By Kevin Woster

It isn’t often these days that I get to quote Bill Janklow.

He doesn’t go on the record much. But he made an exception for a story I’m working on for this weekend’s Journal on state Game, Fish & Parks Department Secretary John Cooper, who is retiring in January.

After Janklow was elected to his third term as governor in 1994, he hired Cooper – then a federal game warden – to run GF&P. Janklow was near the end of his second term as governor in the mid-1980s when he met Cooper, as the two worked on a hunting-related agreement between the state and the Lower Brule Tribe.

“I thought he was terribly smart, very polite but firm,” Janklow said. “He really knew his stuff.”

Janklow remember that. And when he returned to state government for his third term as governor in 1995, he convinced Cooper to join him. One of the first questions Cooper had was how much freedom he would have.

“I told him, ‘I’m a micromanager,’” Janklow said. “I micromanage.”

Janklow recalled that when was first elected governor in 1978, Democratic legislator Lars Herseth warned that the feisty Republican would be “running the whole government in 10 months.”

“My answer was, ‘I hope it doesn’t take that long,’” Janklow said.

Together, Janklow and Cooper had a profound impact on outdoor recreation in South Dakota, including hunting. But the guy who oversaw a new push for public-hunting access and revived and enlarged the state governor’s hunt begun by Joe Foss hasn’t hunted since he was a kid.

“I eat the food. I just don’t have fun shooting the animals,” Janklow said.

I’ll have more on Cooper, by Janklow as well as by current Gov. Mike Rounds, this weekend in the Journal.

Editor’s note: The Blogmorite known as PP at SDWC won a topic of his choice. Here it is:

By PP at SDWC
Guest God o’ Blogmore

Okay - I decided.

I think the topic should be “In South Dakota, did ‘new media’ such as the Internet, blogging and You Tube substantially affect the way people got their information on candidates in 2006? Or for South Dakotans, is the new media still just a novelty that most campaigns have no idea how to use, and voters could care less about it?

And is that going to change much by 2008?

thanks!

You’re welcome. What says the Mount?

By Bill Harlan

As part of Mount Blogmore’s continuing topics on the new local columnists on the Opinion page (A4 today and most days), we offer you David Rooks. The headline: “‘Tis the season for moderation.”

An excerpt:

For verily the returns are in: all right-wing, anti-choice nut jobs - and you know who you are - accept the comity of your moderate brothers and sisters or be politically banished as extremists. Everywhere, triumphal pieties issue to ear: Don’t be divisive, let’s all work together, bipartisan is king.

I had thought this folderol reached it’s zenith when Bishop Blase Cupich of the Catholic Diocese of Rapid City penned a pre-election Forum piece on Referred Law 6 that could have, should have, been written by Miss Manners. Though eloquent, it wasn’t particularly brave. “Uh, bishop … about those babies?” The faithful may be forgiven for feeling patronized, though doubtless that was not the bishop’s intent.

In a dream I saw Rodney King singing: “Can’t we all just get along?”

OK, it was a daydream. But about all this Conflict Resolution 101 mish mash, I say, toss it. What country is this? And what reasonable adult needs lectures on civility?

I detect a pattern here. Columnist Mike Sanborn on Monday holds up Dole-McGovern bipartisanship as an ideal. On Tuesday Bob Ellis accuses Democrats of “cowardice.” On Wednesday (in response to the new Opinion page feature “Just had to ask”) John Thune hails bipartisanship. Today David Rooks calls moderation “mish mash.”

Tomorrow, columnist Kristin Donnan Standard of Hill City debuts, also writing about the recent election.

By Bill Harlan

UPDATE TO THIS POST: SEE THE STORY IN TODAY’S (THURSDAY’S) PAPER.

I’ll be talking to Sen. John Thune this afternoon, during his visits to the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and to Merillat Industries. Anthing Blogmorites think I should ask?

I’ll presume the main topic today will be economic development — business incubation (at SDSM&T) and use of the Ponderosa pine (Merillat) as a natural resource. As luck would have it, John T. also was the inaugural subject of “Just had to ask,” a new feature on the new RCJ Opinion page. (See A6 of today’s paper.) The editorial board asked him what would happen to his “clout” now that Democrats control the Senate. See his answer here. The senator took the opportunity to note the “unified” support of our congressional delegation for the DM&E Railroad deal.

Comment on John T’s answer or suggest a question for me to ask this afternoon.

By Bill Harlan

Two Blogmorites recently won “Topic of their Choice” awards, and one of them didn’t even know he had entered. “Charley House” wins a topic for submitting the 33,333rd comment since Mount Blogmore was founded on Sept. 7, 2004. (See the archive calendars at right.) Charley’s comment was #1 on the post below about the Bob Ellis column. Charley, by the way, has his own blog, House, which this morning has an interesting link to a Tom Waits interview. I’m a big Waits fan.

“PP at SDWC,” another South Dakota blogger, wins the New Motto on the South Dakota Quarter contest. PP’s entry: “Operor non altivolus super mons montis,” which he translates as “They do not fly over mountains.”

Go back to the original post on Nov. 13 (again, click the date on the archive calendar) to read all 64 “entries” to that contest, though, to be honest, the conversation eventually devolved into how much a penny weighs.

CH and PP can submit their topics to me at bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com. I’ll post them in their entirety. Prizes not claimed within 30 days … well, how about 60 days? A hundred twenty? OK, submit them whenever you want.

By Bill Harlan

Bob Ellis, one of the RCJ’s new local citizen-columnists, debuted in this morning’s paper with “Farm state programs have a price,” wherein he decries “Washington’s financial cocaine.”

Bob says farm subsidies don’t just go to the little guys.

For example, a 2004 Heritage Foundation report says Riceland Foods, an Arkansas co-op, received $110 million in farm subsidies. Yet Hoovers’ business information says in 2006 to date, Riceland made $937 million in sales. We need the farm bill for this?

Bob also says South Dakota voters did “the patriot’s duty” dumping Democrat Tom Daschle in favor or Republican John Thune. Democrats, he writes, threaten “a national security policy based on cowardice” and “the advancement of a radical pro-homosexual, anti-life, anti-family agenda.”

I’m guessing these new local columns will generate some discussion on the Mount.

By Bill Harlan

Steve McEnroe/Journal File Photo: Prep work began in June for the parking area at the southeast corner of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, in preparation for construction of a new 7,000-seat arena. But wait! There’s more!

Scott Aust just walked into the newsroom and sat down to write his update on higher-than-expected estimates on building a second arena at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The new arena would seat 7,000 for hockey, basketball and chess.* The bottom line from the Rapid City Council: No decision yet. But there is a plan. Along with the rest of Rapid City, I anxiously await Scott’s report.

The idea behind the second arena is, the civic center wouldn’t have to turn away events that fill the current arena. Also, we could have a semi-pro hockey team, though I’m not sure how semi-pro hockey would be a better fit than semi-pro basketball or semi-pro arena football. And we know how those turn out.

The cost estimates were a shocker. An RCJ editorial earlier this month put it this way:

Within two years, an $8 million expansion project has gone up to $14.9 million, then $15.3 million and now $22.3 million. It’s like watching the Pentagon at work.

Actually, the Pentagon would not be presenting estimate overruns, the Pentagon would be dumping already-spent-the-money-sorry-about-that cost overruns on us. Anyhoo, check out Scott’s story today, wherein a consultant blames increased materials costs and a fast-track construction schedule.

Some aldermen complained earlier this year that parking was inadequate. See also this story by Scott.

*OK, OK. Chess isn’t part of the plan. But I like chess.

By Bill Harlan

The current drought, on Thanksgiving eve, courtesy of the National Drought Mitigation Center.

See AP reporter Mary Clare Jalonick’s story on page A1 today about the Senate’s “last-ditch try for ag-disaster dollars.” Jalonick doesn’t quote either of our senators — Republican John Thune or Democrat Tim Johnson — but North Dakota’s two Democrats, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan do weigh in. The Senate will try again next week to get the aid in an ag bill. (See RCJ reporter Steve Miller’s story for perspectives from Thune and Johnson.)

Jalonick also quotes South Dakota’s Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth and Wyoming’s Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin.

“The odds are tougher of getting it in December; the odds are better that it gets approved when the Democratic Congress is in power,” Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., said.

And …

Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin, Wyoming’s only House member, said she will continue to pressure members of her own party. “The Senate has demonstrated they are willing to support a disaster-assistance package, and I will continue to put the thumbscrews to House leadership until they recognize the seriousness of this issue,” Cubin said.

Mount Blogmore has been the site of a number of discussions on disaster payments for ag producers in drought areas. It was an issue in the 2002 election, when Johnson beat Thune. If the drought doesn’t ease it will be an issue in 2008. To wet the Mount’s appetetite for a renewed drought debate — sorry — I’m suggestiong a trip to the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. The center offers all kinds of info on current, historical and even “paleo” droughts.

To prime the pump — OK, I’ll stop* — here’s an excerpt from the center’s explanation of the cause of droughts:

“The immediate cause of drought is the predominant sinking motion of air (subsidence) that results in compressional warming or high pressure, which inhibits cloud formation and results in lower relative humidity and less precipitation.”

See also the National Drought Monitor, which also has a breakout for the High Plains.

* I can’t help it. I was born with a dry sense of humor.

By Bill Harlan

Cecelia Fire Thunder, the former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, tells me she’ll hold a press conference today to urge seating of the newly elected Oglala Sioux Tribal Council and president-elect John Steele. See RCJ reporter Steve Miller’s story for some of the details about the continuing election controversy.

Fire Thunder’s press conference will be at 1 p.m. the Sacred Circle office at 722 St. Joseph in Rapid City. She hopes to have some of the newly elected tribal council members there.

By Bill Harlan

See editor Mikel LeFort’s column today for an explanation of a new strategy for news and opinion in the RCJ. Two key elements:

-Move local news and opinion in to the front (or “A”) section of the newspaper, where it’s more prominent.
-Increase ways readers can contribute to the paper — not just opinions, but also news and photos.

The theory is not unique to the Rapid City Journal. Local newspapers across the country are turning to an emphasis on “local.” It’s a simple premise. We’ll never be able to cover Washington, D.C., Paris or Baghdad as well as national media outlets. However, they don’t cover our local news at all. That’s our sweet spot. (That doesn’t mean we won’t have national or international news. It just means local stuff gets first dibs on space and on the best spots in the paper.)

So my question to Blogmorites is this: How should these changes be reflected in the way the RCJ’s covers politics?

By Bill Harlan

Then you go to press-release school, the first lesson you learn in the class on PR timing is, release good news early in the day and early in the week and release bad news late in the day and late in the week. E-mail boxes and fax machines at the RCJ often receive bad news late Friday afternoon.

Thus, a certain amount of skeptical chuckling greeted Rapid City Mayor Jim Shaw’s announcement — by fax late Wednesday afternoon — that he had pleaded guilty to a disorderly charge in Iowa. Dropping this news on us late on Thanksgiving Eve was textbook PR. (Note that managing editor Ron Bender wrote the story, many reporters having … er, uh … “left the building.”)

While the release’s timing may have been, according to the PR playbook, the correct “third and long” call, I thought it was unnecessary. I’ve known Jim Shaw a long time. He has never seemed like a “disorderly conduct” kind of guy. Far from it. He’s Mr. Tact and Diplomacy. Jim’s version of this whole “State Fair fracas” always sounded more credibible to me than the police version. It seemed likely to me the police had over-reacted. Still, a statement in the mayor’s press release struck me as slightly off key:

“While I firmly believe that I would have been totally exonerated and found not guilty in a trial, because of the time it would have required me to be away from Rapid City and my duties of mayor, I am doing what I believe is best for our community and putting my personal interests second …”

I would have framed a question to Jim this way: Mr. Mayor, sometimes police DO rough people up unfairly — law officers are fallible humans, too –but in 99.9 percent of the these cases the citizens on the receiving end don’t have the resources to fight back on court. You DID have that opportunity. You could have stood up for all those people and in the process defended the honor of this fair city. Plus, Rapid City would have gotten tons of free pub about our “Fightin’ Mayor.” Wouldn’t that have been “best for the community,” Mr. Mayor?

Of course, I didn’t get an opportunity to ask this question because as the fax was coming in the front door, I was heading out the back door, along with most other reporters. And all across Rapid City, people who might have responded to the story with a comment were similarly “exiting the building.” That’s the main point of the tactic.

By Bill Harlan

On newstands now, the “genius issue”

South Dakota’s own and lone member of the House, Democrat Stephanie Herseth, is on of five woman featured in “The Women of America” in December’s Esquire. Writer John H. Richardson’s piece is slugged “An Esquire investigation into people who are really good at what they do.” Richardson’s 700-word mini-profile of Herseth is the last in the story. An excerpt:

At thirty-five, Herseth is South Dakota’s golden girl. … She’s a Democrat who opposes gun control so completely, she’s endorsed by the NRA and part of the small group of conservative Democrats who continue to support the war in Iraq. “This is one of those things where I’ve made myself available to work with the administration,” she says. “I’m just not looking to make this partisan. Not only will I lose support among my constituency if I do that, but I just don’t think it’s going to get us where we need to be.”

But Herseth is also capable of giving a fiery partisan speech that attacks Republicans for running a corrupt and secretive government that neglects the actual concerns of the people. I saw her do this twice, and she was very accomplished at it, slicing and dicing her opponents just like a seasoned politician. And she remains firmly in support of a woman’s right to an abortion, a risky stance in a state so red that it recently banned abortion even in cases of rape or incest. “

Well, South Dakota almost banned all abortions. The story also notes Herseth listens to the Dixie Chicks and promotes ethanol.

By Bill Harlan

South Dakota’s own Republican Sen. John Thune got a mention Wedenesday morning on the Washington Post online feature “The Post Politics Hour.” Congressional reporter Charles Babington chatted online Wednesday. Here’s the exchange:

Sterling, Va.: Your thoughts on John Thune, Senator from SD, carrying the flag for the Republicans over the next decade? He is the fresh face that they need. Happy Turkey Day!

Charles Babington: Sen. Thune has a bright future, many of his colleagues believe. It was interesting that he turned down the chance to head the party’s campaign committee (NRSC) for the next election cycle. If the Republicans have a good year in 2008, the NRSC chairman rises in stature and clout (just as Sen. Schumer’s stock is now high among Dems because of his big success as DSCC chair). If it’s a bad election, the chairman’s reputation takes a hit (as Sen. Eliz. Dole is learning). Thune chose not to take that chance, leaving the job to Sen. John Ensign (Nev.).

The Politics Hour is at 9 a.m. MST weekdays.

By Bill Harlan

See my story in the Thanksgiving edition of the RCJ about a panel discussion about preserving Bear Butte as a sacred site. Many tribes consider it a holy place. The seven panelists, who object to encroachment of Sturgis motorcycle rally venues into the Bear Butte area, spoke at the Dahl Fine Arts Center in Rapid City. The leader of the discussion was filmmaker Chris Eyre. (”Skins,” “Smoke Signals” and others.)

Steve McEnroe/Journal Staff: Filmmaker Chris Eyre leads Bear Butte panel at Dahl Fine Arts Center.

The panel discussion was in the Diorama room at the Dahl, which has a 360-degree mural depicting the history of South Dakota and the United States. Photog Steve M. alertly noted this angle on Eyre, who is Arapahoe and Cheyenne. I’ll call this Irony #1.

Irony #2 is related to the traditional Thanksgiving story, which has the Pilgrims and the Indians joining together in a post-harvest fellowship. The seven-member panel at the Dahl was comprised of four white ranchers and three Indians. Chris Eyre emphasized the Bear Butte controversy was not a “red-white issue.” See my story for details.

Steve McEnroe/RCJ: The panel discussion was videotaped by KOLC-TV of Oglala Lakota College. Left to right: Eyre, Dennis and Jesse Levin, Fred McPherson, Marvin Kammerer, Rufus Spear and Jay Red Hawk.

Steve McEnroe/Journal Staff: Left to right: Chris Eyre and ranchers Dennis and Jesse Levin.

McEnroe/RCJ: Left to right: long-time rancher/social activist Marvin Kammerer, Rufus Spear of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Jay Red Hawk, who lives at the base of Bear Butte.

The Diorama at the Dahl is an odd sort of room. I’d describe the art style as Marxist-Leninist Poster Art Joins the Chamber of Commerce. Somehow it seemed fitting for the discussion of an issue that got a lot of attention last summer. There were protests, an abortive referendum on a liquor license and stories in national media.

By the way, I hiked up Bear Butte during the Sturgis motorcycle rally last summer to see for myself what impact the concert venues were having. Go to the Sturgis street blog and scroll down to the Aug. 9 entry to see my photos from the top. They’ll give you a sense of the scale, though I think sound would carry differently at night. And the lights, obviously, would stand out.

By Bill Harlan

See reporter Steve Miller’s story for the latest on the tribal elections on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Oglala Sioux Tribe President Alex White Plume is asking for a new election, saying his name was improperly removed from the ballot in the Nov. 7 election. Then see Steve M.’s earlier story about tribal police and the ballot boxes. Then see any number of stories about the impeachment of former tribal president Cecelia Fire Thunder. (Here’s a sample.) Then, just for context, see the story about the takeover of tribal headquarters in 2000.

These stories are just a few examples of the political and institutional chaos on Pine Ridge. Dysfunction on that reservation has any number of causes. Poverty, racism, the near destruction of a culture — take your pick among the depredations visited upon the Oglala. It seems fitting this week — as the majority of Americans prepare to celebrate a pilgrim-related event — to discuss the politics of a community that might not view the post-Plymouth Rock era with unbridled enthusiasm.

But let me direct the discussion with some questions. What’s working on the Rez? What are some other solutions of the biggest problems? What can the next tribal government do to make a positive impact?

By Bill Harlan

The State Education Task Force Executive Report recommends, among other things, repealing the state law that says any property sale that’s more than 150 percent above the property’s assessed valuation cannont be used to set taxable valuation of comparable property. The task force reports that $4 billion in property value goes untaxed because of this law.

South Dakota voters soundly rejected Amendment D. Will legislators be willing to dump the 150-percent rule?

By Bill Harlan

Citizens Against Government Waste calls itself “the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.” The group also wants lower taxes — especially marginal and capital gains rates — and less government regulation.

South Dakota’s own Republican Sen. John Thune was named Porker of the Month for November. The citation reads, in part:

Washington, D.C. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) Porker of the Month for helping to secure a record $2.3 billion federal loan for a railroad company.
The loan guarantee from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would allow the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) to expand and improve a rail line that is used primarily to transport coal from Wyoming to Minnesota. In apparent anticipation of the loan, Sen. Thune was instrumental in increasing the FRA’s loan guarantee authority from $3.5 billion to $35 billion in the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act. DM&E paid Thune $220,000 in 2003 and 2004 to lobby for the loan before his election to the Senate.

The last time Thune earned his honor was in June 2005, when the citiation read:

Washington, D.C.) Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named freshman Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) Porker of the Month for doing everything short of writing to Santa Claus to derail the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. Sen. Thune introduced legislation to delay BRAC indefinitely, threatened litigation against the Department of Defense (DOD), and may change his position on unrelated votes to “punish” the Bush administration. South Dakota’s Ellsworth Air Force Base is on the DOD’s list of closings under review by the BRAC Commission.

Look for the “Porker of the Month” award to go up on pro-Thune billboards in 2010. Previous winners, by the way: Democrats Tom Daschle, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy.

And speaking of BRAC, the mount has just received this news update, by cell phone, from capital reporter Bob Mercer: “Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’m on the Interstate, passing Ellsworth. It’s still open.”

As always, you heard it here first. K.W.

By Bill Harlan

This button turned into an irony-laden inside joke among forest-policy experts in the Black Hills.

“WUI,” pronounced “Whooee,” is the “wildland-urban interface” in Forest Service-speak. It’s where the people meet the woods. In the fragmented, heavily roaded, easy-to-access Black Hills National Forest, the WUI is everywhere. WUI managment policies can have direct impacts on our homes, our livelihoods and the quality of our lives. That’s why I think it’s worth noting this week’s convergence of WUI-related issues. * For example:

People who live west of St. Martin Monastery, off Sturgis Road, are discovering the power of the 1872 mining law. Pete Lien & Sons is proposing to mine limestone there.

On another issue, hundreds of people turned out this week for a series of workshops on shaping new rules for off-roading in the Black Hills National Forest. (My story will be in tomorrow’s RCJ.)

And in the third converging issue, this week Forest Service HQ in Washington gave its final official blessing of the Phase II Amendment of the management plan for the Black Hills National Forest. That was a major development that’s been nine years in the making. (See my story in yesterday’s paper. ) ‘The amendment modifies the 1997 forest plan, which was appealed, in several ways, and which resulted in a complex series of negotiations that involved environmental groups and every level of goverment from counties to Congress and the Bush administration. President Bush even weighed in, in a peripheral sort of way.

The process proceeded so slowly, in the early part of this decade (the “aughts”?), insiders printed the buttons above, which proclaimed “Phase II in ‘02.” Little did they know it would be “Phase II in ‘06.” (Aaron Everett of the Black Hills Forest Resources Association, a timber industry group, provided the photo for me.)

WUI issues don’t have the life-and-death urgency of abortion policy or the Biblical energy of gay marriage or the salcious allure of legislative menage a page. Still, our relationship with the Ponderosa pine is important. Especially when said Ponderosa is on fire next to your house.

*OK, I also admit I to use “WUI” in sentences, possibly because it rhymes with Huey, Dewey and Louie, although I have yet to find the rhetorical link between forest policy and Donald’s nephews.

By Bill Harlan

An alert Blogmorite pointed out an odd Rapid City Journal “Quick Poll” result today. The question is:

If a “cultural campus” was created near The Journey Museum, as has been suggested, would you attend events at the various venues?

The odd result: “No” is currently leading “yes” 51 percent to 31 percent. (The rest “need more information.” You have to vote to see ongoing results.) Granted, there isn’t anything remotely scientific about RCJ Quick Polls, which are presented for entertainment purposes only. Still, that seems a somewhat harsh verdict. What’s up with that?

To get up to speed on the issue, read Scott Aust’s story in today’s paper. Scott reports on the aftermath of the failure of the proposal for community theater to share a new theater with Central High School.

By Kevin Woster

Anybody out there doubt that the special-session issue would have been settled yesterday if Bill Janklow were governor?

Think Janklow would be fretting over a lack of clear gubernatorial authority to cancel a special session that he himself called?

Especially since Senate leaders from both parties, the ones who asked for the session in the first place, are now asking for it to be canceled?

Rounds is worried that there’s nothing in the state constitution giving him the power to cancel a special session. There’s also nothing in there saying he can’t.

Janklow’s approach was: “If it’s not clear in law that I can’t do it, I can. And even if it’s clear in law, I might be able to anyway.”

Rounds’ approach seems to be: “Let’s be really, really careful. I don’t want to do the wrong thing.”

Which style do you like best?