By Jeremy Fugleberg

Black Friday is supposed to be a happy day, full of holiday cheer and hot retail deals. But the day brought death for one Wal-Mart worker:

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

“He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too…I literally had to fight people off my back.”

For those who killed this man, albeit unknowingly: Was that “door-buster” deal on that coffee pot really worth this?

By Jeremy Fugleberg

Somewhere in the Rapid City planning office, lies a plat that contains Motherload Drive.

They meant Motherlode Drive. It’s a road in a southwest Rapid City development just south and east of the Sheridan Lake Road and Catron Boulevard crossing.

What a mistake, huh? I guess they caught it before anyone moved to the street.

I’ve got to say, this is good humor, although at some hapless city worker’s expense. There but for the grace of God go I.

By Jeremy Fugleberg

My posting about National Geographic sparked some good discussion here and other places.

Commenter Dan says:

I’ve been working in Deadwood for about seven months. I’ve discovered that there are two Deadwoods. The first is Main Street and the casinos, which everyone sees when they go there for an afternoon. But the other Deadwood is much different. You can spend a day there without even going into a casino.

…

I guess my point is that Deadwood, like a lot of places, is what you make of it. San Francisco is trashy if you don’t venture beyond Fisherman’s Wharf.

Dan, I think you’re right, and that’s probably true for a lot of touristy places. But what do Deadwood residents think of the Disneyfied Deadwood? Is it a necessary evil?

I’m headed to Deadwood sometime this week to write a story about this. I think the two Deadwoods are worth more discussion, and my editors agree.

I could use your help. Dan, you had some great suggestions. Anybody else have some ideas of places I should go, or people I should interview that could tell me about the two Deadwoods?

By Jeremy Fugleberg

Call it a dumb question. Why there are so many Asian restaurants in Rapid City, at least compared to other ethnic foods, such as Mexican?

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai.

If you’ve got a hankering for curry, or sushi or fried kung pao chicken, we have quite a breadth and depth of possibilities.

Am I the only one surprised by this?

By Jeremy Fugleberg

Oil hit bottom and today climbed past $50 a barrel. That could spell the end of plummeting prices at the gas pump. Then again, who knows anymore? I’ve got an empty fuel tank and I intend to fill up after work.

It seems a favorite water cooler game these days is called “Guess when gas prices skyrocket.”

I’ve heard answer such as “after the election,” “by the holidays” and “by summer, for sure.”

When and why do you think we’ll get back to big prices for a gallon of gas?

By Jeremy Fugleberg

I’ll be honest. I like Deadwood.

I accept it for what it is — a town with the distant charm of a bawdy past, now converted into something of a quaint tourist “destination” and gambling zone.

It’s fun, if you know why you’re there.

National Geographic Traveler magazine apparently didn’t feel the same way. In a scathing entry, the writer of the mag’s ‘The List’ entry ranked Deadwood near the bottom of historical destinations:

“A tourist spend-a-day destination. Maybe that’s just a modern version of what it has always been, a place for rubes to drop a few bucks.”

Ouch.

By Jeremy Fugleberg

I still say he got the job because of his unusual choice of eyewear.

South Dakota’s own Tom Daschle will join Obama’s cabinet as health and human services secretary, it was reported yesterday, to positive reviews here in the state.

As a WSJ blog reports, one of Daschle’s ideas (contained inhis book) for changing in the healthcare industry includes something of a Federal Reserve system for healthcare:

His basic idea: Create a board modeled on the Federal Reserve to “offer a public framework within which a private health-care system can operate more effectively and efficiently — insulated from political pressure yet accountable to elected officials and the American people.”

A year ago, this was an idea in a book. Now, it could be something we’ll see in the future.

What do you think of the idea?

By Jeremy Fugleberg

Let the outrage roll.

Leaders of the Big Three automakers in Detroit flew on private jets to Washington, D.C. to request a taxpayers bailout.

It would be easy to spit and sputter over this, and perhaps it would be justified. As Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-NY, said:

“It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious.”

But take a step back and think about it. These guys aren’t familiar with today’s politics, where what sometimes matters most is the price of a politician’s haircut, or shoes, or clothes.

Welcome to the political spotlight, Big Three of Detroit. If you want taxpayer money, you should watch how much those haircuts cost.

And next time? Fly coach.

By Jeremy Fugleberg

Talk about a good idea. Got leftover electronics? Want to make a buck?

Try gazelle.com. You can tell these guys what you’ve got, and they’ll quote you a price. I plugged in my LG EnV 2 cell phone, and they said they would give me $101. The page even listed the phone’s price history, and projections for its sales value in the future.

Sure, you could probably sell things for more if you did the eBay route. But that takes time, and more hassle, in my opinion.

This is very, very slick.

By Jeremy Fugleberg

Gas prices keep dropping. The price of a barrel of oil has plummeted in just a few months.

I think I can be forgiven for thinking about stocking up on gas cans full of cheap (-ish) fuel and socking it away for when prices skyrocket again. Are these the happy, golden times?

When do the good times end? $1.80 a gallon? $1.50?