Saturday, January 25, 2020 the 7th and 8th Grade Girls Ball Team won the Big East Conference Junior High Girls Basketball Tournament held at Sioux Valley. The Girls defeated Deubrook in the quarterfinals, Wolsey-Wessington in the semifinals, and Sioux Valley in the Championship. Congratulations JH Lady Dragons!
Front Row (kneeling...Left to Right) Ashley Harris, Kaylin Leedy, Maci Rotert, Mia Christensen, Tayler Benson, Addison Hove, Adair Hanisch. Back Row (standing...Left to Right), Hannah Frewaldt, Jordyn Williams, Bryn Swatek, Sydney Olson, Addisynn Fink, Kylie Christensen, Mikayla Heesch, and Coach Howe. Not pictured, Isabella Syss, Ava Nordstrom, Aleah Wagner, Maiya Strand, Lexi Gawarecki, and Coach Williamson
(photo contributed by Kevin Steckler, Assistant Athletic Director, Blue Dragons)
The wrestling team is in that part of the season where all involved need to keep an eye on their calendar to keep up with all the events soon coming. On Tuesday January 28th the Blue Dragons hosted their second home event of the year facing both the Parkston Trojans and the Patriots of Sioux Falls Lincoln in a triangular.
The first action of the night was the contest between Garretson and perennial powerhouse Parkston. A big matchup for the night was the very first action among two state ranked wrestlers at 106 lbs. Preston Bohl lost by decision 7-1 to Porter Neugebauer. We were able to pickup two victories in the first half of the dual with Jayse Miller winning by decision 12-7 and Hunter Abraham doing the same by a 9-4 score. Our only other victories in round one were forfeits earned by Dominic Abraham, Jayden Richter, and Gabe Johnson. Parkston won the dual by a final score of 37-20.
Our second dual of the night found our Blue Dragons regrouping for one of their finest performances of the year against Lincoln. “Our boys seem to get fired up when wrestling the Sioux Falls Schools,” said Coach Francis Ruml. One of our other top performances came last week against Sioux Falls O’Gorman. This time our lower weights came through in flying colors catapulting the Blue Dragons to a 27-12 lead at the mid-way point. Preston Bohl and Jayse Miller both earned pins while Hunter Abraham picked up a decision and Braxton Rozeboom and Tayson Swatek both picked up forfeits. Two of the biggest victories of the night came when both Dominic Abraham and Parker Schlenker pinned worthy opponents in quick fashion in the middle weights to bring the home crowd proudly to their feet in the middle weights. In the upper weights Jayden Richter would earn a forfeit and first year wrestler Gabe Johnson would continue his fast-track of improvement again bringing the home crowd to their feet with a well-deserved fall at HWT. The final score was Garretson 51 and Sioux Falls Lincoln 28.
On Saturday the first day of February, the wrestling bus would leave for our farthest event of the year pulling out at 6:00 am for the long trek to Wagner to attend one of the best tournaments of the year.
“The Wagner tournament is very important, giving our boys a chance to see some of the best wrestlers in the state, something very important toward helping prepare our athletes for the State Tournament,” said assistant coach Jason Bohl. “Most all of our boys earned victories in this tough tournament,” said volunteer Coach Oran Sorenson. “At the end of the day we witnessed three of our athletes on the award stand amongst some of the finest athletes in each respective weight class in our state.”
Our first medalist at this major event was Preston Bohl. Preston had a grueling day wrestling a total of six matches. Preston came from behind in round one to earn a pin. In round two he lost in overtime. In the wrestle backs Bohl won two in a row before falling 5-0 to the third-place finalist from Phillip. In the fifth-place match Garretson’s 106 entrant won by decision to revenge an earlier defeat for the day over the opponent he lost to in round two. At 160 Parker Schlenker went 3-2 for the day finishing sixth. Like Bohl, Parker won his first by pin before falling in the quarterfinals. In the wrestle backs Parker would win two in a row before falling in the last round of wrestle backs to the eventual fourth place medalist. In the fifth- place match Schlenker lost by decision to a previous nemesis from Freeman. Our final medalist was 220 lb. freshman Jayden Richter. After a first-round bye, Jayden was pinned in the quarters by the eventual fourth place finisher. After two victories in the wrestle backs, Richter would lose two in a row to experienced opponents to finish sixth for the day.
Other wrestlers winning matches and team points for the Blue Dragons were Jayse Miller, Hunter Abraham, Dominic Abraham, Hayden Stotereau, and Gabe Johnson. Miller, wrestling at 113 lbs., finished one match short of placing facing some good competition on the day. Next on the calendar for our team will be Tuesday at Elk Point Jefferson and Saturday in Clark participating in the Big East Conference tournament. Good luck in upcoming events.
Gallery Photos by Kristen Westover and Heather Abraham
The Blue Dragon C team traveled to Luverne on January 13 and came away with a convincing 36-21 win.
“We struggled to get any sort of rhythm going in the first half. The shots were there; we just didn’t execute,” stated coach Buchholz. “We had to adjust at halftime to playing halves rather than quarters. But our second half defense really came alive and got us some easy transition layups and kick out shots that finally started to drop for us.”
Leading the way was Isaiah Gnadt with 13 points followed by Sam Schleuter with 6. Cadyn Ockenga, Matthew Gilbert, and Drew Pederson all had 4 points apiece while Dylan Jessen and Eli Reed each had 3 and 2, respectively.
Next the C team took on the Trojans from West Central on January 16. The Blue Dragons were defeated by a score of 28 – 40.
“We had 2 quarters that really hurt us, the first and the fourth. They jumped out on us right from the get go and had us down by 10 at the end of the first quarter,” said Buchholz. “I was really proud of the way we battled back to be down by only 3 points after 3 quarters but we just didn’t want it bad enough in the last quarter. As we preach and preach
over and over, we need to come out ready to play from the opening tip to the final whistle, and we just came out too flat.”
Pushing the pace was Isaiah Gnadt with 14 points (4 3-pointers), Cayden Ockenga and Eli Reed each with 4 points, while Sam Schleuter and Dylan Jessen each with 3 points.
Garretson traveled to Vermillion on January 24 to take on the Tanagers and fell by the score of 21 – 32.
“This was such a winnable game and I hope that the boys realize it as much as we as coaches do. We didn’t shoot the ball well at all, but we kept trying to hit the dagger shot, even while behind and that simply can’t happen. As they say, you live and die by the 3 and in this game we buried ourselves,” noted Coach Buchholz.
Sam Schleuter led the way with 6 points followed closely by Eli Reed with 5. Dylan Jessen and Isaiah Gnadt each knocked down a 3-pointer while Drew Pederson and Matthew Gilbert each had a 2-point bucket apiece.
Finally the C team had a rematch date with the Baltic Bulldogs on January 27 in the Dragon’s Lair, losing a close contest by the score of 40 – 45.
“Intensity out of the gates is huge and we once again came out flat, not ready to play. Somehow the boys need to realize that other teams will not just give us free buckets, time outs, etc.; they must all be earned. To earn them, we have to come out of the locker room ready to play when we step on the floor. Baltic came out ready to play and shot the ball with confidence (9 3-pointers as a team) and going forward we need to start again to be confident with our own abilities,” stated Coach Buchholz.
Leading the way again was Isaiah Gnadt with 16 points (all in 2nd half), Cadyn Ockenga with 9 and Sam Schleuter with 8 points. Drew Pederson and Eli Reed each had 4 and 3 points apiece.
The Blue Dragons hit the road January 28th, 2020, to battle conference rivals from Flandreau in a little basketball action.
The Blue Dragons put together 24 minutes of quality basketball this evening, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough as the Flyers defeated Garretson 52-49.
“The kids came out the opening stanza playing pretty well. We were executing on offense and playing solid defense, which allowed us to capitalize on scoring opportunities,” stated Coach Heitkamp. “The downfall of the entire night was the 2nd quarter, as we gave up 19 points and only scored 4 points of our own. We lost the fire and motivation to play for some reason during that time frame...”
The second half was a different story for the visiting Blue Dragons as they challenged Flandreau at every turn, ultimately giving them an opportunity at the end to pull out the victory.
“The kids just flipped the script the final 16 minutes. They were flying around the court, playing great team defense, and hitting some key shots, which gave us an opportunity at the end,” said Heitkamp. “We have emphasized all season long, when playing Blue Dragon basketball, we are a tough team to handle. We put ourselves in a position to win the last 30 seconds, but unfortunately we didn’t execute a couple of plays to pull out the victory. Either way...I was very excited on how the kids battled the second half.”
Josef Zahn (8 rebounds) was the game’s high scorer this evening as he tallied 20 points w/six 3-pointers. Dylan Kindt (3 steals) had a nice night as well, as he dropped down 11 points. Trey Buckneberg (8 rebounds/5 steals) collected 7 points of his own. Jake Schroeder (4 assists) and Lucas Fitzgerald added 4 and 3 points each, while Cooper Long and Cole Skadsen rounded out the scoring with 2 points apiece.
The Big East Conference Tournament is always a fun weekend for our athletes. We went in as the #3 seed and came out with 3rd place.
The first game we played Chester, which was a rematch from January 3rd. We came out fast and started the game with a 22-5 1st quarter lead. Our press was just a bit too much for them and we forced a lot of turnovers and that turned into some fast break layups. We were up 52-22 after 3 quarters which means the clock runs unless there is a time-out, the final score was 60-24. Lizzie Olson had a nice game with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Lauren Heesch had 13 points and 4 steals. Jaelyn Benson, Mya Long, and Rachel Kindt all had 3 steals and Aftyn Heitkamp had 4 assists.
The 2nd round game was another rematch, this time against the Flandreau Fliers. We dropped the last one to them by 28 points just 2 weeks prior, so we were excited to show everyone that we had more in us than that last effort. The game was back and forth, with them coming out early and forcing some turnovers and getting some easy buckets.
Once we settled in we made a couple of nice runs ourselves. We had a rough first quarter and were down 16-5. But, we didn’t seem to be thinking about the mistakes we were making, but how to make a play the next trip. We had a good 2nd quarter and closed the game and were only down 22-26 at halftime. We came out with a bang right after halftime with a 9-0 run, and pulled ahead by 5.
They ended the quarter with a couple of baskets and still led at the quarter break 40-38. The 4th quarter went back and forth till about the 3 minute mark, when we ran out of gas and missed a few shots, and they didn’t. They ended up beating us 60-48, in a fun back and forth matchup. Lizzie Olson led us in scoring with 23 points and she also hauled down 17 rebounds and chipped in 5 steals. Lily Ranschau had 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Lauren Heesch had 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks.
In the 3rd place game we were matched up with Beresford. In a game that we controlled the majority of, we just couldn’t seem to hit the big shots to put away the Lady Watchdogs. It was a good matchup of defense and we came away with the 46-37 win. Lizzie led us in scoring for the 3rd straight game with 21, Jaelyn Benson chipped in with 10. Lizzie had 9 rebounds, Jaelyn with 6 as well as Lauren Heesch with 6. Jaelyn also had 3 steals and 4 assists.
To Governor Noem and all South Dakota State Representatives and Senators
Whether it is the catastrophic fires devastating Australia, the staggering loss of ice in Greenland, or the unprecedented rainfall and flooding here in South Dakota in 2019, the evidence that climate change is upon us is beyond dispute. Considering our national administration's dismissal of science and scientists, it has fallen on states and the general populace to take the steps necessary to mitigate the rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and preserve the very inhabitability of this planet.
Therefore, the Sierra Club of South Dakota, more than 1700 members strong, urges the State of South Dakota and Governor Noem to join the governors of 24 other states, including those of our neighbors in Montana and Minnesota, in the United States Climate Alliance. A fact sheet from this bipartisan coalition outlining their commitments and priorities is available online at the www.usclimatealliance.org website.
The fossil fuel industry has known for decades of the effects of climbing levels of CO2. Climate scientists and, more recently, climate activists have been sounding alarms about rising sea levels, more severe storm events, and other dangers for many years. These warnings have largely gone unheeded, and while the time to act was long ago, every action that we take NOW can reduce the damage to come.
We believe that a very positive first step for South Dakota is to join this alliance. South Dakota would benefit from the coordination with the other member states to identify the working programs and policies already in place elsewhere. The fact sheet enumerates priority sectors and suggests actions, tool development, both financial and regulatory, and policy frameworks. Please take the time to read this document.
The next decade is critical. How we react to the signs we are seeing will determine the environment our children and all that follow will inherit. The United States must become the world leader in this effort, but for now, let us at least become a part of the nationwide collaboration of the states!
PIERRE — On Wednesday, lawmakers had to decide if they were closing an election loophole or subverting the will of voters. The Senate State Affairs Committee opted for closing a loophole as it passed SB74.
In offering the bill before the committee, Sen. Jim Bolin, R- Canton, offered a history lesson from District 27 which includes Bennett, Haakon, Jackson, Oglala Lakota counties and a portion of Pennington County.
In 2008, a Democratic senator from District 27, Theresa Two Bulls, was challenged in a primary by another Democrat, Jim Bradford. Bradford lost the primary by 28 votes. Then something odd happened.
According to Bolin, Republicans in that district persuaded their candidate to withdraw from the general election and offered his spot on the ballot to Bradford. Running as a Republican, Bradford narrowly defeated Two Bulls.
Bolin said SB74 makes it clear that a candidate for the Legislature who loses in a primary can’t follow Bradford’s path and run in the general election representing another party.
“It should not occur again,” Bolin said.
Sen. Craig Kennedy, D- Yankton, said the goal of the Legislature should be protecting the right of the people to elect the legislators that they want.
“That was the choice of those voters in that district,” Kennedy said, expressing his intention to vote against the bill.
Passing the bill into law would limit the kind of gamesmanship that occurred in District 27, said Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark.
“I think there’s just something to be said about election integrity,” Greenfield said.
The bill passed through the committee on a vote of 7-2 and now goes on to the full Senate.
One year later, mystery still unsolved despite extensive search and investigation
by Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch
Despite a search by more than 1,200 people covering 4,500 miles of woodlands, and an investigation tracking down more than 220 leads and involving 465 interviews, Serenity Dennard remains missing and her fate remains a mystery.
Serenity was 9 on Feb. 3, 2019, when she ran away on a cold Sunday morning from the Black Hills Children’s Home, a residential youth treatment facility located near Rockerville in Pennington County.
Though witnesses saw her run off, and a search began almost immediately, Serenity has never been seen again and no evidence of her death has been discovered.
Over the past year, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office has led an aggressive, two-pronged attempt to find Serenity — an investigative track that has sought to rule out foul play and search nationwide for Serenity; and the search track that has engaged 1,200 trained personnel from more than 65 agencies using scent and cadaver dogs, aircraft and thermal devices to look for Serenity’s body or any evidence.
Pennington County authorities have not ruled nothing out, but their working theory is that Serenity ran into the woods, got lost and froze to death or died of hypothermia.
Yet until Serenity or any evidence is found, her disappearance will remain a mystery.
Serenity was known to run away frequently from her family home in Sturgis, and runaway prevention was part of the reason for her placement and part of her treatment plan at Black Hills Children’s Home. Serenity tried to run away one week before her final escape and was placed on a protocol of “arm’s length only” monitoring. But for reasons unexplained, the strict runaway-prevention effort was ended a day or two before her Feb. 3 escape, according to Serenity’s adoptive father and his wife, who are her primary caretakers.
The children’s home, run by the non-profit Children’s Home Society, was cited by state and federal regulators after Serenity’s disappearance for waiting 80 minutes to call 911, for having radios that were on different channels and for lacking planning and training in runaway prevention.
Two people with direct physical oversight of Serenity at the time of her disappearance were fired after she ran away, according to Children’s Home Society Executive Director Michelle Lavallee. But the on-call supervisor who advised employees on the scene to search longer on their own before calling 911 remains employed, as does the director of the home.
Sheriff’s officials say Serenity had only a 3-minute to 5-minute head start on the first searchers. Two eyewitnesses who saw Serenity run away reported it and then searched for her. The eyewitnesses lost sight of Serenity for only 3 to 5 minutes before trying to follow Serenity’s path.
Deputy Jamin Hartland, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office lead detective on the case, said the investigation so far has shown no evidence of an abduction or other form of foul play.
“We just have no solid evidence thus far to suggest that this was an abduction or anything other than a girl who ran away from a facility and has yet to be found,” he said.
Hartland and Sheriff Kevin Thom say it is highly unlikely that Serenity was taken by a stranger or someone driving by.
“I can’t even begin to calculate the odds that someone who would be willing to violently abduct a child happened by on a rural western South Dakota road within the few minutes they had to do that and successfully abducted her,” Hartland said.
Cadaver dogs searching for her have picked up scents, but it is unknown if the odors emanated from Serenity.
KaSandra and Chad Dennard hold a photo of Serenity and her favorite stuffed unicorn while sitting on her bed in their Sturgis home. The Dennards had primary custody of Serenity and say her disappearance has been devastating to them and their family. In the video, Chad Dennard discusses his theory on Serenity's disappearance and shares how much he misses her. Photo/video: Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch
Dennard, his wife, KaSandra Dennard, and Serenity’s adoptive mother, Darcie Gentry, all expressed shock that such an intense, sustained and expansive search has not found Serenity. The anguish of not knowing what happened or where she is has led them all to hope that someday, somehow, Serenity might return to them.
“We’d take any news at this point,” Gentry said in an interview at her home east of Rapid City. “Her bedroom is all set up for her, waiting for her to come home. Sometimes I just go in there and I cry.”
After being given up by her birth parents who were unstable, and moving through more than a dozen foster homes, Serenity was diagnosed with reactive detachment disorder, a condition in which children do not feel secure with familial relationships and can act out as a result.
Chad and KaSandra Dennard said Serenity was referred to the children’s home after a period of worsening behaviors that included running away and the potential for self-harm. She began residing at the home in July 2018.
According to Deputy Hartland, Serenity was playing in the gymnasium at the children’s home just before 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, with two staff members and six children present.
Serenity and another girl made an impromptu plan that the girl would distract staff members so Serenity could run away, Hartland said. Serenity used the distraction to open the outside door and run away. No one from the children’s home gave immediate chase.
Serenity, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeve shirt and snow boots, ran north across a campus path and into the main parking lot of the complex.
Authorities know this because after Serenity left the gym, a woman and her granddaughter saw her, Hartland said. The pair had dropped off a child at the northernmost building on the campus and saw Serenity run through the parking lot and stumble on the cattle guard just short of the exit onto Rockerville Road.
While watching, the grandmother reversed the vehicle back to the main building, got out and rang a doorbell to alert a cook inside that a child was running away. The cook was equipped with a radio to alert other employees, but the radio was on a different channel, which slowed the initial staff response, Lavallee said.
The granddaughter remained in the car and watched as Serenity, now walking, headed north on Rockerville Road.
After walking about 50 yards north of the complex entrance, Serenity went out of sight of the granddaughter. When the grandmother returned, the pair drove out of the children’s home complex and followed Serenity’s path north on Rockerville Road.
They never saw Serenity again, and they never saw anyone or any vehicles, Hartland said.
The witnesses said about three to five minutes elapsed from when they lost sight of Serenity to when they drove onto Rockerville Road to begin searching.
Lavallee said that the on-call supervisor was contacted at home and advised staff to continue searching for 15 minutes more before calling 911.
When that supervisor arrived on scene about 80 minutes later, 911 still had not been called, so the supervisor then called authorities to report the runaway, Lavallee said.
The first night, Hartland and other deputies went door-to-door to all the homes in the area, about 40 in all, trying to see if anyone had seen Serenity, but also getting a feel for any unusual responses, Hartland said.
Detectives interviewed children’s home employees and residents, both sets of Serenity’s adoptive parents and her birth parents, and none are considered suspects, Hartland said.
Another key component of the investigation, he said, was determining whether Serenity could have contacted anyone outside the home before her escape, either by phone or computer. Investigators found nothing to indicate she had done either, Hartland said.
The weather turned bad the day Serenity ran away, with temperatures below freezing and snow that fell and stayed for several weeks, hampering the search and reducing the chances Serenity could survive outside for more than a few hours, Thom said.
“Experienced searchers will tell you that it’s not uncommon to walk past people multiple times in an area once they get hidden and you can be a few feet from someone and walk right past them,” Thom said.
Thom said cadaver dogs have alerted to scent, but it is unknown if the scent originated with Serenity, and so far nothing has been found.
Thom noted that his department has an ongoing case in which experienced elk hunter Larry Genzlinger, 66, of Howard, was hunting near Deerfield Lake in the Black Hills on Oct. 1 and has not been found despite an aggressive search.
Gail Schmidt, chief of the Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, has helped lead numerous searches for Serenity and is believed to have spent more time in the woods looking than anyone else. As of early January 2020, she had personally logged 63 days of searching and had covered an estimated 375 miles on foot.
Schmidt said searching is difficult in the region around the children’s home owing to the sheer variety of terrain and topography. The region is also home to numerous downed, blackened trees from the Battle Creek Fire in 2002.
“My explanation for how we could have covered so many miles and haven’t found her is that we just haven’t gotten to her yet,” she said.
Lavallee became executive director of the Children’s Home Society in late September, replacing longtime director Bill Colson, who retired in 2019 after a decade leading the agency.
Lavallee said improving safety for children at the Children’s Home Society residential facilities became a top priority after Serenity’s disappearance and a scathing review of policies by the state Department of Social Services and the federal Center for Medicaid Services in April.
The society has complied with all the directives put forward by the state and federal regulators, Lavallee said.
Now, 911 will be called anytime a staff member loses “line of sight” on a child and radios are programmed to the same channel.
A new phone system has a button to alert employees inside and outside the home that an emergency exists, and a designated supervisor must be on campus at all times and would serve as the search coordinator in an emergency.
Runaway drills are conducted monthly in Rockerville and more frequently than before in Sioux Falls. New employees undergo runaway training at the time of hiring, Lavallee said.
The society plans to install cameras outside the Rockerville facility in early February, and at that time new doors will be installed that can be opened only from the inside with a key card or else an alarm will sound and a 15-second delay will engage to prevent unauthorized departures.
“You won’t see this happen again today,” Lavallee said.
Lavallee said the state DSS recommended the termination of the two children’s home employees; she would not discuss other personnel decisions or anything related to Serenity’s treatment, including if or why the “arm’s length” monitoring ended.
Lavallee said she and other society employees are deeply saddened over Serenity’s disappearance and that, “Serenity remains in our hearts every day.”
On days I’m home in South Dakota, I sit down for my morning bowl of Wheaties and flip through our local papers. This week, as I ate my bowl of cereal, I came across a well-researched and well-written article. The title was: “Effort begins to reduce risk of death of South Dakota mothers during childbirth.” It was written by local reporter Nick Lowrey from South Dakota News Watch and placed in many papers throughout the state.
It struck me for two reasons – one, it’s shocking because even as one of the most developed nations in the world, our mothers are dying during childbirth at the highest rate, and two, because the very next day I would be attending a congressional committee hearing on the same topic.
It’s important I go prepared to these hearings and the Education and Labor Committee does a fantastic job sending memos to ensure everyone is up to speed. The information is always helpful, but it’s not typically South Dakota specific. That’s where Nick’s article came in – because of his reporting I walked into that hearing knowing 60% of maternal deaths are preventable, that maternal “pregnancy-associated” deaths in South Dakota averaged 7.2 per year between 2010 and 2018, and nine South Dakota mothers died within a year of giving birth in 2018 alone.
To be frank, these are terrible statistics and hard to read. When I attended the Education and Labor hearing on maternal health, I was able to include Nick’s article in the Congressional Record for the rest of the committee and our entire nation to reference. There are several reasons the U.S. has seen an increase in maternal deaths – higher rates of obesity and diabetes, as well as giving birth at older ages have all played a role. According to Nick’s research, South Dakota does not keep data on severe pregnancy complications. During this week’s hearing, the witnesses expressed continuous concerns over the lack of information on maternal complications.
We can’t solve a problem if we can’t understand it.
There are new protocols being put into place, though, and hospitals like Sanford are working on their own set of practices to improve the safety of mothers. There is much work to be done across the U.S. and it may take years, but I’m glad organizations throughout the country and Congress are working to tackle this issue.
Investigative reporting plays a crucial role in exposing flaws in our many systems – and in this case, articles like Nick’s may help save lives. We’re living in a time where click-bait articles are taking over our news feeds – but I’m grateful South Dakota’s journalists are focused on news that matters.
South Dakota Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer with Garretson Gazette Editor and owner Garrick Moritz. Photo by Beau Ravellette of Ravellete Publications and the Pioneer-Review.
Hello readers. It’s rare that I’ll publish an editorial or a column myself. Usually I let others talk. I feel that’s my job. This time, I figured I should chime in with my two cents.
First, I want to thank the members of the Commercial Club for electing me as Vice President again. I had several comments from members who said that they like me in the job, and that it’s a task I’m well suited for. I’m not sure about that, but I am happy to serve the interests of the people who live and work in the Garretson area in any way I can.
What you may not know is that recently I was also elected to serve on the board of the South Dakota Newspaper Association. Last year, the SDNA General Manager Dave Bordewyk gave me a call. He asked if I would consider serving on the board. SDNA is 122 newspapers strong, from communities throughout the state. My dad, my grandpa and my great grandpa have all been presidents of the association in their time and all are in the SD Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Does that inflate my ego at all? Truthfully, it intimidates me. On my wall are three portraits of better men than me, and I try to live up to the standards and practices they taught me. I told Dave that, yes, I would serve, though I wanted to clear it with my wife and full business partner here first. (Let me tell you a rule about the Gazette and our work here- if Carrie doesn’t like it, it doesn’t happen, and the paper would be up for sale tomorrow without her.)
I’ve been serving on the SDNA Board since our convention last April. One of the things we do every year is Newspaper Day with the South Dakota Legislature. I’ve gone several times in the past, from when I was a little kid until now. But since I’m a board member now, I really felt that it was important I be there. So, after the paper was printed, mailed and out on store shelves, I headed off to Pierre.
(On the way, I made it to Madison to see our GHS students perform at the Regional One-Acts, and was happy to see that my daughter Morgan, as well as her friend Amber Hulscher and Amber’s sister Molly Hulscher, got acting awards on the very same stage where I got an acting award as a sophomore at Faulkton High School. Hats off to Mrs. Brown and all one-act cast and crew. We have some very dynamic and talented students here in Garretson, and it’s a badge of pride for the community.)
After doing board business we first had press conferences with the legislative leadership, both majority and minority, then a lunch with the legislators and a conference with the Governor.
I was pleased to see representative Tom Pischke at the luncheon. He and I have a mutual friend that he went to high school and I went to Augie with. We only chatted briefly, since our press conferences with the legislative leaders went long, but I was pleased to see him there.
I did not see Jon Hansen at all, sadly, and I don’t believe he attended. In our board and First Amendment Committee briefings, one of the bills that Hansen proposed had come up in discussion. This bill would basically ban commercial surrogacies in South Dakota.
This bill is like many bills that have come up this year that SDNA board members talked about at length. Bills of “conscience” that are likely to be challenged on constitutional grounds. I understand and agree that we don’t wish to traffic people as a commodity (slavery has been outlawed for quite some time now), but at the same time, when you do a blanket ban like this it has the potential to hurt people more than it helps.
As an example, I know a couple who had extreme difficulty having children. The dad is an Iraq war vet and the mom is a banker. Good law- abiding, taxpaying people with strong morality, patriotism and values. People whom you want to see bring children into the world. Having children was extremely difficult for them. I know surrogacy was an option they discussed. In the end, their treatments worked and they didn’t need surrogacy. But these people deserve, like anyone who wants to have kids, a shot at being a parent. So, the question I have for Mr. Hansen is this- could this bill do more harm than good to South Dakota families? Is that a question you asked yourself before you proposed it? Regulate certainly, but ban, why?...
The same thing with this transgender bill everyone keeps talking about. Following a pattern of behavior from some house legislators, this bill seems to be a solution in search of a problem. The argument that it’s a “bill of conscience” is pure sophistry. To me, having a conscience means having beliefs, but not trying to enforce or coerce those beliefs on others if it has the potential to do them harm. It’s careful consideration of facts, and trying to do the most good with the least amount of harm. Just saying.
Let’s not even get into the issue of deliberately passing legislation of questionable constitutionality, like the riot shield bill that was thrown out and has come back again. The practice of late seems to be, let’s spend money we don’t have on bills we don’t need just to make a point. The daylight savings time bill... I can’t believe that has gotten any traction at all. Yeah, I hate springing forward as much as the next guy, but really.
As for the transgender bill, a legal firm has offered to take the State’s case pro-bono if this law passes and is challenged. So what?! First, why should we the people allow a private firm to take up a case meant for our elected State’s Attorney? It’s quite literally his solemn task and responsibility to represent our state on legal questions. The State’s Attorney takes an oath of office and is beholden to the government and the people. A private firm is a private firm, out for their own interest, not the people’s business. Second, how many times has the legislature passed legislation like this only to have it struck down in the courts? The answer is, sadly, far too many times. Just because we have one of the most open systems of legislative proposal doesn’t mean retrograde ideas have merit. Some legislators must enjoy wasting time and taxpayer money, I think. Thankfully the SD Senate seems much more sensible than the House, and it is my hope that they may kill many of these more erroneous matters out of hand.
I did have a nice conversation with SD Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer, who is our local Senator. She’s been a regular advertiser and is very proud that independent journalism in Minnehaha County seems to be growing rather than shrinking. With two new papers springing up in our neighboring communities (and specifically her home of Dell Rapids) in the last two years, things are looking bright.
I also met up with Skylar Borglum, PhD, a Republican SD Senator from Rapid City, at the luncheon. Ms. Borglum will be challenging US Senator and former Governor Mike Rounds in the upcoming primary. Overall, I can say I really liked her. She was smart, funny and has a good heart and a good head on her shoulders.
She made some great points during our conversation. First was how dismal she found Senator Rounds’ extremely low attendance for voting on the Senate floor. Granted, his wife has been very ill, but that’s all the more reason that it’s maybe time for someone new. She felt simply that he wasn’t putting South Dakota’s interests first and wasn’t doing his job very well. She said that she, “...wanted to represent all of South Dakotans. I don’t care if they’re Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Jewish, Muslim or Jedi Knight. Our state’s people are good and unique and I love them all.”
I thought that was the right attitude. Also, those of you who know me know what a big Star Wars fan I am, so the fact that she made me laugh and smile while talking politics, and actually made me feel good and hopeful, is the way of a true Jedi.
Then we arrived at the press conference with the Governor.
Gov. Kristi Noem made some opening remarks and then opened the floor for questions.
Letitia Lister of the Black Hills Pioneer, who is our current association president, had the first question. In the Governor’s State of the State address she talked about making an on-line portal for governmental documents. A lot of it sounded very similar to work we’ re doing, and have planned to do, in the future with publishing public notices. Already,
every public notice we publish is in an online archive at sdpublicnotices.com that is free for anyone to search. We are also looking at broadening and expanding those tools for the “Google it on your phone” world we find ourselves in nowadays. To us, as an association, if the Governor’s office wants to make it easier for local city councils, county commissions or school boards to post their info online, we’re happy to use the resources we already have in place and that are in development to make that easier. She of course agreed to have our staffs meet in the not too distant future to talk about it.
Then came the tough questions. Jack Marsh, currently of SD News Watch, quoted a campaign mailer that was circulated by Gov. Noem’s campaign. That letter, signed by her, used language that Jack and I frankly found offensive. It was more of the same dirty rhetoric that has come down from on high, and it’s just as ridiculous. It’s been spat at journalists for time out of mind. That they’re untruthful, biased, and such. In the past, we’ve heard terms like Yellow Dog and Muckraker. Today it’s Fake News and Enemy of the People. Just terms to describe people who deliver inconvenient truths that those in power would rather not have you question them about.
I talked with Jack about it afterwards. I have a lot of respect for him. He knows my dad, and knew my grandfather, and he cares deeply about the truth. He cares a lot about South Dakota and making our state a better place in which to live.
Jack believes following that line of rhetoric, that the media is untruthful and that you can’t trust them to tell the truth, is dangerous and destabilizing to society. He’s not wrong. Often in this job you must speak truth to power, and speaking truth to power is not always easy or very nice.
I can say that everyone I have ever known or have associated with as fellow SDNA members are local, good-hearted journalists, who do their best by and for their communities, wherever and whenever and however they can.
SD News Watch is a non-profit that has been working hard at increasing the amount of investigative journalism in this state, a position that has recently gone by the wayside as newsrooms have cut staff. SDNA recently made a deal with SD News Watch to make our General Manager, Dave, their Executive Director and to mutualize some of SDNA’s office resources for SD News Watch. I voted for that decision, and wholly stand by it. It’s a good partnership. Many of the legislators, both at the state and even the national level (see Dusty Johnson’s column in this paper) agree that the work SD News Watch has been doing has been good for our citizens.
I don’t doubt that Gov. Kristi Noem also cares a lot about South Dakota and making our state a better place in which to live. I’m sure she hasn’t liked the local media very much when they run stories about her family and how much they get paid working for her administration. She’s certainly made her governorship into a family business, and since there are a lot of family businesses in South Dakota, I myself having grown up in one, I won’t hold that against her. Fellow SDNA board member LeeAnne Dufek of the Hamlin County newspaper in Castlewood has said to me that she and her community have a lot of love for Gov. Noem, and I respect her word and judgment.
So, my unsolicited advice to the Governor would be this. Stay away from this line of rhetoric. It’s historically been tried and it has failed time and time again. It may net you short term gains, as do a lot of things in this age of clickbait, soundbites and catchphrases; but it doesn’t serve you as a stateswoman or the people you serve in this great state. Be forthright, and the truth will always be your shield. The truth shall set you free is not just good advice, it’s biblical. It’s what I believe at the very core of my soul. It’s what every good journalist should believe, and what every elected official should believe. We may not all agree on the many issues of the day, but these are small things by and large. Take a page from Voltaire, “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death of your right to say it!”
So that was my time and my thoughts from the legislature this week. But if you have questions and concerns yourself, you should go and talk to your legislators yourselves. They’re doing an open public coffee at the Pizza Ranch in Dell Rapids this Saturday starting bright and early at 9 a.m.
