In the newspaper business, the morning after you have a meeting, whether it is school board, county commission, city council, etc., someone else at the office inevitably asks you how the meeting went last night. What they are really asking is, “did anything juicy happen?”

As I write this Tuesday morning, Carrie told me about her Monday night school board meeting in Hermosa, where the rural school issue again was brought up, and again was defeated. I’m not attending the meetings, but by my count, I think that’s three different times the poor school board has had to vote on the same issue that is no fun for anyone.

In a development that has given new meaning to Verizon’s “share everything plan,” U.S. citizens have slowly learned over the past few weeks that the National Security Agency and FBI have been tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets.

According to the Washington Post, the program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley.

I’m going to do my best to make sure this column doesn’t sound too much like a eulogy. After all, my good friend Paul Anderson hasn’t died—he’s merely switching jobs and starting a new chapter of his life. It’s a move he feels is best for he and his family.

Paul was one of the first people I met within the school system when I arrived in Custer in the winter of 2001. We bonded quickly because of our shared passion for sports. Twelve years later, I consider him a great friend who has been extremely easy to work with and supportive through all my ups and downs in my time knowing him. He even helped me move some furniture into my place one time. You know someone has to be a good friend before you can ask them to help you move.

In this week’s issue of the Custer County Chronicle, there is a front page story regarding the need for more volunteers on the Gold Discovery Days committee. This is becoming less and less of a unique occurrence, as committees and service organizations across our area, state and country have more and more people unwilling or unable to donate their time. Volunteerism, is, unfortunately going the way of the Dodo Bird. That’s why it is so important we recognize those who give of their time and talents for the benefit of others.

Gold Discovery Days doesn’t just happen. There are thousands of man hours spent behind the scenes making sure things run smoothly. The same can be said with any small town celebration during the summer. In some cases, the committees are made up of only two or three people who don’t want to see long standing traditions fade away. These jobs are often thankless, but necessary. Without them, thousands of people wouldn’t have the great time they have every summer.

I heard several years ago that there are three kinds of people in any business: those who come up with ideas, those who do all the organizing to implement those  ideas, and those who actually carry out those ideas — the ‘grunt’ work, if you will.

I definitely fall in the the first category. I can come up with more ideas than Charley’s got ways of saying, “That’s a stupid idea.” 

Charley’s a conservative kind of guy (and that doesn’t just apply to politics.)

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, meaning we are officially into tourist season. As a town that has many businesses that survive off the money that our visitors bring to—and spend in—town, it is imperative we put our best foot forward when providing services to our guests who have traveled from near and far. We should feel flattered our guests have chosen to make Custer part of their vacation itinerary, and we should treat them as such.

The government estimates that 63 percent of all new jobs will require a high school degree or less, according to Jordan Weissmann writing for The Atlantic. He says that's the good news. The bad news is the pay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its job growth predictions through 2020, when it expects the country to return to full employment. They contain a little hope for the nation's least educated workers, but not much.

According to the BLS, there will be 20.4 million more jobs in 2020 than there were in 2010. About 12.8 million of those jobs will require a high school degree or less. Many of those will be centered in the service industry. We will need more healthcare aides to look after a rapidly aging population. There will be more work in food preparation, retail and office administration.

We have a host of investigations going on in Congress now, all the way back to the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, over eight months ago, to the most recent Internal Revenue Service scandal involving the targeting of conservative organizations. The common thread weaving through Benghazi and the IRS scandal is that nobody responsible for what happened has been named. Nobody has been held accountable.

Then we have to toss in the Justice Department leak investigation of classified information of journalists working for the Associated Press. The JD secretly obtained two months of telephone records of the AP journalists that involved cellular, office and home telephone records of individual reporters and an editor. This is unconstitutional.

I had a dream. And it involved me getting into a big, bulky costume for two hours and sweating off five pounds.

Perhaps I should explain.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a mascot for a day. This was on my bucket list before I even had a bucket list! I’m not sure exactly when or where this idea came about, but I vaguely remember a furry animal dressed in red. And my four years watching Jack the Jackrabbit at SDSU football games only furthered my interest in the matter.

Chilling revelations were made last week that the Internal Revenue Service applied extra scrutiny to groups critical of government spending and the rising national debt that were applying for tax-exempt status. Included in this group were patriotic tea party organizations that were seeking a return to more responsible Constitutional government in the country.

Last week, the VA Center in Hot Springs removed two  Confederate flags hanging in a historical display after two African-American patients there complained about them being racist. The two were at the VA for post-traumatic stress disorder treatment and were reportedly released about two weeks early from the programs with full credit.

Shortly after the two men were on their way home, the flags were put up again in the rotunda display at the VA. Steven DiStasio, director of the VA Black Hills Health System, said the flags were returned because of their historical significance and their role in showing respect for all veterans. He said the flags were temporarily removed out of respect for the complaints made by the two veterans.

My first reaction upon hearing from the South Dakota Newspaper Association that I was to be the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award was that there must have been an extreme shortage of nominees this year.

However, I know that not to be the case, so I proudly told my kids the news, and soon, considering how fast information can travel these days, the rest of my world knew.  Thanks sincerely to all who have sent complimentary words my way since then.

When the SDNA sent out a news release about the impending honor, I was labeled a “long-time journalist.” That also means “old,” but both are correct.  

It’s almost becoming a habit, but we don’t want to take it for granted. For the sixth year in a row, your Custer Country Chronicle has won the prestigious Sweepstakes Award for the best all-around newspaper in its circulation class (1,151-2,000) in South Dakota! And, your newspaper has won the Sweepstakes Award seven times since 2004.

The Chronicle also won the General Excellence Award in its circulation class and earned a record 13 first places in various advertising and news/editorial categories at the annual South Dakota Newspaper Association convention held jointly with the North Dakota Press Association this past week at Rapid City. This was an historic convention in that it was the first time the two Dakota states had held a joint annual convention of their press associations.

The great thing about life in a small town is that it’s a small town. It was great to read that Rapid City is among the top 10 clean air cities in the nation. Imagine how much cleaner it is up here in Custer City in the granite spires and high pines or down in Hermosa on the edge of the Great Plains.  The water is cold and clean out of the tap. The climate is mild and beautiful even at the height of winter storms. This is the place everyone in Denver and Minneapolis either has a cabin in the woods or wants a cabin in the woods.  There are about 6,000 dwellings in Custer County and over 7,000 addresses.  Most of them are seasonal.  And that’s fine by me.

We hope our annual Progress Edition is an uplifting experience for you to hold in your hands and read. We can put out such an edition every year because of all the positive things we have happening in our area and that is because of all the great business and government leadership we have working for our best interests every day.

In particular, there were two significant events last Thursday that reinforced all the positive vibes we are feeling again about this upcoming year in the Southern Black Hills of South Dakota.

It was a scene all to reminiscent of Sept. 11, 2001, albeit not on the same scale.

Chaos. Blood. Confusion. Smoke. The sounds of sirens wailing in the distance. The United States had been hit by terrorism again—this time at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

As soon as I heard about the bombing, I posted on my Facebook page about my continual disappointment in humanity and questioned how human beings could have such callous disregard for another human’s life. It was the same question I posed after Sept. 11.

Addictions: don’t we all have them? It’s how we deal with stress. My own addiction is well known around the office and Carrie has suggested that I “come clean” in admitting my problem.

It started as a child, and as we all know, those long-standing addictions are the strongest. 

My addiction has been with me for as long as I can remember, so it evidently started at a very young age. I try to keep temptation out of my home, but sometimes that’s impossible. For every addiction, there is an enabler. In my case, that would be Charley.

Health Care: As Democrats grow increasingly worried that ObamaCare will explode on the launch pad just as midterm elections get going, the Obama administration seeks to pin blame on Republicans. Good luck with that.

Earlier this week, Health and Human Services head Kathleen Sebelius admitted that she didn't realize how complicated getting ObamaCare off the ground would be.

Sebelius complained that "no one fully anticipated" the difficulties involved in implementing ObamaCare, or how confusing it would be with the public.

Last year about this time we met our middle son and his family in Lincoln for the annual spring game for the Nebraska Cornhusker football team. The contest pits the first team, or Red Team, against the White Team second stringers. A threatening violent thunderstorm forced the cancellation of the game just before its scheduled kickoff. However, the athletic department of the university told fans their $10 tickets would be honored at next year’s spring game.

Last week the new young leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, 30-year-old Kim Jong Un, made threatening statements about launching missiles at the West Coast of the United States and parts of Texas. His remarks were characterized as “bellicose” by our new Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel. This word was picked up by several news organizations as well, as they sought to describe the young North Korean leader’s remarks.

Bellicose, according to Webster’s, means warlike, pugnacious, with synonyms of belligerent, quarrelsome, combative and contentious.

Tim Johnson has served this state with class and dignity. He is an intelligent gentleman who treated his constituents with care and always kept his roots deeply embedded in South Dakota soil. 

He will be missed in the United States Senate. As we have witnessed time and time again in recent years, there are few like Tim Johnson serving in Congress these days.  His struggles with his health have made the past six years very difficult for him, but he has battled through the challenges to get back into his office on the hill. 

April Fools’ Day was one of my favorite days of the year. Playing pranks on people and it being perfectly acceptable? Count me in! 

Now, as a (somewhat) mature individual, I’m pretty paranoid on April 1 and I think it has to do with my karma. All of those fake spiders and rubber bands around the sink sprayer has finally caught up with me. And since I work with a few pranksters in the office (I’m looking at you, Jason!), I can’t help but be paranoid.

It’s April in Custer County, which means the temperatures are rising, as are worries about the fire season, which seemingly begins earlier and earlier every year. Last year at this time, a fire broke out in Custer State Park and burned a few hundred acres before being contained. It was the first fire during a furious fire season in the area that produced The Myrtle Fire near Pringle and led to virtually a summer-long ban on fires in the county, including campfires and fire pits, even in town.

In the past few weeks, county emergency management director Mike Carter told the county commission that fire conditions were worse than this time last year (albeit it before last week’s snowstorm), and the city is looking to revise its burning ordinance, having addressed it at its most recent meeting.

Two weeks ago we reported on a project to commemorate and memorialize the crash of a C-130 Air National Guard aircraft last July 1 and the loss of four of the six crew members on board. The plane was based in North Carolina and was carrying a U.S. Forest Service-owned Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) in its belly. It was called in to fight the White Draw Fire northeast of Edgemont that ended up burning 9,000 acres.