It doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican, white, black or green, conservative or liberal, religious or atheist or have any political interest in all. What President Barack Obama said towards the end of the State of the Union speech he gave Jan. 25 is something we should all take to heart.

At the end of his speech, Obama told about the Navy SEALs who risked their lives for their country in Pakistan, the SEALs who carried out the mission that ended the life of Osama bin Laden. He told of their cooperation, and their trust in each other. He said that on that night, on that mission, it didn’t matter what political party the SEALs were from. They were all working together towards a common goal for the good of their country. It’s a lesson we could all learn.

Person of the Year award: To each and every sandbagger who helped save homes and property in advance of and during the Missouri River flood.  From all over town, from all over the state, they just showed up, working tirelessly for people they, in some cases, didn't even know, and they renewed our faith in the human spirit.

The World Is Full of Wackos award: To Ron Artest of the Lakers, who changed his name to Metta World Peac

Last week the Obama administration rejected a bid to expand the controversial Keystone oil sands pipeline that would run from Canada to the southern United States, saying the deadline imposed by Congress did not leave sufficient time to conduct the necessary review.

"The Department does not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest," the State Department said in a statement. It also said the president agreed with the decision.

In case you haven’t heard, the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors recently passed the first reading of a vote to split Class AAâ��football in South Dakota into two eight team classes at the behest of  the activities directors of some of the more impotent Class AAâ��football programs in the state, including some here West River.

The reason the change is necessary, they argue, is because the Sioux Falls schools have too big of an enrollment, while they (Sturgis, Pierre, Huron, Yankton etc.) have a declining enrollment and it’s not fair those Sioux Falls schools have more kids from which to pull athletes from. 

News of former Attorney General, Governor and Congressman Bill Janklow’s death spread like wildfire throughout the state last Thursday. Janklow had announced early last November that he suffered from inoperable brain cancer. It must have been an advanced and fast-moving form because he didn’t last long after that announcement.

We believe Gov. Bill Janklow will be remembered as one of South Dakota’s best governors because of his many accomplishments. He was certainly one of the state’s most colorful and dynamic leaders. The former governor died last Thursday, Jan. 12, of a brain tumor. He was 72 years old.

South Dakotans can voice their support for timely, six-day U.S. mail delivery by signing a petition in a campaign initiated by the South Dakota Newspaper Association.

 "Deliver the Mail! South Dakotans for Timely, Six-Day Mail Delivery" is a grass-roots campaign to demonstrate to the United States Postal Service and members of the state's Congressional delegation that South Dakotans oppose wholesale reductions in mail service and delivery.

As I celebrated New Years Eve with friends in Deadwood, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation at the next table.

“Since the world is going to end in December, I’m going to book my trip to Italy,” one person said. “I’m going out in style!”

At first I thought she was joking, but then her friend chimed in.

We are glad South Dakota is one of 28 states suing the federal government over the national health care mandate known as Obamacare. We hope this onerous law is overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States of America when it hears the case later this year. The more we find out about this bill the worse it becomes. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s infamous quote rings more true today than ever--”We have to pass the bill (health care) so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” Never were more idiotic words uttered by any politician.

The new year is a time — for me, at least — not only to set goals for the future, but also a time of reflection to consider where I’ve been, how far I’ve come — I’m making assumptions here that I have made progress — and to assess what I have learned during the past year.  

Concerning the latter, I could not have learned nearly as much without the help of many of you who diligently emailed me the discoveries you have made throughout the past year.

Unfortunately, in an era when the public's interest in what their government is doing at all levels is growing, South Dakotans now find themselves short-changed, not by legislative action, but by a quasi-governmental group called the Open Meetings Commission.

 The OMC was established in 2004 to provide some mechanism for at least chastising city c

Every year at this time we wonder where the time has gone. It seems like we just flipped the calendar pages to the year 2011 and now it is drawing to a rapid close. In fact, it seems like just yesterday when we entered a new century beginning with the year 2000. It has been a fast, but really enjoyable, dozen years for us here at the Custer County Chronicle and Hill City Prevailer-News.

It didn’t exactly come as a surprise when VA Black Hills Health Care System officials announced last week Monday in Hot Springs that a “reconfiguration” of existing services would result in a virtual shutdown of the present VA hospital and domiciliary in the Veterans Town. For decades, residents of Hot Springs and the surrounding area feared what would happen if the VA ever decided to pull out and expand in Rapid City or Sturgis.

Life in the department of music at the University of South Dakota goes at a breakneck pace, especially as the remaining days in a semester wind down to a precious few. That is even the case for those of us who are only part-timers up there on the west side of the Warren M. Lee Center for the Fine Arts.

As the first Saturday of December dawned in Vermillion, we had yet to see snow this winter. Ice, yes; snow, no. But, there is an unwritten law that every year there must be snow that makes driving and walking hazardous on the day of USD's Christmas concert. By show time more than two inches of the predicted "no more than an inch" had fallen on the campus

My mom is a very efficient lady.

Shortly after Christmas each year, she always says with a smile how she Christmas shops all year long, picking out things to give when Christmas rolls around the following year. She is one of those people who, for the most part, are done shopping long before Christmas rolls around (except for my gift, because I don’t even start thinking about what I want until after Christmas).

There seems to be some confusion over an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act passed last Tuesday by the U.S. Senate. The amendment would allow the U.S. military to detain American citizens suspected of terrorist activity on U.S. soil for an indefinite amount of time without charges being filed against them. Something like this doesn’t seem possible.

I’m one of those people who own a BlackBerry Torch mobile phone and utilize about 1 percent of its functions, maybe less. I can do the bare minimum, like answer and make phone calls and text and answer back my emails if they require an immediate response. I don’t really like to engage in long conversations on the phone because I honestly believe the devices can cause loss of hearing or brain cancer, in some instances. I have a constant buzzing or rushing sound in my right ear and have had it for a number of years now. I don’t think we were made to have a phone emitting radiation constantly pressing against the sides of our faces. Maybe it’s just me.

Can the president use the military to arrest anyone he wants, keep that person away from a judge and jury, and lock him up for as long as he wants? In the Senate's dark and terrifying vision of the Constitution, he can.

Congress is supposed to work in public. That requirement is in the Constitution. It is there because the folks who wrote the Constitution had suffered long and hard under the British Privy Council, a secret group that advised the king and ran his government.

I am crazy. You don’t need to tell me. I already know.

Who else would forgo sleep make the drive to Rapid City at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night only to spend hours in line, waiting to purchase a $3 movie? That’s right — this girl and her mom.

Last Saturday, the day after Black Friday, was designated as the second annual Shop Small Business Saturday in America. The idea is to encourage the mall and big box shoppers from the day before to check out their local, independently-owned small business stores and shops. These small businesses typically have unique items that are not found at the larger, nationally-known big retail stores.

Thanksgiving is my kind of holiday. Apart from the "thanks" part, the primary purpose of this celebration is eating. That is the one thing I do quite well.

Our Pilgrim Fathers came up with the idea of a Thanksgiving feast. The Pilgrim Mothers were too busy doing the wash and caring for the children to think of any more work. The Pilgrim Fathers were sitting around waiting for someone to invent television so they could all watch a football game when someone had an idea. Most ideas are born in the midst of great boredom. "There's nothing to do," one bored Pilgrim Father said. "Let's get together and have a feast." Because nothing else was happening, the other Pilgrim Fathers got excited about this idea. The Pilgrim Mothers, however, had some different thoughts about this crazy feast idea.

Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday that gives us an opportunity to pause and be grateful for all that the Almighty has bestowed upon us. Even the poorest of Americans are much better off than the vast majority of the 7 billion population of the world.

The question has been asked more than once in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal that has already claimed the jobs of the university’s president and its legendary head football coach. Why didn’t anyone contact law enforcement authorities? Former defensive coordinator Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky faces 40 sex abuse-related charges involving at least eight male victims between the ages of 8 and 14.  A grand jury indictment was handed down Saturday, Nov. 5, and Sandusky was arrested the same day. He is now free on a $100,000 bond.

Am I the only one who is irritated by the intrusive ringing of the cell phone while trying to carry on a meaningful conversation with someone? Or by the person you’re talking to checking the messages on their cell phone in the middle of your discussion? Or the checkout person in the store texting someone on their cell phone while you are waiting for him to check you out?

I certainly have no problems with modern technology; I use and appreciate it every day, not only at work — which allows us to do more in less time than ever before — but also at home. 

Google the term “National Debt” and you will quickly receive the search results for 28.7 million websites. Most deal with the very serious issues of government overspending and the accumulation of more than two centuries of federal deficits. Yet very few bring up the biggest national debt of them all – that which America owes to her veterans.

Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer is one whom America owes an enormous debt. Humble by nature, but heroic by deed, Sgt. Meyer drove a humvee into an Afghanistan valley that he knew was heavily populated with well-armed enemy insurgents. Outgunned and outnumbered, Sgt. Meyer and Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez made multiple trips to the hot zone, killing insurgents as Sgt. Meyer manned the turret.