af023b56f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/how-does-your-garden-grow-gardener-springs-life-from-badlands-soil/article_075e509c-137a-5301-9747-410af023b56f.html
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Bison leading after Round 1 of Class B girls state golf
Greta Anderson from Bison hits a chip shot on the ninth hole during the Class B girls state golf tournament Monday at Hart Ranch Golf Course.
Bison finished last year’s Class B girls state golf tournament as the runner-up, and entered this season’s tournament at Hart Ranch with unfinished business.
The Cardinals made good on their team goal to push for a state title Monday and found themselves in the mix after Day 1, sitting atop the leaderboard with a 51-over par 267, six strokes better than No. 2 Chester Area.
“To be in position going into tomorrow is perfect,” Bison head coach Jeffrey Johnson said. “That’s what we wanted to do; give ourselves a chance to win it and at least be there in contention.”
Two Bison golfers finished Day 1 in the top five of the individual standings.
Greta Anderson started strong and finished the first 18 holes in second place with a 9-over 81, four strokes behind the lead of Miller’s defending state champion Jayce Pugh (77).
Allison Kahler bounced back from a tough front-nine and finished fourth with an 83.
“Gretta came out and shot 81, 9-over par, right there tied with the lead for most of the day,” Johnson said. “Kahler played strong with a 39 on the back-nine and Greta shot a 38 on the front-nine. It’s pretty awesome for them both to shoot in the 30s today.”
Anderson held the lead through the first nine holes with a 38 and shot a 43 on the back-nine to stay within striking distance of the state title. Last season she finished the first day of State tied for the top spot.
Johnson said he is excited to see how Anderson responds after a solid opening performance.
“I knew she could do it and she knew she could do it,” Johnson said. “She is that talented and we pretty much have two No. 1s on the team.”
Kahler got off to a rough start and shot a 44 on the front-nine, but bounced back with a 39 on the back-nine to stay within reach of the top spot. The junior shot par on seven of nine holes on the back stretch.
Bison's Allison Kahler watches her tee shot during the first round of the Class B girls state golf tournament Monday at Hart Ranch Golf Course.
Johnson hopes his two golfers return with the same zeal and battle for a state title Tuesday morning.
“I would love to see it come down between those two battling at the very end,” Johnson said. “That’d be awesome.”
Bison's Mary Carmichael finished tied for 44th at 103 and Ella Anderson finished tied for 57th at 108.
Greta Anderson tees off at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and Kahler tees off at 9:50 a.m.
Jones County’s Kamri Kittleson found herself in the mix after the first 18 holes. She held the lead through much of the day before a long lightning delay when she was on the 17th led to a double-bogey on that hole and a bogey on 18. She shot a 40 on the front-nine and a 42 to close out the day.
She finished the day in third place with an 82, five strokes off the lead.
“It was good but I could’ve made a few more puts there at the end,” Kamri said. “I want to take it hole by hole tomorrow and hopefully finish with a good day.”
Kamri tees off with Kahler, Pugh and Chester's Ayla McDonald at 9:50 a.m.
White River’s Karlie Cameron wrapped up Day 1 tied for 10th with an 89.
The tournament was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Tuesday but SDHSAA officials decided to move play up to 8 a.m. at Hart Ranch Golf Course due to incoming weather.
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2022-06-07T06:06:38Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Bison leading after Round 1 of Class B girls state golf | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/bison-leading-after-round-1-of-class-b-girls-state-golf/article_a24c88c0-7a36-5eb3-a380-6f6849f4dd9f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/bison-leading-after-round-1-of-class-b-girls-state-golf/article_a24c88c0-7a36-5eb3-a380-6f6849f4dd9f.html
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RAPID CITY - Richard "Dick" Camp, 82, of Rapid City passed away May 29, 2022 at St. Martin Village after a brief illness.
Dick was born December 25, 1939 in Plankinton, SD to Lee and Ruth Camp. He graduated from Mt. Vernon High School where he still holds a school track record. Dick married Ruth Carlson in 1965.
He enlisted in the South Dakota Army National Guard's 665th Maintenance Company in Mitchell, SD in 1963. He sold his milk trucking business to work full time with the Guard. He moved to Rapid City in 1983 and worked as an auditor for most of his career. He proudly obtained the rank of Sergeant Major and earned several sharpshooter awards.
His retirement passions included playing pinochle, going on bus tours across the country, washing the car, helping as an election official, and seeing his grandsons. He raised the American flag at a MN Twins game while his grandson's school choir sang the National Anthem in 2018.
Survivors include wife Ruth of Rapid City, daughter Lisa Moore (Adam) and grandsons Carter and Jason from Plymouth, MN, and sister Patsy Tuttle of Alexandria, SD.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Bill and Monte.
Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 10, 2022 at South Canyon Lutheran Church with celebration of life funeral service at 10:30. Burial with full military honors will be 12:30 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD. The family asks for any donations to go to the American Heart Association. Arrangements with Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home.
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2022-06-07T06:07:46Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Richard "Dick" Camp | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-dick-camp/article_47e047ea-6745-52bf-85a5-de2f3a0fd134.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-dick-camp/article_47e047ea-6745-52bf-85a5-de2f3a0fd134.html
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Robert "Bob" Dean Hill
RAPID CITY - Robert "Bob" Dean Hill, 89, Rapid City, SD passed away June 3, 2022. He served in the United States Navy. Celebration of Life Services will be Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 10:00a.m. at First United Methodist Church. Inurnment will follow at 1:00p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery. Kirk Funeral Home
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2022-06-07T06:07:53Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Robert "Bob" Dean Hill | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-bob-dean-hill/article_3e3dddae-33e6-5970-9937-b51943026994.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-bob-dean-hill/article_3e3dddae-33e6-5970-9937-b51943026994.html
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SDHSAA changes decision on Class B boys state golf, will 'reassess' after Round 1
A golfer attempts a putt from the green during the Class B boys state golf tournament Monday at Rapid City Elks Golf Course.
After deciding that the Class B boys state golf tournament would be shortened to one round instead of two due to inclement weather, the South Dakota High School Activities Association announced late Monday night that it will instead reassess the conditions following the conclusion of Round 1.
Play was suspended because of lightning and did resume due to the amount of rain that had accumulated onto Rapid City Elks Golf Course. SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Randy Soma told coaches at around 6 p.m. at the venue that the event would be cut down to just 18 holes, and the individual and team champion would be determined after the remaining golfers finished their first round.
Per Randy Soma of the SDHSAA, the ‘B’ boys state golf tournament will be a one round event. Several golfers did not finish their day one round, and will attempt to finish at 8 am MT tomorrow morning, picking up where they left off. Once completed, the tourney will be done.
— SDPB Sports (@SDPBSports) June 7, 2022
“We’re going to try to get in the remainder of those kids in tomorrow, and then we will end it once they are done,” Soma said. “It’s disappointing; you would like to see it go all of the way through.”
Then SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos tweeted at around 11 p.m. that it would make a decision on the event after Round 1 concluded. Seventy-one golfers, about 58% of the field, still need to finish.
@SDHSAA Class B Boys Golf Update. We will start tomorrow with the groups who did not finish today. Once completed we will reassess the weather and make a decision on the remainder of the event. All other tournaments will begin w round 2 as scheduled. Apologies for the confusion.
— Dan Swartos (@danswartos) June 7, 2022
He added that all other tournaments will proceed with a full second round of 18 holes as scheduled, including the Class B state girls tournament, which is also being held in Rapid City at Hart Ranch. All 99 participants in that event completed their first round.
A less than 10% chance of rain is currently forecasted for the first tee times in Rapid City, increasing to near 80%, including thunderstorms, by 11 a.m. Thunderstorms are projected to last until early evening.
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2022-06-07T07:46:42Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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SDHSAA changes decision on Class B boys state golf, will 'reassess' after Round 1 | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/sdhsaa-changes-decision-on-class-b-boys-state-golf-will-reassess-after-round-1/article_f8bf9485-fe0b-5c4f-8ce9-114ab8c0c1b8.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/sdhsaa-changes-decision-on-class-b-boys-state-golf-will-reassess-after-round-1/article_f8bf9485-fe0b-5c4f-8ce9-114ab8c0c1b8.html
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Former Rapid City Journal reporter Jack Getz stands for a photo outside of the Rapid City Journal offices.
One of Jack Getz's stories from the 1972 Black Hills Flood was how the government handled the thousands of vehicles washed across town.
Getz worked for the Rapid City Journal from 1969 to 1984.
Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part series talking with former Rapid City Daily Journal employees and what they remember from their perspective covering the 1972 flood.
It may be one of the most tedious beats at a newspaper — the public safety beat — but having that personal connection of talking with the police every day may have saved reporter Jack Getz and his family’s life the night of the 1972 flood.
That night, Getz remembers police and firefighters pounding on his front door telling everyone in the neighborhood they needed to evacuate as Rapid Creek was flooding and the Canyon Lake Dam about to go.
The then 29-year-old, living along Third Avenue near Jackson Boulevard, went downstairs to turn off the gas furnace first as instructed by the police.
“I went downstairs to turn off the gas on the water heater and then the lights went out, but I did have a flashlight. I couldn't find the gas valve on top of the furnace. But I heard a noise in the next room like someone was there, which didn't make sense to me,” Getz said. “I shined my flashlight in there and brown water was cascading through a little vent in the foundation. At which time I forgot about the gas valve and raced back upstairs.”
Getz jumped into his pickup where his wife and three-year-old son were now waiting for him.
It was what happened next that Getz says is how he barely escaped death.
“As we started (to drive away), the policeman whom I knew because I was on the police beat, came back and asked me where I was going. My thought process was, ‘Well, Canyon Lake Dam was on my right to the west of us.' And I had just been told that the Canyon Lake Dam was about to go. So, I'm gonna go in the opposite direction which would have been down Jackson Boulevard toward the bridge and into the height of the flood,” Getz said.
“I've always thought police officer Tom Whittecar saved our lives because he said ‘don't go that way.’ He said go up Evergreen Drive. I said okay, I'll turn around and go up Evergreen,” Getz said. “He said, ’Don't turn around, otherwise you'll get sideways. Backup.’ So I backed up for about a block — out of the water and went up Evergreen Drive.
“I was in a state of shock, I think, from that moment.”
Moments after driving out of the water, Getz said the big wave from the Canyon Lake Dam rupture crossed over Jackson Boulevard.
The Masters family, just a couple blocks up the road, weren’t as fortunate. Three members of the family were killed in the same wave.
Making it out of the water, Getz and his family raced over to the Methodist Church atop the hill on Canyon Lake Drive to wait out the storm.
Getz doesn’t remember exactly if he or one of about 10 other people at the church seeking shelter, broke a window to get in. Eventually over the course of the night, several hundred people took refuge in the church, Getz said.
“Sometime during the course of the night, they brought in a woman who had been in the creek, she was soaking wet and wrapped in blankets and they sat her down in a chair about 40 feet from where I was,” Getz said. “I sat there and I said, 'I really should be over there interviewing that woman’ and I couldn't do it. I couldn't get up and do it.
“I was a little bit shell shocked. I was also very reluctant to approach her because she was suffering and she was cold. She didn't need to be answering a lot of intrusive questions from somebody she'd never seen before in real life.”
Getz, who started at the Journal in 1969, said he’s always felt guilty that he didn’t contribute enough to the coverage knowing there were some stories he just couldn’t do.
Once the morning came, Getz and his family returned to their home to find a few inches of mud inside the basement along with water damage, but the house happened to be just on the opposite side of the street of the flood zone.
The Journal at the time typically only had one reporter to work the late shift on Saturday and that was Getz.
Knowing the flood happened but not totally realizing how severe the storm was, Getz decided to head to work early believing he was going to be left to himself to report on the devastation.
Before heading into work, Getz decided to check the damage to his neighborhood first.
“I had walked up and down Jackson Boulevard, which at that time the water had receded 50 feet from my back door, there was a house sitting in the middle of the street," Getz said. "The 1950s-style house with attached garage setting right smack in the middle of Jackson Boulevard. That garage door was gone. You could look in and see lawn tools still hanging on the wall of the garage. Down the street four or five blocks there's another house sitting right in the middle of the street.
“I got down as far as Canyon Lake Park and the dam was gone but water was still rushing over because the creek was still very wide and the park was just filled with debris, trees and vehicles. At the base of this pile of debris was a body of a woman lying in a nightgown. And Don Polovich, our photographer, had gotten back to town and walked past the same thing and took a picture of this body of a flood victim. The Journal had a policy against running pictures of dead bodies. But they did publish that picture in that Sunday edition. And I think that's the only body picture that was ever shown.”
Once Getz got back to the Journal office, he was expecting to be working as the sole reporter with one page designer on desk. He came to find a bustling newsroom with editors and reporters busy, trying to track down as much information as they could.
Despite not being able to put out a Saturday paper due to the power outage on Friday night, the Journal was going to put out an edition on Sunday.
For Getz, having the police beat, tracking down information was a lot harder than usual given the police station had been washed away.
“One of the difficulties was that we couldn't actually believe what we were dealing with,” Getz said. “We said with shock, disbelief, there could be a dozen people dead. ‘Holy mackerel, there might be 20 people killed in this thing.’”
By the end of the day, the Journal reported the casualty list had reached “at least 105 dead.”
The Journal was also working on a missing persons list that only got longer.
“Everybody on the staff was involved in flood coverage. I think the thing I did more than anything else was gather information from law enforcers as to what they were doing, and it frequently became part of somebody else's news story. A fact-gatherer,” Getz said.
While news organizations from as far as London, Getz recalled, were in Rapid City to cover the devastation — the Journal still had a paper to put together with community happenings.
Despite how crazy the news cycle was, the Journal offered their hospitality to the visiting press.
That didn’t mean flood coverage wasn’t still a priority, it just meant there was even more to do.
“I looked at my old notebook from the week of the flood,” Getz said. “Three days after the flood. I had a whole list of names of people who had been in municipal court. Because we were still putting out a paper.”
Getz said while they probably were overworked, none of the Journal's staff felt like they were, but rather the news had to be covered.
Getz ventured off his police beat to help in coverage, including “Car Salvage a Major Operation” on how the city was handling the clean-up of the thousands of vehicles destroyed by the flood, along with “Insurance information” on how most of the damage caused from the flood wasn’t covered for most people.
“Talk about a boring headline,” Getz joked.
A story by Jack Getz from the 1972 Black Hills Flood talked about the lack of insurance for the victims of the flood.
Roughly a week following the flood, Getz said a group of law enforcement personnel from out of state came into town specifically to act as a body recovery team.
Getz managed to tag along with the group for a day. He described it as they were all wearing gas masks and he had to cover his face with his arm and sleeve.
Given the gruesome nature of the scene, Getz felt he couldn’t write that story.
“They pulled a few bodies out of places. I got back to the newsroom. And that was my feature story,” he said. “‘What the hell was I going to write? People would vomit if they read that.’ So I didn't write anything but I felt guilty for not.”
It didn’t take long for Getz and the rest of the staff to return to their traditional coverage roles, but the hard work of the Journal didn’t go unnoticed.
In 1973, the Journal received a special acknowledgement from the Pulitzer Prize jury "for its coverage of a disastrous flood which swept through the section."
“I thought it was an admirable exercise in American journalism that we gathered our forces and covered this story and continued to cover the community even while we were covering this earth shattering story,” Getz said of the Journal staff and how they handled the news.
Getz would later go on to become the Capitol reporter for the Journal and eventually the assistant news editor until 1984 when he decided to go back to school.
In 1985, Getz earned his master's degree from the University of Arizona and landed a teaching job at his alma mater, South Dakota State University, where he retired in 2010.
Getz and his wife now spend the majority of their time in St. Paul (Minn.) to be closer to their grandchildren, but spend the summers at their home in the Black Hills.
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2022-06-07T14:00:55Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: 'We were still putting out a newspaper' | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/1972-black-hills-flood-we-were-still-putting-out-a-newspaper/article_af894908-61b1-55f8-b5e0-c23f3d6d651c.html
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This memorial pays tribute to those who died in Keystone during the June 9, 1972 flood. The victims are all believed to be tourists who were camping in Keystone.
A new book, "Keystone Remembers," includes more than 60 stories from local residents plus photos and more documenting the 50th anniversary of the town and the 1972 flood.
Tom McKiernans works to clean a Keystone home after the flood that swept through Keystone, Rapid City and the surrounding area.
Rapid City Journal archive
The newly incorporated town of Keystone was nearly destroyed by the June 1972 flooding that devastated Rapid City. Keystone will celebrate its 50th anniversary by remembering the flood and focusing on the strength and perseverance of its residents.
Keystone was founded as a mining settlement in 1883, but it officially became a municipality on June 8, 1972 — and flooded the next day.
“The town’s official start and destruction is all linked together. People forget that because it was overshadowed by tragedy (in Rapid City),” said Cassandra Ott, Keystone finance officer.
Keystone will observe and celebrate its dual 50th anniversaries with three days of special events and the release of a new book, “Keystone Remembers.” The book includes stories that were collected for the 40th anniversary, and it adds new stories and before-and-after photos of downtown Keystone.
“It’s a time of sorrow and of joy,” Ott said. “We’re trying to focus on the resiliency of the community because they did rebuild. They didn’t have much option. Keystone was flooded and (locals) needed to have a tourist season.”
Keystone’s 50th anniversary observances begin at 4 p.m. Thursday with a remembrance ceremony at Keystone Community Center gym. Special guests will include a representative from the Small Business Administration, which Ott said was influential in rebuilding Keystone after the flood by offering affordable loans so business owners could rebuild. Ott said the town hopes individuals from the National Guard, Custer County Sheriff’s Office and the Red Cross, who offered emergency support services during and after the flooding, also will attend.
“We’ve invited a lot of people who lived through the flood so we can remember the victims and their own trauma through that day,” Ott said.
The mood turns celebratory on Friday, when a parade to mark the town’s 50th anniversary will travel through Keystone at 11 a.m. The town of 240 year-round residents will gather after the parade for a community barbecue in Watson Park. An awards ceremony will honor businesses that have been in Keystone for the past 50 years, and some of the families that have been influential in Keystone will be recognized, Ott said.
Some lawmakers, including Gov. Kristi Noem, have been invited to attend. Additionally, a guest speaker will talk about the 1880 Train’s role in Keystone through the years, and a master of the Lakota hoop dance, Dallas Chief Eagle, will give a presentation.
The Keystone Historical Museum, 410 Third Street, will host a ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday to recognize a special flood exhibit at the museum and the release of the book “Keystone Remembers.”
“Keystone Remembers” documents stories from more than 60 flood survivors, along with photos and logistical information about the flood, according to Casey Sullivan, Keystone Historical Museum director. The book can be purchased at Friday's ceremony and at the museum after that.
“We have several artifacts at the museum directly linked to the flood,” Sullivan said of the flood exhibit. “We focus a lot on the recovery and rebuilding of the town and the organizations that helped do that. We’ll have an assortment of things that try to honor and represent everything.”
Special events continue Saturday for kids and adults. The Black Hills Volkssport Association is sponsoring a Keystone Remembrance 50th Anniversary Flood Walk. Registration will be from 8 to 11 a.m. at the picnic shelter behind Keystone Community Center and Library on Highway 40 east of Keystone. The fee is $3 per walker.
Walkers must finish by 2 p.m. There will be 5K and 10K routes to follow, where walkers can see signs showing the destruction of the 1972 flood. For more information about the flood walk, call 605-574-3278 or go to bhva.org.
The town of Keystone will host a kids’ carnival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Watson Park. Kids can enjoy inflatable bouncy castles, food, face painting and more.
Watson Park itself is something of a memorial to the flood. The park is named for the family who donated the land to Keystone. In 1972, March Watson lived in a house on creekside property that’s now the park. When Keystone flooded, rescuers in a boat got March out of her house. Water had risen so high that March was on her kitchen table when her rescuers arrived, Ott said.
A rare event
Keystone officials have since learned the flooding that swept through the town on June 9, 1972 is considered a 500-year flood, Ott said. Nearly 15 inches of rain fell in six hours.
“The flood waters came down from Mount Rushmore on Grizzly Creek. It came through town and took out a campground,” she said. “There were cabins and … most of the people that passed away were staying in the campground.”
The campground was located on Roy Street, where Dahl’s Chainsaw Art is now.
Pennington County was overwhelmed with the Rapid Creek flooding. Custer County, the National Guard and the Red Cross aided Keystone, Ott said. The disaster in Rapid City was so overwhelming that many people there didn’t even know Keystone had flooded too until a day or two later.
“We had the National Guard putting in bridges. We had the Red Cross giving people shots so they wouldn’t get sick and giving people tents to stay in,” Ott said. “All of our bridges are the same age. They all got demolished at the same time and got rebuilt at the same time.”
Chaos at the time in the flooded communities caused confusion about the numbers of people who died in the flood, but Ott said no Keystone residents are believed to have perished. The flood victims in Keystone were about a dozen tourists – including a mother and her children from Pennsylvania – who were staying at a local campground.
Although that campground is gone, much of Keystone looks similar to the way it was in the 1970s, Ott said, because townspeople rebuilt quickly.
“Rapid City was one of the first towns in the country to say ‘No, we’re not letting people rebuild in the floodway,’” Ott said. “That didn’t happen in Keystone and Keystone relies on tourism. It did then and it does now. People were anxious to rebuild as fast as possible in order to take advantage of whatever summer they could.”
“Keystone is in a canyon. There aren’t a lot of places to build that aren’t in the floodway,” she said.
The newly incorporated town didn’t yet have much authority to stop people from rebuilding, Ott said, so owners of many buildings “dug the mud out and fixed them up and they kept going.”
Over the past 50 years, the town has put some laws in place about building in the floodway. Engineering firm AE2S recently conducted a flood study for the town of Keystone. Although Keystone has experienced some other flooding since 1972, none have been as severe.
“We do abide by FEMA’s rules. That’s why we got the flood study done, so we can know where those boundaries are and where we should be regulating (building),” Ott said.
The study had to be approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Ott said. The study concluded the 1972 flood was a very rare event. The odds of another 1972-type flood occurring are one in 500, according to the flood study research.
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2022-06-07T14:00:57Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Keystone marks town's start, deadly flood | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-keystone-marks-towns-start-deadly-flood/article_0ac33d5f-9825-584d-a655-319684f159fe.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-keystone-marks-towns-start-deadly-flood/article_0ac33d5f-9825-584d-a655-319684f159fe.html
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The high hurdles was one of the several events Chadron senior Tatum Bailey excelled in this spring. She also had the best marks among Northwest Nebraska girls in the 200 meters and triple and high jumps.
During the recent gathering to honor Chadron High junior Xander Provance, Chris and Randy Dickerson of Chadron admired the hardware that Xander had received after winning the Class B and All-Class Gold Medals in the 110 high hurdles at the State Track Meet on May 19. Randy possesses a similar medal. He won the Class A and All-Class Gold in the long jump as a senior at Scottsbluff in 1976. His mark of 23-5 ½ is believed to be the longest ever by a Panhandle high school athlete.
No doubt about it, numerous Northwest Nebraska high school track and field athletes had excellent seasons this spring. Nearly 40 of them from the six area schools that this review covers qualified for the state meet in Omaha. Sixteen of them placed at state and during the season they and many others improved their marks from a year ago.
Here’s some substantiation of the latter statement: Girls from the area schools who had the best marks this year had better times or distances than last year’s pacesetters in 13 of the 16 events. Boys who were event leaders this spring, outpaced last year’s leaders in 11 of the events.
The lists of the top three performances in each event this season and the comparisons made with the previous year that accompanies this story verifies the statements contained in the previous paragraph.
While there were many athletes in the immediate area who excelled in 2022, four of them had spectacular results. All are from Chadron.
They are seniors Chayton Bynes and Tatum Bailey and juniors Xander Provance and Malachi Swallow. Their successes have been spelled out before, but deserve mention again during this season review. Each of them had seasons that are few and far between and finished high on both Class B and All-Class standings for 2022,
Bynes had a magnificent season, the kind few athletes achieve. He won the long and triple jumps 17 of the 18 times he competed prior to the state meet and reset both the Chadron High and the Northwest Nebraska records in both events. His new standards are 23 feet, 1 ¾ inches in the long jump and 47-5 ¾ in the triple jump. The latter is also a Class B-4 District record.
Those marks led Class B entering the state meet. Both are third on the Omaha World-Herald’s All-Class lists for the entire season The triple jump is the best and the long jump is second in B for the year.
Bynes went 22- ½ in the long jump and 44-6 ½ in the triple jump in Omaha, placing him fourth in both. While he didn’t finish quite as high as he had hoped, he goes down as the best horizontal jumper in Chadron or Northwest Nebraska annals and one of the region’s all-time greats in the sport.
A meet-by-meet account of Bynes’s senior season accompanies this story.
Provance also deserves high accolades. After missing track and field as both a freshman and a sophomore, it took the 6-5 junior a while to go full speed this spring. He really turned it on in May, when he won the 110 high hurdles at the Bayard B-C-D, Class B-4 District and State Meets.
He not only became the Cardinals’ 24th Class B state meet champion, his time of 14.46 seconds also made him the 110 highs’ All-Class gold medalist at state. The World-Herald’s wrap-up for the entire season says D’Andre Ndugwa of Kearney High had the best 110 hurdle time of 14.28 in Nebraska for the season, with Provance’s 14.46 in Omaha second. Ndugwa placed seventh in Class A at Omaha in 15.36 seconds. Provance had a season best of 14.44 at the district meet.
Apparently, Allen Osborn is the only other Chadron High individual to win an all-class state title. He did it as a senior in 2008 in 14.12 seconds. That’s also the school record Provance will be aiming to claim next spring.
Before that Provance is expected to be a football all-state candidate, perhaps on both sides of the ball, and will be the only returning starter on the Cardinals’ basketball team. He says football is his choice as a college sport, and at has lined up tryouts with several Division I teams this summer in hopes of landing a scholarship for the fall of 2023.
Track was a rather new experience for Swallow this spring. Like everyone else, he missed the 2020 season because of COVID and had his sophomore season ended by shin splints about halfway through the schedule and before he had run the hurdles.
This year, he won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at the final three meets of the regular season. He placed third in Class B at the state meet with a career-best 39.57 seconds, which also was fifth in the all-class standings. Only two Cardinals, brothers Ben and Micah Smith, have ever run the event faster.
Swallow also seems to have the talent to help the CHS football team this fall. He carried the ball for three touchdowns against Valentine last fall. It appears his best is yet to come in both sports.
Bailey goes down as one of the most versatile, capable track and field athletes in Chadron annals. The accompanying calculation of the 2022 season shows that she had the best marks in four events—200 (which she ran just once), 110 hurdles, triple jump and high jump.
Despite not being able to compete as a sophomore because of COVID, Bailey placed five times at the state meet—three times in the high jump and twice in the triple jump. Her career bests are 5-6 in the high jump, 35-4 ¾ in the triple jump and 15.29 in the hurdles.
Her high jump best ties for the school record and her name is high on both of the other events’ lists. Blessed with excellent agility, endurance and strength, she also was an outstanding volleyball player, and it’s anticipated she will develop into an outstanding college decathlete.
Two more Cardinals, junior Rhett Cullers and senior Garrett Reece, deserve mention for their stellar seasons as hurdlers. They are credited by Coach Hoffman for providing friendly, but stiff, competition that turned Provance and Swallow into standouts. During the course of the season, Cullers won the highs four times and the intermediates three times.
In other words, when Provance or Swallow didn’t win their specialty, Cullers usually did while competing in both events. Also an outstanding football player and wrestler, Cullers was the runner-up to both of his teammates at the District Meet and placed sixth in highs at state. Meanwhile, Reece was always in close contention, providing more competition that made the Cardinals a dominate force in what is often the most exciting event on the track.
Malachi Swallow
Xander Provance
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2022-06-07T21:59:39Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Four Cardinals had spectacular seasons | Sports | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/sports/four-cardinals-had-spectacular-seasons/article_e50b210d-aa02-5ee8-81a2-bf27c77865ef.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/sports/four-cardinals-had-spectacular-seasons/article_e50b210d-aa02-5ee8-81a2-bf27c77865ef.html
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Rapid City landfill hours to extend June 20
Kristen Hasse, assistant Public Works director
Rapid City Landfill hours are returning to a full day starting June 20, the city’s Solid Waste Division announced Monday.
Assistant Public Work Director Kristen Hasse said Tuesday the landfill and Solid Waste Division needed to stabilize to find ways to get resources back, and to get their feet back under them.
She said there is now enough staff for the most part, so the hours are changing back to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday starting June 20. Hasse also said the north yard waste location will not see any changes.
Landfill hours were reduced in late February due to staff shortages.
“Full capacity is really able to meet the demand that we had,” Hasse said. “With our growth here, that is still somewhat of a question on what exactly we need to be fully staffed at the landfill. It seems like we have more demand every single day, but we are much better.”
She said there's some redundancy now with extra hires, so there is back-fill if someone gets sick or goes on vacation, which is something the division didn’t have before.
Hasse said the department worked with the city's human resources team and within Public Works to reach out to the public. She said retention and hiring bonuses played a role in maintaining and hiring staff. Hasse said as far as she knows, hiring bonuses haven’t been used before for the Solid Waste division.
She said Solid Waste, and specifically the landfill, is a high risk environment, and it can be hard to work out there all day long.
“It’s hard to find people that are dedicated and want to be in that environment,” Hasse said. “With those little incentives and the hard work that the superintendent and supervisors down there do every single day trying to keep them and taking care of our employees, that has been what the key has worked out for us.”
Hasse said the landfill is just one aspect of the Solid Waste Division. It includes curbside pickups and yard waste sites. She said when there was less staff, there was less morale. Hasse said people were shifting back and forth in their positions to cover all of the services and needs.
She said the division wants to be cautious and make sure they can meet all the demands and continue to look for other areas where they need to cut back services for a short term.
Hasse said because of the staffing issues, the department is looking across other divisions. She said the city is already working on a pay study for non-union employees, and the department is in the middle of negotiations with union staff.
“We’re really looking at ways we can better take care of the employees because we need them obviously,” she said. “That communication is much better.”
Hasse said there are still some struggles, but they’re trying to open up the channel of communication, and is trying to bring communication forward to the city council so they’re more aware of what’s going on.
Landfill hours until June 20 are 7 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Kristen Hasse
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2022-06-07T21:59:40Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City landfill hours to extend June 20 | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/rapid-city-landfill-hours-to-extend-june-20/article_2a4d59e0-00cd-5ce0-87b2-b626b7c5db7a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/rapid-city-landfill-hours-to-extend-june-20/article_2a4d59e0-00cd-5ce0-87b2-b626b7c5db7a.html
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The Pennington County State's Attorney's office charged Carl Relf, 53, with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for pointing and firing a handgun at five construction workers along State Highway 79 south of Rapid City, according to the indictment.
"This is a work in progress, but we don't have any indication at this point that he had anything to do with the construction team," said Helene Duhamel, spokesperson for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office.
The law enforcement report regarding the incident is sealed, but the Pennington County Sheriff's Office stated in a press release Tuesday morning sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a male shooting at construction workers at 1:30 p.m. Monday to the area of Highway 79 and Spring Creek Road south of Rapid City. South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers converged on the area.
Duhamel said it is unclear exactly how many shots Relf reportedly fired.
"A construction worker followed him to a two track road that was nearby, southeast of the intersection of Highway 79 and Spring Creek Road, so he was found pretty quickly," Duhamel said.
It is unclear when law enforcement arrested Delf. His booking time with the Pennington County Jail is listed as 7:02 p.m. Monday and Duhamel said he was under control by 1:49 p.m., but she could not provide an arrest time.
"They were still interviewing people all afternoon," Duhamel said.
Relf will appear in Pennington County court at 10 a.m. Wednesday after the court moved his initial appearance from Tuesday morning. He is currently in custody at the Pennington County Jail.
Pennington County Court
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2022-06-07T21:59:47Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City man arrested after construction site shooting, none injured | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-man-arrested-after-construction-site-shooting-none-injured/article_8b842fd5-3c72-5a2f-b2aa-38a9ebd9e50c.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-man-arrested-after-construction-site-shooting-none-injured/article_8b842fd5-3c72-5a2f-b2aa-38a9ebd9e50c.html
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Council votes for their own city-funded health plan
The Rapid City Council and Mayor Steve Allender listen to former Mayor Don Barnett talk about campaign fairness Monday night at the Rapid City Council meeting.
Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender continues the council's Monday night agenda at the beginning of the meeting in council chambers.
Taxpayers could pay an estimated $105,000 for Rapid City Council members to benefit from the city's health care plan following a 9-1 approval from the council Monday night.
Council members and their beneficiaries would be able to enroll in the city health care plan starting July 1. Council member Laura Armstrong was the sole dissenting vote.
Mayor Steve Allender said the estimated out-of-pocket cost for all 10 members of the council to enroll for one year is about $105,000. The costs will come from the Council Contingency fund. The necessary money would be pulled from the fund and allocated to the health care plan. Allender said this would be budgeted separately in 2023.
Armstrong said she was confused why the item was being brought forward now during the budget process since someone tried to bring forward allocation to the arts a month or so ago and it was turned down.
"I just don't like the optics now that this council will be benefiting from it," Armstrong said. "Obviously rightly so, I'm the only one that is against this. I just have concerns."
Council member Darla Drew said the benefit might increase the number of candidates that come forward. Drew, who did not run for re-election and will not benefit from the policy, said a lack of candidates isn't good for democracy.
Council member Ron Weifenbach, who is also leaving the council in July, said the monetary reward is limited for the hard work it is to be on the council, although people don't join the council for the money.
"This is a good decision to be made," he said. "The cost is minimal in comparison to the return that they will get and the sacrifice you pay when you do take on as public servant to be a councilman here."
The council unanimously approved staff negotiating with Gallagher Consulting to enter into an agreement for a non-union compensation study. The study would cost about $80,000 and be completed by November.
Council member Jason Salamun said this is how the city can establish competitive salaries.
Finance Director Pauline Sumption said the company will be asked to suggest pay scales and the council would have the final say about implementation.
She said the directors have discussed wage study schedules. She said there are three unions and a non-union group in the city. She said they'd like to get to the point where the city studies each group every year.
Former Mayor Don Barnett addressed the city council and said much has changed in 50 years not only from the flood, but in election and campaign fairness.
"Maybe I could just suggest that civility on Wednesday morning is very important to Rapid City," he said. "We've got to get over this negative name calling and this viciousness. I've never seen an election like this with a degree of adjectives as strong as there seems to be in the public appetite in this election here."
Former Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett talks about the importance of working together between the Rapid City Council and the mayor's office Monday night at the Rapid City Council meeting in council chambers.
Barnett said he didn't think it was a Republican or Democrat animosity. He said it seems like some candidates are not only running to win but to destroy their opponent.
"That's not healthy for democracy," he said.
Barnett shared his thoughts on the election and the importance of collaboration and understanding between the Rapid City Council and mayor's office Monday night during the council meeting as a special guest.
He said when he ran for mayor in 1971, he and his opponent became friends.
When he won the race, Barnett said he knew he needed effective communication with the council. He said he got off to a bad start but the council convinced him he didn't have all the answers.
"I learned from those pokes in the nose that we could get along, and the more we cooperated and the more I lowered my profile, the more business we got done," he said. "Then I was able to use productively the wisdom and brains of the city council, and we governed as a team. That team did some wonderful things for Rapid City."
Barnett said he learned when they ironed out the policies, used their ears and not their personalities, the best policies would come off the table.
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2022-06-08T00:31:55Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Council votes for their own city-funded health plan | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/council-votes-for-their-own-city-funded-health-plan/article_acaac272-85b2-5e47-9cb0-2f5224287d5b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/council-votes-for-their-own-city-funded-health-plan/article_acaac272-85b2-5e47-9cb0-2f5224287d5b.html
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Reid Hansen ties for 3rd as Gregory wins Class B boys state golf title
CLASS B BOYS STATE GOLF
Richard Anderson Journal correspondent
Wall's Reid Hansen hits a putt on the 15th hole during the Class B boys state golf tournament Tuesday at Rapid City Elks Golf Course.
Gregory’s Coy Determan and Faulkton Area’s Bennett Cassens had reason to celebrate, despite rain washing out Tuesday’s second day of the Class B boys state golf tournament at Rapid City Elks Golf Course.
Determan and Cassens tied for the lead after the first 18 holes of play at 76 and were declared co-medalists of the tournament, which was cut in half because of lightning and heavy rains. Tournament officials tried to make a go of it Tuesday and were only able to finish the first 18 holes, but not the tournament.
Reverting back to the first 18 holes also meant that Gregory was also able to come away with the team title with a three-player score of 235 strokes.
Determan and Cassens were steady and were in a four-way tie for second place at 4-over par before Monday’s stoppage. Garretson’s Cooper Long actually had a two-stroke lead after play was suspended, but he had three holes to finish up Tuesday morning and he dropped back to a tie for third after completing his first 18 holes.
Determan and Cassens were able to finish their 18 holes Monday and those 76s held up. Wall senior Reid Hansen, in that four-way tie for second Monday at 4-over, had six holes to play Tuesday and finished in a four-way tie for third at 77 with Kody Klumb of Ethan, Daysen Titze of Stanley County and Long.
Determan, who will play basketball at Northwestern College in Iowa next season, was an unlikely winner after struggling to stay healthy the past two years because of knee injuries. This was also his first actual season of golf because of those injuries and the 2020 season that was canceled due to COVID-19.
Members of the Gregory boys golf team pose with the state championship trophy after winning the Class B state title Tuesday at Rapid City Elks Golf Course.
He was cleared to play golf earlier in the season and he made the best of it despite not actually qualifying for state individually. He was able to make the trip to Rapid City because the Gorillas qualified as a team after placing second in the Region 4B Tournament May 24 in Mitchell.
Yet, he was still confident going into the tournament.
“I only made it here because our team made it in the region,” Determan said with a big smile. “But I knew I could golf better than I did. All year I have been telling these guys that I was going to win this one.”
The key at state, Determan said, was finding the clubs that were working for him to go along with his strong putting.
“That’s what wins championships,” he said. “This was icing on the cake, this senior year.”
With the co-championship, Cassens became the first state tournament winner at Faulkton Area, while finding some redemption after losing last year’s state title by one stroke.
“Coming in I didn’t want to worry about all of that, I just wanted to worry about what I could do to hit the best shots,” said Cassens. “I really struggled Monday on the greens so I stayed on the fairway. My approach shots were good and I stayed out of trouble and stayed away from the big numbers. Bogeys, pars and birdies, that’s what I got.”
Cassens hadn’t planned on playing golf in college, but after his state title, that might all change. He’s looking to attend Mount Marty University in Yankton.
“I thought I had made a decision on not golfing, but I am starting to change my mind, especially with the way things ended here,” he said. ‘I really love this sport and I want to do some more competitiveness.”
Trey Murray of Gregory and Lane Hodges of Howard tied for seventh with a 78, while Sam Hansen of Great Plains Lutheran and Carson Pederson of Hamlin tied for ninth at 79.
The top six golfers — Determan, Cassens, Hansen, Klumb, Titze and Long — were named to the all-state team.
Wall's Reid Hansen tees off on the 17th hole during the Class B boys state golf tournament Tuesday at Rapid City Elks Golf Course.
Gregory head coach Kaitlyn Steffen said they were hoping to golf Tuesday because they wanted to win it both days, but they will certainly take the team win after Monday’s stellar performance.
“We were improving ourselves this morning too and we were so happy to win. These boys put in so much time on the course … I’m pretty sure they live out there,” she said. “They have really worked so hard for this and I am so happy we were able to pull it off.”
Also for the Gorillas at state, Kade Stukel and Eli Fogel both were in a seven-way tie for 14th place at 81.
“We have a solid team that the competitiveness has given us our edge,” she said. “They weren’t just given their spot, they had to really earn it. The boys were ready to go. They got out there and played their game. They were going to do what they were doing all year. We had been working hard in our region and they brought it all to state.”
Garretson placed second, five strokes behind the Gorillas, at 24-over, followed by Ethan at 26-over, Wall in fourth at 28-over and Chester Area, Faulkton Area and Ipswich in a three-way tie for fifth place at 30-over.
SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Randy Soma said it was unfortunate that they couldn’t get the full 36 holes in, but they tried. Soma said they didn’t even know if we were going to be able to go Tuesday and that changed late Monday night when they decided to give it a shot.
The weather held up in the morning but by early afternoon, lightning once again started the delay before heavy rains came. By about 3 p.m., the tournament was called off.
“The more we discussed it. coaches’ emails, communicating with different people, we thought, ‘Let’s give it a try.’ It was something we needed to do and tried to do for our kids,” he said. “The weather kept coming. There were pauses, but by the time we got everybody out it was going to happen again. We had been watching the weather, watching the lightning strikes. It just didn’t work out in our favor today.
“But we were able to get the 18 holes in which we had to do to crown state champions, although it was still disappointing that we weren’t able to get the full 36 in.”
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2022-06-08T02:47:19Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Reid Hansen ties for 3rd as Gregory wins Class B boys state golf title | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/reid-hansen-ties-for-3rd-as-gregory-wins-class-b-boys-state-golf-title/article_7673acde-f928-5af5-80f0-c018adb6bf76.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/reid-hansen-ties-for-3rd-as-gregory-wins-class-b-boys-state-golf-title/article_7673acde-f928-5af5-80f0-c018adb6bf76.html
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AP projection: Amendment C soundly defeated
In this Jan. 12, 2021, file photo, sun shines on state Capitol in Pierre, S.D.
Erin Bormett//The Argus Leader via AP, File
SIOUX FALLS | Primary voters soundly defeated an amendment to the state constitution, proposed by Republican lawmakers, that would have made it more difficult to pass ballot initiatives that raise taxes or spend public funds. The proposal called for placing a 60% vote threshold on ballot measures to raise taxes or spend more than $10 million within five years of enactment.
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2022-06-08T05:01:45Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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AP projection: Amendment C soundly defeated | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ap-projection-amendment-c-soundly-defeated/article_860ea9c7-ce1b-528b-a99a-285235971716.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ap-projection-amendment-c-soundly-defeated/article_860ea9c7-ce1b-528b-a99a-285235971716.html
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AP projection: Rep. Dusty Johnson wins over Taffy Howard
WASHINGTON | Dusty Johnson wins Republican nomination for U.S. House in South Dakota.
Johnson defeated state lawmaker Taffy Howard in the Republican primary for the state’s lone House spot. The $300,000 Howard's campaign raised was dwarfed by Johnson’s $1.8 million, but a number of national political action committees spent money in the race as it began to look competitive.
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2022-06-08T05:01:57Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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AP projection: Rep. Dusty Johnson wins over Taffy Howard | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ap-projection-rep-dusty-johnson-wins-over-taffy-howard/article_802dbf6e-c3a2-5053-83a0-c6ba84e5bffa.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ap-projection-rep-dusty-johnson-wins-over-taffy-howard/article_802dbf6e-c3a2-5053-83a0-c6ba84e5bffa.html
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CHADRON - Craig Conway of Chadron, Nebraska, died May 29, 2022 at Rose Medical Center in Denver after a prolonged illness.
Craig was born September 29, 1975, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Darrell Conway and Robin Perry. He grew up in Bridgeport, Nebraska, and graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1994. He continued his education at Chadron State College, where he graduated in 1998. The following year, he married the love of his life, Joleen (McKibben) Conway. Craig and Joleen made their home in Chadron and welcomed their daughter, Gillian, in 2008.
During his life, Conway was diagnosed with rare cancers multiple times and within the last decade, he underwent several surgeries, extended hospital stays in Illinois, Georgia, and Colorado, as well as multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Throughout these procedures, Craig maintained a positive attitude and served as an inspiration and beacon of perseverance for many.
Craig worked at Chadron State College for 21 years, most recently as a Publications Specialist who managed the Print Shop. He was hired as a Print Shop Technician and operated the college's offset printing press for several years while handling finishing services, such as binding, folding, and cutting. In addition to his printing expertise, Conway was a talented graphic designer and artist.
Craig is survived by his wife, Joleen, daughter, Gillian, father, Darrell and his wife Deb, mother, Robin and her husband Steve, six sisters: Cheree Fisher (Hal), Jessica Roebuck, Shelby Spaur (Kyle), Melanie Jackson (Bill), Mary Moore, and Bobbie Stuart (Derek). Also surviving him are his extended family, including his in-laws and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Preceding Craig in death were his grandparents and a niece, Audrey.
A memorial service will be Friday, June 17 at 10 a.m. at Memorial Hall on the campus of Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska, with Pastor Aaron Sprock officiating. Services will be livestreamed through Bridgeport Memorial Chapel's Facebook page. A graveside service will be Friday June 17 at 2:30 p.m. at the Oregon Trail Memorial Cemetery in Bridgeport, Nebraska. A reception will follow at Court House & Jail Rock Golf Course in Bridgeport, Nebraska.
Memorials are established for Circle of Light at the Chadron Community Hospital and the Nebraska Children's Home. Donations may be sent to Bridgeport Memorial Chapel, PO Box 367, Bridgeport, NE 69336, who is in charge of arrangements. Fond memories and condolences may be left at www.bridgeportmemorialchapel.com.
Joleen
Memorial Hall
Robin Perry
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2022-06-08T07:03:28Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Craig Conway | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/craig-conway/article_ad949eb1-56f3-522f-85f6-a0d36a807fc2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/craig-conway/article_ad949eb1-56f3-522f-85f6-a0d36a807fc2.html
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Maria L. Wheeler-Groves, 64, lost her life in a tragic motorcycle accident near St. George, Utah. Her soul mate, Levi Grant, also perished in this accident.
Maria, much better known as Mimi, was born August 14, 1957 in Frederick, Oklahoma to Fred and Lucy Wheeler. She was the youngest of three siblings. Joining sister Cathy and Brother Rick. Rick recalls her being a nice, high spirited little girl. At the age of 10, the family moved to Chadron, where her father was hired as the speech and theater instructor at CSC.
Within the first year, Mimi was cast in a child's role in the production of "My Fair Lady". Her father was tasked with building the Post Playhouse from the ground up and the whole family was involved from set construction to costume creation and repair. She used these talents helping her friend Lisa Anderson in wardrobe duties at the Civic Center in Rapid City.
Before buying Helen's, she spent some years working for the Office of Human Development and had a special place in her heart for the developed mentally disabled as well and anyone at a disadvantage. She served as conservator for several, including her sister Cathy, having been stricken with MS.
A special (among many) friends, Deb Shuck, is left to mourn her passing, they shared many adventures going way back.
Many people knew Mimi from Helen's Restaurant, which had a way of making the staff and clientele become family. Literally thousands of people have been touched by her hard work at Helen's. Her daughter Jen carries that on today.
Mimi leaves being children Christina Hall, Jen Wright and her children Asher and Adeline, and son Logan Groves and his partner Becca Chasek. Her Brother Rick (wife Gretchen) as well as their children Megan O'Connel and Aaron Wheeler. And numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
Preceding her in death were her parents Fred and Lucy and her sister Cathy.There will be a celebration of life held on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at 2:00 PM at Chamberlain Chapel in Chadron, Nebraska, to honor the memory of Mimi. Suggested as a memory donation in Mimi's honor may be made to CSC Foundation Wheeler Family Fine Arts Scholarship. Donations can be sent to Chamberlain Chapel, PO Box 970, Chadron, NE 69337.
Lucy Wheeler
Jen Wright
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2022-06-08T07:03:32Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Maria L. Wheeler-Groves | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/maria-l-wheeler-groves/article_50404024-29f6-5b5f-b301-cb31dd5b51c3.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/maria-l-wheeler-groves/article_50404024-29f6-5b5f-b301-cb31dd5b51c3.html
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Becky Drury, Steve Duffy win District 32, number indicate Mike Derby and Jess Olson win District 34 primary
Steve Duffy
Becky Drury
As unofficial results kept streaming in late Tuesday night, clear front runners and winners were apparent in the Republican primaries for House Districts 32 and 34.
Steve Duffy and Becky Drury won the Republican primary for South Dakota House District 32. As of late Tuesday night, Drury had 40% of the counted votes. Duffy had 39%. They beat Jamie Giedd, who had 21% of the vote late Tuesday.
Results were still pending from one precinct.
Duffy and Drury will go on to the general election in November to compete against Democrat candidates Christine Stephenson and Jonathan M. Old Horse for two seats representing South Dakota House District 32.
District 32 encompasses the central core of Rapid City. It was recently redistricted to include more Native American representation. Chris Johnson, one of the district's incumbents, announced he would not seek re-election, leaving one seat open.
Originally elected to the House in 2020, Drury was appointed to three House committees — taxation, local government and military affairs. Drury represented Ward 1 on the Rapid City Council from 2017 to 2020. She served as the chair of the city's legal and finance committee from 2019-2020 and was the vice chair of the City Council from 2018-2019.
Reacting to the election results, Drury said she was thankful to voters who turned out at the polls.
"We just had Memorial weekend. We just had D-Day, and we had a lot of people sacrifice for our country, so we have that right to go and get out and vote. And I just am so thankful for everybody that did and I appreciate it," she said.
Drury said she looks forward to continuing to meet people face to face as the general election approaches. She plans to focus on having a balanced budget for South Dakota if she returns to the House.
"I think one of our bigger issues going forward is we have had so much federal money coming down and that is going to stop at some point in time, and I think everybody realizes that," Drury said. "I think it's just imperative that we continue to have a balanced budget for South Dakota. It's our obligation to do that, and we're going to have to make some hard decisions to make that happen, but I'm just fully engaged in going forward to work on that."
Duffy worked as a sales executive at KOTA-TV for 23 years. He is a past co-owner of several radio station in the Rapid City market and also managed South Dakota Cable. He now owns residential properties in the area. His wife, Helene Duhamel, is the senator for District 32.
In a statement announcing his bid, Duffy said he spoke to his family about running for office before making the decision. He said observations during his wife's tenure in the Senate inspired him.
Duffy said he wanted to focus on "smart growth" for Rapid City and South Dakota when he announced his candidacy. That was a theme he emphasized again on election night.
"I suppose the top priority for me is going to be trying to help the smart growth for Rapid City. It just seemed like Rapid City's growing at an unbelievable level for a town this size. And there's a lot of people coming. Well, what I would really like to see is if we could bring companies or create jobs for the people who are already here," Duffy said.
Duffy said he is "thrilled" about the results of the election. As far as his campaign, Duffy said the process was more work than he expected.
"It was a tough campaign. It was a lot more work than I thought it was, so I'll be straight up with you. This is a ton of work," he told the Journal late Tuesday night.
The first-time candidate said campaigning door to door helped him better understand the area where he lives.
"The interesting thing for me was you get out and you knock on enough doors and you really start to connect with these people," Duffy said. "I certainly had my share of people that didn't agree with me, but I got to go to parts of town that I hadn't been to, where I've driven through a million times but never stopped and walked. That was enlightening for me."
Duffy noted the competitiveness of District 32 going into the general election.
"32 is a way different district. It's one of the five most competitive districts between Democrats and Republicans, so it is absolutely going to be a very competitive district. I know Becky, she's a sharp, good representative. I know the Democrats have a couple of good candidates, so I'll get in there and do the best I can," he said.
As of late Tuesday night, unofficial vote counts indicated incumbents Mike Derby and Jess Olson won the Republican primary for South Dakota House District 34, which encompasses most of west Rapid City. Half of the precincts' votes in the district had been counted, with Mike Derby at 41%, Jess Olson at 34% and Jodie Frye at 25%.
There were still three precincts left to report results late Tuesday.
Derby owns Canyon Lake Resort in Rapid City. He is on House committees for taxation and transportation. He also sits on the executive board for the legislature.
If Derby wins in the general election, it will be his fifth term in the legislature. Derby served from 1997-2002 before voters elected him in 2020.
When announcing his intent to run for re-election, Derby said he is proud of five bills he sponsored that made it to the governor's desk, and his leadership in the House.
Derby has said said if he's re-elected, he will run for House majority leader.
Olson has served in the House for four years. She is on the committees for taxation, education, military and veterans affairs, and local government.
The fourth-generation South Dakotan owns Stay Graceful, a home healthcare company in Rapid City. She has also served on a number of community boards.
Olson said she wants to continue to bring policies that are conducive to economic growth, and she touted a bill that assisted in funding for adoption and foster care.
Derby and Olson will go up against Democrats Darla Drew and Jay Shultz in the general election in November.
Jess Olson
Jodie Frye
Jamie Giedd
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2022-06-08T07:03:39Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Becky Drury, Steve Duffy win District 32, number indicate Mike Derby and Jess Olson win District 34 primary | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/becky-drury-steve-duffy-win-district-32-number-indicate-mike-derby-and-jess-olson-win/article_a37b34f8-556f-5442-a153-196bf2dd2f40.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/becky-drury-steve-duffy-win-district-32-number-indicate-mike-derby-and-jess-olson-win/article_a37b34f8-556f-5442-a153-196bf2dd2f40.html
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Michael Birkeland, Rapid City Area 3 School board candidate
Gabe Doney
Jamie Clapham, candidate for Area 6 on the Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education, answers an audience question Tuesday.
With several ballots left to count, unofficial results from the South Dakota Secretary of State's office show Michael Birkeland was leading the race in Area 3 over incumbent Gabe Doney. The same results were shown in Area 6, where Jamie Clapham had the lead over Janyce Hockenbary late Tuesday.
The Journal has not called the races as complete, but throughout Tuesday evening, Birkeland and Clapham maintained about a 60% lead over Doney and Hockenbary.
Birkeland is a former teacher at Central High School. He is now a teacher at the digital Arizona State University Preparatory Academy. Birkeland is a Rapid City native. He received his math and science teaching degree from Black Hills State University and is now pursuing his master's degree in learning design and technologies from Arizona State University.
Birkeland said he left RCAS after six years teaching. He said his resignation was "spurred by wanting to change how the students and teachers were impacted by the school board's decisions." Birkeland said he wants to start with updating facilities. He said when he taught math at Central for six years, it rained in his classroom.
Doney was first elected in June 2021. He grew up in Chamberlain and has a degree in industrial engineering from South Dakota Mines. Doney is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the South Dakota National Guard. He is the assistant chief of the Whispering Pines Volunteer Fire Department and a member of the SDSM&T Industrial Engineering Advisory Board, and the Pennington County Fire Service Board-West Central District.
Doney ran on a platform of "bringing normalcy and stability in our school system through a strong governing board." In his statement for Tuesday's forum, Doney said he felt students needed to get back to a normal school setting during the COVID-19 pandemic and that parents need better accountability from the district.
Clapham is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and is a physical therapist at Monument Health. She received her bachelor's degree from Furman University and a master's degree in physical therapy from the Medical College of Georgia. Clapham moved to the Black Hills in 2011 and is the president of the Rapid City PTA Council.
Clapham said she believes that a strong public school system is the foundation of a strong community and through her work with the PTA Council and Black Hawk Elementary she is committed to giving back. She said she decided to run because she is in RCAS schools on a weekly basis and sees a need for "urgent changes in this district."
Hockenbary is a South Dakota native. She is a retired business owner and currently owns rental properties. Hockenbary attended Black Hills State University and received a cosmetology degree from Headlines Academy in Rapid City. She said she also taught at Headlines Academy and ran an apprenticeship program in Montana.
Hockenbary said she decided to run because she prayed about how to get involved and the Lord told her to run. She said she has the time to serve on the RCAS board because she is retired and she feels the position is a "30 to 40 hour a week job." Hockenbary said she is concerned over parental rights in education and the educational practices of teachers.
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2022-06-08T07:03:45Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Birkeland, Clapham lead RCAS race | Election | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/election/birkeland-clapham-lead-rcas-race/article_3ac63442-47ec-5891-80ce-53cd2d28f6e7.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/election/birkeland-clapham-lead-rcas-race/article_3ac63442-47ec-5891-80ce-53cd2d28f6e7.html
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The District 30 State Senate race was far too close to call on Tuesday night at press time. The battle between two District 30 legislators was within 21 votes after 15 of 25 precincts reported. Much of Pennington County's portion of the district had not been tabulated.
Julie Frye-Mueller, the incumbent for the seat, led Tim Goodwin who was leaving the House of Representatives to challenge her. Frye-Mueller held a precarious 21-vote lead with more than 3,600 votes counted.
In the House race which opened up after Goodwin left his seat vacant, Dennis Krull with 28% of the vote and incumbent Trish Ladner with 26% were in the lead with 15 of 25 precincts reporting. Patrick Baumann had 24% of the vote so this race was also far too close to call at press time.
In District 33, the Senate race rematch between David Johnson and Janet Jensen held true to form from the 2020 election between the two. In 2020, Johnson received 56% of the vote to Jensen's 44% and Tuesday night, Johnson was leading with 57% of the vote with five precincts left to be counted.
In the District 33 House of Representatives race, Phil Jensen won a spot on the general election ballot with more than 30% of the vote.
Incumbents held off opponents in the District 35 House of Representatives race. Tony Randolph and Tina Mulally held almost the same percentages in each of the nine precincts and the early and absentee voting, with each garnering about 30% of the vote. Box Elder Mayor Larry Larson and Elizabeth Regalado each held about 20% of the vote with one precinct left to be counted as of press time.
Incumbent Jessica Castleberry ran unopposed for her seat in the District 35 Senate race.
@kentbush
Follow Kent Bush
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2022-06-08T07:03:51Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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District 30 races too close to call as leaders emerge in 33 and 35 | Election | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/election/district-30-races-too-close-to-call-as-leaders-emerge-in-33-and-35/article_eb5234c2-1179-5fad-8e34-f022a7b0fbd9.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/election/district-30-races-too-close-to-call-as-leaders-emerge-in-33-and-35/article_eb5234c2-1179-5fad-8e34-f022a7b0fbd9.html
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Greta Anderson named co-champion as Bison girls claim Class B state golf championship
Bison junior Greta Anderson is hugged after the Cardinal girls golf team was announced the winners of the Class B girls state golf tournament on Tuesday at Hart Ranch Golf Course.
Last season, Bison finished as the runner-up at the 2021 Class B girls state golf tournament, falling to Etelline/Hendrick by two strokes. From that moment, the Cardinals set out to claim their crown in 2022.
After multiple weather delays over two days, Bison finally lifted the state championship trophy with a convincing team win Tuesday at Hart Ranch Golf Course.
“There is nothing like this, it’s awesome,” Bison head coach Jeffrey Johnson said. “It’s great for the girls and that’s what we’ve been working for. To get it done is totally amazing with the stoppage of play and then going back out there.”
The Cardinals finished at 536 in the 36-hole tournament, three strokes better than Chester Area, which finished as the runner-up.
In the individual standings, Bison’s Greta Anderson trailed Miller’s Jayce Pugh, the defending state champion, for virtually the entire tournament.
Pugh held a four-stroke lead, with Anderson in the clubhouse, as she approached the par-5 18th hole.
Pugh’s tee shot fell short of the creek bed and her second and third strokes bounced around the creek. Eventually, she reached the green and finished with a nine on the hole, bringing the eighth grader’s total score to 163, tied with Anderson.
“I knew she was four shots ahead of me,” Anderson said. “I saw her second shot by the creek and she kind of duffed her second shot, so I started to get hope but then I thought she finished with eight.”
Bison junior Greta Anderson watches a chip shot on Tuesday at Hart Ranch Golf Course in Rapid City.
Typically, a tie through 36 holes at State leads to a playoff until an outright winner can be determined. The weather, however, led SDHSAA officials to declare Anderson and Pugh co-champions.
At first, Anderson thought Pugh holed out with an eight on 18, which would've given the Miller standout an outright title. A few minutes later, the Bison junior learned her true fate.
“When they told me we tied I thought there would be a playoff, but then they said there are going to be co-champions, and I’m so happy for her,” Anderson said. “She is a two-time champ as an eighth grader and that’s amazing.”
Anderson finished fourth in last season’s tournament after finishing the first day tied for the lead in the individual standings. Johnson said he was thrilled to see her hold on Tuesday to claim a share of the state title.
“To get that done is super special,” Johnson said. “It’s truly amazing and great for her.”
The junior said sharing the title did not cheapen the rush of emotions she felt when she learned the news.
“It’s just really exciting and it’s everything I could’ve dreamed of,” Anderson said. “That’s what God had in line for today and I’m just speechless.”
Allison Kahler was the runner-up in 2021 and bounced back from a slow start Monday to share the runner-up title with Jones County’s Kamri Kittleson at 168.
Bison junior Allison Kahler watches her ball on Tuesday at Hart Ranch Golf Course.
Kahler said she was proud of Anderson for winning and of her team for capturing the overall title.
“I think we are on top of the world right now,” Kahler said. “This is what we’ve been looking at since we got second last year and we got it done.”
Kamri spent a lot of time practicing at Hart Ranch over the last few weeks in preparation for the tournament. The strategy of the Coyotes eight-grader paid off with an All-Tournament Team selection.
“I played a practice round before pre-regions and region and then we came out here Thursday, Saturday and Sunday before State,” Kamri said. “This is a good reward.”
Other Bison scorers that contributed to the team title were Ella Anderson at 210 and Mary Carmichael at 207.
All four Cardinals golfers return next season as seniors.
"All four of us are juniors and will be back," Kahler said. "So we are going to work hard to win it twice."
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2022-06-08T07:04:03Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Greta Anderson named co-champion as Bison girls claim Class B state golf championship | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/greta-anderson-named-co-champion-as-bison-girls-claim-class-b-state-golf-championship/article_c189ebdc-751d-5717-a5df-bf12ca803053.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/greta-anderson-named-co-champion-as-bison-girls-claim-class-b-state-golf-championship/article_c189ebdc-751d-5717-a5df-bf12ca803053.html
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Evans keeps seat, Roseland joins Rapid City Council
Candidates for Rapid City Council include, clockwise from top: Bill Evans, Ward 2; Lindsey Seachris, Ward 2; J.J. Carrell, Ward 5; and Patrick Roseland, Ward 5.
Patrick Roseland
JJ Carrell
The Rapid City Council will have one new face starting in July for Ward 5, and Council member Bill Evans returning to Ward 2, with incomplete results as of late Tuesday night.
With three of five precincts reporting, Patrick Roseland had 69% of the votes over J.J. Carrell's 31%. Evans narrowly won with 54% of the votes over challenger Lindsey Seachris who had 46% of the vote with four of five precincts reporting.
Ward 5 covers much of northwest Rapid City. It generally follows a line west of Fifth Street, north of Flormann Street to Skyline Drive. It also covers areas north of West Main Street and west of Canyon Lake Drive, with a small portion of Jackson Boulevard also as a boundary.
Roseland will fill the seat left open by Council member Darla Drew, who has served on the council for eight years. Drew is running as a candidate for representative in District 34.
Roseland, a United States Navy veteran and retired registered nurse, said he ran due to the growth Rapid City is experiencing. He said he appreciates the voters who cast their ballot for him and the people who wrote letters, made signs and knocked on doors. He also thanked Carrell.
"A thank you to my opponent who brought the best out in me," Roseland said. "It was not an easy race, but I thank him also for helping me become a better man in this race."
Roseland said after he's sworn in in July, he'll have a lot to learn. He said although he was elected in Ward 5, he also represents all of the citizens in Rapid City. He said he looks forward to being part of the growth while also preserving the historic areas.
Carrell is currently the director of college and career readiness at Rapid City Area Schools.
Ward 2 generally covers much of northeast Rapid City from points east of Fifth Street, south of North Street and north of Cleveland Street.
Evans was first elected to his seat in 2019 and currently serves as the vice president of the City Council. He previously told the Journal he would like to continue working on communication between council members, and between the council and city staff. He said he'd focus on future infrastructure and getting plans in place for 10, 15 and 100 years down the line.
Seachris is a marketing specialist in the Office of Economic Development at South Dakota Mines. She said she hopes to move the city toward strategic growth.
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2022-06-08T07:04:16Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Evans keeps seat, Roseland joins Rapid City Council | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/evans-keeps-seat-roseland-joins-rapid-city-council/article_f1a978be-a0ba-50c3-b493-1e81cf220f74.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/evans-keeps-seat-roseland-joins-rapid-city-council/article_f1a978be-a0ba-50c3-b493-1e81cf220f74.html
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Donna Pearl Taylor
STURGIS - Donna Pearl Taylor, 77, of Sturgis formerly of Rapid City, SD, died in Sturgis on Sunday, June 5, 2022.
Mass of Christian burial will be 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 16, 2022, at St. Therese of the Little Flower Catholic Church in Rapid City with an interment to follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Rapid City, SD.
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2022-06-08T07:04:28Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Donna Pearl Taylor | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/donna-pearl-taylor/article_36b73d13-bb28-5f0c-b94d-b151b98447ee.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/donna-pearl-taylor/article_36b73d13-bb28-5f0c-b94d-b151b98447ee.html
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RAPID CITY - LaMont Cass, 94, died Friday, May 20, 2022 at the Good Samaritan Society, St. Martin Village in Rapid City, South Dakota.
LaMont Douglas Cass, an only child, was born October 15, 1927, in Menno, South Dakota to Douglas and Erna (Schempp) Cass. He attended school and graduated Scotland High School, SD, in 1945. He lettered in basketball and football, played the trumpet and ran track. He entered the United States Navy on September 4, 1945, where he was a Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class. He was honorably discharged on October 14, 1948.
After his military service he attended Yankton College in, SD majoring in chemistry & biology, graduating in 1951. While in college, he was employed at the State Hospital where he met his future wife Ida Eissinger, who was also employed at the State Hospital and attending Yankton college. He and Ida married on June 19, 1949, in Wishek, North Dakota. They celebrated 72 years of marriage in 2021. Ida passed away in September 2021. Son LeLand was born to this college couple in Yankton. LaMont, Ida and LeLand moved to Ames, Iowa, where he worked for Atomic Research at the Ames Laboratory of the Atomic Energy Commission. Son Gary was born in Ames. Employment took the family to Ft Dodge, Iowa, where LaMont was quality control supervisor at U.S. Gypsum. Daughter Lori was born in Ft. Dodge. They then moved to Rapid City, SD, where LaMont worked for Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Company for 30 years. He retired in 1985. LaMont was active in water & snow skiing, volleyball, RV travel/camping and his love Pickle Ball of which he was the original organizer at the Canyon Lake Senior Center. The folks called him "Mr. Pickle-Ball". His love of dogs was learned from his grandfather and passed down to his kids, grand kids and great grandkids. The Cass family always comes calling with multiple dogs! He was a member of the Calvary Lutheran Church.
LaMont is survived by sons LeLand (Linda) Cass, Kingman, AZ, and Gary (Cathaline) Cass, Wheatland, WY; daughter Lori (Kirk) Aker, Edwards, CO; grandsons Cy (Ami) and Clay; two great grandchildren Calli and Caison Cass, all of Laramie, WY; Step grandson/daughter Clint (Colleen) Halterman; Angela Halterman, step great grandchildren Jacob, Claire and Macey, all of Thornton, CO.
A memorial service is June 13, 2022, 2:00 P.M. at Good Samaritan Society-Saint Martin Village Chapel, 4825 Jericho Way, Rapid City, SD, 57702, with Chaplain Herb B. Cleveland officiating. Memorial to Calvary Lutheran Church Quilters.
Inurnment will take place at Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis, SD with full military honors. Cards can be sent to L. Aker, PO Box 2762, Edwards, CO 81632.
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2022-06-08T07:04:40Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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LaMont Cass | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/lamont-cass/article_e9691953-a799-5ca8-bc83-be05fc6dd549.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/lamont-cass/article_e9691953-a799-5ca8-bc83-be05fc6dd549.html
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Dr. Stephen Hausmann
Everyone in Rapid City knows the story. On June 9th, 1972, during an already historic rainstorm, Canyon Lake Dam failed. The ensuing flash flood devastated the city, killing 238 people (likely more), and destroying at least $100 million in property.
Today, one of Rapid’s most recognizable downtown features – the Greenway – exists as a physical reminder of the flood and its legacy; “never again” became a lasting motto for city planning in the five decades since. As Rapid City commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of this tragedy this week, it’s important to reflect not just on what the city and its people did right during this tragedy, but also what went wrong during the flood and in its aftermath.
There are many stories of ordinary people committing extraordinary acts in the face of disaster. Stories like that of Buzz Grover, who lived in Keystone along Battle Creek. Grover saved his pregnant wife along with three other people as the floodwaters destroyed his neighborhood. Or the dozens of people who supplied canoes and boats to aid in search, rescue, and body recovery operations. Or individuals like Lt. Henry Tank of the Rapid City Fire department, who died during rescue operations saving others from the floodwaters that night. These stories of immense courage under pressure embody the best of Rapid City and the best of humanity.
But there are other stories too. Stories about human failings, about decisions with unintended consequences, and about people acting out of their worst impulses. These stories also deserve to be told.
Stories like those told by Edgar Lonehill at the congressional hearings held about the flood in 1973. Lonehill, a spokesman for the Rapid City Flood Victims Association, explained the situation at Camp Rapid, one of the sites where Native flood refugees were housed in temporary trailers for months after the disaster. “In general, it has been our observation that there has in fact been some discrimination against Indian flood victims in the wake of the flood,” Lonehill testified. Lonehill described an incident where an allegedly drunk National Guard officer on duty berated him and his wife. “He said, ‘You damned Indians have raised enough Cain around here … We are going to evict you in the morning.’” The message for Lonehill was clear: Native flood victims were not welcome even in refugee camps like Camp Rapid.
Hazel Bonner, a representative from the United Renters Council, a local renter’s advocacy group, also testified before Congress that there was indeed “discrimination in Rapid City against minority groups … particularly Indians” after the flood. Bonner described an experiment her organization ran by sending a white prospective tenant out to visit apartments, followed immediately by a Native tenant. “The white tenant … got three possible places to live,” Bonner reported, while “the Indian tenant … got nothing.”
The Rapid City flood laid bare the unjust housing market that had plagued Rapid City for decades. For much of the mid-20th century, Native people in Rapid City could only find housing in neighborhoods such as the Sioux Addition, the federally funded and badly neglected housing project in North Rapid. Or in transient neighborhoods like Osh Kosh Camp along the creek, or in one of the city’s trailer parks, many of which lay in the creek’s floodplain. These unjust housing dynamics help explain why, in a city that was 5-7% Native in 1970, as many as 20% of the flood victims were Native.
In the flood’s aftermath, the city found itself with decisions to make. How to prioritize rebuilding? How to allocate relief to victims? How to spend the relief money which poured into the city’s coffers? While Rapid City built some housing in the flood’s wake, including low-income housing, much of the money went toward downtown revitalization and flood protection infrastructure– the Civic Center and Greenbelt being the most notable, two improvements which anchored the city’s downtown re-development.
These decisions, made with good intentions, had unintended long-term consequences. With much of the flood relief money put toward these civic improvements, rather than affordable housing, the housing crunch in Rapid City only deepened in the decades that followed, with effects that continue to this day. Today, Rapid City has a homelessness rate that’s nearly triple the national average, and the majority of those suffering homelessness in the city are Native. This crisis has many causes, but the flood was one crucial missed opportunity to radically reshape Rapid City’s urban geography and undue decades of housing injustice.
In many ways, the city doubled down after the flood on the unjust policies that led to the unequal toll of death and destruction. With little aid given to the city’s poorest residents, the housing crisis which predated the flood and disproportionately affected the city’s Native inhabitants, would deepen in the years since.
The story of the flood is complicated. The Greenway and downtown revitalization projects all helped lift the city back onto its feet and helped ensure fewer people would live in Rapid Creek’s floodplain when the next flood strikes. And indeed, stories of heroism, community, and neighborliness abound from the days and weeks following the disaster. These are positive outcomes, worth remembering and even celebrating.
But if people only tell stories from the past and focus on what went well without examining where those in the past erred, history loses its power. Learning from past mistakes is one of the most important uses of history, and the 1972 Flood is no exception. It is possible, even necessary, for a city to embrace shining moments from its past while at the same time not flinching away from mistakes its government and citizens have made. The promise of understanding history lies in creating a better future, and as we pause and reflect on the disasters at its fiftieth anniversary, truly honoring the memory of the 1972 Flood requires an honest appraisal of what Rapid City did right, and of the work that yet remains to be done.
Dr. Stephen Hausmann is an assistant professor of history at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. He teaches classes on US history, Native American history, and environmental history. His research focuses on the 1972 Rapid City Flood, recently publishing a peer reviewed book on the topic. He is also speaking at the 50th anniversary commemoration event this week.
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2022-06-08T11:47:28Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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HAUSMANN: The complicated legacy of the 1972 Rapid City Flood | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/hausmann-the-complicated-legacy-of-the-1972-rapid-city-flood/article_769462b0-3dc9-577a-ba45-4cf3d10ffb33.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/hausmann-the-complicated-legacy-of-the-1972-rapid-city-flood/article_769462b0-3dc9-577a-ba45-4cf3d10ffb33.html
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On this 50th anniversary of the flood I had hoped to finally submit a story regarding that event and the lessons I learned from it.
My family’s story is like many others. I will not go into the events of that night other than to say that our home disintegrated around us. We were swept away, and although my dad was severely injured, we survived.
What remained of our home was photographed in the Rapid City Journal. If you have an old copy of that paper, it is the photo with a crude sign proclaiming “ALL OK” scrawled on a piece of debris. Little did I know then, that our lives would turn out “All OK”.
Today what was 3012 Lanark is a beautiful part of the golf course. Golfers would never guess that under their feet lie the remains of our home or of the death and terrible ciaos that happened where they now walk.
My message to those in the midst of loss: As long as there is life everything else can be replaced.
Steve Kendley, Polson, Mont.
The behavior of our top South Dakota office holders is intolerable. They are all afraid to do anything that would stop anyone from purchasing a firearm because they think regulating firearms would cause them to lose funding for their next election. On May 27th, just three days after nineteen children and two adults were killed with an AR-15 by a shooter in Uvalde, Texas, Kristi Noem spoke at the NRA convention in Houston. She called efforts to restrict the sale of guns “garbage.” But in fact, 21 innocent lives were wasted because the 18-year-old killer had been allowed to legally purchase his assault weapon in Texas.
Senators Thune and Rounds and Representative Johnson excuse their failure to act to stop gun violence by saying they support our second amendment rights. Our top officials argue for unlimited access to weapons, focusing on the second half of the Second Amendment, but ignoring the first Constitutional requirement that the right to bear arms is in support of a “well-regulated militia,” for safety in our homes and communities, not to enable terrorists.
South Dakotans must demand that our elected officials stand up against the gun lobby and regulate assault weapons.
Norma Wilson, Vermillion
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2022-06-08T11:47:34Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Letters to the editor, June 8, 2022 | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-june-8-2022/article_49de6a98-19fa-5086-8950-03ed12952fb7.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-june-8-2022/article_49de6a98-19fa-5086-8950-03ed12952fb7.html
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Penny Hennager stands outside of the apartment building on Saint Joseph Street in Rapid City where she and her husband lived during the 1972 flood. The couple was able to move back into the apartment several weeks after the flood when repairs had been completed.
This photo of Dennis and Penny Hennager was taken about two years ago. The couple lived in Rapid City during the 1972 flood. They still reside in the city.
Dennis Hennager, left, sits with his wife Penny in February 1973 as she holds their baby, Renee. Penny was pregnant with Renee during the 1972 flood.
Dusty, the Hennager's family dog. Dusty lived to be 16 years old.
Penny Hennager vacuums the floor mats from her 1970 Plymouth Duster. The Duster was caught in the 1972 flood, but her father was able to get the vehicle running again.
Penny Hennager stands outside of the apartment building on Saint Joseph Street in Rapid City in May 2022 where she and her husband lived during the 1972 flood. The couple was able to move back into the apartment several weeks after the flood when repairs had been completed.
At midnight on June 10, 1972, the power at the Bennett-Clarkson Memorial Hospital at 915 Mountain View Road in Rapid City went out.
Penny Hennager looked out of a second floor window and saw through a flash of lightning her bright yellow 1970 Plymouth Duster floating through the parking lot.
Penny Hennager's 1970 Plymouth Duster. She purchased the car after graduating from college in 1970. Two years later, she would watch the car float through the parking lot of the hospital where she worked.
“I figured something was going on,” Hennager said 50 years later, although at the time she had to focus on the babies in the nursery rather than her first car she bought after graduating from South Dakota State University in 1970.
“We had the babies to take care of and things to do and move, keep doing your job,” she said.
Hennager, now 74, was a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital in 1972. She shared her memory and perspective of the flood ahead of the 50th anniversary.
Heavy rains triggered the 1972 flood in the Black Hills leaving at least 238 people dead and $164 million in damage. Neighborhoods where Memorial Park is now located were decimated when Rapid Creek overflowed and took homes and people with it.
Hennager was 25 at the time and in the early stages of her career. Born and raised in Rapid City, she married her husband Dennis in 1970 and began working at Bennett-Clarkson, the current location of Monument Health’s Behavioral Health Center.
Hennager worked the night shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. On June 9, she left the apartment on St. Joseph Street she shared with Dennis and their dog, Dusty, who was affectionately named after Hennager’s car.
“I drove to work like normal, and it was really raining hard, but you know, not anything horrible. Everything was OK until probably about midnight,” Hennager said. “All of our electricity went off. We had probably 15 or so babies in the nursery. We had a lot of babies. The scary thing was then we started smelling gas.”
Most of the babies were reunited with their mothers, Hennager said, although there were four or five who were either premature or whose mothers weren’t there. Nurses moved those down the hall to a safer room.
“Unfortunately, we had one baby girl that passed away. I wish I knew who that was,” she said.
With the power out, Hennager could hear the water rushing through the hospital’s elevator shaft and people yelling for help behind the building.
“It sounded like thunder. It was just a loud, loud noise. We didn’t know what was gonna happen. The whole basement got full of water,” Hennager said. “In the basement was the X-ray department. They had all these X-rays laying out on the lawn (after the flood) trying to dry. That was kind of an image that I remember. I don’t know if they saved them or not.”
Meanwhile, Dennis was sleeping back at their apartment when shouting woke him. He thought it was just rowdy college students leaving the Hall Inn at 214 East Saint Joseph Street.
“Quite often the students from (South Dakota) Mines would get loaded and drunk up at the Hall Inn and come whoopin’ and hollerin’ down the street. I'm laying in bed and I hear a bunch of whoopin’ and hollerin’. I don't think anything of it, but it goes on and on,” Dennis said.
He got out of bed, placing his feet on the floor. They were wet. Dennis said he started putting up speakers and stereo equipment so it wouldn’t be damaged by the water and stuffed towels under the door to keep water from getting into the apartment.
“And it really did. It slowed it way down,” Dennis said. “After a while when the water stopped coming, I go outside, and everybody that was on the bottom floor of our apartment building is upstairs on that balcony.”
While outside, Dennis saw cars washed down the street. He also crossed paths with a woman who has stuck in his memory for 50 years.
“The saddest thing for me was this young woman comes up and she says, ‘Have you seen my baby?’ And of course I hadn’t. And then she goes on and starts asking other people the same thing. I have no idea who she was. I just felt so bad for her,” Dennis said.
Dennis said he wasn’t worried about his wife. He knew she was at the hospital and wouldn’t be walking around. In the morning, Hennager’s father got Dennis and Dusty and brought them up to North Rapid City, where Hennager’s parents’ home was. Dusty lived a long life of 16 years.
Dennis Hennager holds the family dog, Dusty, in the apartment he and Penny shared during the 1972 flood.
While Dennis and Dusty were in fact safe, his wife Penny didn’t know that. Workers weren’t able to leave the hospital until the afternoon of June 10, and she said she wasn’t sure if her husband and dog were even alive.
A doctor at Bennett-Clarkson Hospital had been at a banquet at the School of Mines with her husband, which was very close to where Hennager’s apartment was located. The doctor’s car had been washed away, so she walked to the hospital in her formal dress. Hennager said she thinks it was pink, but it was covered in mud.
“I thought, my poor husband and our dog’s probably drowning down there,” she said. “It was a relief (to find they were alive), but it wasn’t until one o’clock that next afternoon, I think I finally got to a payphone.”
Another member of the family who survived the infamous flood was Hennager and Dennis’s only child, who the couple didn’t even know about yet — at least that's what Hennager said. Dennis said he already knew.
“She thinks that I was full of it, but no. I got a good idea,” Dennis said.
After the flood, the couple stayed with Hennager’s parents while the landlord replaced the carpet in their apartment. Dennis said there wasn’t much damage other than the carpet because the water didn’t rise up to the windows, and he kept the door sealed with towels. He estimated the flood reached about six inches from the window pane.
“It was coming under the doors, and the other people who had opened their doors while they could got a mess, but it was just under our windows, so the only place it could come in would be under the door,” he said.
Hennager said the babies were moved from the Bennett-Clarkson Hospital to St. John McNamara Hospital for several weeks after the flood while the hospital got cleaned up. St. John McNamara's building is now an apartment building. The couple moved back into their apartment after a couple weeks and the Plymouth Duster still ran after its journey across the parking lot with a little mechanical touch-up from Hennager’s father.
Bennett-clarkson Hospital
Saint John Mcnamara Hospital
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2022-06-08T14:23:01Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Labor and delivery nurse recalls night of terror | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/1972-black-hills-flood-labor-and-delivery-nurse-recalls-night-of-terror/article_667c949d-9b79-5087-b43b-8190551a2d1c.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/1972-black-hills-flood-labor-and-delivery-nurse-recalls-night-of-terror/article_667c949d-9b79-5087-b43b-8190551a2d1c.html
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Ezra "Dean" Long, retired U.S. Air Force, tells his story of rescue efforts the morning after the devastating 1972 flood. Long was an airman at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Thirty-five year old Ezra “Dean” Long got a knock on his door at 5 a.m. the morning of June 10, 1972. He was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Box Elder, and opened the door to a still-dark sky and a security policeman.
“Is that your boat?” the policeman asked.
Long, living on base, was completely unaware of the horror that had transpired over the past five hours in Rapid City — 238 dead, over 3,000 injured, 1,335 homes destroyed and 2,820 damaged. More than 200 businesses had been ruined, over 5,000 cars were demolished and the damage had totaled $66 million in Rapid City alone.
As far as he knew, they’d experienced heavy rains. When the policeman asked for his boat to assist in a rescue mission, he knew he’d missed more than a rainstorm.
Without hesitation, Long grabbed his boat and a friend and they began an effort against the swirling waters of Box Elder Creek in search of survivors that would slowly paint the picture of the devastation that had occurred, still fresh in his mind 50 years later.
“It was about a half a mile wide and rushing along pretty good,” Long said of Box Elder Creek.
He described a swift current when they encountered their first group of survivors: 11 people perched on top of a trailer roof tipped against a telephone pole. He never asked how they got up there, he said, a common theme of the day — there wasn’t time to think. Just act.
“We were just getting people here and there from rooftops,” Long said.
The team had been told that six or seven people had already drowned in the area.
While Box Elder Creek wasn’t raging like downtown Rapid City, Long described it as a “circuitous route,” creating a swirling vortex they battled as they tried to reach the 11 stranded on the trailer roof.
“I was trying to work towards the trailer and all of a sudden the motor goes and we went swirling downstream,” Long said.
He lurched a large piece of plastic from the boat’s propeller that had caused the motor to stall, before taking 10 minutes to regain progress and positioning he’d lost in half a minute.
Long recalled being vigilant of where the railroad tracks should be, knowing if they hit the motor, “they’d be done.”
Fighting to make headway against the current, they battled their way to the trailer and took two at a time, eventually transporting all 11 safely to solid ground. The base had brought a bus to transport survivors.
Their final rescue on Box Elder Creek was an elderly couple taking refuge on the roof of their small white house, the edge of the roof barely higher than the boat. Long was able to lift the woman over the deck and into the boat, with the man sliding backwards over the deck, anchoring himself with leather-soled shoes on the slippery wood.
As Long helped him from the deck onto the boat, he told him “I’m sorry it’s not a very good rescue boat.”
“And this I won’t forget,” Long said. “He turned around with tears streaming down his face eyes and said, 'Mister, this is the best rescue boat I’ve ever seen.'”
Their final mission in Box Elder led to their first in Rapid City. No sooner had they parked his boat when a radio call came in from Search and Rescue. They needed a small boat downtown near Franklin Street.
Long's friend had a small nine-horsepower motor fishing boat, so they made their way into the remnants of downtown Rapid City, finding what had once been solid ground essentially transformed into a small island, trapping 13 people.
The National Guard had been trying to throw a line across to the island, coming up short. Long and his friend supplied their fishing boat as a means to reach the island, using a rope and pulley system of sorts to get the little nine-horse motor across the battling current and back.
The tedious process involved transporting one person at a time, and Long’s friend Gary running the motor “wide opened” while Long pulled hand over hand on a larger line attached by the National Guard to get the boat back across.
Long said he met two heroes on that island. One was already deceased: the body of a fireman who had died trying to warn people of the incoming flood. They took his body last.
“I didn’t know who he was, but he had fireman gear on. I’m pretty sure I knew why he was there,” Long said.
The other was a woman, about 65 years old, with her adult daughter with a disability. The woman had stood through the night, water up to her chest, supporting her daughter on a mattress to keep her from drowning.
The woman asked that her daughter be taken across before her, which they did.
At one point, as they were making their way across, the current “hit wrong,” Long said, taking the nose of the fishing boat under. The harder he pulled, the further down it went. Knowing he had to get out, he plunged into the rushing water, holding on for dear life to a safety line that did its job, attached by the National Guard. He eventually got his arm over the side and climbed back in.
Like so many moments that day, Long said he didn’t have time to think if he’d make it back in the boat.
Thankfully he did, and they were able to get all 13 across.
Long and his friend had one final task — a woman they worked with at the base hospital lived in town. They knew where she lived, and wanted to make sure she was OK.
They reached what should have been her house in the Braeburn Addition around 6 p.m. All they found was foundations — nothing to even identify which house was hers.
They would later learn that Frankie, their friend, had made it out — the only one in her neighborhood. Long said he talked to her about that night, and learned she had spent the night in their attic with her 96-year-old father-in-law.
Looking back, Long remembered how tired he was. He was tired for two weeks after that, he recalled.
He also remembered his reliance on his faith.
“I feel [God] took care of us,” Long said, “but the question might be, why didn’t he take care of everybody else? That’s a hard question.”
He pondered so many what-ifs that could have brought a different outcome to him or his family, that so many others suffered.
“We were fortunate,” he said.
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2022-06-08T14:23:07Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Ellsworth airman comes to the rescue | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-ellsworth-airman-comes-to-the-rescue/article_116e1030-4408-5904-9228-87c854d13d22.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-ellsworth-airman-comes-to-the-rescue/article_116e1030-4408-5904-9228-87c854d13d22.html
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June 9, 1972, the weather turned ominous. The sky became filled with black clouds and an eerie, murky dark green glow lit the landscape. Feeling more than a little anxious, I rode my bike home in the rain. Eventually, the rain came in sheets so strong you couldn’t see out the front window. I went to bed that night not knowing this was a storm like no other.
We lived at the corner of Central Boulevard and Lanark Road, just south of Jackson Blvd. The next morning, I remained unaware of the dimensions of devastation that hit Rapid City. We hadn’t turned on the TV or radio that evening or morning. A Pony League baseball game had been scheduled for the day, so I gathered my gear and walked outside.
There was a peculiar stillness to the air as I proceeded northward toward the ball field. I didn’t make it that far. Just a block away from our home was a house half submerged in the middle of Jackson Pond – having been thrust off its foundation by the brute force of Rapid Creek’s raging floodwaters. Now, the enormity of the flood event became reality.
The ball field had been reduced to a debris-laden, muddy ruin, and I was overcome by the widespread devastation witnessed first-hand.
Today, the flood still lives in the memory of many of us as one of terror and heartbreak. Yet, while it showed the vulnerability of a community, it also revealed how neighbors care for each other and together the people of Rapid City could move forward. As difficult as that time was, it truly showed that a resilient spirit, combined with effective leadership, can address the worst of situations.
The stress was unbearable for the courageous volunteers who became first responders and ongoing care givers to families in need. Good neighbors circled up and cared for families with lives lost. They pitched in, providing shelter, clothing and food, to help fellow Rapid Citians struggling to get back on their feet. As local, state, and federal resources came together, business and community leaders took on responsibilities and roles to make sure priorities were addressed.
The Flood of 1972 was a time of coming together finding ways to help families and a time to make Rapid City a safer, stronger community. If there is a lesson to be learned from our perspective today – 50 years later – I think it is this: tragedy is triumphed through working together.
If Rapid City can rebuild after such a calamity, really, what can’t we do together? Let’s honor our past by continuing to make Rapid City a truly great place to live.
Mike Derby – area businessman, civic leader and community volunteer – has called Rapid City home for nearly 60 years. He is a State Representative for District 34 in the South Dakota Legislature.
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2022-06-08T14:23:13Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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REP. DERBY: Triumph over tragedy, eyewitness to the 1972 flood | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/rep-derby-triumph-over-tragedy-eyewitness-to-the-1972-flood/article_49bd601e-6c48-51ee-a531-259c9fd6f74c.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/rep-derby-triumph-over-tragedy-eyewitness-to-the-1972-flood/article_49bd601e-6c48-51ee-a531-259c9fd6f74c.html
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Chadron State freshman Alivah Rothstein, shown trying to bunt her way on base, had a .303 batting average, led the Eagles in hits with 37, scored 23 runs to share the team lead and stole 22 bases this spring.
Carter Hattery
Although the Chadron State College softball team struggled to find the win column this past spring, several of the players chalked up some impressive statistics and the coach believes the program has a bright future.
The youthful Eagles won 11 games and lost 37. They were 10-26 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Both win totals were the lowest since softball revived at CSC in 2007. An 0-12 start, all on the road and most of the games against foes that had already played several times, put the Eagles in a deep hole.
The team was extremely young. The roster included just three seniors and three juniors who saw more than token action. That meant freshmen and sophomores had to carry much of the load. The experience they gained is expected to help turn things around beginning next season.
“Our young players assumed some very big roles this past season and, overall, we were pleased how they performed,” Coach Kaley Nuss said. “With a year of growth and experience, we look forward to more consistency and success in the future.”
Sophomore Paige Propp had the highest batting average, .352. She had 19 hits in 54 at bats, but played in only 21 of the 48 games.
Two freshmen and two sophomores had the best batting averages among the full-time starters.
The freshmen were Lauren Zimmerman of Reno, Nev., who had 32 hits in 102 at bats for a .314 average, and Alivah Rothstein of Lakewood, Colo., who had a team-high 37 hits in 122 at bats for a .303 average.
Rothstein also made her presence felt on the bases, stealing 22 bases in 27 attempts. In addition, she scored 23 times to share the team lead.
Sophomore Jessie Henchenski of Fort Collins, Colo., hit an even .300 with 33 hits in 110 at bats and also crossed the plate 23 times. Classmate Mackenzi Kroll of Brighton, Colo., was close behind with a .290 average on 27 hits in 93 at bats and was the Eagles’ home run leader with seven.
The Eagles also got good production from sophomore Sloane Quijas and junior Addison Spears.
Quijas, who is from Erie, Colo., finished with a .264 batting average. She had 33 hits during 125 at bats and drew 21 walks, another team-high.
Spears, a native of Berthoud, Colo., had 29 hits in 117 at bats for a .248 average, and drove in a team-best 28 runs. She hit six home runs.
Kroll finished with 21 RBIs while Zimmerman drove in 19 runs and both Henchenski and Quijas 18.
Although her batting average was just .213, freshman J’lyssa Martinez of Denver ranked fourth on the team with 18 runs scored and swiped 10 bases in 11 attempts.
Chadron State finished with a .255 batting average, compared to the opponents’ .348 figure. The rivals outscored the Eagles by a 342-172 margin and hit 52 home runs and CSC had 30.
The team’s most prominent pitcher was senior Tia Kohl of Wichita, Kan., a tall, hard-throwing righthander, who had missed much of the previous season because of an injury. This spring she started 21 times and pitched in 30 of the 48 contests.
At one time, Kohl had a 0-12 record, but she finished with six wins and 14 losses overall and 6-6 in the RMAC. She got three of the wins and also picked up a save during a four-game sweep over Black Hills State on the CSC diamond late in the season.
Kohl graduated magna cum laude.
The Eagles had a big setback before the 2022 season began when Bailey Marvel, the shortstop and the leading hitter in 2021 with a .399 average, was lost because of an injury. The good news is, Marvel is expected to be available this fall when the team regroups for the 2023 season.
Coach Ness, who gave birth to the young family’s second daughter in May, said some talented recruits have been added to the roster.
“With the experience we gained this year and the addition of the players joining our program, we are enthusiastic about the future,” Ness noted.
Quijas
Jessie Henchenski
Addison Spears
Mackenzi Kroll
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2022-06-08T16:46:39Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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CSC softball had some bright spots | Sports | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/sports/csc-softball-had-some-bright-spots/article_76d7c818-6c13-5c67-a9f2-9eb87f4f20f7.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/sports/csc-softball-had-some-bright-spots/article_76d7c818-6c13-5c67-a9f2-9eb87f4f20f7.html
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Wheeler-Groves owned several rental properties in Chadron and owned Helen’s Pancake House and Steakhouse/The Grove in Chadron for more than 20 years.
Grant, the owner of Levi’s Auto and Metal Recycling, was a former Chadron City Council member and was elected Dawes County Commissioner for District 3 in 2020.
With Grant’s death, a vacancy has formed on the Board of the Dawes County Commission, though the process is in motion to fill it.
Commissioner Jake Stewart explained County Clerk Cheryl Feist, County Treasurer Sam Wellnitz and County Attorney Vance Haug will form a three-person panel, as governed by the State of Nebraska, to appoint the vacancy on the Board.
The panel has a 45-day window, and can choose whether to advertise for the opening. Stewart further added people can just come into the Dawes County Clerk’s Office and express their interest in filling the spot. They are eligible as long as they’re a registered voter and live in District 3.
The district includes the Kenwood area of Chadron, the village of Whitney and the city of Crawford, as well as areas south of Crawford and Whitney.
Interested and eligible people will be put on a list for interviews, with the panel making the final selection to fill Grant’s vacancy.
With only 45 days to make the decision, Stewart said the panel hopes to have at least three or four names by the week of June 21 to start setting up interviews. Though the vacancy doesn’t have to be advertised, Stewart pointed out the meeting of the panel does.
Whomever is chosen to fill the vacancy, Stewart said they will be taking on “all the responsibilities of a county commissioner.” Grant was also on several boards, including: Area Aging, Crawford Senior Citizens Board, Office of Human Development, Resources Conservation and Development, and Panhandle Area Development District.
The person chosen will certainly have a trial by fire, as Stewart pointed out he or she would be coming on right in time for valuation protests and budget work. “You couldn’t have picked a worse time to get somebody who doesn’t know what’s going on to come into this spot,” he said. “It is going to be very tricky and overwhelming.”
He added having someone like Webb Johnson, who was a commissioner for 16 years before Grant, come back on the Board would be a fairly seamless transition.
The selected person would fill out the remainder of Grant’s term, which will come up again in 2024, for about 2.5 years of service.
Funeral services for Grant are today, June 8, at 2 p.m. at the Dawes County Ag Society Exhibit Hall at the fairgrounds.
Memorial services for Wheeler-Groves will be Wednesday, June 15 at 2 p.m. at Chamberlain Chapel.
Levi Grant
Mimi Wheeler-groves
Dawes County Commission
Chadron City Council
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2022-06-08T18:57:12Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Death leaves opening on county board | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/death-leaves-opening-on-county-board/article_a527487f-de6f-5d5e-803d-5eaee04d2d4f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/death-leaves-opening-on-county-board/article_a527487f-de6f-5d5e-803d-5eaee04d2d4f.html
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Deb Cottier with Northwest Nebraska Development Corporation visits with Tim Buskirk during the Nebraska National Forest's "re-open house" last week.
Last week saw the re-opening of the Nebraska National Forest building at 125 North Main. It had previously been closed due to the pandemic, and the re-opening was celebrated with staff providing information and tours, as well as some light refreshments.
Tim Buskirk explained the building houses both the Pine Ridge Ranger District, which includes the Forest Service lands in northwest Nebraska, as well as the supervisor’s office for the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, which oversees forests at Chadron, Halsey, Valentine and grasslands in South Dakota.
He further added the overseeing of these forest includes a wide range. There is a fuel and fire crew that does hazardous fuel reductions such as slash piles and fights fires. There are also a couple wildlife folks that monitor area species and implement wildlife habitat improvements on NFS land.
The wildlife staff are also involved with community education about natural resources, working closely with Chadron State Park, Fort Robinson State Park and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to put on program for both kids and adults.
There is also a Range section at the office, monitoring the grazing permits given out to local ranchers to graze the national forest areas. Grazing is monitored through the summer to ensure objectives are met and animals are still gaining weight. There are an estimated 75 permits between the grasslands and the ridge.
With regard to the closing, Buskirk said, “We closed the same week everyone else did.” Staff was still able to be in the office, or in the field completing projects that needed to be done. There were a lot of efficiencies figured out during that time, he said, with being able to direct a lot of services such as maps and Christmas tree permits online. “But at the same time, it’s good to be open back up for those who aren’t as savvy with the tech side of things.”
Since camping season getting underway, Buskirk reminds folks to make sure their campfires are completely out and dead before they leave a site. This time of year, the grass is green and won’t burn too easily, but campers should also keep in mind that it’s tick season. Using proper repellant and doing body checks can go a long way to preventing disease.
With the rains in the area, Buskirk said people should leave trails and sites better that how they found them and not tear up the roads for people coming behind them.
Buskirk expressed appreciation to all of the employees for persevering and getting the office the momentum to reopen and keep going, He also appreciates the partnerships with Chadron State Park, Fort Robinson and the Chadron Chamber of Commerce.
Tim Buskirk
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2022-06-08T18:57:14Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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National Forest building again open to public | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/national-forest-building-again-open-to-public/article_ed304e19-d09a-5a30-81db-a6b893cde3a0.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/national-forest-building-again-open-to-public/article_ed304e19-d09a-5a30-81db-a6b893cde3a0.html
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Miss South Dakota 2022 and her court are, from left, third runner-up Rio Snyder of Black Hawk, second runner-up Annie Woodmansey of Pierre, Miss South Dakota 2022 Hunter Widvey of Rapid City, first runner-up Carly Goodhart of Sisseton, and fourth runner-up Miranda O’Bryan of Rapid City.
From left, third runner-up Javonte Madsen of Rapid City, fourth runner-up Karina Novotny of Hot Springs, Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen 2022 Olivia Odenbrett of Brandon, first runner-up Natalie Schoeppner of Timber Lake, and second runner-up Sydney Lockhart of Hot Springs.
Hunter Widvey of Rapid City was crowned Miss South Dakota 2022 on Saturday. She will represent South Dakota in the Miss America competition in December.
Widvey, 23, is the daughter of Brett and Cami Widvey of Rapid City. Widvey received an $8,000 scholarship for winning the Miss South Dakota competition.
Widvey won a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) scholarship of $750. The South Dakota Scholarship Foundation, in partnership with CDI, Inc., of Brookings, sponsored two $750 scholarships to candidates who display dedication to the STEM field. Rio Snyder of Black Hawk also won a STEM scholarship. Snyder was the Miss South Dakota 2022 third runner-up. Snyder will attend the University of South Dakota this fall where she is enrolled in the honors college, majoring in pre-medical biology.
Widvey was a preliminary talent competition winner June 3, for which she received $1,000. For her talent, she sang “Feelin’ Good,” a hit song known for being recorded by Michael Buble and Nina Simone. Widvey was the overall interview award winner, as well, for which she received $1,000.
“I’m really grateful for this (Miss South Dakota) experience because it really helped me develop different connections with people across the state and even other states,” Widvey said. “The scholarships are going to help me fund my medical education. It’s a really great opportunity for girls and women who are trying to find more scholarships so they can pursue their education.”
Widvey is a 2017 graduate of Rapid City Stevens High School, and she is a 2021 graduate of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in biology and government/international affairs. She has been accepted to Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, though she plans to put medical school on hold for a year so she can fulfill her duties as Miss South Dakota.
Widvey’s social impact initiative as Miss South Dakota is “Childhood Cancer Awareness.” She plans to become a physician and is interested in specialty fields such as surgery, emergency medicine and rural medicine, she said.
This was Widvey’s third time as a Miss South Dakota contestant. She previously competed in Miss South Dakota in 2019 and 2021. She began competing in 2016, when she entered and won the Miss Rapid City Outstanding Teen event. In 2016, Widvey also was crowned Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen. She is the fourth former teen titleholder who has gone on to win the Miss South Dakota crown.
Twenty women from across the state competed for Miss South Dakota 2022. The women collectively won scholarships totaling nearly $48,000. Each of the non-semi-finalists received a $1,000 scholarship.
Widvey is one of several West River competitors who won scholarships during the Miss South Dakota and Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen competitions June 3 and 4.
Widvey competed as Miss Huron in the Miss South Dakota 2022 competition. Carly Goodhart of Sisseton competed as Miss Rapid City and was first runner-up. She won $7,750 in scholarships. Goodhart is a nursing graduate of South Dakota State University and works as a neonatal intensive care nurse in Sioux Falls. Her social impact initiative is “Woman Up: Upping the Education and Access to Women’s Health.”
Second runner-up Annie Woodmansey of Pierre received a $4,000 scholarship.
Third runner-up Snyder received a $3,000 scholarship as well as the $750 STEM scholarship. She also received the Ray Peterson “Rookie of the Year” award of $500 for being the top-placing first-time candidate.
Fourth runner-up Miranda O’Bryan won $4,000 in scholarships, which includes a $500 scholarship for winning the Social Impact Pitch award after presenting her social impact initiative, “Page Turners: Fall in Love with Reading.” O’Bryan graduated from South Dakota State University with degrees in journalism and history and is a reporter/anchor for KOTA News in Rapid City.
The rest of the top 10 semi-finalists, who each received a $1,200 scholarship, were Margaret Samp of Sioux Falls, Baylee Dittman of Spearfish, Laney Titze of Mitchell, Emily Deinken of Sioux Center, Iowa, and Maleah Eschenbaum of Aberdeen. Samp also earned a $1,000 preliminary talent award.
Breanna Bossman of Humboldt won a $300 scholarship. McKenzie Hassebroek of Westport won a $500 scholarship. Emma Salzwedel of Sioux Falls won a $300 scholarship.
Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen
Olivia Odenbrett of Brandon was crowned Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen 2022 on June 3. She received a total of $3,700 in scholarships. First runner-up Natalie Schoeppner of Timber Lake received $1,400 in scholarships.
Second runner-up Sydney Lockhart of Hot Springs won $800 in scholarships. Third runner-up Javonte Madsen of Rapid City received a $600 scholarship. Fourth runner-up Karina Novotny of Hot Springs won a $400 scholarship, a $1,250 Johnson Jackrabbit Scholarship and a $200 Community Service award.
Miss Fall River Balloon Festival’s Outstanding Teen, Amara Bertelson of Rapid City, and Miss Jacks’ Outstanding Jada Aragon of Ethan tied for the title of Miss Congeniality and shared a $500 scholarship.
Briley Steffenson of Yankton received the $1,000 Miss America Empower Scholarship.
Rio Snyder
Cami Widvey
Miranda O'bryan
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2022-06-08T21:03:29Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City woman crowned Miss South Dakota | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/rapid-city-woman-crowned-miss-south-dakota/article_d35049b5-15e7-54b6-8172-17d72878207a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/rapid-city-woman-crowned-miss-south-dakota/article_d35049b5-15e7-54b6-8172-17d72878207a.html
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Gerald Yellow Hawk, an elder in the Rapid City community, sings an honor song Wednesday in memory of the Lakota people who died in the 1972 Black Hills Flood.
Journey Museum Executive Director Troy Kilpatrick introduces Gerald Yellow Hawk Wednesday for a flood remembrance blessing at the Journey Museum.
“That night in 1972, many of us remember,” he said. “We remember our loved ones who are relatives and friends. Today, I have come here to pray in remembrance and honor of these who have gone on before us.”
Yellow Hawk said many Native American people died in the 238 people who perished in the flood.
A flash flood caused by 15 inches of rain within six hours brought a wall of water and debris crashing into Rapid City June 9, 1972. There were 3,057 injured and the damage was estimated at more than $160 million.
Yellow Hawk said a grandmother named Annie lived in a mobile home in 1972, near where the museum is now. He said when the water started to come up, the home started to move.
He said Annie told her children to save themselves and to leave her.
“She was too old to move or to walk, so they left her,” he said.
Yellow Hawk said the home started to move and one end started to tilt. He said Annie sat at the highest point and miraculously survived the flood.
“So remember these people,” he said.
James “Magaska” Swan said his life was changed forever after the flood. In a message to the Journal that contained an excerpt from his autobiography “Iyeska,” he said he was 12 years old in 1972 and lived in Lakota Homes.
“That flood changed the whole course of my life literally and in every way imaginable,” he said. “Not bad or good just changed.”
Swan said that week he was planning a little fishing trip along Rapid Creek near Deadwood Avenue with his friend José. He said that night, he remembers the lights going out and his mom covering all the mirrors. Swan said one lightning strike looked like it hit the front yard and his sisters ran around the house looking out the windows.
“I remember looking towards Rapid City from Lakota homes and seeing these red and orange mushroom clouds and hearing a low rumble sound,” he said. “I would later find out those were some houses that blew up from the gas leaks caused by the flood.”
Swan said family members were running back and forth from house to house, except the kids who had to stay inside. The next morning, he felt something different in the air. His friends, uncles and cousins traveled back and forth from Rapid City to volunteer to find people in town.
Swan said as a kid, he didn’t understand everything that happened, but knew it was bad. He said he could tell from family members’ faces and demeanor, family members being quiet when they were usually laughing and joking.
Swan said he lost a baby cousin in the flood, who lived near the railroad bridge on North Maple Street. His aunt’s house was completely lost, along with all the other houses on her block.
“Her house was moved and caved in on one whole side,” he said. “It was something I’ll never forget, but I remember her neighborhood. It was gone. There was nothing there except the big trees. That was about it. You couldn’t even see the sidewalks. They were covered with mud.”
A few days after the flood, Swan said army trucks pulled into Lakota homes in a caravan. He said they went house to house telling people to get in the trucks. Swan said they were taken to Garfield Elementary School to get clean water and shots, one of which was tetanus.
"Little did my sisters and I know that our whole world would change within two or three weeks when we would load everything we've owned and move to Seattle," Swan said.
"Our lives were changed forever."
James Swan
Gerald Yellow Hawk
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2022-06-08T23:00:53Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Lives lost in 1972 flood honored with Native American song, blessing | 1972 Flood | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/flood/lives-lost-in-1972-flood-honored-with-native-american-song-blessing/article_77fd5c75-fa42-5fa6-952d-e0ea7c12dfa9.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/flood/lives-lost-in-1972-flood-honored-with-native-american-song-blessing/article_77fd5c75-fa42-5fa6-952d-e0ea7c12dfa9.html
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An attendee of the memorial walk points out a name he recognizes among the list of victims on the memorial to remember those who lost their lives to the 1972 Black Hills Flood on Wednesday at Memorial Park in Rapid City. More than 10 feet of flood water claimed the lives of 238 people. Memorial Park and surrounding parks were created in their honor.
Tom Raba, left, shows Yvonne Thorstenson, center, and Kim Haug, right, some photos he took in 1972 from the top of the elevator of Hubbard Mill on Wednesday at Memorial Park in Rapid City. All three knew people who were caught in the flood.
Tom Raba shows the only photo he took of the 1972 Black Hills Flood on Wednesday at Memorial Park in Rapid City. Raba said he was at Hubbard Mill all night trying to keep the water out of the elevator.
Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Biegler leads the Flood Memorial Walk on Wednesday at Memorial Park in Rapid City. The walk was hosted by Rapid City Parks and Recreation, and included speakers from the National Weather Service.
Andrew Beaird performs his original song "Higher Ground" on Wednesday at Memorial Park in Rapid City. Beaird wrote the song as a tribute to the victims of the 1972 Black Hills Flood, and has been playing it throughout the week in remembrance.
Community members gathered Wednesday morning to commemorate the 1972 Black Hills Flood’s 50th anniversary with a walk around the Memorial Park pond.
Water flooding from Rapid Creek wiped out neighborhoods where the park is now located after it swelled from excessive rain and the failure of Canyon Lake Dam.
Walkers made the circle from the Memorial Park Band Shell around the pond to the rose garden where a memorial shows the height of the flood waters and honors the 238 lives lost. The memorial is inscribed with the names of the people who died.
Attendees held a moment of silence to honor the lost.
Rapid City Parks and Recreation Department hosted the event, which started with an address from Jeff Biegler, director of Parks and Recreation. He noted how the flood changed the landscape of Rapid City, adding approximately 1,200 acres to the Rapid City park system, including Memorial Park.
“These additional acres were created after residents and businesses were relocated and that area was solely dedicated as floodway and forever set aside from residential or commercial development,” Biegler said.
The National Recreation and Parks Association recommends cities have 9.9 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Biegler said Rapid City has twice that at 20 acres per 1,000 residents.
“The Greenway and the parks that were created as a result of the clearing of structures of Rapid City are an enduring reminder of the sacrifice of those directly affected by the flood, and it serves as a lasting legacy to be enjoyed,” he said.
Biegle thanked the Friends of Rapid City Parks, who have been responsible for the memory walk in the past. He also recognized the Rapid City mayor at the time of the flood, Don Barnett, who also attended the event.
“Thank you very much for your leadership,” Biegler said as the crowd applauded the former mayor.
Historic flooding explained
Two meteorologists with the National Weather Service spoke in the pre-walk ceremony and explained the flood’s causes.
Service Hydrologist Melissa Smith said storms developed over northeastern Wyoming about 60 miles northwest of Raid City around 1:30 p.m. on June 9, 1972. By about 3 p.m., rain began to fall in the Boulder Canyon area and the Galena area.
“By the time that we got to later in the evening, we were starting to see significant heavy rainfall. These rainfall amounts were not only significant, but they were also extreme because they occurred over such a short period of time,” Smith said.
Several locations received six to eight inches of rain within a three-hour period. Twelve and a half inches of rain fell at the Nemo ranger station, Smith said.
By 10 p.m., Rapid Creek had risen 12 feet above Canyon Lake, debris blocked the spillway, water overtopped the Canyon Lake Dam, the dam failed and a 20-feet deep wall of water cascaded towards downtown Rapid City.
“By 11:15 p.m. the water reached downtown Rapid City. It crested about an hour later, shortly after midnight, with a flow of over 50,000 cubic feet per second. Over five to 10 feet of water was covering where we are today,” she told the group.
Five hours later, Rapid Creek had receded back into banks.
Warning Coordination Meteorologist Susan Sanders said a lack of wind also contributed to the flood because wind keeps storms on the move.
“That day, there were no winds,” Sanders said. “Which meant as those storms filled up, they stayed in the very same area, so it kept raining in the same area over and over again for several hours.”
Smith noted the changes in technology and warning systems since the flood in 1972. In the past, radio and TV were the only options. Smith said now the NOAA Weather Radio is available as an in-home warning system, and alert systems have expanded to cellphones as well. She said there is a 0.1% chance of a similar event happening during any given year.
“This unpredictability of Mother Nature remains with us today. We all must remain diligent to ensure that we learn from this past to make sure a tragedy like this does not happen again. We must never forget,” she said.
Memorial tributes
Andrew Beaird performed an original tribute song called “Higher Ground” he wrote about the 1972 flood.
“If I ever learned a thing from my father, it's never fear hell or high water. Even when there's problems all around you just look for that higher ground,” he sang.
Tom Raba, who worked at the former Hubbard Mill on Omaha Street in Rapid City at the time of the flood attended the walk because he spent the night in the area and carries a lot of memories from the flood. He said he remembers trying to stop the water from flooding the basement of the mill with sandbags.
“Then the wall of water from Canyon Lake came through and just like flushing a toilet, all my sandbags blew away and cars was coming through there and propane tanks, and all kinds of debris, parts of trailer house and everything,” Raba said. “There was people on top of cars floating by and we threw ropes to 'em and pulled them over.”
Raba said he walked home around 4:30 a.m. the next morning after some of the water had receded.
For a full list of flood commemoration events this week in Rapid City, visit RapidCityFlood.com
Rapid Creek Flood
50 Year Flood Anniversary
Tom Raba
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2022-06-08T23:01:05Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City Parks and Recreation commemorates flood with memorial walk | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-parks-and-recreation-commemorates-flood-with-memorial-walk/article_5c2d559b-af96-5265-b0e0-ddda9a6fe282.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-parks-and-recreation-commemorates-flood-with-memorial-walk/article_5c2d559b-af96-5265-b0e0-ddda9a6fe282.html
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Rapid City police reunite man and his beloved bike
The Rapid City Police Department was able to reunite Mike Leithauser with his bike, which had been taken from him on May 30.
Mike Leithauser of Rapid City puts his bike into the back of his family's pickup after police returned his missing bike to him on Tuesday afternoon.
Mike Leithauser was reunited with his beloved red bike on Tuesday. Leithauser, 48, had his bike taken from him during an incident that remains under investigation by the Rapid City Police Department.
Leithauser, who is autistic, was riding his bike May 30 from the Black Hills Works group home where he lives to his mother’s house. He knows the area of Rapid City well between his home and his mother’s.
That day, Leithauser felt comfortable biking on a different route than usual, though he was still in a part of town that was familiar to him, according to his mother, Darla Mengenhauser.
Leithauser was on Fifth Street mid-morning when an encounter occurred that left him shaken and without his bike, a Giant Simple Three he’s owned for 10 years.
Leithauser’s ability to communicate with police or offer much information about what happened is limited because of his autism, according to Brendyn Medina, community relations specialist for the Rapid City Police Department.
Mengenhauser said her son was able to communicate to her that he had been punched.
“Mike was so scared. He didn’t know what was going on,” Mengenhauser said. “I’m just glad (the perpetrators) didn’t have a knife and stab him.”
“Mike does not give up his bike for nothing, and he don’t let no one ride it but him,” she said.
Her son screamed and cried over the loss of his bike, Mengenhauser said, and he’d been asking every day about his bike until it was returned to him.
Mengenhauser said she wants the community to know these kinds of crimes can and do happen in Rapid City, and she encourages citizens to look out for each other. She praised the RCPD for their work in getting her son’s bike back to him.
“He’s happy as a lark,” Mengenhauser said Tuesday. "He’s thrilled. … We’re just really thankful the police found it.”
Medina said the police were pleased they were able to locate and return the bike in the span of a little over a week.
“That’s a quick turnaround for somebody having something stolen and us being able to track it down. It’s good detective work,” Medina said. “We’re just thankful at least that’s one component of this we can put some closure on. The other component is finding the person who did it, but in the meantime we were able to get (Leithauser) his bike back.”
“We typically work very hard to protect victims. … That’s the kind of happy ending we like,” Medina said.
Few details about the incident are being made public because an investigation is ongoing. Medina said Rapid City is not seeing an increase in the number of bike thefts, and encounters such as the one Leithauser experienced are unusual.
“(Incidents) of that nature are pretty few and far between in Rapid City,” Medina said. “Situations like that right off a busy street on a busy day, that’s not common at all.”
Mike Leithauser
Darla Mengenhauser
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2022-06-08T23:01:11Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City police reunite man and his beloved bike | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-police-reunite-man-and-his-beloved-bike/article_dcf3170c-2f15-55de-92a2-e70ce10dd7c8.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-police-reunite-man-and-his-beloved-bike/article_dcf3170c-2f15-55de-92a2-e70ce10dd7c8.html
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Brian Povandra, division chief of Fire Operations for the Rapid City Fire Department, and former Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett talk about the 1972 Black Hills Flood Wednesday at the Journey Museum.
Engine 6, a 1971 American LaFrance, on display Wednesday outside the Journey Museum. The Engine, which was used for rescue efforts the first night of the 1972 flood, will be on display at The Monument from 1 - 2 p.m. Thursday.
A plaque honoring the three firefighters who died during rescue efforts in the 1972 flood sits on the back of Engine 6 Wednesday outside the Journey Museum.
Engine 6 is an eight cylinder Detroit diesel with a manual transmission and a 500 gallon tank. During the night of June 8-9, 1972, Shift 1 — consisting of firefighters Brassfield, Tish, McGinnis, Nordstrom and Houska — manned the 1971 American LaFrance.
Tessa Jaeger, spokesperson for the Rapid City Fire Department, said records from 1972 make it difficult to find the first names of the firefighters.
According to a RCFD press release, Engine 6 played a key role in the rescue efforts during the first night of the 1972 flood. It spent most of its time that night in the area of West Boulevard and West Omaha Street.
Communication became limited between headquarters and engine companies. Individual officers and their crews had to self-dispatch and conduct rescue operations, and Engine 6 helped pull survivors out of the water to safety.
While in operation, Engine 6 was housed at the fire department’s Central Station at 610 Main Street. The engine has changed hands a few times. Division Chief of Fire Operations Brian Provandra currently owns it.
“It was in service from 1971 to 1994 with us, and then it was sold to the Doty Volunteer Fire Department, and they had it up until about 2015 when it was purchased from one of our past captains. And then I purchased it from him,” Provandra said.
Provandra accompanied the fire engine to speak with visitors on Wednesday. He told the Journal the engine sustained damage during the flood, but that it had since been repaired. His goal is to restore the engine to its original state.
Provanda said it’s close to the way it looked, but there are some elements missing, like the old hose spools that once graced the top of the engine.
“I felt it was of the utmost importance to try and preserve it. I wanted it to stay with somebody within the Rapid City Fire Department to keep that history and those memories alive within the department,” he said. “We've put a lot of work into it over the last two to three weeks trying to get it ready for the remembrance this week.”
A plaque placed on the engine for the event on Wednesday remembered three firefighters who died in the line of duty: Capt. George Carter, Lt. Henry "Hank" Tank and George "Ike" Sumners. The three were not with Engine 6.
Engine 6 will be on display from 1-2 p.m. Thursday outside The Monument. Provandra said he plans to display the engine at more events in the future.
Engine 6
Brian Provandra
Tessa Jaeger
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2022-06-09T00:54:07Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Fire engine that operated the night of the flood on display | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/fire-engine-that-operated-the-night-of-the-flood-on-display/article_05df752b-7d5b-5826-b773-b9c80c98e3cb.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/fire-engine-that-operated-the-night-of-the-flood-on-display/article_05df752b-7d5b-5826-b773-b9c80c98e3cb.html
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Deadwood hosting PBR Challenger Series this weekend
Kent Bush Journal Staff
PBR Bullfighter Jesse Byrne takes a shot from Medicine Man after Kaique Pacheco rode the bull to a championship Sept. 26, 2021 in Deadwood.
The PBR Challenger Series is a new competition series that began in May, with competition continuing until the championship in November in Las Vegas.
This weekend's Deadwood PBR event is one of more than 60 events across 27 states.
At the end of the PBR Challenger Series regular season, the Top 40 riders in the standings will qualify for the championship. In addition to PBR Challenger Series points, the cowboys at this weekend's event in Deadwood also have a chance to win points toward the $100,000 King of the North title.
That award goes to the rider who receives the most points in the 12 events that provide King of the North points. The final event in that competition is in Minot, North Dakota on Sept. 23-24.
The event in Deadwood will feature 40 riders Friday night and 40 more Saturday. The top 10 riders will compete on a third bull Saturday night for points and cash prizes.
Mauricio Moreira rides PBR clown Flint Rasmussen for a little fun after putting up a score of 89.25 on Speed Demon to move into second place in the standings Sept. 26, 2021 in Deadwood.
Adam Libby with Libby Productions said this is the seventh time he has brought a PBR event to Deadwood. He said the atmosphere in Deadwood was a major reason they keep coming back.
"Deadwood is a party town, and it's where the West is still wild," Libby said. "People cut loose like a mini-Vegas. It is family-friendly by all means. There's tons of folks, lots of tourists coming to town for that enchanting history of Deadwood.
"I think that brings out the party and everyone kind of cuts loose a little more and then, of course, the downtown afterlife is huge. It is a great place for the PBR."
It is so good, in fact, that Deadwood was named the Sanctioned Event of the Year in 2020.
"The great state of South Dakota, we literally had to cancel a lot of other shows," Libby said. "South Dakota is the only place that anybody could come and play. We ended up winning Event of the Year that year because the guys just loved it."
In addition to the bull riding, Deadwood PBR is bringing back fan favorite Flint Rasmussen, one of the top rodeo clowns in the country.
Adam Libby
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2022-06-09T02:42:47Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Deadwood hosting PBR Challenger Series this weekend | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/deadwood-hosting-pbr-challenger-series-this-weekend/article_961382fe-7d77-572c-b4b5-08a27ebf470a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/deadwood-hosting-pbr-challenger-series-this-weekend/article_961382fe-7d77-572c-b4b5-08a27ebf470a.html
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RAPID CITY - Richard A. "Dick" Trankle, 85, died Monday, June 6, 2022.
He served in the US Army.
Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, June 10, 2022 at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home.
Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery with full military honors.
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2022-06-09T06:07:21Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Richard A. "Dick" Trankle | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-a-dick-trankle/article_89a04a11-6ed5-5d6b-93d7-ccf30bc5253a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-a-dick-trankle/article_89a04a11-6ed5-5d6b-93d7-ccf30bc5253a.html
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Richard "Dick" Drummond
HOT SPRINGS - Dick passed away peacefully on June 3, 2022, at the VA hospital in Hot Springs, SD, with his wife Kathy and a grandson by his side.
Dick was born on July 7, 1935, in Dell Rapids, SD, to Webster and Julia Drummond.
Dick served in the US Air Force from 1953 to 1966.
Dick Drummond was the proud founder of Ricardos restaurant in Norfolk, Nebraska, in 1975 where he raised his family.
He married his wife Kathy in 2002, and traveled many places, especially south to their favorite spot in Rockport Texas, where they spent their time sailing and with their American Legion friends.
In the summers Dick worked for the Keystone Chamber Information enjoying sharing his stories of his great respect for the Black Hills with tourists. Kathy worked for the Mount Rushmore History Association.
They later owned the Rushmore Shuttle Bus Co. taking tourists up to the monument for the evening lighting program.
Then they purchased a business in Keystone called Wilderness Legends and worked there together for several years until Dick's health began to fail.
Dick and Kathy are grateful to the many VA health care providers and supporters who were their guardian angels over the years. Also, the tremendous love from our friends and neighbors in Keystone.
Survived by his wife, Kathy; sister, Bobbi Bartling; his son, Richard (Crystal) Drummond; daughters, Sandy (Jay) Wolfe, Judy (Jay) Daniell, Kristi Drummond; stepdaughter, Heather Dawn Fleming; twelve grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Ron; his sister-in-law, Peg; and brother-in-law, Clint Bartling.
No service will be held per his wishes.
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2022-06-09T06:07:36Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Richard "Dick" Drummond | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-dick-drummond/article_b864aa5a-c2f5-5983-91c3-00c1bcb0da79.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-dick-drummond/article_b864aa5a-c2f5-5983-91c3-00c1bcb0da79.html
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Richard (Rick) Hanafin
NEWBURYPORT, MA - Richard (Rick) Hanafin, of Newburyport, MA passed away on May 24, 2022 after several years battling cancer.
Born in Brighton, MA, Rick grew up in Wenham and graduated from St. John's Prep and the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Architecture. After graduating college, Rick joined Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and worked with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota on economic development initiatives. He became an honorary member of the Tribe in 1969. He also worked with the Northeast South Dakota Community Action Program and was instrumental in the development of the non-profit TRACT Handcrafts whose profits primarily benefit people in depressed rural areas.
He married Peggy Green in 1977, and together they raised Brian and Katie in Rapid City, SD. Both Brian and Katie followed in their Dad's footsteps and graduated from Notre Dame. Rick worked as an architect for many years on multiple projects, and designed and helped build out the Black Hills Regional Eye Institute. He later became the Eye Institute's Executive Director. Always civic minded he held leadership positions with the United Way, the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, Notre Dame Club of the Black Hills, and many other community organizations in Rapid City.
He moved back to New England in recent years and was active with the Head Start Program and the Opportunity Community Workshop in Newburyport.
Rick was predeceased by his parents, Paul and Marie Hanafin of Brighton; and his brother, Paul Hanafin of New York.
He is survived by his son, Brian and his wife Sarah of Orlando, FL; his daughter, Katie and husband Joe of Apple Valley, MN; and his six grandchildren: Patrick, Grace, Connor, and Caroline of Orlando, and Lucy and Edward of Apple Valley, all of whom lovingly knew him as "Grandpa Rick." He also leaves his sister, Nancy Hanafin of Tewksbury, MA; his sister-in-law, Chris Hanafin of Florida; his good friend, Jean Carosi of Newburyport; and Peggy Hanafin of Rapid City.
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2022-06-09T06:07:42Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Richard (Rick) Hanafin | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-rick-hanafin/article_96e464e9-579c-5fe4-9fb2-71d102ba9775.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-rick-hanafin/article_96e464e9-579c-5fe4-9fb2-71d102ba9775.html
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Patty and Warren Sessink reflected on their experience the night of the 1972 flood from their home today in Michigan.
Warren and Patty Sessink outside their home in Rapid City, eventually destroyed by the flood, with their son Brian in May of 1972.
Patty Sessink holds her daughter Laura the day she was born in late June 1972. Patty was nearly nine months pregnant with Laura the night of the flood.
Patty and Warren Sessink's house in Rapid City, before the devastation of the 1972 flood — a house Patty said everyone described as a "doll house."
A night of terror was punctuated with a night of miracles for Warren and Patty Sessink, recalling a dark night 50 years ago defined by three distinct occurrences that made the difference between life and death.
The first was a roadblock.
Warren was on his way home from work at the Rapid City K-Mart on a hot and humid evening in June. He didn’t remember a lot of rain, just the heat. He left at 6 p.m. on the dot — a time that would make all the difference.
He headed up the highway to Rapid Canyon like any other evening. He found the entrance flanked with police cars — the first indication that this night would be different. He wasn’t sure why, but they were preparing to stop letting traffic in. Warren was the last car through.
Had he left work one minute later, that would have been a different car.
While he didn’t realize it at the moment, his timing may have saved his wife’s life. Patty was nearly nine months pregnant and at home with their 17-month-old son Brian. Patty later admitted that had Warren not made it back to them that evening, she never would have left the house.
But Warren did make it through and back to Patty for what began as a pleasant evening meal, consisting of leftovers from Warren’s birthday dinner two days earlier.
With no warning systems or blaring alerts, it was the Sessink’s garbage cans that sounded the alarm that night. The racket of their garbage cans crashing along with charging water startled them.
“It sort of shook me up,” Warren said.
Prompted to look out the window, Warren and Patty saw rain “coming down in buckets,” laced with lightning and thunder.
Patty gauged their evolving perspective that night through her tomato plants, the baseline for a priority meter of sorts. She had planted tomatoes earlier that day, and as the rain fell, her first thought was for her plants. They’d be ruined.
As the night progressed, so did their concerns. By 7 p.m., concern had grown from the tomatoes to the house. And it “wasn’t much longer till the house didn’t matter,” Warren said. It was their lives.
'We're going'
Their neighbors were undeterred, using the past three or four decades as a barometer of what they thought was harmless rain. One said she was going to curl up with a book and go to sleep.
Warren made a different call. That was miracle number two, they said. He was the only one in their entire neighborhood convinced they had to get to higher ground.
“He said, 'Get a sturdy pair of shoes. Get Brian. And we're going,'” Patty said.
The car was no longer an option, so they set out on foot. Warren grabbed their son Brian and “we just climbed up,” he said.
They followed their street back out to the main road along the highway, spotting some property with a guesthouse. While not much higher than their own house, it was on higher ground. There was room in the inn, and the owners happily obliged, Warren said, providing what would prove to be a temporary respite.
As they waited, they noticed the water beginning to recede. A deceptive omen, Warren decided to venture back down to their own house and survey the damage, leaving Patty and their two children in the guesthouse.
He found four inches of mud caked to their floors, and a neighbor to swap complaints with. They talked about the gnarly cleanup to come until Warren noticed the water was rising again.
His only thought now was getting back to Patty. The water continued to rise as he waded back uphill toward the guesthouse.
On his way back, the Sessink’s third miracle occurred — Warren looked up. Not just up the road, but higher. He happened to spy light floating in the distance, high above the guesthouse.
National Guardsman risks everything
They were flashlights. And they belonged to members of the National Guard.
“I think we’d better get out of here,” Warren told Patty. The water was rising too quickly.
Warren looked to the flashlights. He went outside, waded across the water, and yelled. Trying to get their attention, he screamed over the crashing debris and pouring rain that he had a nine-months-pregnant woman in the house and they needed to get out.
He convinced one of the guardsmen to come down — a lifesaver, Patty, said. The guard risked his life to cross the water and come down to meet them at the guesthouse.
“I said to Patty, just hang on to him,” Warren said.
The rain was coming down hard and the water was chest-high, Patty said. She remembered stepping down off the porch of the guesthouse, uncertain if she’d be able to touch bottom.
They clung to anything they could for dear life — the guard, fencing — anything that would help them maintain their footing. One wrong step, they said, and they’d have been uprooted by the crashing debris and swallowed by the water, with no second chances.
Lightning strikes revealed debris from dislodged houses and trees charging through the water.
What Warren described as a “huge, steep” hill lay between them and the safe haven where he’d first spied the flashlights. Two guardsmen hoisted Patty up, arms under her elbows, pushing as fast as they could.
Safely at the top, Patty remembered a moment that felt like eternity — she didn’t see Warren. She didn’t know where he was, or their son Brian. Time froze as her mind spun around endless possibilities.
“I looked around, and there he was,” she said, relief in her voice, as if it’d happened moments ago. “I was so relieved, because I thought he might have been taken in the water.”
He had Brian safely in tow.
Safely on higher ground, their thoughts now turned to getting Patty to a hospital. The National Guard had a jeep, and decided to make a go of it. They didn’t get far.
Both Warren and Patty fought back tears as they paused, remembering what came next.
A wall of water
“We heard that a 15-foot wall of water was coming,” Warren said.
Strangers approaching the jeep painted a bleak picture, warning of people trapped on rooftops down below, screaming for help. Warren and Patty figured they’d made it out of the canyon with minutes to spare.
Driving into the city was no longer an option. The bridge was covered in water. Patty couldn’t get to a hospital. Plan B was a large house even higher up than the embankment they’d climbed earlier. Spotted by the guardsmen, they went up to the owners to ask if Patty, Warren and Brian could spend the night.
“They were so nice to us,” Patty said of the homeowners. “It was a real nasty night, and we were happy to get into a warm house.”
The kindness of strangers was a theme for Warren and Patty that night. They let them sleep in their own bedroom. Many more came. They estimated 15-20 people took shelter in that house.
Warren recalled a humorous moment where he polled the assembly of strangers for anyone that might be able to assist him if Patty went into labor.
A hand shot up from the crowd.
“I’m a dentist,” the man announced. That brought them a smile, Warren said — if Patty went into labor, he’d have a dentist to help.
The morning and days after
The night passed and no baby. Morning brought both relief and horror for the survivors.
Knowing a tremendous amount of homes had been destroyed, Warren went in search of a hotel. Unfathomable destruction met him when he reentered the city. A beautiful stone house on his street had been completely leveled. His own home had a water line right up to the ceiling. The front and back walls had been blown out.
Warren found a hotel on a hill called the Star Motel. They set up camp for a week before the owner of the K-Mart Warren worked at offered to put them up in his basement apartment.
Their daughter Laura was born on June 28. Shortly after, they moved back into the Star Motel before Warren’s job took them to Salt Lake City in April 1973.
“It is so amazing how we look back now and we didn’t think much of it at the time — how we narrowly escaped,” Patty said.
Warren’s emotions crept in again, imagining three different futures that didn’t include his wife and children — some not even himself.
“I imagine what my life would have been, if they would have been killed,” Warren said, struggling to complete the sentence. “I can’t imagine. Because I love my wife.”
Heartbreak and gratitude
Warren recalled a customer he spoke with at his store who had his 17-month-old son ripped from his arms during the flood. He never saw his son again. Warren had his son in his arms that night, too — the same age. He thought back to the night he carried Brian through the rain, and up the steep embankment, and how he could have been ripped from his arms at any moment.
He heard the man say “if I could’ve just hung on a little tighter.”
“There was just so much devastation,” Patty said. “It didn’t register right away.”
Mingled with the devastation was overwhelming gratitude, as both Warren and Patty recalled the village that helped them. The strangers who opened their homes, the dentist who offered to help deliver their baby, the National Guard members who saved their lives, and friends who sheltered them after the storm, loaned them a car and watched Brian when Laura was born. For many, they never knew their names, wishing desperately they could thank them.
Warren and Patty live in Michigan now, remembering nothing but kindness from the people of Rapid City.
“And we've had a wonderful life,” Warren said, married 52 years. When the flood came in 1972, they were just starting their lives together.
“When we were walking out along the chain link fence, the sound of the water was so loud, and I yelled out to Warren, 'I love you,'” Patty remembered. “Because I didn't know if that was going to be the end, you know?”
The insignificance of material things and the fragility of life have shaped their perspective since that terrible night in June, Patty said.
“You can, at any time, lose that. And that's the most important thing,” she said.
She described their years together as a gift. They were 34 and 25 when they experienced the flood together, 84 and 75 today.
After coming so close so many times, and the fragility of life “paramount” in Patty’s mind, every year since has been a gift.
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2022-06-09T12:34:35Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Survivors remember miracles from a night of terror | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-survivors-remember-miracles-from-a-night-of-terror/article_16caf628-09bc-5729-95c0-274412a1d37d.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-survivors-remember-miracles-from-a-night-of-terror/article_16caf628-09bc-5729-95c0-274412a1d37d.html
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Mitchell with George McGovern during a reception for McGovern as the Democrat nominee for President of the United States.
Editor's note: This is the third in a four-part series talking with former Rapid City Daily Journal employees and what they remember from their perspective covering the 1972 flood.
That’s especially true for Marcia Mitchell, formerly Marcia Donnan, who worked as the Women’s Editor for the Rapid City Journal and was one of only two women in the newsroom. Sally Farrar being the other.
In the job, Mitchell was responsible for the Sunday women’s section. Mitchell described it as a society section looking at fashion, bridal sections and some material especially interesting to women. While that was her responsibility, that didn’t stop Mitchell from also regularly covering news reporting such as issues affecting the Pine Ridge Reservation or drug use in Rapid City.
On that Thursday, one day before the June 9, 1972 Black Hills flood, Mitchell had met with Salvation Army Major George William Medley and his wife Captain Joy Medley to work on a large enterprise story of the various services the Medleys were hoping to implement in Rapid City.
“That Friday morning, Bill and his wife started to attempt to go up to the Salvation Army camp, which I believe was about a dozen miles west of the city on (Highway) 44. And the National Guard turned them around, and they went back to town,” Mitchell said. “Typical of them, they decided that they really needed to get back to town and help people.”
When the Medleys returned to town they opened up the Salvation Army Chapel along Rapid Creek and before long, the water started to fill inside the chapel to the point where Joy Medley took some older women who sought refuge inside and left for higher ground.
“Typical of Bill, he went and jumped into the truck and went into town, to try to see what he could do to help,” Mitchell said. “And that very night, he was in the process of rescuing some people. In fact, the story is that he was holding a baby in his arms, and had put people in a truck, I think was a truck or a van. And then the water hit them. And he had saved people, but he was lost.”
Mitchell said it left her with a disturbing feeling having just been with him making plans about how this story and all the plans he had to help the people of Rapid City.
“He was a wonderful man. But that's a memory that is very strong with me because we had spent so much time planning and to see his vision for helping people in that area and then have that vision just shattered,” she said.
While doing a series on foster care, Mitchell said there was one family she had come to know who had lived on State Highway 44 near the fish hatchery.
Mitchell was the Women's Editor of the Rapid City Journal in 1972.
The family, who lived in a two-story colonial-style home, were forced up to their attic as the water in Spring Creek began to rise.
“In the window in the attic, they looked at the house right next door and the people there had climbed out on the roof of their house,” Mitchell said. “They were watching the people on the roof when the House pulled away from its foundation and was swept away. This big house — turned on its side on Spring Creek and was gone.
“Just to speak with people who had seen something like that was an incredible experience. It's an experience for those people to see it and then to tell it, and then to live with it. It's not easy. That was one of the things that remains with me is being with those people.”
'So many obits'
The Monday following Friday night’s devastation, Mitchell said she took over as an obituary writer for a brief period, because “we had so many obits to do on Monday after the flood.”
While working, a woman friend of Mitchell’s came into the Journal’s office, stood in front of her desk, and handed Mitchell a handwritten page.
It was an obituary for the friend’s husband and daughter.
“She told me that she and her husband and their two children, a boy and a girl, were listening to the radio and waiting, they were thinking maybe we don't have to evacuate. We'll wait and see if there's an evacuation order. And suddenly, there was an evacuation order,” Mitchell said “They had their car packed and the car was in the driveway and ready to go. They went out to get in the car and a wall of water hits them.
"She grabbed her daughter's hands and held tightly, but she couldn't hold the child against the weight of the water, the force of the water, and the child was washed away.”
As Mitchell’s friend talked about the loss of her husband and daughter, she also said they had not yet found her son.
“She said, ‘Marcia, I will have to bring you his obituary because I can't do it yet. They haven't found my boy.’ And as it turned out, they found her boy in a tree. He was alive. But it was stories like that,” Mitchell said. “They were just one after the other.”
Like a war zone
On June 26, 1972, the Journal put together its first comprehensive special edition featuring a cumulative report on its flood coverage the prior two weeks.
Mitchell wrote a column to lead the special flood section edition on Monday, June 26, 1972 about the June 9, 1972 flood.
For Mitchell, it was an honor for her to lead the front page of that edition with a column with the headline “‘It’s rather like war… isn’t it?’”
As Mitchell described it in her column, “It seems safe to say that no person in the city or in the surrounding communities of the Black Hills was untouched by the disaster.”
While later commending the acts of heroism of the community, “From the first hours of the disaster, volunteer efforts have been of incredible magnitude,” Mitchell detailed.
As noted by the Journal’s City Editor Jack Weaver at the time, in a special story on how to put out a newspaper following a disaster, “We’re experts at the Rapid City Journal — we did it once, none of us cares to become any more an expert.”
An Editor’s Note included throughout that edition noted that “There were too many heart-touching stories in Rapid City during the flood and the Journal couldn’t begin to round up or report all of them.”
Teamwork and sharing news
As the Journal shared stories reported on from various news outlets who had traveled to Rapid City to cover the devastation, including the Associated Press, the Minneapolis Star and Minneapolis Tribune, and the Denver Post, among others.
Mitchell said she had never seen the newsroom work so hard or as one big team to get the news out during that time.
Everybody was so dedicated to getting the paper out. Working long extra hours, without any regard for the clock, she said.
Reporters, photographers and editors were out in the streets standing in water talking to people to hear how they had been impacted by the storm.
Reporters didn’t have the traditional competitiveness that might happen fighting over a front page story or sticking to their specific reporting beats. Everybody did what they could to help.
“Nobody was criticizing, nobody was pushing, it was just everybody going full bore. And it was remarkable to see the effort put into getting a newspaper out,” Mitchell said. “But I thought it was so amusing that they were scooping water out of the toilets to use for (processing) film.”
That paper’s edition had reached up to 229 victims identified.
Mitchell said that the daily reports the Journal kept made her realize how difficult it must have been for families to learn their loved ones had died from the news.
While the final tally of victims would reach 238, Mitchell said that the daily reports the Journal kept made her realize how difficult it must have been for families to learn their loved ones had died from the news.
“The thing that was so unreal was it came out every day, there'd be more and more names on that list. It was not possible for the authorities to notify next of kin that this loved one had been found dead. It was not possible to get that information out personally,” she said.
“So people were learning that their loved one was lost by hearing the name read over the radio or seeing it printed in the newspaper,” Mitchell said. “It reminded me so much of those desperate people in the Civil War waiting for news.”
In 1973, Mitchell was named the National Press Woman of the Year during a ceremony held in Michigan.
In 1973, Mitchell, at far right, was named the National Press Woman of the Year during a ceremony held in Michigan.
Following her time with the Journal, Mitchell would join Gov. Richard Kneip’s staff as the Secretary of Labor. She was the first female member of the South Dakota Governor’s Cabinet and the only woman in the country in the role of Secretary of Labor.
Now, after much success in the broadcasting and film arts, Mitchell is a successful non-fiction writer who likes to split her time in the Black Hills and the British West Indian island of Montserrat.
Marcia Donnan
Marcia Mitchell
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2022-06-09T14:10:20Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Stories were one after the other | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-stories-were-one-after-the-other/article_c92a2a77-e7b1-50e5-9d5b-20ea0dd6ac79.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-stories-were-one-after-the-other/article_c92a2a77-e7b1-50e5-9d5b-20ea0dd6ac79.html
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The Friends of the Chadron Public Library will have their monthly book sale at the Annex next to the Public Library on Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. both days.
Self-help and parenting books will be free this month, so it is a good time for people to stop by if they haven't previously.
Chadron Public Library
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2022-06-09T15:41:45Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Book sale features free books | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/book-sale-features-free-books/article_89bbea58-9850-53c7-9bf0-3915894126d5.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/book-sale-features-free-books/article_89bbea58-9850-53c7-9bf0-3915894126d5.html
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Recent rains have blessed the area
Northwest Nebraska was blessed the final few days of May with some significant rains that improved nearly everyone’s attitudes, and particularly those of farmers and ranchers.
Much of the area received approximately two inches on May 29 and 30, breaking, at least for the time being, a dry spell that had lasted two years. Unfortunately, some gauges measured less than that, but others had around 2 ½ and areas in southern Dawes County received around three inches, counting a good dousing in places this past Saturday night.
One rancher called the late May weather “a million dollar rain” and a second said it was “a lifesaver.” Another comment was, “It had been terribly dry until then.”
With the late spurt, May turned out to a fairly wet month. KCSR Radio website said 3.20 inches of precipitation was measured in May, bringing the total through the first five months of the year to 6.44 inches. Chadron Radio also reports that another half inch has fallen through the first week of June.
Del Hussey, who lives about eight miles south of Chadron, said his gauge caught exactly four inches of precip in May. A total of 1.33 inches arrived Sunday and Monday, May 29 and 30 and another .92 on Tuesday, May 31.
Hussey said he also received an inch on May 9 and showers totaling about three-tenths on May 20 and 23 that were beneficial because, in his words, “they kept things from drying up when they were growing and really needed moisture.”
Through May, Hussey said his gauge measured 8.48 inches of moisture. Through the first five months a year ago, Hussey’s records showed 10.36 inches of precipitation, but only a little over six inches the rest of the year. Prior to that in recent years, his five-month totals were 2020—6.10, 2019—10.67, 2018—8.81 (when the end of the year total was 23.41) and 2017—10.30.
Eldon and Janett Wohlers, who farm and ranch about eight miles west of Crawford, said they received two inches of rain the last three days of May and a total of 6.3 for the year, to go with about 20 inches of snow this year, but never more than six inches at a time.
“At least with this last moisture, the grass will grow for a while and may make some first cutting hay,” Janett said. She added they received 1.4 inches of rain on May 9, but noted, “We were on the edge of drying up before these last rains came.”
Jack Arterburn of Rushville, the extension beef educator for Northwest Nebraska, said there’s no way to put a dollar figure on the latest precipitation, adding, “it will sure go a long ways.”
Arterburn said it came at a good time, before the cool season grasses that make up at least 50 percent of the pastures in this area had matured.
“Our grasses may still be short, but this will help a lot,” he noted. “They’ll really grow now and the forecast indicates that off and on we could get some more this week. However, they say we’re still under the influence of the El Nino pattern.”
Because of the below freezing temperatures in the area a few nights in May, there has been concern that the alfalfa and wheat crops may have been harmed. Arterburn called it “a wait and see situation,” but added he hadn’t heard of any definite damage.
With the price of wheat topping $11 a bushel last week in Hemingford, Arterburn noted, “It would be a bummer to miss out on a good wheat crop this year.”
Colt Foster, grain originator at Farmer’s Co-op in Hemingford, said the combination of last year’s drought in the nation’s midsection and into Montana and North Dakota, along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have sent the price of wheat to some of the highest levels ever.
Jack Arterburn
Janett Wohlers
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2022-06-09T17:13:13Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Recent rains have blessed the area | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/recent-rains-have-blessed-the-area/article_3ad1bf2a-0ba8-5399-af39-d24236e1acbc.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/recent-rains-have-blessed-the-area/article_3ad1bf2a-0ba8-5399-af39-d24236e1acbc.html
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With a variety of products, Homer’s Eagles Roost at 301 East Third Street is dedicated to providing health and wellness to people. Among the products on the shelves are cannabinoids from hemp plants, which can be consumed and utilized in a variety of ways.
Business owners Dionne Holmquist and Nickie Leeper opened their doors at the location on Oct. 29, though they had already set up booths during events like the Harvest Moon Fall Festival and the Grey Eagle Warrior Challenge. As both contracted COVID-19, they had to wait a few weeks until they were cleared to open the store.
For the inspiration for opening the store, Holmquist explained her background includes being a drug and alcohol counselor and being in athletics. “I’ve had numerous sports injuries,” she said, “and all that led me down this path. I didn’t want to take pills, so I jumped into the cannabis and hemp space about nine years ago . . . I just really immersed myself into both industries, seeing all sorts of aspects.”
Leeper has been in healthcare for the past 25 years, and has been able to see the regulations and medicines given from that side, and is now breaking away from that to move to a different level.
Leeper added it was a matter of finding what the plant itself can do and it’s healing properties. “I think that was part of my inspiration,” she added, and after connecting with Holmquist they took the path of educating the community of what it can do.
The main focus of the business, Holmquist said, is the educational piece. “Before opening the store, we wanted to make sure of the type of education and what we could bring to the community. Not just bring something to sell and make a buck, but to truly educate. . . You don’t want to be that gas station or liquor store CBD.”
Holmquist continued that customers come into the store and visit with them about what they might take. While she and Leeper are not doctors, she explained they can listen and educate, so people can make informed decisions.
“We don’t know it all,” Holmquist said, “but I feel we have a network of people to reach out. Too often you have people that want to just sell products because they see it as a moneymaker.”
She further emphasized that they can’t say their products cure or treat illnesses, but they can share testimonials they hear from people who have used them.
All of the products, Leeper said, are made from the hemp plant and are compliant with the 2018 Farm Bill. They check the Certificate of Analysis on anything they sell to make sure they fall into the correct THC percentage. “Nebraska law allows 0.3% of THC in the products,” she said. Holmquist noted that, without the correct labelling, it can be setting the business and customers up for failure.
Additionally, Homer’s serves as a consignment space for local artists. Among the items available are artwork, glassware, crystals, jewelry and some food items. It’s nice to see these additional items come in and sell well, Holmquist said, because it means people can still do what they love and don’t have to worry about costs such as renting store space.
As to the name of the business, Holmquist explained her dad, Curt, was a long-time coach and teacher at Chadron High School. One year, a student gave Curt the nickname “Homer,” and the duo chose it for their business knowing it would stick out. As for the “Eagles” piece, Holmquist said it, of course, refers to the Chadron State team, but also the symbolism of wisdom and healing associated with eagles. Her family has been a big supporter of the business, she said, so the “Homer” name is a way to honor her dad.
Leeper is proud the business is woman-owned, and they are both local with her being from Gordon and Holmquist from Chadron. The two also played sports at Chadron State. Leeper did volleyball and track, and Holmquist played golf and volleyball.
The two also want to give back to the community as part of their business. At the end of the first semester of the 2021-22 school year, they paid any outstanding student lunch balances. They have also given back to veterans through donations to the Grey Eagle Warrior Challenge, and are sponsoring the upcoming Colter Run.
“We want people to understand they can buy a lot online these days,” Holmquist said, “but this keeps the money in the community.”
They also travel to other communities, giving back percentages of their profits to Gordon and Whiteclay. They plan to also visit, Crawford, Alliance and Scottsbluff.
Dionne Holmquist
Nickie Leeper
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2022-06-09T20:16:03Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Roost owners focus on education | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/roost-owners-focus-on-education/article_c6c96852-1ac9-54f8-8859-a83dc271ce5b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/roost-owners-focus-on-education/article_c6c96852-1ac9-54f8-8859-a83dc271ce5b.html
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Relf
Pennington County Sheriff's Office photo
Journal archives from 2015 show Carl Relf, 53, barricaded himself in a camper when Pennington County Sheriff’s deputies tried to arrest him on multiple warrants for failure to comply, driving under the influence, possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest.
Relf initially agreed to turn himself in before he barricaded himself in the camper. After negotiations failed, law enforcement fired pepper spray through the camper windows. Relf still refused to exit, so Pennington County Sheriff’s deputies, along with officers from the Rapid City Police Department, broke through the barricade and deployed a K-9 unit.
The week prior to the barricading, police used a taser on Relf after they found him in the driver’s seat of a stolen pickup with numerous beer cans and he refused to obey officer commands.
Relf is currently in custody at the Pennington County Jail for the incident on Monday.
The Pennington County State's Attorney's office charged Relf with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for pointing and firing a handgun at five construction workers along State Highway 79 south of Rapid City, according to the indictment.
"This is a work in progress, but we don't have any indication at this point that he had anything to do with the construction team," Helene Duhamel, spokesperson for the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, told the Journal on Tuesday.
The law enforcement report regarding the incident is sealed, but the Pennington County Sheriff's Office stated in a press release Tuesday morning that sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a male shooting at construction workers at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the area of Highway 79 and Spring Creek Road south of Rapid City. South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers converged on the area.
Helene said a construction worker followed Relf after the incident, and law enforcement located him at 1:49 p.m. He was booked into the county jail at 7:02 p.m.
At Relf’s initial appearance in court on Wednesday, a judge set his bond at $100,000 cash only. His preliminary hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. on June 21.
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2022-06-09T21:47:34Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City man had several interactions with law enforcement before Monday shooting | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-man-had-several-interactions-with-law-enforcement-before-monday-shooting/article_41284d63-0760-5c6e-b6bc-41bf90bbb599.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-man-had-several-interactions-with-law-enforcement-before-monday-shooting/article_41284d63-0760-5c6e-b6bc-41bf90bbb599.html
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Rapid City man sentenced for possessing firearm stolen from local sporting goods store
The federal courthouse
A federal judge sentenced a Rapid City man to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $100 assessment for possessing one of the firearms stolen during a 2018 burglary of The Rooster, a sporting goods store in Rapid City.
U.S. District Judge Jeffery Viken sentenced Hank Dubray, 36, on May 16 after Dubray pleaded guilty in May 2021 to one count of possession of a stolen firearm. The government dropped one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in exchange for the guilty plea.
The firearm in question is one of 24 stolen from The Rooster on Aug. 22, 2018. While Dubray did not directly contribute to the theft of the firearms, he knowingly possessed one of them.
The Journal reported Zephaniah Thompson, 29, of Fairburn, dropped off Matthew Keifer at The Rooster on West Main Street in the early morning hours of Aug. 22, 2018.
Keifer took 24 firearms from the sporting goods store after using a crowbar to open a locked back door. According to court documents, the two drove back to Thompson’s residence and filed the serial numbers off of the guns.
The next day, law enforcement observed Dubray leaving Thompson’s residence in Rapid City with Thompson and another person, according to court documents. Officers stopped the vehicle and found four semi-automatic pistols in the vehicle: a .45 caliber Ruger American Pistol, a .40 caliber Ruger American Pistol, a .40 caliber Ruger SR40 and a .45 caliber Ruger 1911.
Dubray admitted in court documents he had heard Keifer and Thompson discussing the stolen nature of the firearms while at the residence. Dubray placed the Ruger SR40 in his waistband before getting into the truck. He placed it under the seat when law enforcement stopped the vehicle.
Keifer is serving a five year and 11 month sentence for theft of a firearm from a licensee and aiding and abetting. His release date is May 3, 2023. Thompson served 57 months in federal prison for theft of a firearm and aiding and abetting. He was released on Dec. 6, 2021. His sentence included two years of supervised release.
The 2018 robbery was the second time in three years that firearms were stolen from The Rooster, which decided to stop selling guns and operate exclusively as a fishing store.
Hank Dubray
Ruger American Pistol
Matthew Keifer
Zephaniah Thompson
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2022-06-09T21:47:40Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rapid City man sentenced for possessing firearm stolen from local sporting goods store | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-man-sentenced-for-possessing-firearm-stolen-from-local-sporting-goods-store/article_a1c88e68-4375-54d8-9b0d-31b6051e0093.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rapid-city-man-sentenced-for-possessing-firearm-stolen-from-local-sporting-goods-store/article_a1c88e68-4375-54d8-9b0d-31b6051e0093.html
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Investigators process the scene of a shooting where two Rapid City officers shot at a 31-year-old woman in a vehicle on Terra Street in southeast Rapid City Tuesday morning.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation has been scarce with information regarding their investigation into a shooting on May 31 where Rapid City police shot a local woman multiple times during a failed traffic stop.
DCI is a department of the Attorney General's office. The Journal spoke with Tim Bormann, spokesperson for DCI, on Monday after multiple attempts of contact after the shooting.
Bormann said the investigation is ongoing and a 30-day timeline from start to finish is typical, but he would ask investigators where they are at in the investigation. He has yet to call back or return attempts from the Journal to contact him.
Bormann also said he would check with investigators regarding the name and condition of the 31-year-old woman, who was taken to the hospital after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.
"Last I heard would have been last week, Thursday or Friday, still, at that point in time, they said stable," Bormann said on Monday. "Last I heard, she was still in the hospital."
The Journal asked Bormann if the officers present during the shooting had returned to work. Bormann directed the Journal to the RCPD.
"I have no idea. That is an RCPD issue. DCI has no say in that," he said. "DCI is only investigating the incident that led to the shooting."
RCPD spokesman, Brendyn Medina, said one officer, who was present but not directly involved in the shooting, went back to work the next day. The other returned on Monday. Medina said the officers returned after meeting with the department's in-house psychologist.
During the press conference following the shooting, Police Chief Don Hedrick said it is standard protocol for officers to be on administrative leave until a psychologist has been able to work with them.
Bormann said Monday that charges usually come about after an investigation is complete, so he is not aware if the woman or any officers have been charged.
"At this point in time I have no information on any charges," Bormann said Monday.
A failed traffic stop led to the shooting on May 31 after a woman attempted to drive at an officer with her car, the Rapid City Police Department reported the morning of the incident.
RCPD officers were working in the area of Lacrosse and Waterloo streets in Rapid City when they attempted to pull a vehicle over. The vehicle did not stop but instead continued to drive, “at a low speed,” Police Chief Don Hedrick said at a press conference on May 31 at Terra Street and South Valley Drive at Terra Mobile Home Estates where police shot the woman.
Law enforcement closed off the area around the scene where two police cruisers flanked the sedan, which was still there during the press conference. The passenger-side window had bullet holes in it and the driver’s side window was completely gone. Pieces of the window could be seen on the ground near the driver’s side.
Hedrick told reporters that after police attempted to stop the vehicle for an equipment violation, a passenger jumped out of the vehicle. DCI could not provide information on if the person has been located, and Medina said that finding the person would require a conversation with the woman who was shot, something that he said has not been able to occur.
The vehicle continued and then the driver threw something out of the window. Hedrick said he was not aware of what that item was or if it had been found. The vehicle continued toward the Cambell Street area, and officers attempted a tactical vehicle intervention.
“It’s something officers use to try and get a vehicle to spin out in a controlled manner. They attempted to utilize that tactic. It did not work,” Hedrick said.
The vehicle then continued onto Saint Patrick Street, turned onto South Valley Drive and then pulled into Terra Mobile Home Estates on Terra Street.
“An officer attempted to pin the vehicle, which means it was trying to approach the vehicle with the officer's vehicle to stop it. At that point the vehicle spun and drove in the direction of the police officer. At that point, the officer fired several rounds at the car, fired several shots at the vehicle, striking the driver several times. At that point the vehicle stopped and the driver ceased any sort of action,” Hedrick said.
After the shooting, the RCPD turned the scene over to the Pennington County Sheriff's Office until DCI arrived and began their investigation.
South Dakota Division Of Criminal Investigation
Tim Bormann
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2022-06-09T23:18:54Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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DCI provides minimal updates on police shooting | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/dci-provides-minimal-updates-on-police-shooting/article_1f276089-6fb4-5ab0-b4b8-a64d69a7c278.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/dci-provides-minimal-updates-on-police-shooting/article_1f276089-6fb4-5ab0-b4b8-a64d69a7c278.html
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Delayed voting results, polling place changes cause frustration in Pennington County
Constituents line up out the doors at the Rapid City Community Center West building to vote on Tuesday morning in Rapid City.
Primary election night was a late one for Pennington County election workers, wrapping up the final count around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
With a 31% turnout, Pennington County Auditor Cindy Mohler said the time it takes to count the ballots depends on the election, with Tuesday’s primary falling right into the average of between 26%-34%.
Mohler said anywhere between 10:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. could be considered a “normal” election night, depending on the election and “how the machines are running.”
Pennington County has three tabulator machines to count ballots from its 48 precincts — only two of which were used on Tuesday night, standard for primary elections in Pennington County. Mohler said they had to deal with a few paper jams, but “nothing major.”
The auditor’s office begins counting ballots as soon as they come in, but the final count is dependent on when the last precinct arrives. Their latest precinct, Keystone, didn’t arrive until 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Mohler said.
Variables at polling locations can also contribute to the late night. While polls close at 7 p.m., if any voter is still in line at 7, they get to cast their vote, regardless of the time they actually reach the ballot box.
Reports of long lines at West Middle School, a change in location for Ward 5-5, led to some frustration among voters. One factor that may have contributed to the longer lines, Mohler said, was a worker shortage at 5-5. One of their assigned workers died unexpectedly, leaving three to man the precinct.
“They work their butts off,” Mohler said of her election workers, a vital part of Election Day success. She said Pennington County has “awesome, awesome” poll workers, noting how thankful her office is that they are willing to work on a “very long day.”
The decision to no longer use Pinedale Elementary School as a polling location for Ward 5-5 came from the school district no longer wishing to use school as a precinct.
“If we had our choice, everything would stay the same,” Mohler said.
While the choice to move was not the auditor's, choosing a new location is.
“We try to find a place within the precinct that is ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) accessible, has enough parking and has enough room,” Mohler said. Then they need to make sure the location is willing to be a polling place.
“It isn’t an easy task,” she said.
Redistricting in 2022 threw another wrench into Election Day, changing districts and polling locations across Rapid City. Mohler said their office sent over 70,000 cards to voters informing them of the redistricting, and notifying them that their polling location may have changed.
Both polling location changes and the 2022 redistricting were a source of frustration for Heather Hoeye, program director for Project Search, and a concerned citizen with 12 years of special education experience.
Her frustrations came from Precinct 3-1, where the polling location was moved from the Jackson Heights Highrise on Fulton Street to First Assembly of God Church, near the top of U.S. Highway 16.
“The problem is an ADA violation,” said Hoeye. Redistricting resulted in voters from the Jackson Heights building having their polling place changed from their own building to the church. Hoeye said the majority of the people in the Jackson Heights building are elderly, disabled or both.
According to Hoeye, the violation is a lack of transportation. Many of the voters in the building can’t drive, she said, and there is no means of transportation to get them to the new location. There is no bus stop next to the new location, and other options such as rideshare companies and RapidRide are either expensive or require 24-hour notice.
Hoeye, an election worker at the Jackson Heights building, said they turned away 75 people that wanted to vote there and couldn’t, estimating at least 15 had disabilities or no way to access any other location.
“It was an eye-opener,” Hoeye said. “I went home and angry-cried.”
Notifying voters of a change in polling location is a source of frustration for both voters and election workers. While Mohler sent out notices and advertised in the paper, she said many times people don’t read them or they may not reach their destination. She cited the Secretary of State’s website as the most timely and accurate source of information.
The problem with the internet, Hoeye said, is it alienates those without computers, or who may not know how to use them. The use of technology in voting is not a new issue — a solution, however, is less clear.
Mohler encouraged voters to share their voting experience with them, saying they don’t always know if voters don’t tell them what’s going on.
Mohler said they’re working on a plan for November to address the number of voters who ended up in the wrong location, or even the wrong line in the right building. With only about 30% voting in the primary, she’s anticipating a new wave of voters unfamiliar with the redistricting changes, and that their voting location may have changed.
And things will change again, she said.
“Every election you learn new things,” Mohler said.
Mohler said considering the changes, she felt the 2022 primary election “went as well as could be expected. Maybe not as well as we’d like, but we’re always learning and changing and growing and trying to perfect the process.”
Cindy Mohler
Heather Hoeye
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2022-06-09T23:19:00Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Delayed voting results, polling place changes cause frustration in Pennington County | Election | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/election/delayed-voting-results-polling-place-changes-cause-frustration-in-pennington-county/article_3cac1b91-92e4-53af-805f-818b5d23e753.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/election/delayed-voting-results-polling-place-changes-cause-frustration-in-pennington-county/article_3cac1b91-92e4-53af-805f-818b5d23e753.html
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Community members take photos of a map showing the Rapid City flood plain with a layover of how the city looked in 1972 Thursday at The Monument.
City Community Development Director Vicki Fisher said people need to stay educated and the information needs to be shared about the flood.
“We need to ensure that when those of us with a little more seniority are stepping away from our positions of protection that we’ve got another generation that appreciates the importance of what has been done — and never loses sight of what can be the fallout if a community doesn’t safeguard these acres and acres of property,” Fisher said.
Fisher, Flood Administrator Mary Bosworth and Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Biegler hosted a panel on protecting the city’s flood plain Thursday morning at The Monument. The three discussed the difference between the flood plain, the flood way, preservation and protection of the area.
Bosworth said the flood way is where water is guaranteed to flow in the event of a 100-year flood while the flood plain is the area reserved to discharge flood waters without causing the remaining flood plain area to see an increased rise of water during a flood.
Fisher said developers look at a lot of land the city previously purchased, which is inundated with flood plain.
“We did that on purpose so that we can ensure that no one develops it,” she said. “We hold firm to that property because we don’t forget.”
A flash flood from 15 inches of rain in six hours swept through the Black Hills claiming 238 lives. Houses used to line Rapid Creek where Memorial Park is today, and along the creek between Canyon Lake Park and the Meadowbrook Golf Course.
City leadership in 1972 voted to never allow housing development on the land again and turn it into a greenway. The city has two ordinances that discuss flood area construction regulations and the flood hazard zoning district, which includes 931 acres.
Biegler said the greenway is part of a 1,700-acre total park system maintained by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. He said it’s now a major attraction for the community and plays an important role in the overall quality of life for residents.
“We take that stewardship very seriously,” he said. “We’re fully committed to the preservation of the greenway and we embrace the responsibilities that we have for the protection and the preservation of this treasured jewel along the creek.”
Biegler was 15 at the time of the flood. He said those who were in Rapid City during the event will never forget how their lives and landscape in the city were changed forever.
“From that tragedy that day has spring hope and optimism, and has certainly created one of the largest greenways of any community in the country,” he said.
Included in the greenway are Cliffside, Braeburn, Dog, Lions Nature, Jackson, Founders and Memorial parks, along with the Meadowbrook and Executive golf courses and the Roosevelt Ice Arena.
Biegler said the city now has twice the national average of park and open space per 1,000 residents than anywhere else in the country.
Bosworth said flooding in Rapid City has been a common occurrence, and the United States Geological Survey has recorded over 80 flood events on Rapid Creek and its tributaries since 1878. She said downtown Rapid City flooded and Canyon Lake Dam washed out in 1909, which was the worst flood in the city before the flood in 1972.
There were also floods in 1952 and 1962 that washed out bridges.
Bosworth said since 1972, there have been several heavy rain events resulting in flooding throughout many neighborhoods, including Chapel Valley, Red Rock Canyon, downtown Rapid City, north Rapid City, the fairgrounds area and Sheridan Lake Road. She said the most recent flood was in 2018 when about 4.5 inches of rain flooded the Robbinsdale neighborhood.
Mary Bosworth
Vicki Fisher
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2022-06-09T23:19:06Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Education, preservation necessary on Rapid City flood plain | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/education-preservation-necessary-on-rapid-city-flood-plain/article_e2ef1238-7124-53a3-93b3-57f175e4c007.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/education-preservation-necessary-on-rapid-city-flood-plain/article_e2ef1238-7124-53a3-93b3-57f175e4c007.html
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Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop is a great scenic summer drive. The Find Your Park Festival will highlight many parks in the Black Hills area.
Find a new park to explore, win prizes and more at the Mount Rushmore Society’s Find Your Park Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Main Street Square in Rapid City. The festival is free.
Learn about what’s available at Black Hills national parks, public lands and resources in our area. Booths will spotlight national and state parks, city parks and outdoor-related organizations.
Exhibitors will include Mount Rushmore Society, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Custer State Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Custer State Park, Trinity Eco Prayer Park, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, Black Hills Trail Addict, Black Hills Area Boy Scouts, Cabela’s, Storybook Island, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Old MacDonald’s Farm and South Dakota National Guard.
Activities, ranger talks, park educational information, park products, giveaways and discounts will be available. On the main stage, Sequoia Crosswhite and Darrell Red Cloud will give cultural presentations, and the Black Hills Raptor Center will present a raptor show.
Festival attendees can participate in the Find Your Park scavenger hunt to win prizes. In partnership with Cabela’s, a “Camper’s Challenge” will be held at noon. Local celebrities will participate in “Survivor”-type camping challenges. Watch them compete in such activities as a sleeping bag race, backyard fishing, making a s’more, lacing up hiking boots and putting up a tent. The winner will be named the “Camper’s Challenge Victor.”
The first Find Your Park Festival was held in 2016 to highlight the National Park Service and National Park Foundation’s “Find Your Park” awareness campaign to celebrate the National Park Service Centennial.
Black Hills Community Theatre and award-winning Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse are creating theater that tells real-life South D…
South Dakota Ballet debuts original dances in Rapid City
Weaving together tales as varied as conspiracy theories and “Romeo and Juliet,” South Dakota Ballet will present its first performance in Rapi…
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2022-06-10T16:47:45Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Learn about region's parks at Find Your Park Festival | Entertainment | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/learn-about-regions-parks-at-find-your-park-festival/article_8a72a497-89af-52e9-a3d7-3637c4de6221.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/learn-about-regions-parks-at-find-your-park-festival/article_8a72a497-89af-52e9-a3d7-3637c4de6221.html
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Tom Vilsack Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture
Randall Rasmussen
Climate change is one of multiple urgent challenges facing farmers today, and the game is changing. Farming is no longer just about what food is produced. It’s about how that food is produce.
Tom Vilsack, Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture
The next decade and beyond will be transformative for Rapid City and the surrounding area. The migration surge from other states, arrival of t…
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2022-06-10T16:47:51Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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VILSACK: Agriculture rises to the challenge of tackling climate change | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/vilsack-agriculture-rises-to-the-challenge-of-tackling-climate-change/article_44644efb-1ecc-5a90-b362-05d0f26a905b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/vilsack-agriculture-rises-to-the-challenge-of-tackling-climate-change/article_44644efb-1ecc-5a90-b362-05d0f26a905b.html
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Former Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett speaks with people after he shared his recollection of the day after the 1972 flood Friday afternoon at the Journey Museum.
Former Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett waits to speak Friday afternoon in the Journey Museum.
Former Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett tells his story of the day after the 1972 flood Friday afternoon at the Journey Museum.
"I went to Vietnam and served my country for a year and a half," he said. "I commanded 280 men and I brought every one of them home. I didn't pull that off as mayor of Rapid City."
Barnett was 29 when he was the mayor of Rapid City. After a devastating night of rain, flood, debris, cars getting lodged in trees and houses being pulled into the middle of the road, the death toll and number of missing people began to rise. By Sunday, there were 4,000 names on the missing list.
Barnett shared his recollection of the day after the flood Friday afternoon in the Journey Museum, 50 years to the day.
The morning after the flood, Barnett said there was an intense fog over the city, which he called the cloud of death. After a night of trying to warn residents, help with the rescue and directing National guard, firefighters and police officers, Barnett stopped at the water treatment plant.
The water superintendent at the time told him there was too much trash in the water, too many twigs, too much gravel, dirt and building materials. The pumps sucked all of the debris in until they exploded. The water purification facility was lost.
But the superintendent and city crews started on the plant. Clean water was delivered and distributed. There was a plan and a start to repair, Barnett said, but uncertainty continued to grow.
"I stopped at the courthouse and they told me 85 bodies had thus far been delivered to the funeral homes," he said. "Then we got as busy as we could be."
County government took over disaster recovery and Barnett tried to get 16 city departments back online to build temporary bridges, repair the water plant, find the bodies of the three firemen and a "list of unimaginable, horrible things," Barnett said.
The entire community pitched in, from the Salvation Army commander's widow to the Homestake Mine in Lead. Within one week of the flood, the Rapid City Council voted to keep homes and structures away from the flood plain, 27,000 meals had been handed out, bridges were underway and there was the beginning of a plan to get Rapid City back on track.
Barnett said it took Rapid City 50 years to get back to a new sense of "normal." He said each mayor after his second term, which ended in 1979, has fought to protect the flood plain, and it is a necessary battle.
"We have to keep that avenue for safety for future generations," he said. "What did Leonard Swanson say on that Sunday night? We cannot sentence the survivors for one more night on the suicidal flood plain, and I hope the mayors of tomorrow and the councilmen of tomorrow live by that axiom."
Mayor Don Barnett
Don Barnett
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2022-06-10T23:45:29Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Former mayor shares uncertainty, optimism in days after deadly 1972 flood | 1972 Flood | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/flood/former-mayor-shares-uncertainty-optimism-in-days-after-deadly-1972-flood/article_0d1714d8-398e-55e1-89b1-00145fcee01f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/flood/former-mayor-shares-uncertainty-optimism-in-days-after-deadly-1972-flood/article_0d1714d8-398e-55e1-89b1-00145fcee01f.html
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U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ross Hobbs, the commander of the 34th Bomb Squadron, exits a B-1B Lancer on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, after landing for a Bomber Task Force mission on June 2. Bomber Task Force missions contribute to joint force lethality and deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by demonstrating the United States Air Force's ability to operate anywhere in the world at any time in support of the National Defense Strategy.
Courtesy photo, U.S. Air Force
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer, assigned to the 34th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, taxis through a clean water wash station at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, after arriving for a Bomber Task Force mission June 2.
Courtesy, U.S. Air Force
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers landed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on June 3 for a Pacific Air Forces Bomber Task Force deployment, according to a news release from Ellsworth Air Force Base.
“Our presence here in Guam and flights throughout the region serve two strategic purposes,” said Lt. Col. Ross Hobbs, the 34th Bomb Squadron commander, “assurance to our regional allies through consistent presence and multi-lateral integration, and deterrence of U.S. adversaries that continue to threaten stability of the world’s diplomatic, military, and economic spheres of influence.”
“Long-range bomber operations and the unique Agile Combat Employment/BTF construct greatly strengthen our steadfast relationships with our allies and partner nations in the Pacific,” said Maj. Kristof Lieber, the 34th Bomb Squadron assistant director of operations. “We’re all excited to showcase the ability to take a small contingent of “Bones” and personnel and demonstrate our flexibility, credibility, and lethality in the largest area of responsibility in the world.”
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2022-06-10T23:45:41Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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B-1B Lancers deploy to Andersen Air Force Base for Bomber Task Force Mission | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/b-1b-lancers-deploy-to-andersen-air-force-base-for-bomber-task-force-mission/article_c3387e2a-ebfe-5232-89be-df638629dec9.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/b-1b-lancers-deploy-to-andersen-air-force-base-for-bomber-task-force-mission/article_c3387e2a-ebfe-5232-89be-df638629dec9.html
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Sustainability attracts international tour to Rapid City
Members of the International Visitor Leadership Program, which includes leaders from seven countries in South and Central America, learn about EchoWorks at Western Dakota Technical College Friday afternoon.
Julio Roberto San Martin Chicas, principal program coordinator for the North Coast, Coral Reef Alliance in Honduras, introduces himself Friday before the tour of EchoWorks and food sustainability programs at Western Dakota Technical College. Representatives from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela participated in the tour.
Western Dakota Tech and EchoWorks gained international attention on Friday when representatives from seven Central and South American countries visited to learn about sustainability initiatives they could implement in their nations.
The visit was part of the International Visitor Leadership Program. The IVLP representatives are on a four-stop tour that includes Rapid City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
IVLP is a program within the U.S. State Department. A goal for this tour is to show how collaborative efforts between public, private, academic and community groups are developing environmental resilience, biodiversity and economic growth.
While at WDT, the group received guided tours of three labs, a geothermal greenhouse under construction, and the EchoWorks program that is part of Black Hills Works.
“The IVLP visitors are all people doing this kind of sustainability work or they’re in university settings where they’re dealing with this kind of work,” said Tamie Hopp, director of philanthropy for the Black Hills Works Foundation. “I really see this to be such a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge on sustainability initiatives and best practices, and what they’re doing in these countries certainly mirrors what we’re doing to some degree.”
Friday’s tour was the largest international group WDT has hosted to date that’s specifically focused on sustainability, according to Bryan Mitchell, program director for WDT’s Electrical Trades program and co-program director for the Controlled Environment Ag program.
“We want to have WDT be Rapid City’s face for sustainability efforts in our region,” Mitchell said. The group toured WDT’s three sustainable food production labs, which together use plant-based and aquaponics — fish and plants — systems to produce food.
“We created a food production system that could run independent of any human involvement,” Mitchell said. “One of our main focuses has been food security and sustainability. We grow a pretty good amount of food here on campus and we donate that to Fork Real downtown. We’re really working on teaching students the mindset of being sustainable.”
“A lot of the work we’re doing … is because it’s the right thing to do for our future,” he said.
The IVLP tour also visited WDT’s geothermal greenhouse, which is being engineered to counter the temperature fluctuations in Rapid City by creating a consistent temperature for raising food. When complete, Mitchell said the goal of the greenhouse is to grow citrus fruit in the dead of winter in an environmentally controlled atmosphere for a cost of about 12 cents a day.
Several WDT programs address sustainability and conservation, including farm and ranch management, environmental engineering, and controlled environment agriculture. EchoWorks is an electronic recycling program that was created through a partnership with WDT and Black Hills Works. It employs two people who have disabilities.
“We’re really leading the way in our community while recycling electronics and providing employment for people with disabilities, while also taking literally tons of electronics out of our landfill,” Hopp said. “Every country has electronics they’re trying to use in a sustainable way. Electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing problems.”
EchoWorks has recycled more than 120,000 pounds of electronics since its launch in January 2019. It received a 2021 Rapid City Sustainability Award and was a named 2020 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for its collaboration with WDT.
In addition to providing space on campus for EchoWorks’ operations, WDT’s trucking department hauls the processed electronics to certified recycling facility in Wisconsin. That gives students essential on-the-job training while assisting EchoWorks.
Hopp praised local support for EchoWorks and electronic recycling.
“Our community has been so responsive to the opportunity to not just throw away computers and cell phones. They’ve been willing to pay a small fee to make sure the electronics don’t end up in a landfill. We have about 45 businesses that have trusted us to recycle their electronics, too. It wouldn’t work if we didn’t have community buy-in and participation,” Hopp said.
Friday’s tour concluded with a meeting of the IVLF representatives and members of the Rapid City Sustainability Committee.
“We are looking forward to welcoming these leaders and appreciate their interest in sustainability initiatives from across the globe to Rapid City,” said Mike Richardson, executive director of the Dakota Territory IVLP, ahead of Friday’s tour. “We’re eager to learn from them and share our knowledge on sustainability best practices. Western Dakota Technical College, EchoWorks, and the Rapid City Sustainability Committee, are all leaders in this area.”
Echoworks
Wdt
Tamie Hopp
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2022-06-11T01:25:33Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Sustainability attracts international tour to Rapid City | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/sustainability-attracts-international-tour-to-rapid-city/article_19103389-4107-50ed-864e-9988561df558.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/sustainability-attracts-international-tour-to-rapid-city/article_19103389-4107-50ed-864e-9988561df558.html
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RAPID CITY - Donald Selberg, 87, died Monday, January 17, 2022, at Monument Health Rapid City Regional Hospital.
Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at Canyon Lake United Methodist Church, 3500 Canyon Lake Drive.
Inurnment will be at 1:00 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery with full military honors.
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2022-06-11T06:13:25Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Donald Selberg | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/donald-selberg/article_603ddbcd-9733-5845-9356-103bb650e87b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/donald-selberg/article_603ddbcd-9733-5845-9356-103bb650e87b.html
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NEMO - James Richard (Jim) Tatge of Nemo, SD, passed away unexpectedly on March 2, 2022. Jim was born on June 27, 1953 to Alvin and Mavis (McAmis) Tatge of Alzada, Montana. He came home from the hospital in the family airplane and was enamored with flying from that day on.
Jim was in a car accident on February 1, 2022 and suffered a severely broken neck. He survived against great odds and was home after eight days with a metal halo. He was recovering well and grateful to his doctors for their expertise and the huge support from his many friends.
On February 28, Jim suffered a heart attack. He was treated at Monument Health and seemed to be recovering well. On March 2, his heart went into A-Fib and was not able to recover. He died a few hours later with Barb, the love of his life, holding his hand.
Jim attended high school in Belle Fourche, SD and graduated in 1971. He worked many jobs during his life including designing and selling ultralite aircraft. He had the first ultralite dealership in the Midwest in the 70's when the planes were still foot launched. He worked for several years as a motorcycle mechanic and raced motocross. During his lifetime he owned 150+ motorcycles and at times lamented some of the ones he sold. Jim worked several years commercial salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska and said he never got tired of eating fresh salmon every day. Jim was an excellent mechanic and was always ready to help diagnose engine problems whenever he was asked.
Jim's friends and family meant the world to him and those feelings were mutual. He is missed by everyone who knew him. He was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. He is survived by his sister, Pamela Tatge of Boise, ID and his partner of 38 years, Barb Hallberg of Nemo, SD. Although Jim never had children, he took great joy in being "dad" to Barb's sons, Erin Sharp of Sioux Falls, SD and Ben Sharp of Hot Springs, SD and New Zealand. He took great pride in his "grandkids" Alex Sharp (McKenna) of California; Wesley Sharp of Arizona; Conrad Sharp of Hot Springs, SD and New Zealand. Jim and Barb also had two great grandsons. He is also survived by dear relatives and friends.
A memorial celebration will be held on June 25th at 21862 Big Elk Place near Nemo, SD. The celebration will begin around 3:00 pm. Memorials for Jim will be used to establish a scholarship for a deserving student pursuing a vocational degree.
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2022-06-11T06:13:38Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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James Richard (Jim) Tatge | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/james-richard-jim-tatge/article_c03db3df-9b2e-5af4-a344-9bc5636c55ab.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/james-richard-jim-tatge/article_c03db3df-9b2e-5af4-a344-9bc5636c55ab.html
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Thomas Edwin Lowther
BUCKEYE, AZ - Thomas E. Lowther, 70, of Buckeye, AZ, went home to be with the Lord on May 2, 2022, after a long battle with multiple health issues. Thomas was a fighter up until his last breath and spent his whole life loving, caring and providing for his family. Thomas is known for his never-ending positive attitude, outstanding work ethic and his unwavering dedication to his family, friends, and country.
Thomas was born on March 30, 1952, in Oberlin, OH to Ray Lowther and Barbara Stewart. He was raised in Ohio, enjoyed spending time with his horse, his friends and often spoke of his fond memories of working at Old Man's Cave (Logan, OH) until he enlisted into the United States Air Forces after graduation. Thomas entered the military in August of 1971 and was an active member until he was medically discharged in January of 1989 at the rank of MSgt. During his assignment at Ellsworth AFB, Thomas met the love of his life Shanon. They met at Charlie's Lounge in Box Elder, SD and was later married on April 8, 1977.
After serving his country, Thomas moved his family back to Rapid City, SD, and there found a new passion working with Veterans; first as a Veterans Outreach Rep and then as a Transition Patient Advocate for post 9/11 Veterans before retiring and moving to Buckeye, AZ in 2013.
Thomas's family and grandchildren were most important to him. He had a passion for model railroading (trains), building model cars and planes, golfing, hunting, fishing, and bowling.
Thomas was a life member of the American Legion #303 in Hermosa, SD, Air Force Sgts. Association, life member of Post #29 of TREA, and life member of the American Disabled Vets South Dakota Chapter.
Thomas leaves behind his wife of 45 years, Shanon Lowther (Buckeye, AZ); son, Chuck (Lisa) Lowther (Gila Bend, AZ); daughters: Stacy (Kevin) Turner (Lebanon, IL), Mandy (James) White (Goodyear, AZ); half-sister, Ranelle Lowther (Lancaster, OH); as well as eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Thomas is preceded in death by his (father) Ray Lowther; (mother) Barbara Stewart; (brother) James Lowther; (sister) Roxie ONeil; (half-brother) Carl Siebert; (half-brother) Kevin Lowther; (step-sister) Carol King; (infant granddaughter) Jaylnn Johnson; and (infant grandson) Kaisen Johnson.
Thomas will be laid to rest at the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD on June 16, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. Reception to follow at the Moose Lodge located at 815 E St. Patrick St, Rapid City, SD from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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2022-06-11T06:13:56Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Thomas Edwin Lowther | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-edwin-lowther/article_e402a85a-8936-5547-b968-3d0485b9e3a2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-edwin-lowther/article_e402a85a-8936-5547-b968-3d0485b9e3a2.html
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Thomas Goeffry Terry
RAPID CITY - Thomas Geoffry Terry, 70, of Rapid City, SD left us the morning of June 5, 2022.
Tom was born March 19, 1952 in Sioux Falls, SD to parents Selma (Gunderson) Terry and Charles E. Terry. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1970, studied Psychology at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and went on to receive a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from San Francisco State University in 1977. Tom moved back to Sioux Falls to start his career in counseling, where he met his first wife, the late Amy (Neuharth) Terry. They were married in 1980 and, after living and working in Oregon for a short time, moved to Rapid City, SD where their daughter Erin was born in 1983. Tom was a proud and devoted father throughout his life.
Tom had a rich career in counseling, practicing for over forty years, most notably at Black Hills Psychiatry in Rapid City and the Mental Health Center of Sheridan, Wyoming. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved scuba diving, cycling, and skiing in his youth, fly-fishing in his later years, and pheasant hunting and hiking throughout the Black Hills with his beloved canine companions through the years: Cooper, Casey, Tucker and Max, to name a few.
In 1992 he married his late wife, Karen (Canton) Terry, who brought so much love and joy into his life, including his step-children Kaila (Devine) Burkitt and Chris Devine, and also a passion for golf, which was one of their favorite shared pastimes. He also loved cooking, claiming victories in both chili and wing competitions in Sheridan, WY, and was always eager to impress house guests with his latest Thai curry creation. His adventurous spirit led him on global travels including much of the Caribbean, Western Europe, and South-East Asia, along with many stateside trips to National Parks and the Oregon and California coasts in his Roadtrek van.
Burial Services will be held at Pine Lawn Memorial in Rapid City on Thursday July 14 at 3:00 pm, followed by a Celebration of Life at Canyon Lake Resort Lodge, July 14 from 4:00-6:00 pm. Online guestbook may be signed at kirkfuneralhome.com.
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2022-06-11T06:14:02Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Thomas Goeffry Terry | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-goeffry-terry/article_2c938e7c-5a62-5501-8f8b-5f209d0b1fec.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-goeffry-terry/article_2c938e7c-5a62-5501-8f8b-5f209d0b1fec.html
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Rapid City Journal photographer Don Polovich on June 10, 1972.
Vehicles just piled up following the 1972 Black Hills Flood.
Journal archives
Former Rapid City Journal photographer Don Polovich in front of Canyon Lake Park in 2012.
Editor's note: This is the final installment in a four-part series talking with former Rapid City Daily Journal employees and what they remember from their perspective covering the 1972 flood.
His photos graced the pages of the Rapid City Journal for decades. From countless Sturgis rallies and buffalo roundups to constant rivalry match-ups between Rapid City Central and Rapid City Stevens.
But a photograph taken early in his career the morning following the 1972 Black Hills Flood became, over time, one of the most controversial.
Polovich went exploring the damage at Canyon Lake Park first thing that morning with former Rapid City Journal Wire Editor Jerry Mashek and ran into reporter Jack Getz out examining the damage.
Canyon Lake Park following the 1972 Black Hills Flood.
“We were walking through Canyon Lake Park and came across this one body, this woman half buried in mud,” Polovich said. “I couldn't remember if I’d taken a picture. And I'm sure Jerry (Mashek) asked me if I had taken a picture and I didn't know. So I purposely then took two pictures. At that point I had noticed my mind was really gone. But I couldn't quite handle everything that was going on.”
The first time the photo ran in the paper, Polovich said there wasn’t much of a negative reaction to the photo. But as time progressed and the photo was republished, it drew more of an objectionable response.
“Each time we ran it we got further away from the date that it was taken. The more negative response we started to get,” Polovich said. “Anybody who was here, and when I say here they lived in Rapid City (at the time), they recognize the event immediately and I think is a healing process for those that were here.
“Most of the complaints about ‘why do we run it again’ is from new people in the town or from out-of-town people. But for the people that went through the flood itself, they use it as a reminder of what can happen.”
Polovich said he believes the photo has run a total of four times throughout the years.
Completely underwater
On the night of the flood, Polovich had just dropped a friend off at the airport and on his way back to town heard that there was a lot of rain coming down in Hisega.
So he grabbed a reporter and darted back out to see how bad it was.
Once into town, Polovich said the water had gotten so intense the road was completely underwater. No one was getting in or out of town.
Polovich said he ended up spending the night in his pickup truck on a hill near Johnson Siding.
“We couldn't get back into town because the water was running so high. The water was probably four to six feet gone across the road which was way past being safe,” he said. “In the morning that water receded quite a bit.”
Even on his way into town that morning, Polovich said he reached a point where there was too much debris on the road and hiked about three miles back along State Highway 44 into town with his camera strapped to his shoulders.
“I remember seeing that the dam was gone, the lake was gone,” Polovich said. “It was full of debris, pickups, houses — it was just a mess and completely unrecognizable.”
“The smell was a mixture of propane, raw sewage and raw mud. That just sticks with you,” he added.
Throughout the morning, Polovich would spend his time taking photos of the devastation. Houses just washed away, vehicles in trees, debris all over.
Images that have continued to stick with Polovich over the decades.
Newsroom chaos
Polovich returned to the office in order to develop the film.
As he returned to the Journal, it became apparent that several reporters were also personally impacted by the flood, but Polovich explicitly recalls rookie reporter Harold Higgins whose apartment was lost in the flood after having been in town less than two weeks.
“We would later joke with (Higgins) that he lost everything he owned, but he hadn’t been here long enough to own anything,” he said.
As Polovich was set to begin developing his film, he encountered a new problem. No running water.
In order to develop prints for the paper, the chemical-tray processing system required water maintained at the same temperature as it was processed through the different chemicals at different stages.
Typically the Journal’s processing room was set up for such a process with a floating sink with running water.
At that time though, the water had been shut off throughout all of Rapid City leaving the Journal in a conundrum.
“We said ‘don't anybody go to the bathroom and flush, we need this water,’” Polovich said with a laugh. “I don’t know what the water temperature was, over 80 maybe 90 degrees and the hotter the temperature the shorter the developing processing time.
“I just took a guess at some of those hoping I would get some kind of image with it and it worked.”
By the afternoon, portions of town had water restored which included the Journal that took a lot of stress off Polovich and darkroom technician Ray Miller’s shoulders in developing film.
Throughout the day, Polovich was not only the Journal’s eyes to the devastation but also for the world to see as his images made it across the Associated Press wire.
Eventually the area was inundated with members of the press who made their way into town to document the destruction.
The Journal's darkroom technician Ray Miller, left, mixes chemicals while helping United Press International's Jim Hubbard make prints inside the Journal's darkroom in the days following the flood. In a special June 24, 1972 edition that compiled all the Journal's flood coverage, a note said the darkroom hosted as many as eight photographers at a time.
Working with the national press
Given his knowledge of the town, and having already seen a lot of the damage, Polovich did his best not only to help guide visiting members of the press on where to go but also offering space in the darkroom for photographers to develop their negatives.
“Probably the most famous, the most arrogant was Eddie Adams. He's a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer,” Polovich said. “I was at the top of the stairs (inside the Journal) when he walked in Sunday afternoon. He wanted to know, ‘where can I go to take a picture? Where should I go? Where’s the damage?’
“I said you start here, and go anywhere in town. Go out of this building and go north, you’re going to hit the creek in a 100 yards or so and then you’re on your own.”
Despite how busy the Journal’s newsroom got, Polovich said the staff worked as one cohesive unit. They were more than willing to help each other out, without hesitation.
Polovich even did his best to help out when the local officials asked him.
Identifying the deceased
At the request of local leaders, Polovich went over to the area where victims were being gathered up for identification.
The bodies would be laid out on the floor where he would then take a photograph of each one of the victims’ head and shoulders.
Polovich said when people were looking to identify possible victims, having photographs made it easier to match up descriptions to the images. He also would take photographs to the police station where they were posted.
“If somebody thinks they recognized someone in the photo they were then escorted to a visual sighting,” Polovich said. “The setup was pretty good for what we had at the time.”
Even though his name appeared as the photo credit under numerous images printed in the Rapid City Journal in the first few days, Polovich said he heard his name read aloud on the radio as a missing person.
He said he had to call in himself to report he wasn’t missing and he was in good health.
After the flood
As Polovich continued to cover the devastation past that initial week, he said he was especially amazed at how many vehicles were just washed away in the storm and then gathered up in a giant lot where the current post office is according to Polovich.
“There was just row upon row of cars but people wouldn't claim (them). It was really strange,” he said. “So somebody would come in and say ‘well I have a 1970 Buick’ and they would be escorted through the lot. ‘Is that it?’ ‘No, no, no, no, I don't see it here.’ I know for a fact that some people did recognize their cars and for some reason didn’t claim it.”
Not only did Polovich cover the devastation, he also covered the community’s response.
He said the town "worked its tail off" to get things back together and also learned from the disaster by establishing the greenway.
After covering some of the biggest stories in Rapid City’s modern history, from Wounded Knee to presidential visits and Sturgis rallies to countless high school football and basketball games, on Saturday, December 30, 2006 Don Polovich finally called it a career with the Rapid City Journal after 36 years.
Polovich, who stayed in Rapid City following retirement, recently moved to Mexico to be closer to his daughter and her family.
“Tell people I’m on the beach in Mexico,” Polovich said jokingly.
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2022-06-11T12:09:27Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: 'That just sticks with you' | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-that-just-sticks-with-you/article_791a8358-2d5d-5135-a83b-bd5f763de4c4.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-that-just-sticks-with-you/article_791a8358-2d5d-5135-a83b-bd5f763de4c4.html
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Birth Control Is Not a Health Care Issue
In the Friday Journal, two authors argue for abortion from two different perspectives:
1. Ms. Libby Skarin, representing the ACLU, argues that abortion is “essential health care” for women. Ms. Skarin is clearly wrong. In almost no case does the performance of an abortion improve or sustain a woman’s physical health. In fact, it can be reasonably argued that an abortion has a negative impact on at least one other person’s (the fetus’s) health and, in the event of abortion complications, can have a negative impact on the woman’s health and reproductive capability. In almost every case, abortion is simply a decision related to maintenance of the woman’s lifestyle and/or her economic wellbeing.
More apropos to this debate and to government law and policy making, we must discipline ourselves to proper definitions and terminology. Abortion is simply the most savage and uncivilized means of birth control of which we can conceive. I, for one, cannot endorse the concept that a woman’s “right” to such a savage and uncivilized means of birth control takes precedence over the right of a fetus to continue living. Justification might be possible in the rare case that severe health consequences or a woman’s life are at stake. But that’s virtually never the case.
2. Essentially arguing against a founding principal of the constitution, states’ rights, Mr. Douglas Erickson proposes that a reasonable test of one’s Americanism is whether one believes in a “woman’s right and access to health care and an abortion.” Again, we see the juxta positioning of health care and abortion. This is not a reasonable or accurate definition or positioning of abortion. Virtually, the only health care affected by abortion is that of the fetus, and that’s a negative impact.
As a country and society, we must formulate better education, policies, and access to truly civilized and effective and safe means of birth control.
Rodney Michael, MD, Rapid City
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2022-06-11T12:09:39Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Letters to the editor, June 11, 2022 | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-june-11-2022/article_62f828e3-ebdb-55a6-9db5-cb5b9489f8ba.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-june-11-2022/article_62f828e3-ebdb-55a6-9db5-cb5b9489f8ba.html
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Current council members recall night of flood, aftermath
Rapid City Council member Darla Drew
Darla Drew didn’t see the devastation of the 1972 flood until she and her friends got to Jackson Boulevard and saw Canyon Lake was gone.
“There were fish all over the road because it took the fish hatchery out, too, so the smell was horrifying,” she said. “There was mud everywhere. There was a house in the middle of the road, there were cars in trees still, and we knew we were going back to a very different Rapid City at that time.”
Drew, who now sits on the Rapid City Council, was 16 years old in 1972 when a flash flood brought a wall of water and debris into Rapid City, claiming 238 lives, injuring more than 3,000 people and causing more than $160 million in damage between June 9 and 10.
Darla Drew at 16 years old in 1972.
Photo courtesy Darla Drew
The day of the flood in 1972, Drew said she went on a blind date with a couple friends. She left her home near Canyon Lake up the street and up the hill from the baseball fields, and went downtown to the Elks Theatre to see a movie. She said she remembers the sky looked ominous and turned green.
After the movie, the group of six drove around in the rain.
“That wasn’t unusual for this area, so we were going to try to go to a party in Dark Canyon and there were already police turning us away,” she said.
Around 11 p.m., they drove to Canyon Lake and boats were already floating out into the street. Drew said they tried going home and were turned away, so they ended up in Pinedale where a woman pulled them into the house.
“They didn’t know us, I don’t even to this day remember where I was or whose house it was,” she said.
She said the kids called their parents and let them know they were safe before the phones went out. In the morning, the air was dense with humidity and there were still clouds in the sky. They had no idea what had happened that night. That’s when they saw the devastation on Jackson Boulevard.
Drew said her father was in the National Guard and was out all night. She said he was at the command center and was in charge of getting 200 body bags by the morning of June 10.
“That’s when dad knew how bad things were going to get,” she said.
Council member Ron Weifenbach
Current Council member Ron Weifenbach said he was 10 years old at the time and lived on Ivy Avenue off of St. Patrick Street. He said he distinctly remembers playing outside with his friends and big raindrops starting to fall.
He said Ivy Avenue was close to Meade Street, which had a drainage issue. He said the street was slanted toward the middle and water would run down it and they would inner tube down it. He said they called it Meade River.
Weifenbach said his friend’s sisters went to babysit, then his friend went home and he went home. Then his father came home and said they had to leave and get to higher ground.
“We all piled up in our car, and when you’re little you don’t think about what the neighborhood's doing, you just react to what’s going on at the time,” he said. “I remember the big clouds and the rain, and we drove up to the Safeway parking lot.”
They spent the night in their car in the parking lot, waiting for the rain to subside. He said the rain pounded on his family’s station wagon. He said it was very dark and very gloomy.
“We didn’t know what kind of… there had been talk about the flooding, but we didn’t really know what had transpired,” he said.
Weifenbach said one of his friend’s sisters didn’t come back.
“It was my first real thought process of people are here one day and they’re gone the next,” he said.
Weifenbach said he remembers climbing the hill behind South Dakota Mines a day or two after the flood and seeing the devastation. He said the whole football field was full, and there was even a dog house floating in the middle of it.
“We were just little kids, the magnitude of it was just so hard for us to comprehend or understand,” he said.
Weifenbach said he remembers standing in line at Safeway for water and getting shots. He said for years he and his friends would find belongings in the creek and turn it in to the police department or his parents.
He said around the anniversary of the flood is always a time of reflection for him. He said he thinks about making decisions based on what happened in the floodplain. He said there’s always a level of respect for the lives lost and devastation that took place that night.
Drew said when she looks at the areas that were hit the hardest, it’s important to stay vigilant, especially as a member of the council.
“I think people would be surprised at how often someone tries to encroach on that land and build on it,” she said.
She said the whole greenway, which encompasses the floodplain and has restrictions on what the area can be used for, is a memorial to her.
“We have made sure that (the flood and devastation) would not happen again,” she said.
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2022-06-11T14:11:17Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Current council members recall night of flood, aftermath | 1972 Flood | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/flood/1972-black-hills-flood-current-council-members-recall-night-of-flood-aftermath/article_48262b89-a208-5c63-8c54-2df616102e4f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/flood/1972-black-hills-flood-current-council-members-recall-night-of-flood-aftermath/article_48262b89-a208-5c63-8c54-2df616102e4f.html
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Dale Bartscher
Misleading headlines and stories would lead a reader to believe that if Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand throughout all 9 months of pregnancy, is overturned that abortion would immediately be outlawed across the country.
If Roe is overturned, then state legislators will have the ability to protect women and their unborn babies by passing legislation that reflects the will of the population of their state.
South Dakota is one of thirteen states with a ‘trigger law’ of some sort, and that number is growing, where most induced abortions would be banned if the landmark federal law was overturned.
South Dakota’s ‘trigger law’, passed in 2005, is SDCL 22-17-5.1: “Any person who administers to any pregnant female or who prescribes or procures for any pregnant female any medicine, drug, or substance or uses or employs any instrument or other means with intent thereby to procure an abortion, unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.”
State legislators may consider current scientific and medical knowledge that tells us that a baby’s heart begins to beat by 6 weeks or that at just 8 weeks of pregnancy, a baby’s heart is beating at an astonishing 150 to 170 beats per minute—about twice as fast as an adult’s heart. Or they may consider that after 12 weeks, which is the end of the first trimester and when an unborn baby’s body is fully formed, she has eyelids, lips, a nose, fingers, and toes.
The point is that state legislators will have the opportunity to effect change that helps women and their unborn babies.
Contrary to information that the abortion industry may present, women do not seek abortions because they want one—they seek abortions because they feel they have no choice, because they have no support, or the baby’s father insists on an abortion. Young women may also worry about finishing school, or they may have limited resources.
The pro-life movement cares about women and their unborn children. Over the years, the movement has grown to include nearly 3,000 pregnancy help centers across the United States designed to help women where and when they need it. These centers provide services for free and are supported by churches, local businesses, and individual donors. Many centers provide free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, prenatal vitamins, baby clothing, formula, parenting classes, and additional practical and material help, and are largely staffed by trained volunteers. Many pregnancy centers, if they have the supply, have a policy of providing a couple of days’ worth of diapers and wipes to anyone walking in off the street.
Centers that provide medical services, such as ultrasounds or STD testing, are under the oversight of a local medical doctor. Pregnancy centers also maintain connections to other organizations in the community and can put a young woman in touch with other resources such as housing or transportation and connect her to doctors who can take her insurance or Medicaid. The earlier a woman receives prenatal care, the better the outcome is for both her and her baby. Pregnancy centers help facilitate and encourage earlier care and because the services are free, the ability to pay is never an issue.
This is what the pro-life movement and the tens of thousands of volunteers do every day for women and children in need—without fanfare or large advertising budgets and free of charge.
Dale Bartscher is the Executive Director of South Dakota Right to Life.
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2022-06-11T14:11:23Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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BARTSCHER: Pro-Life movement is a pro-active movement | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/bartscher-pro-life-movement-is-a-pro-active-movement/article_36f52754-1821-5292-8716-1155eb7b5efe.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/bartscher-pro-life-movement-is-a-pro-active-movement/article_36f52754-1821-5292-8716-1155eb7b5efe.html
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Mracek poker run set for June 18
The Chadron American Legion Riders (ALR) will hold their Cory Mracek Memorial motorcycle ride on Saturday, June 18. Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the American Legion at 123 Bordeaux Street. Riders will meet back at the Legion at 5 p.m. for a meal and door prizes. Several wonderful door prizes have been donated by local businesses. Proceeds from the annual ride are deposited with the Chadron State College Foundation and used for scholarships for a current or former military member. Scholarships can be applied for by contacting the CSC Foundation Office.
The annual poker run is named in honor of Cory Ryan Mracek. Cory graduated from Hay Springs High School in 1995 and attended CSC one semester before joining the National Guard.
After joining the Army, Cory trained in air assault at Fort Campbell, KY and earned several medals his first year in South Korea. He was chosen to be a United Nations Command Honor Guard for six weeks. Only the best soldiers were picked from each unit for this honor. He also had the honor of patrolling for a Four Star General, the Commander in Chief of the United States and Korean forces.
He came home after completing his four-year tour and worked as a night stocker at Walmart. After 9-11 he felt it was his duty to re-enlist and considered it an honor to serve his country. Cory graduated Airborne school November 5, 2003. It had been his dream to be a part of the 82nd Airborne Unit. He deployed to Iraq on January 17, 2004. He was in Turkey for two days and was killed 8 days later on January 27.
Cory’s awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal with 3 leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Korean Defense Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Non-commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Expert Badge M-16 Rifle, Expert Badge Hand Grenade, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Driver and Mechanic Badge and Cory posthumously received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Cory Ryan Mracek was buried in the Gordon Cemetery with Full Military Services provided by the 3rd Battalion 319 Airborne Field Artillery Regiment. We honor Cory for his ultimate sacrifice along with all the other men and women lost during military conflict.
Cory’s parents are Jim and Pat Mracek and he has two sisters, Stacy and Heather. His Grandparents are George and Charlotte Cummings of Gordon, and Jim and Mildred Mracek of Alliance.
The American Legion supports those serving in uniform through participation in deployment or homecoming ceremonies, funerals, escorts for our fallen heroes, and support of the families left behind. ALR members also participate in community parades and veteran funerals, if requested.
The Chadron American Legion serves a meal every Thursday evening beginning at 5:30 pm. The Legion Riders, Legion and Auxiliary members, and volunteers are in charge of cooking and serving the meal. Thank you to any and all veterans that have served this great country. Your service is greatly appreciated.
Cory Ryan Mracek
Chadron American Legion
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2022-06-11T16:04:25Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Mracek poker run set for June 18 | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/mracek-poker-run-set-for-june-18/article_30c8afab-b744-5909-8a1d-69e94bc9c622.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/mracek-poker-run-set-for-june-18/article_30c8afab-b744-5909-8a1d-69e94bc9c622.html
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With the village’s water tank in the background, this sparkling metal structure is the new middle school and high school at Oelrichs. It was fully utilized during the second semester.
The second semester was special for middle school and high school students at Oelrichs this spring. They moved into a new school, which has 25,000 feet of floor space and an array of the latest equipment.
Special features include a well-equipped science laboratory, separate woodworking and welding shops, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a gymnasium with seating available on both sides of the court for the first time in school annals.
The metal structure cost about $5 million, including the some of the furnishings, according to Superintendent Mitchell Stone. He said it was built without issuing bonds or by borrowing funds.
”We’ve been saving for this,” Stone stated. “We finally have the space that we need.”
Scull Construction of Rapid City was the general contractor. Ground was broken in the fall of 2020. Despite some delays in obtaining materials, it was fully utilized at the start of the second semester in January.
The former school, which was built in the 1950s, is now occupied entirely by the elementary grades.
The pre-school through high school enrollment this spring was 140, up about 33 percent from five years ago, Stone said. Many of the students are bussed to the school from the western portion of the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation.
Mitchell Stone
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2022-06-11T16:04:31Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Oelrichs has new middle and high school | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/oelrichs-has-new-middle-and-high-school/article_eb585901-1f2c-5bc7-9d6f-8beb554352a2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/oelrichs-has-new-middle-and-high-school/article_eb585901-1f2c-5bc7-9d6f-8beb554352a2.html
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Salvation Army gave flood aid despite its own losses
A mobile canteen is unloaded from a transport plane in June 1972 as part of the Salvation Army's flood relief efforts in Rapid City. Five canteens were airlifted from Chicago, and 11 in total were set up around the city to provide food, coffee and cold drinks.
Losing its Rapid City office and its leader within a few hours on June 9, 1972, didn’t deter the Salvation Army from providing aid when disaster struck.
In the first month after the flood, Salvation Army records indicate it served 177,749 meals, distributed 180 tons of clothing and 2,000 cases of disposable diapers, and provided rescue workers with 39,249 sandwiches and 55,812 cups of coffee and cold drinks at 11 mobile canteens.
The emergency aid began on June 9 with volunteers — including local Salvation Army leaders Maj. William Medley and his wife, Maj. Joy Medley — making sandwiches and coffee for first responders and growing numbers of flood evacuees.
“They immediately began making sandwiches until they couldn’t use the Salvation Army building anymore,” said Maj. Vangie O’Neil, the current Rapid City Corps Officer and Black Hills Camp Administrator for the Salvation Army. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the flood, O’Neil has researched the Salvation Army’s disaster relief efforts.
Maj. William Medley
Amid warnings of an impending flood, William removed the camper from his family’s pickup and went out to try to help flood victims.
“The last I heard from him was about 8 o’clock Friday night when he yelled, ‘Honey, I am going out to Storybook Island to see if I can help,’” Joy said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Storybook Island was hit with a five-foot wall of water when Canyon Lake Dam burst. According to his obituary, William was helping two people into his vehicle when the dam broke. He and his passengers were swept to their deaths.
According to O’Neil, Joy continued making sandwiches throughout the night, not knowing her husband’s fate until the next day. However, Joy later told the Associated Press she soon suspected her husband had been lost to the flood.
“It wasn’t like him not to contact me. He wouldn’t have left me alone all night. Bill would have told someone to get in touch with me. He was just that kind of man,” Joy said.
“I know he was going to help someone when the flood waters caught him,” she said. “He had the keys to the truck in his pocket. They never found the truck.”
Meanwhile that night, Joy and three other women volunteers were forced to evacuate the Salvation Army office. The Salvation Army’s official news publication, The War Cry, later reported Joy left the Salvation Army office in waist-high water.
Joy later wrote about her experience for The War Cry, recalling that two of the three volunteers were terrified of water because they couldn’t swim — but they all waded through the water and got out of the building with whatever food and supplies they could carry.
Joy and the volunteers moved to the city auditorium as the Salvation Army’s emergency mass feeding program continued.
The next day “she went down long enough to identify (her husband’s) body and went back to work making sandwiches,” O’Neil said of Joy.
"There was so much to be done, and only God gave me the strength to work through the nights and days after Bill was gone," Joy wrote in an article for The War Cry.
The Salvation Army was given the major responsibility for distributing food and clothing, The War Cry reported in its July 29, 1972 issue. Canteens were airlifted to Rapid City and dispatched with teams of workers into six areas of Rapid City, all connected by radio.
Northwestern Bell telephone company repairmen take a break from flood cleanup work to eat at a Salvation Army canteen truck in Rapid City in 1972.
The city auditorium became the chief distribution point for the tons of food, clothing and cleaning materials distributed. Ellsworth Air Force Base was the receiving point for supplies from around the nation. Commissioner J. Clyde Cox, the territorial commander, visited the area and committed the Salvation Army resources to remain as long as needed. The cost estimate of aid was $510,000, The War Cry reported.
In just the first month after the flood, 50 Salvation Army officers from 11 states directed 2,060 volunteers, who gave 19,812 hours of service.
Flood waters left the Rapid City’s Salvation Army office barely usable, O’Neil said, and the organization moved shortly thereafter to its current location on Cherry Avenue.
William Medley’s death caused shockwaves throughout the organization. He and Joy had been assigned to Rapid City in 1970, and when he died, William was two weeks away from his 24th anniversary with the Salvation Army.
As the flood hit Rapid City, the Salvation Army was conducting its annual national congress in Chicago. Reports indicate that when news of the flood and William’s death was announced, “there was a gasp, then silence” from the shocked crowd of thousands, O’Neil said.
The War Cry reported a memorial service for William Medley was attended by 7,000 to 8,000 people including clergy of all major denominations and faiths, and by First Lady Patricia Nixon. Nixon specifically asked to meet Joy Medley and thanked her for her valiant service, saying “You are a brave girl.”
First Lady Patricia Nixon thanks Major Joy Medley for her service after the death of her husband, Major William Medley, at William Medley's memorial service in 1972. Joy Medley was introduced to Nixon by South Dakota Gov. Richard Kneip and his wife, Nancy Kneip.
O’Neil said disaster relief remains part of the Salvation Army’s mission, and volunteers are always needed. For more information or to volunteer, call the Salvation Army of the Black Hills at 605-342-0982.
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2022-06-11T16:04:37Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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1972 Black Hills Flood: Salvation Army gave flood aid despite its own losses | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-salvation-army-gave-flood-aid-despite-its-own-losses/article_53013aea-8bf9-536d-ae65-b547a7030cd1.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/1972-black-hills-flood-salvation-army-gave-flood-aid-despite-its-own-losses/article_53013aea-8bf9-536d-ae65-b547a7030cd1.html
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I carry a small 3x4 notebook in my jacket pocket just about everywhere I go. It’s used to jot notes, to-do lists, goals, and reminders. When I came to Congress in 2019, I had several pages in my notebook dedicated to what I wanted to do in Year One. What made the top of the list? Getting appointed to the House Agriculture Committee.
My “energy to burn” slogan wasn’t really a slogan at all – at 145 pounds and 43 years old – I put my full weight behind accomplishing that goal. Twenty days after I was sworn in, I got the news South Dakota’s lone congressional office would have a seat at the ag table. I was ecstatic, but having read the entirety of the 2018 Farm Bill, I knew that meant the work had just begun.
2019 was a tough year for cattle producers. The Holcomb Tyson beef processing fire set off a ripple effect of market volatility. While beef prices increased on the shelves, cattle futures fell 29% between January and April of 2019. At the time, I requested President Trump and the DOJ get to the bottom of what was going on with the market conditions.
Since day one, I’ve continuously heard from producers on the lack of competition and transparency in the industry – it’s concerning to hear the doubt cast on the market as a whole from the folks who have spent their lives eating, sleeping, and breathing cattle.
So how can we resolve some of this doubt? Identifying practical solutions – ones that have a chance of passing both the Senate and the House – would be step one. There are 435 members of the U.S. House – only 38 are from rural districts. 2019 and 2020 brought agriculture and the supply chain to the forefront – this window provided ample opportunity to educate other members and get them behind cattle market reform proposals.
With 2020 exposing the cracks in our supply chain, our team readied timely solutions. The Small Packer Overtime Fee Relief for COVID-19 Act, my bill aimed at paying back small processors who were disincentivized to work overtime during the pandemic (but did so anyway to keep the supply chain moving), was included in the fiscal year 2021 budget. The USDA also announced they were implementing my bill and providing $100 million to cover overtime inspection fees. USDA also implemented the Butcher Block Act, my legislation to solve packer concentration by establishing a grant program to expand regional cattle processor expansion efforts.
While these bills increase competition and capacity, there are still transparency issues.
When the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association, the South Dakota Farm Bureau, and R-CALF got together in May of 2021, they called for better price transparency and discovery.
That’s why I introduced the Cattle Contract Library. The Cattle Contract Library requires the USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service Department to develop the library to make cattlemen aware of contract terms being offered by packers. Currently, cattlemen don’t have such information, which has led to a decline in leverage for smaller producers during price negotiations.
I was proud to see this bill pass on its own in the U.S. House overwhelmingly in December 2021. Additionally, funding to begin a pilot program of the Cattle Contract Library was signed into law. I was also encouraged that my Butcher Block Act to expand shackle space passed out of committee just two weeks ago. I will continue to work with producers, my colleagues, and the USDA to ensure this program prioritizes the needs of your everyday cattle rancher.
There’s no silver bullet, but we’ll keep working.
BUSH: There is still time to vote in every election
There aren't many Primary Elections for Democrats or Libertarians, but if you want a choice in which Republican candidates will make it to the November ballot, you still have time to register as a Republican and vote.
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2022-06-11T16:04:43Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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JOHNSON: The art of the possible | Columnists | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/columnists/johnson-the-art-of-the-possible/article_37a7b099-71e7-5a1c-9aba-6ba07bea4824.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/columnists/johnson-the-art-of-the-possible/article_37a7b099-71e7-5a1c-9aba-6ba07bea4824.html
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Many times in life we must prove that we are qualified. Job applications require you to have particular skills and knowledge to qualify for the job. You must be a certain age to qualify for kindergarten, vote or live in a retirement community. You must pass a test to qualify for a driver’s license. You must make a certain amount of money to qualify for a home loan and you must not make too much money to qualify for help with your college tuition.
These are all quantifiable requirements that we accept, understand and have learned to live with. But how many times do we discount ourselves as not being qualified for something when we really are.
Sometimes we pass up an opportunity to be our best because we fear we are not qualified. When was the last time you saw someone that needed help, but you didn’t offer because you weren’t sure you could help them with what they needed?
Here is all you need to know about being qualified for these acts- ask yourself what your intention is. If your intention is to show you care about another living soul, then you are qualified to make the effort to help, love and be grateful.
When you see someone in need ask them if they are ok. You may not have the ability to give them what they need in that moment, but the intention of showing you care enough to ask could make a difference in their day. You are qualified to do that.
When you say, I love you, and you bring the feeling from your heart and your intention is to share love, even if it is not repeated back to you- you are qualified to do that.
When you say, thank you, with a thankful heart your intention of gratitude is understood. You are qualified to do that.
These may seem like small insignificant actions, but they are important. Only a few people may be qualified to accomplish the huge splashy achievements we see spotlighted in the news, but all of us are qualified to achieve meaning in someone’s life. You never know when one small act will change someone’s attitude, actions or life.
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2022-06-12T18:41:17Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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HUNT: Do you believe you are qualified? | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/hunt-do-you-believe-you-are-qualified/article_2d3d9d97-8e4d-5789-b657-bdce9962cf1b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/hunt-do-you-believe-you-are-qualified/article_2d3d9d97-8e4d-5789-b657-bdce9962cf1b.html
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Gov. Kristi Noem speaks in January at a National Guard deployment ceremony in Rapid City.
SIOUX FALLS | Ahead of a potential presidential bid, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem handily won the Republican nomination last week for a second term. Many of the candidates she hoped to elect to the Statehouse, however, did not have such a good night.
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2022-06-13T18:29:03Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Mixed results as Gov. Noem intervenes in GOP races | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/mixed-results-as-gov-noem-intervenes-in-gop-races/article_f40e1a90-3ff5-57b1-b861-80d99245d818.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/mixed-results-as-gov-noem-intervenes-in-gop-races/article_f40e1a90-3ff5-57b1-b861-80d99245d818.html
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David Hubbard sets eyes on House District 35 seat
David Hubbard of Rapid City will be a Democratic candidate for South Dakota House District 35, which includes Box Elder, most of Rapid Valley, and portions of eastern Rapid City.
Hubbard will face Democrat Pat Cromwell and Republican incumbent Reps. Tina Mulally and Tony Randolph for the two District 35 House seats in the Nov. 8 general election.
Hubbard said he is running "to give voters a better option than the extreme political agenda we've seen in Pierre."
"I support the development of renewable energy, including wind and solar. I support Medicaid expansion so hard-working South Dakotans can access preventative health care," he said in a statement. "I am part of the majority of South Dakotans who voted to legalize cannabis and address corruption in our state. I insist the will of the South Dakota people be respected and that legislators obey the will of those who elected them to office."
Hubbard said he does not support efforts to outlaw abortions in South Dakota.
"This is a difficult and painful decision for a woman to make. It is not a decision politicians should make on the behalf of others," he said. "South Dakotans have voted twice against abortion bans and I have and always will defend a woman's right to autonomy over her own body."
Hubbard is a South Dakota native and graduated from Southeast Vocational Technical School as well as South Dakota State University. He is a U.S. Army Cold War veteran who served in both the South Dakota National Guard and in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division as an airborne infantry paratrooper. He said he strongly supports both our active duty and retired military personnel.
Hubbard is a website developer for a Rapid City advertising and marketing firm and currently serves on the Veterans Honor Banner Project Board of Directors.
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2022-06-13T21:05:44Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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David Hubbard sets eyes on House District 35 seat | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/david-hubbard-sets-eyes-on-house-district-35-seat/article_da787023-46f8-528d-84c9-83658ea97441.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/david-hubbard-sets-eyes-on-house-district-35-seat/article_da787023-46f8-528d-84c9-83658ea97441.html
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Pat Cromwell running for District 35 House
Pat Cromwell of Rapid Valley will be a Democratic candidate for South Dakota House District 35, which includes Box Elder, most of Rapid Valley and portions of eastern Rapid City.
Cromwell will face Democrat David Hubbard and Republican incumbent Reps. Tina Mulally and Tony Randolph for the two District 35 House seats in the Nov. 8 general election.
Cromwell said she is running to "be the voice of South Dakotans whom our legislators continue to ignore."
“South Dakotans voted against abortion bans twice. I believe that politicians have no place sitting in the doctor’s office while women handle their healthcare," she said in a statement. "Two years ago, South Dakotans voted to legalize marijuana and our representatives did not respect that majority vote either. I support legalizing marijuana and believe that the actions of our governor and legislature are treating us as though we are criminals with ill intent."
Cromwell said she supports Medicaid expansion and "dignity and equality for everyone regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation."
She is a South Dakota native who graduated from South dakota State University with degrees in child development and sociology. Cromwell worked for the state Department of Social Services, Christian Children’s Fund, and Youth and Family Services. She also worked with tribal community and health issues with grant writing and project development work with the Northern Plains Native American Chemical Dependency Association.
"I have had to be able to put myself in other people’s shoes, to understand who they are and what they need. While working with tribal health care programs, I learned the importance of working with Tribes as partners in good government," she said in a statement. "Besides dignity and respect this is about being able to create more efficient and functional health care systems which expanded Medicaid could help provide for all South Dakotans. We can do better.”
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2022-06-13T21:05:47Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Pat Cromwell running for District 35 House | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/pat-cromwell-running-for-district-35-house/article_78e6809c-02b3-50f0-8a96-42bb14bd2da9.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/pat-cromwell-running-for-district-35-house/article_78e6809c-02b3-50f0-8a96-42bb14bd2da9.html
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Rusty Wallace named Sturgis Motorcycle Rally grand marshal
The city of Sturgis announced Monday that NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace will be the 2022 City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally grand marshal.
Wallace was the 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion, the 1984 Rookie of the Year and 55-time Cup Series race winner.
Wallace’s accomplishments have been widely recognized, both on and off the track. He is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
He is known to many for his work as lead analyst for MRN Radio – the voice of NASCAR. In 2019 Wallace and his youngest son, Stephen, started Southern Country Customs based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Southern Country Customs is a premier builder of custom Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Wallace will help kick-off the 2022 City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally during the opening ceremonies starting at noon Aug. 5 at Harley-Davidson Rally Point in downtown Sturgis.
The City of Sturgis 82nd Motorcycle Rally will take place Aug. 5 - 14. To learn more about this year’s event visit: https://sturgismotorcyclerally.com.
Nascar Hall Of Fame
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2022-06-13T21:05:49Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rusty Wallace named Sturgis Motorcycle Rally grand marshal | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/rusty-wallace-named-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-grand-marshal/article_71de7edc-0c5c-53c9-b9a7-b9c6da5ce051.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/rusty-wallace-named-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-grand-marshal/article_71de7edc-0c5c-53c9-b9a7-b9c6da5ce051.html
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Rush send Kyle Rhodes to Wichita
Rapid City defenseman Kyle Rhodes (7) controls the puck near the Rush goal line on April 13 at the Monument Ice Arena.
The Rapid City Rush announced Monday that the rights to defenseman Kyle Rhodes have been traded to the Wichita Thunder.
The move fulfilled an obligation to the Thunder in a three-team trade from March. That trade that brought Avery Peterson to Rapid City from the Florida Everblades and sent Jake Wahlin to the Thunder along with future considerations.
Peterson played nine regular season games for the Rush after his acquisition on March 29 and had three goals and six assists. In 11 postseason games, he netted four goals along with four assists.
The Rush's Avery Peterson drives into the Allen crease before the goalie kicked his shot away in the second period on May 29.
Rhodes appeared in seven games and had six assists for the Rush in the regular season after being acquired from the Norfolk Admirals in a trade on the trade deadline on March 31.
He then skated in 11 games in the postseason and scored one goal. Rhodes had six goals and 11 assists in 49 games for Norfolk before arriving in Rapid City.
Jake Wahlin
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2022-06-13T23:29:29Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Rush send Kyle Rhodes to Wichita | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rush-send-kyle-rhodes-to-wichita/article_71b56543-b417-523e-90c5-4f3a87fcb51f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/rush-send-kyle-rhodes-to-wichita/article_71b56543-b417-523e-90c5-4f3a87fcb51f.html
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The district announced Monday to parents and on social media that Nicole Swigart will be the acting interim CEO and Central High School Principal Michael Talley will be the acting interim assistant superintendent following board approval. The board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Rapid City Education Center, 625 Ninth Street.
According to an agenda that was posted late Monday afternoon, Swigart and Talley would be paid $130,000 each for their work during the 2022-2023 school year.
RCAS Community Relations Manager Caitlin Pierson said she is waiting on clarification on the difference between a CEO and superintendent from legal counsel, and could not answer questions. She also said she couldn't speak to the interview process for the position or tell the timeline.
Pierson said she was on vacation for a week and found out about the announcement Monday morning. She said she was sent the news release she sent out to parents and social media. Pierson did not say who wrote the news release.
"Unfortunately I can't answer any of your questions," she said. "It doesn't really make sense to you or I, I don't think, as to why I can't considering what my job title is. (Board) President (Kate) Thomas is really going to be the only person who's going to be able to answer those questions right now."
Thomas did not respond for a request for comment by the end of business day Monday.
Thomas said in April that the next steps for a non-superintendent-led school district would be a community discussion following a presentation from the Colorado District 49. The Colorado Springs district has a three-pronged chief officer approach, which includes education, business and operation chief officers.
Thomas said after the presentation that even if teachers and community members decided to change leadership styles, it would take about two or three years to implement the change.
Newly elected board members Jamie Clapham and Michael Birkeland said they did not have a heads up on the selection. Clapham said she found out in the parent email and Birkeland said he found out from a former colleague.
Nicole Swigart will be the interim CEO for RCAS pending the Board of Education's approval Tuesday.
According to the release, Swigart began working for RCAS as a substitute teacher in 1989 and taught as an English teacher at Stevens High School until 2010. This will be her 34th year working for the district.
Swigart also coached cheerleading, directed plays, built sets and served as an instructional support teacher. She was the RCAS and Region 7 Teacher of the Year for the 2006-2007 school year. In 2010, she became an assistant principal at one of the district's alternative programs and became principal overseeing the district's alternative educational programs.
Mike Talley, current principal at Rapid City Central High School, will be the interim assistant superintendent for the district pending board approval Tuesday.
Talley has been principal at Central High School for the past 15 years and has 27 years of experience in public education and 22 years of experience in school administration.
Talley would take over from Katie Bray who is the current acting interim assistant superintendent, who assumed the role from Asst. Superintendent Mark Gabrylczyk. Gabrylczyk resigned effective March 24.
According to South Dakota Codified Law, a CEO for a school district would need a permit. The permit is a five-year renewable permit issued in the field of "educational leadership" to someone from outside the traditional educational route. A CEO would serve in the leadership role or the public or department-accredited school or district in the absence of a superintendent or principal.
The law states those with a permit could not complete teacher evaluations or be designated as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal or assistant principal. According to the state Department of Education, a CEO educator permit holder would be eligible if they had a bachelor's degree or higher; a minimum of three years of documented business, management, leadership or instructional experience, pass state-designated content test; and completion of an approved suicide awareness and prevention training.
Kent Bush also contributed to this report.
Mark Gabrylczyk
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2022-06-14T01:40:22Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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CEO named, not yet approved, for RCAS in place of superintendent | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ceo-named-not-yet-approved-for-rcas-in-place-of-superintendent/article_bebeff9a-8e4e-57e9-a0db-49a7d07fcc5d.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ceo-named-not-yet-approved-for-rcas-in-place-of-superintendent/article_bebeff9a-8e4e-57e9-a0db-49a7d07fcc5d.html
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Lyle R. Marshall
RAPID CITY - Lyle R. Marshall, 90, passed away on Friday, June 10, 2022, at Rapid City Monument Health.
Lyle was born on February 23, 1932, to Vernon and Ethel Marshall in Vayland, SD. Lyle graduated from St. Lawrence High School in St. Lawrence, SD. Lyle served in the Air Force for 4 years. After his 4 years of service, he worked in the bank in Miller, SD. During this time, he met the love of his life, Evelyn Jenner. They eloped with another couple on May 8, 1958 in Webster, SD. They moved to Canova, SD, where Lyle worked in the bank. In 1969, they moved to Faith where he was a banker, had an appliance store, and Lyle and Evelyn owned and operated Marshall's Drive-In until he retired and they moved to Rapid City, SD, in 1998
Lyle was a member of the VFW in Faith, SD. Lyle liked to fish and hunt. His nickname was "Buckshot!" He loved to watch his grandchildren in all their activities. He also enjoyed watching the Minnesota Twins baseball.
Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Evelyn Marshall; son, Greg Marshall (Jonica) of Shakopee, MN; daughter, Linda Muser (Rick) of Rapid City, SD; grandchildren: Carl and Nolan Marshall of Shakopee, MN, Alyssa Hlavka (Ryan) of Rapid City, Amanda Muser (Austin Vis) of Rapid City; great-grandchildren: Anna and Ryder Hlavka.
Memorial services will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, at Kirk Funeral Home, with visitation held one-hour prior. Cookies and coffee will follow with a time of fellowship. Burial at 12:30 PM at Black Hills National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial to be decided by the family.
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2022-06-14T05:48:30Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Lyle R. Marshall | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/lyle-r-marshall/article_95d8bd89-df49-5507-b47f-0403597e13d2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/lyle-r-marshall/article_95d8bd89-df49-5507-b47f-0403597e13d2.html
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Career housing projects highlight Box Elder growth
Raider Pointe in Box Elder, off 225th Street between North Ellsworth Road and Briggs Street, is one of 10 active housing projects reflecting the city's current and impending population growth.
Box Elder is growing, and not just from the impending B-21 program at Ellsworth Air Force Base. With 10 active career housing projects currently underway, Public Information Officer and Legislative Advocate Matt Connor said they’re already seeing a population increase from what he described as an “increased migration to more rural areas of the U.S.”
Connor estimated Box Elder’s population growth from 2016-2021 has been about 10%, anticipating a jump to 15% from 2022-2027, with the B-21 program bringing in some 3,000 to 4,000 airmen.
Collectively, the Box Elder Planning and Zoning office currently has a total of 1,564 units submitted as the overall targeted subdivision built-out plan, as of last week.
Of the 10 housing projects, 1,211 single family units are either in construction or approved and actively being built, with 570 multifamily units either in construction or approved and actively being built. Connor estimated 60-70% of these units will be completed in the next two years.
All 10 of the current housing projects in Box Elder currently qualify as affordable, or “career,” housing, Connor said, but he believes that status may be somewhat precarious.
Referencing inflation and interest rates, he said keeping housing affordable is a challenge.
“A lot of the single family homes are in the range now, but they're quickly falling out of the career or workforce housing range as a single family, and mainly, it's interest rates and inflation,” Connor said.
Inflation for building materials combined with increasing interest rates means new construction units are more expensive, he said. Connor estimated all the new construction units currently fall within the $330,000 to $400,000 range, but could quickly increase beyond that.
Connor said the city is looking to new legislation as a possible assist with the climbing prices of housing, including infrastructure bills to expand grants for builders to get state work and preparing infrastructure for utilities, sewer and water in new developments.
“So that is hopefully going to counteract some of this interest rate rise and the commodity market power,” Connor said.
A comprehensive plan helps the city prepare for the demands of an increasing population, which assesses influences and trends in population growth. The city of Box Elder is in a unique planning phase, with a guaranteed increase coming with the B-21 expansion, in addition to the 10% population increase the city is already seeing.
Connor said that typically, 50-80% of a city’s population want to be within 30 minutes of their work location, making housing developments within the border of Box Elder “prime” when taking into account the anticipated 15% growth rate.
Making sure the city can support the housing growth with sewer and drinking water is the next-level priority, Connor said. A focus on regionalization will utilize adjacent municipalities with the capacity to treat the city's sewage, using the other municipality's rates for sewer, rather than building new sewer plants.
“The regionalization of clean water, and the term clean water, points to sewer and then drinking water systems — so that you have that flexibility to share resources from municipality to municipality to answer the new homes that are being built," Connor said.
Funding has been the primary growing pain of a transforming Box Elder, Connor said. A history of mismanagement over previous decades and some of the highest water and sewer rates in the state link back to a need for grants and legislation to aid in making the city’s growth more affordable, he said.
Generating excitement among elected officials and developers is also key, Connor said.
“What’s going on in Box Elder is not only unique in the state of South Dakota, it might be unique in the country,” he said. “This development may be somewhat insulated from a major economic downturn,” referencing the guaranteed growth from Ellsworth AFB.
Attention from developers and elected officials will help obtain funding grants, he said, noting that regionalization will also help control costs.
“So that we can have all these new roads, new drinking water and sewer projects, and do it cost-effectively where taxes aren’t going to go through the roof,” Connor said.
The city has a “transformation” expo planned for Aug. 25, aimed at elected officials, builders and other stakeholders. The expo will be a learning event for all the different facets of change, expansion and improvement the city is undertaking.
The event will help explain efforts such as the B-21 expansion, water and sewer improvement plans, road improvements, parks and recreation, housing, businesses and funding.
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2022-06-14T14:39:03Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Career housing projects highlight Box Elder growth | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/career-housing-projects-highlight-box-elder-growth/article_9dc1d6b9-67b4-5f17-a5f3-68fdc7eb5efb.html
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Meet the Sasquatch: 2022 team coming together after tumultuous offseason
Spearfish Sasquatch shortstop Johnny McHenry goes for a high five with Kolby Schiffer after running home on Saturday at the Black Hills Power Sports Complex in Spearfish.
Last season, the Spearfish Sasquatch enjoyed a season full of success despite the volatility that endured behind the scenes within the Expedition League.
The Sasquatch finished as the runner-up in the league season after earning a 46-22 record in the regular season and winning their division championship.
After the year, the team announced the move to a newly-formed league, the Independence Baseball League, as a charter member with six other teams that played in the Expedition League last season. Those seven joined three expansion teams and a partial member, the Nebraska Prospects, to keep collegiate summer ball thriving in the Great Plains.
The decision to start a new governing body created obstacles, but Sasquatch owner and general manager Eric Schmidt said the transition is paying off.
“It’s definitely had its challenges, but we’ve come through it on the better side of things. We are well-versed in what we are doing here,” Schmidt said. “We just had to change a few lugnuts. We weren’t reinventing the wheel, so it’s really just business as usual.”
Schmidt and the Sasquatch front office ran across another major hurdle with less than two months until Opening Day when head coach Jarrod Molnaa resigned.
“It was definitely under the gun,” Schmidt said. “Honestly, I put it out there and had about 35 applicants within 24 hours. We narrowed that down to a few applicants and Shane stood out right from the get-go as somebody I wanted to bring on.”
Shane Gardner currently serves as the head coach at Trinity International University, an NAIA institution in Deerfield, Illinois. Before taking the helm there, he coached at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tennessee and led the Tigers to four straight NCCAA World Series appearances and multiple top-10 finishes.
Gardner reached another milestone this season when he won his 250th game as a college skipper.
“He had a lot of success as a junior college coach and has over 250 wins at the college level,” Schmidt said. “He’s at Trinity International University right now, and just brought that maturity level I was looking for to run the field.”
Schmidt said Gardner's resume jumped off the page and brought a certain level of balance to the Sasquatch.
“I think you have to have somebody that’s used to this age group and has experience with it,” Schmidt said. “They all have different needs and wants, and we have to juggle what their coaches back home want for them this summer. We need somebody who can speak that language.”
Schmidt also made sure to highlight all of the reasons that residents of the Black Hills should swing up to Black Hills Energy Stadium and check out a game this summer.
“It’s about more than the baseball on the field,” Schmidt said. “It’s about what we bring night after night with themes, promotions, fireworks shows, bobblehead nights and the mascot. It’s really that fan-friendly and family-friendly environment that we try to put out every night.”
A host of fans packed into the ballpark on Saturday night to watch the Sasquatch square off with the Prospects. The enthusiastic bunch filled the stadium with chants despite a 6-2 loss to the squad from Nebraska.
“It’s really been awesome to get the fans back behind us,” Schmidt said. “We had such a great year last year and they are just clamoring to see what we have this year. We’ve got a new group of guys, new coaching staff and a lot of turnover. We are still feeling each other out and our record kind of reflects that right now, but I know there are positive things ahead.”
This year’s team features players who hail from across the country in all levels of college baseball and even one recent high school graduate.
A handful of Sasquatch returned to Spearfish for a second season and others picked up a wood bat for the first time since beginning their college careers.
Ryan Bachman (Rapid City)
Spearfish Sasquatch second baseman Ryan Bachman throws the ball on Saturday at the Black Hills Power Sports Complex in Spearfish.
Ryan Bachman played for Post 22 as a high schooler and just finished his second season for Division II Minnesota State University.
Last season, he joined the Sasquatch as a temporary player and quickly transitioned to an everyday player down the stretch.
“I started off playing well and stuck around for the whole summer,” Bachman said. “I guess I realized how fun it was to play up here close to home, and it’s the best place to be right now. It’s great summer baseball, it’s close to home and it’s a good spot.”
The infielder enjoyed growing on the field and with his newfound teammates in Spearfish. He also thrived thanks to the proximity to his family and regular training hub at Benson Sports Training.
“The biggest part though is meeting guys from all over the country,” Bachman said. “I still keep in touch with a lot of guys from last year and I want to do the same thing this year. We are going to be friends for a long time, stay in touch, watch each other's seasons and it’s great.”
Bachman said it’s challenging to grow as a team in such a short time frame and getting adjusted to the wooden bats, but he loves the experience of playing every day with a diverse cast of characters.
His main goal this summer season is to try and hit for more power and continue to grow as a defender.
“I’ve already been able to do that and drive the ball a little bit more and slug a little more,” Bachman said. “I’d like to drive it out of the ballpark more but I’ll just keep trying to hit it on the barrel and play good defense too.”
The Rapid City native said he’s watched a lot of Hardhats games online during his free time and that he gets back to Fitzgerald Stadium to catch live games and workout with the team as often as his schedule allows.
Gabe Springer (Boulder, Colorado)
Gabe Springer graduated from high school in Boulder, Colorado last month before he packed his bags and headed up to Spearfish.
“I’m really excited to be out here,” Springer said. “It’s just really cool to play with guys from all over the country and meet so many new people and create bonds that will hopefully last a while.”
The lifelong shortstop and Stanford commit took the opportunity to play with the Sasquatch to ready him for the grind of playing at one of the country’s premier Division I programs.
“I’ve played shortstop my whole life,” Springer said. “I’m up here to get used to new positions, like third and in the outfield. I also want to get reps against better pitching than I’ve seen in Colorado.”
Spearfish Sasquatch player Gabe Springer sets up for a fist bump as players leave the dugout on Saturday at the Black Hills Power Sports Complex in Spearfish.
Springer said he’s watched most of this season’s NCAA Tournament. On Monday afternoon, the Cardinals punched their ticket to the College World Series for the second straight season.
The berth to Omaha brought Stanford’s total up to 18 appearances on college baseball’s biggest stage, but one thing Springer's looking forward to most this fall is the fair weather in Palo Alto, California.
“Especially coming from Colorado where it’s cold a lot of the time,” Springer said. “It’s warm year-round there and I can’t wait for it.”
Gage Kracht (Belle Fourche)
Gage Kracht grew up in Belle Fourche, just a few miles from the home of the Sasquatch, where he played legion ball for Post 32.
This spring he emailed Schmidt in hopes of earning a spot on the Spearfish roster, and jumped on the opportunity to join the team.
“I love it,” Kracht said. “I have local people coming over and cheering me on, it’s awesome. This organization is great. It’s awesome to meet all of these guys from California, Washington, Illinois, Colorado and all around. It’s like playing on an all-star team.”
Kracht just wrapped up his freshman year on the diamond for Mesabi Range College, a junior college in Virginia, Minnesota. The former Bronc is a two-way utility player and hopes he can fill in wherever the Sasquatch need him.
“I’m trying to get up to 90 mph on my fastball and hopefully I get a little bit more power (at the plate),” Kracht said. “I can poke a few balls out there but I want to get more solid contact and work on my timing and barrel control.”
In his spare time, Kracht catches Post 32 games and loves the community support from Belle Fourche he sees in the stands every night. He also made sure to plug one of his former teammates that may one day join the Sasquatch roster.
“It’s amazing to have people up here from Belle,” Kracht said. “I know for a fact one of my buddies, Evan Vissia, is going to be up here too and playing with me in a couple of years. He’s a solid player, a junior and I wouldn’t take it for granted that he’s better than me right now. It’s awesome seeing the community come up and support.”
The Sasquatch return to action Wednesday at Canyon County in Caldwell, Idaho for Game 1 of a five-game series.
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2022-06-14T14:39:09Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Meet the Sasquatch: 2022 team coming together after tumultuous offseason | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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Both Dawson Dunbar and Cody Hall saw full-fledged action Saturday night during the Western Nebraska All-Star Football Game in Scottsbluff, then were back in the lineup for the First National Bank of Omaha American Legion baseball team during a double-header against Post 215 in Rapid City on Sunday.
Dunbar carried the ball 25 times for 143 yards in the football game while Hall was among the linemen blocking for him against a large East line.
Chadron Seniors’ Coach Kyle Sanders said Hall finally had to come out of one of the games Sunday because of leg cramps and he could tell that Dunbar was sore when he saw him running the bases.
Dunbar threw 45 pitches for the Nationals before moving to another position because he’s due to throw again at Broken Bow on Wednesday night while the Chadron team is en route to watch the College World Series in Omaha. A second game will be played at Cairo, near Grand Island, on Thursday.
Rapid City won both games on Sunday. Chadron had a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning in the first game, but the hosts won 6-5. The score of the second game was 13-3.
The Chadron Juniors went 2-1 during a tournament in Gering over the weekend. They beat Bridgeport 19-6 and the Buckley Bombers from Chappell 6-2, before losing to Gering 5-0.
Both Chadron teams will be at home on Tuesday, June 21 to play Sidney. The Juniors’ Wood Bat Tournament will be played at Maurice Horse Field the following weekend, June 25 and 26.
Chadron Seniors
Kyle Sanders
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2022-06-14T21:02:08Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Chadron athletes do double duty | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/chadron-athletes-do-double-duty/article_b6a2c2ca-c010-5758-a0de-ce9340f287b3.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/community/chadron/news/chadron-athletes-do-double-duty/article_b6a2c2ca-c010-5758-a0de-ce9340f287b3.html
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Douglas school board says farewell to associate board member
Col. Brady Vaira receives a resolution from the Douglas School District, presented by Superintendent Kevin Case, at Monday's school board meeting. The resolution recognized Vaira's two years of service as an associate member of the school board as he now relocates with the U.S. Air Force.
The Douglas School District Board of Education said farewell to associate member Col. Brady Vaira at their regular board meeting Monday evening, honoring him with a resolution recognizing his two years of service to the district, and wishing him well as he relocates with the United States Air Force.
The resolution noted the purpose of the associate board membership being to “provide Ellsworth Air Force Base representatives an opportunity to better understand the operation of the Douglas School District and to express opinions as reflected in the military community.”
The resolution commended Vaira for his “outstanding contributions to the Douglas Schools Community.”
During Vaira’s committee report, he presented the board with a gift for the Douglas School District — a metal cutout depicting Mount Rushmore with a B-1 above and what Vaira described as their “best guess” of the incoming B-21 below.
Vaira said the B-1 represents the legacy mission, “what we do — it’s what you guys support day in and day out.” Mount Rushmore represents the Black Hills community, “just a fantastic community that we get to be a part of coming here in the Air Force,” and that “felt like home for us, and you’ve been a fantastic journey for us.”
The B-21, he said, represents looking to the future, as the Douglas School District is doing “all the time, and that is inspiring.”
Vaira read an inscription from the cutout, thanking the district for their “expertise and passion in developing our United States Air Force children into lifelong learners.”
In other business, Bud Gusso, executive director of Operational Support Services, introduced an integrated transportation management system from Tyler Technologies, a system that would help create and track bus routes and track students on and off buses, among other things.
“As we've considered growing across the interstate and having two schools on that side of the interstate, we need to start thinking about busing,” Gusso said. “There's a lot of considerations and also it expands the number of kids that are going to have to be bused, and we want to do a better job of making sure that we track all of those students and all of our classes.”
Gusso said one person manually plans the bus routes currently, but this technology would make bus routes “incredibly easy.” The Tyler Technologies system would allow GPS navigation and tracking on all buses, track miles per hour, how many students have been picked up and who. Students would be able to scan themselves in and out, which would send a notification to parents.
The district is currently working through an agreement with Tyler Technologies using the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, with an aim of October and January for training sessions, and a launch by second semester.
A presentation was given on the district’s first ever summer transition program by Elementary Curriculum Director Ann Pettit and Secondary Curriculum Director Kit Veit.
The program has a total of 276 students, including 91 incoming Kindergartners. The purpose of the program is to build transitional skills for students, continue academic progress and provide social and study skills, according to the presentation.
Transitional skills include taking field trips to new buildings and practice getting into lockers, while also continuing the academic and behavioral process.
“We also wanted it to be a time where they get to do some of that fun stuff that maybe we hear they don't have time for,” Pettit said, adding that another “big component” was offering both breakfast and lunch, “and trying to build that community service.”
The program runs through June 30, four days a week. The program is funded through ESSER III (three years) and USDA – Summer Feeding Program. As their first year, Pettit and Veit said they are looking for ways to improve in coming years, including advertising earlier and possibly beginning closer to the school year.
Brady Vaira
Ann Pettit
Bud Gusso
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2022-06-14T22:55:15Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Douglas school board says farewell to associate board member | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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RAPID CITY - Michael B. Rhoades, 71, died on June 11, 2022 at home in Rapid City, SD. Michael was born on March 22, 1951 to Dale F and Helen (Farrington) Rhoades in Waco, TX. His early life was growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska before moving to Tampa, Florida, where his family operated the Rhoades Bait Farm.
He later moved to Rapid City, SD in 1972 to raise his two sons and fell in love with the Black Hills. He was passionate about playing in the outdoors and liked carpentry.
Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Toni Rhoades; sons, Michael T Rhoades of Wilmington, NC and Ryan D Rhoades of Arvada, CO; siblings, Delene Barnick and Sandy Rhoades of Florida; and many step-children and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Dusty Rhoades.
A celebration of life service will be held at Canyon Lake Park Chimney Pavilion from 4pm-6 pm on Thursday, June 16, 2022. Online guestbook at www.kirkfuneralhome.com.
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2022-06-15T05:52:46Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Michael B. Rhoades | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/michael-b-rhoades/article_b4a41861-524b-5abf-9eff-4dee4ada07c6.html
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Tass Thacker and Bruce Junek
Sheri Sponder
"Foundling at Dayr Castle" is the first book in Rapid City author Bruce Junek's "A Bright One Chronicles" fantasy series.
World adventure writer Bruce Junek and photographer Tass Thacker will present a free admission Writer’s Block session at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Cave Collective in Rapid City.
The program, sponsored by Backroom Productions, is the third in a series about local authors. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Junek and Thacker, who are husband and wife, will discuss the process of writing and working on a fantasy series together. They have spent their 42-year marriage documenting their real-life travels and adventures.
The couple has collaborated on books filled with stories of biking the world, Their books include “The Road of Dreams,” “Andes to the Amazon,” “Rainforests and Mayan Ruins” and “Volcanoes of the World” among others.
Recently, Junek released the first novel in a fantasy-adventure series, “A Bright One Chronicles” featuring a young female protagonist, Tyme.
The introduction to "The Foundling of Dayr Castle" reads, “A girl of prophecy on a black stallion, a boy falconer, and a Barbarian Prince share destinies with a deadly female warrior/mystic." This coming-of-age story is a low fantasy adventure series about friendship, commitment, sacrifice, love, life and death. Captivating characters are set in a female predominant culture shaped by mysticism and spiritual awakenings.
The ability to immerse himself in new places, cultures and projects as he and Thatcher traveled intrigued Junek so much that he was inspired to create his own fictional empire in the “A Bright One Chronicles.” He’s spent nearly 20 years writing the series.
The first two books, “The Foundling of Dayr Castle,” and “Death of Innocence” are available on Amazon. The third book was released in May, and the final book will be released in November.
"I could not have written ‘A Bright One Chronicles’ without the lifetime of exotic traveling adventures, bicycling expeditions, and spiritual quests that I have shared with my wife, Tass Thacker,” Junek said. “Nor could I have written it without her red pen and brutally honest editorial skills and sharp criticism throughout the entire process to make the story better.”
“For years, Tass has heroically managed our business and household to give me extra time to write. For all of her humor, strength, inspiration and love, this book is dedicated to my soulmate, Tass Thacker,” Junek said.
The Writer’s Block series is sponsored by Arts Midwest, The South Dakota Arts Council, and the Rapid City Arts Subsidy, which all allow this series to be free to the public while providing financial support for Rapid City area authors.
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2022-06-15T14:20:58Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Junek, Thacker present Writer's Block session | Entertainment | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/junek-thacker-present-writers-block-session/article_e7948824-4f2f-5649-b8ee-b28b0f69c8cd.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/junek-thacker-present-writers-block-session/article_e7948824-4f2f-5649-b8ee-b28b0f69c8cd.html
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The Bluestems, a group of siblings from Elgin, N.D., who are bluegrass musicians and singers, will lead a brand-new workshop for kids at the upcoming Black Hills Bluegrass Festival.
The Black Hills Bluegrass Festival returns June 24, 25 and 26 with three days of music and a brand-new event for the youngest generation of bluegrass lovers.
The Black Hills Bluegrass Association will present the 41st annual Black Hills Bluegrass Festival at Rush No More RV Resort and Campground in Sturgis. Five bands will perform three full concerts at 6:30 p.m. June 24, and 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. June 25. Two bands will play during the Sunday morning gospel show at 10 a.m. June 26.
Rain or shine, the shows will go on during the festival. This year’s bands are: Cedar Hill, a hard-driving traditional bluegrass group from Missouri; Lori King & Junction 63, a traditional bluegrass and gospel band from Iowa; High Plains Tradition, a Colorado band known for original and traditional music and harmonies; Lochwood Bluegrass, a Montana band performing traditional bluegrass and three-part harmonies; and the Bluestems.
The Bluestems, a ranching family band from Elgin, N.D., will host a kids’ workshop. This new addition to the bluegrass festival will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 25. The Bluestems are teen and pre-teen siblings who are musicians and singers -- Maya on fiddle, Mercedes on guitar and mandolin, Malachi on banjo, Micah on bass guitar, and Molly on dobro.
The kids’ workshop is geared toward children and youths in first grade through middle school. They’ll get an introduction to musical instruments and playing bluegrass music. Advance registration is recommended. The workshop is free but kids must be accompanied by an adult. Call 605-348-1198 or email info@blackhillsbluegrass.com to register kids or for more information.
“It’s good for getting kids interested in bluegrass and playing instruments and music in general – the acoustic instruments and our kind of music,” said Carol McConnell, president of the Black Hills Bluegrass Association.
The Bluestems will begin the workshop by playing a song that can be taught to kids. Newcomers who have never held or played an instrument can choose an instrument – mandolin, guitar, fiddle or banjo -- if they want to learn the song, and they’ll be taught how to hold it and make music, McConnell said.
Kids and youths who already play the mandolin, guitar, fiddle or banjo are invited to bring theirs. Participants will have an opportunity to form a small band, choose a band name, then conclude the workshop by playing a song with the Bluestems for their parents and friends. If time permits, they’ll also perform a song with the Bluestems on stage.
Adults can learn about bluegrass, too. Workshops for adults will be June 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Musicians from bands performing at the festival will host workshops about guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, bass and vocal harmony. These workshops are open to those who purchase a wristband for any of the festival concerts.
Tickets at the gate are $20 for a single show, $45 for all day Saturday, $55 for the entire weekend, and admission to Sunday morning’s gospel show is a freewill donation. Children younger than 12 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult with a wristband. Go to blackhillsbluegrass.com to purchase tickets in advance and to see a complete schedule of concerts and workshops.
No dogs or coolers are permitted in the concert area. Food will be available from the campground kitchen throughout the festival. Breakfast will be available June 25 and 26.
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2022-06-15T14:21:04Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Bluegrass festival introduces new kids' event | Entertainment | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/bluegrass-festival-introduces-new-kids-event/article_dbba94c0-398b-5d29-b55a-fb18956b80cb.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/bluegrass-festival-introduces-new-kids-event/article_dbba94c0-398b-5d29-b55a-fb18956b80cb.html
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Shayna Baszler, originally from Sioux Falls, will return to Rapid City as the Queen of Spades in Saturday Night's Main Event this Saturday at The Monument.
Shayna Baszler, of Sioux Falls, will take to the ring as the Queen of Spades for Saturday Night’s Main Event at The Monument. She was selected by SmackDown in the 2021 WWE Draft, but her professional fighting career dates back to 2003 when she entered the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
Baszler said she grew up watching Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, but started on the mat when she was 6 years old. Her coaches were her dad and her uncle and she studied catch wrestling, which is a hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Baszler was dubbed as one of the MMA Four Horsewomen along with Ronda Rousey.
“It just kind of happened naturally,” she said. “I was in the fight game for 17 years active and I realized I was kind of falling out of love with it, so the next kind of progression in catch wrestling is to study professional wrestling.”
Baszler said she didn’t realize MMA and professional wrestling have such a shared history. She said as she studied as a martial artist and a performer, it helped her fall back in love with mixed martial arts.
“I really think that it was just meant to be,” she said. “The old school guys, like back when you’re talking Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson who was a coach of mine, these guys had to fight and prove that you are worth your salt in order to even get a chance to get in the ring to do professional wrestling. I feel like for me, it was a very natural progression.”
Baszler said she’s always learning, and if someone isn’t, they’re stunted.
“The whole point of the game is growth and with a sport of grappling, catch wrestling, even Brazilian jiu jitsu, professional wrestling, it’s always evolving as well,” she said.
Baszler said everything goes back to fundamentals and once someone has those down, then it’s about a wrestler's entry, body type and moves they can make.
“It’s so in-depth that you’re never done,” she said. “There’s always something else, you know?”
Baszler said before a show day, depending on who she’s wrestling that night, she’ll get a workout in. If it’s her partner, she’ll get a little harder of a workout, but if it’s a match, she’ll lighten it up and do cardio and mobility stretching.
Then it comes down to getting a meal and snacks to wait out the time for doors to open.
Between getting to a city and the match time, though, Baszler said she likes to explore the area.
“I don’t want to be traveling all over the world and not have seen anything,” she said. “Even if I don’t have much time, I want to make sure I find a local coffee place.”
Sometimes that’s brunch, if a coffee shop isn’t open or there isn’t one in town. She also said she likes to find local gems, not necessarily tourist locations.
For Rapid City, a place she’s hiked, camped and vacationed in before, she hopes to visit the breweries.
“There’s a lot of breweries and… the local stuff I can’t get anywhere else,” Baszler said.
She said people coming to the show, whether it’s their first time or the hundredth, can expect a different energy than what people see on TV.
“We’re gonna tell you our life story in the ring in a good 15-20 minutes, and hopefully suck you in so that you get involved and want to watch more,” she said.
Baszler said the audience is a key character in the show, and it’s their job to cheer on the good guy and boo at the bad guy.
“The louder you guys are the more energy we feed off of and then the show gets better and better,” she said.
Saturday Night’s Main Event, featuring WWE’s RAW and Smackdown stars, will be at 7:30 p.m. June 18. Tickets are available online at themonument.live.
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2022-06-15T14:21:12Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Wrestler coming home to perform as WWE star | Entertainment | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/wrestler-coming-home-to-perform-as-wwe-star/article_523fc834-ff9c-55fc-8cfc-5f3ec29df05b.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/wrestler-coming-home-to-perform-as-wwe-star/article_523fc834-ff9c-55fc-8cfc-5f3ec29df05b.html
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