South Dakota Focus Top Stories

I tuned in to South Dakota Focus "A Year in Review" on PBS tonight. The show featured a panel of news hounds, including Pat Powers (South Dakota War College) and Todd Epp (SD Watch). The panel also included Carson Walker of SD Associated Press, Bill Harlan of the Rapid City Journal (by phone), and Greg Belfrage, a radio host at KELO AM in Sioux Falls.

I thought Pat and Todd's answers at the beginning were actually the most reasonable, stating that it's hard to judge the impact of some of the "top stories" of the year, such as Hyperion and TransCanada, since they might have a long-term impact, or they might just bubble up and not amount to anything. It's too early to tell the impact of some stories because their events are not yet fully developed.

Todd was "shameless" about how the Dan Sutton and Ted Klaudt issues had driven traffic to the blogs to discuss these moral issues.

Greg Belfrage, who has a radio show and used to publish a blog, said that most of his radio listeners aren't following the presidential campaign yet, "it's too far out." Greg floated the idea that the country might want to consider moving to regional primaries where states like South Dakota with a late primary aren't left out of the picture.

On the issue of the education funding lawsuit, Pat voiced my opinion that, if people believe public education is underfunded, then the people need to elect representatives who will vote in the legislature according to their priorities--government agencies suing other agencies for more tax dollars is silly and financially irresponsible.

The host Richard Muller asked why abortion didn't make the top 10 list, and Greg said he believed there was a burnout factor, though it's an issue that will definitely be back. Pat said that the defeat last year was due to the lack of rape/incest and health exceptions, but that no matter what happens, any bill will end up in the courts for a while.

Todd also mentioned the the Shawn Cable issue and the surprising amount of interest it generated. It almost seemed like a version of "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"

During the discussion of the Sanford hospital donation, Todd said Sanford was a "modern-day robber-barron." (Marx would be proud, Todd.)

In the discussion of Hyperion, Todd said he had worked at a refinery during college, and that on the downside, they were smelly, etc. but were necessary for our energy needs and also provided jobs.

The Elijah Page execution was a #1 story on many lists, and Bill Harlan said everyone in the Black Hills area was hyper-aware of it. Harlan said what struck him was the "sheer ordinariness" of it. He said it was easy, bloodless and routine, and that struck him as "kinda odd, I guess."

On the issue of the Iraq war, Greg and Pat talked about it on a personal level, of how people come together to raise support for care packages and other needs for those deployed, and how people are more concerned for their friends and neighbors who are involved, than in the politics of it.

On the subject of under-reported stories, Walker said the diminishing number of kids going into the school system and the effect that's going to have across several segments of society.

Greg said he thought the Ted Klaudt story was over-reported. He said it was despicable, but it only impacts a few people greatly.

Todd said open government/open records was under-reported and commended the Argus Leader for their efforts.

Pat said the mayoral race in Rapid City was under-reported, with things like critical emails, slimy mailings, and drunken transvestites.

Harlan said Iraq was under-reported. He said we're at war but many of us don't have to make any sacrifices.

Muller said he believed anything Native-American had been under-reported.

Harlan also talked about how huge the TIFs and Cabela's deal was in the Rapid City area.

Greg said the "nanny state" issues have really gotten out of control and are infringing on property rights.

As for the blogger panelists, I think that, regardless of ideological bent, they represented the blogosphere positively and professionally. Good job, guys!