The news that an individual donor — albeit, a couple — made a $1 million donation to Black Hills State University is generally shocking news. But knowing Harvey Krautschun, it’s just slightly less shocking.
The popular Spearfish businessman and former legislator is one of the most respected politicans/businessmen I’ve met in my days.
Before his somewhat surprising retirement from politics, there were a good many folks in the Northern Hills who believed Krautschun might be the person to make the unlikelihood of a West River politician who could make the step up to the Governorship a reality.
But an unexpected twist in which his wife, Joy, nearly died, put an end to his political career. Fortunately for the Spearfish community and beyond, that wasn’t the end of the giving.
Many know the Harvey’s story, and I could tell it myself, but you can also find it in the Congressional record from March 19, 1996, when Larry Pressler had it read there.

THE VALUE OF LIFE: HARVEY C. KRAUTSCHUN DAY

IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, men are measured by both word and deed, yet the greater measure of man is by their deeds. A man’s deeds shape the character of mankind. Our active protection of human life is a monumental
measure of mankind’s character. Harvey Krautschun’s deeds define the essence of ‘‘being committed to life’’ and his own personal character—one that should be a model for mankind.
All South Dakotans know Harvey for his great service in our State legislature. He has served in the legislature for 11 years. He has been the Speaker of the State House of Representatives for a year. Recently, Harvey announced he will not seek reelection. This is unfortunate. His shoes will be hard to fill.
But I rise today to pay tribute to Harvey’s contributions not as an elected official, which are many, but in his singular contribution as a loving, caring husband.
Recently, Gov. Bill Janklow declared Saturday, February 24, Harvey C. Krautschun Day in South Dakota. This honor was given for the life he saved — the life of his wife, Joy. He stood by Joy’s hospital bed as she lay comatose for a month, fighting for her life. Because of his constancy and commitment to his wife’s life, even as doctors began discussing terminating life-support, Harvey’s devotion remained unmoved. He would see his wife awake again.
Harvey demonstrated bravery, courage, and faith in protecting his wife’s life. Joy found herself in this condition also because of bravery and courage. In July of 1995, when a newborn colt jumped into an 8-foot-deep pond, Joy jumped in to save the colt. While trying to save the colt, Joy’s heart suddenly failed. Harvey rushed to her side, and began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Their son, Bart, rushed to find additional help, calling an ambulance. Bart returned to his mother’s side and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her.
Father and son together fought to save Joy’s life. The massive heart failure pushed her into a coma. Miraculously, Joy awoke from her coma. Her recovery from the massive heart arrhythmia would entail months of hospitalizations and therapy. Joy did recover, she did awaken from the coma, and today she is living with her family. Doctors had believed she would not live. But Harvey and his family made a commitment to Joy’s life, and, thereby, saved her.
To speak of saving a life, to speak of heroism measures a man’s values and ideals. To take courageous, loving actions measures a man’s valor and commitments. Considering the turbulence surrounding all of us on a daily basis, at times finding simple answers to our problems is difficult, if not humanly impossible. Some mornings while reading the South Dakota newspapers, I wonder, ‘‘What keeps people so strong?’’ In the quake of unforseen events—I have found strength in faith and prayer. So when I heard of the sudden accident of Joy Krautschun and the courageous and enduring actions of her husband, Harvey, I knew faith in the human spirit and prayer are the strongest, most powerful agent we have to combat the turbulence in our lives.
I have personally known Harvey for many years. As fellow runners, we jogged together through Spearfish Canyon.
As a South Dakota statesman, Harvey has dutifully represented and protected his community, State, and all human life. Harvey has always been there for his constituents. In cases where the problem stretched to the
Federal level, Harvey took the initiative to seek out help. It has been my pleasure to have worked with Harvey
on such cases in the past. Harvey truly believes in fighting the good fight.
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Harvey’s leadership in the South Dakota Legislature. I trust and appreciate his views and advice on State and national issues. Harvey and his entire family are good, exemplary people and patriots of their Spearfish community.
Harriet and I wish Harvey and his family many more years of health and happiness. Harvey, Joy and their family
continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. Knowing a man who is so committed in faith and deed to community, State, country, family, and the very essence of life is an honor. Harvey is true to his rock solid beliefs in both word and deed.
February 24 may have been Harvey Krautschun Day for South Dakota, but it’s safe to say that for Joy Krautschun, every day is Harvey Krautschun day.

One of the best read stories on the RCJ site today is of an unusual assault case involving a stereo speaker. Truth be told, depending on what kind of audiophile the attacker is, this could be very bad news.

And it was for this guy. He got 10 years. (Read the story here.)

But if you think attacking someone with stereo equipment, get a load of this story out of Shelbyville, Tenn.

Apparently, a verbal argument between 40-year-old James Earl Taylor and 44-year-old Mary S. Childers escalated into a Cheetos fueled food fight that landed both in the slammer for a short time.

The best line in the whole story is from the reporting officer.

“There was evidence of the assault,” the report read, “however no physical marks on either party and the primary aggressor was unable to be determined.”

For the whole story, click here.

Opinions editor Jerry Steinley seemed shocked Friday when I suggested that the media circus surrounding the death of Michael Jackson would last for about two weeks.

“If this is still in the top few stories tomorrow, I’ll be discouraged,” he told me.

I, of course, laughed. The gloved-one has been the primary focus of the modern media for nearly two decades and there’s no way their letting go of this one early. And his hangers on realize that this is there last moments in the limelight, so my guess is that it will in no way disappear before two days after his funeral.

Now, where that lands is anybody’s guess. They haven’t even discussed it yet.

Mercifully, the July 4 holiday will at least bring a brief respite from the endless updates, but my guess right now is July 10. That’s right about two weeks.

So, I ask, what’s your under or over where MJ falls out of the top four slots on the 24/7 media expressway?

I liked that fact that gas prices quit rising and actually turned around a little this week, but news from the streets is that if you want your gas really cheap, you need to go west — west Rapid City, that is.

The posted price today at Concord in West Rapid? $2.39 a gallon. At a few stations near Concord, the price is reportedly $2.46 and $2.49. Meanwhile, most other stations are in the $2.57 area.

Might have to head west after the hail and and rain stop falling.

Newspaper can be morbid folks. And they can be superstitious types, as well.

So when we got out of story conference today, we began talking about who the third famous person will be that will die soon.

It took about 5 minutes before news that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has died at age 50.

Jackson had long ago become a caricature of himself, but his imprint on the popular music scene is undeniable. I can still recall reading the Rolling Stone cover story shortly after he came out with his Thriller album and thinking, “He’s unusual, but man does he have talent.”

I didn’t know unusual because Jackson would go on to redefine the concept, in particular when it came to media stars and the like. His star lost a lot of luster over the years, but the interest was still there.

I swear that as news broke that he died, the Internet began to drag. I suspect it’s because so many people were heading online to see the big news.

The Journal will be trying to do a localization of the story for tomorrow’s paper. He was always a long way from Rapid City, S.D., culturally and physically, but the impact of his sudden death will be felt worldwide.

For the second time a week, an icon of my childhood has passed into the great beyond.

News in this morning that Farrah Fawcett has died. I’ve looked through the AP stories and found no mention of whether Ryan O’Neal was able to wed his longtime girlfriend before she succumbed to cancer.

Perhaps the most shocking part of the news was that she was 62. Can it be? As one editor said, Farrah Fawcett will be eternally in her mid-30s or so (at most) for generations of fans.

And, I ask, what young American male alive in the mid-1970s didn’t have one of these hanging in his bedroom?

It isn’t all that bad of a thing, I suspect. I mean, it is my job.

But a massive telephone/Internet outage struck some time Tuesday night and continued on through today.

We’re still scrambling to figure out what happened, but at least the cold sweats and shaking hands have stopped. Whatever happened to fact books, dictionaries and local calls being the basis of the newspaper industry? I think it went out the door about the time polyester fell out of favor in the fashion world.

The news that came across the Today Show early this morning was greeted with as much relief as sadness. Ed McMahon had died at age 86.
Recent years have been tough on the best-known of sidekicks this side of Robin and Tonto. Financial troubles were followed by health issues, and in February, he checked in to the hospital with pneumonia and cancer-related issues. Suffering, it seems, had become his closest companion in recent years.

What I remember best of Ed McMahon are those years watching him on the Tonight Show. Not that I was really allowed to watch the Tonight show, but on summer vacations and holidays at my grandmother’s house, I would stay up late to catch Johnny Carson and his trusty sidekick.
Humor was different then, but the tonight show was funny. And McMahon was a key ingredient to that.

This little video clip reminds me of better times, both for Ed and The Tonight Show. (Hey, I’m still holding out hope for Conan, but …)

Bob Dylan, he ain’t.
That being said, Jaime Garamella’s vocal and instrumental tribute to lottery winner Neal Wanless is pretty entertainment. And the video accompaniment isn’t all that bad, either. The photos of Winner give it a bit of South Dakota flavor.
I’m guessing Garamella is taking more than a little artistic license with the first-person treatment of Wanless (from Neal’s point of view), but that being said, it’s at least entertaining.

Some of the most volatile Rapid Replies we’ve received (and that’s saying a lot) in the past few weeks was a story Steve Miller did on the possibility of B-1s involved in Afghanistan battles in which civilians were killed.

Many questioned how we would even run a story that implied the B-1s involvement in such instances and that it undermined their efforts overseas.

Today, the military released a report indicating a B-1 crew may have not fully followed rules of engagement that resulted in some 26 Afghan civilians being killed.

First off, we don’t relish in the fact that it has been confirmed. We run the news because it is just that — news.

In the end, the truth of the matter is that in war, there will be civilian deaths. The nature of war is brutally violent and unflinchingly final. Innocent people die. It isn’t a good thing.

But it also isn’t a good thing to pretend it doesn’t happen. We take the task very seriously, and to ignore the seriousness of war would be to cheapen the sacrifice our service men make in defense of our country.

Because we report on it doesn’t mean we don’t support our service members, especially the Airmen and officers at Ellsworth Air Force Base. They our not only a key part of our national defense; they are also part of our community.

Now, the report doesn’t indicate whether the B-1 crew is from Ellsworth or Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas. But that shouldn’t really matter. It is a long and detailed account of the battle that contains mild criticism of the crew, essentially saying that while some procedures weren’t followed, when the enemy uses civilians as shields, it’s going to lead to civilian deaths.

To see the report, click here.