The Editor's Thoughts

We’re looking for some opinionated people  to weigh in on the issues of the day. Really, we are.

Our first Argus Leader Opinion Panel wrapped up their work this month and we’re looking for new panelists. You may have what it takes if you:

- Have strong or reasonably strong opinions on local issues.

- Can write at least a couple of paragraphs on a subject.

- Are comfortable commenting on Facebook or Twitter.

- Would be unafraid to ask questions of newsmakers.

If you fit some or most of these categories, please give this a try. To apply for the Argus Leader Opinion Panel, just contact me -  mkueter@argusleader.com.

We’ll select the panel in June. 

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As an organization, the Argus Leader has been around for nearly  130 years.

But that longevity pales a bit in comparison to a statistic compiled this week by our marketing department. The reporters, editors, photographers and other staff members in our newsroom today have a combined 582 years of service to Argus Leader Media.

A collective 5+ centuries spent reporting and photographing news in this community is impressive. 

And represents a lot of daily deadlines met.

This weekend’s “Branch Out Project,” will match volunteers to yard cleanup needs at the homes of elderly or disabled city residents.

Argus Leader Media is sponsoring the event with the HelpLine Center and United Way. More about that effort is below.

Planning the event reminds me of the annual city bike trail cleanup we spearheaded for several years. A couple of hundred volunteers would gather on a spring Saturday morning armed with garbage bags and gloves to fan out across the s bike trail network.

Mixed in with the garbage, paper and cans, were some more unusual items that somehow had been dislodged by the river or left behind by melting snow. Over the years, volunteers found an old wooden boat, a rusty rifle, a couple of bicycles and some broken toys. One year, a volunteer found a corked bottle, lodged in the mud along Skunk Creek. Inside was a piece of paper with a handwritten message. Battered by water and time, it was only partially readable, but the mystery behind that message remains.Here is reporter Peter Harriman’s 2000 account of the find:

“Water unfortunately, leaked past the cork stopper of the bottle found by Monica and Calie Helms. But a photo survives. It shows a dark-haired man with his arm around a woman’s waist and a girl about 10 standing in front of him. Portions of an accompanying note are faded beyond recognition. But the letter seems to represent a private ceremony, a wistful closure to a romantic relationship.

“I did set you free but maybe you didn’t love me as … because you haven’t returned to me,” it reads in part in big, looping script.

” I still live in Sioux Falls, S.D. on 14th Street. But where you are, I haven’t a clue. I guess it’s time to say goodbye. I love you. R.E.S.D.”

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To take part in Saturday’s cleanup, call the HelpLine Center or go to helplinecenter.org to register. Teams will meet at the Argus Leader’s parking lot between 8 and 9 a.m. Saturday to get their assignments.

One of the most tragic events in South Dakota history unfolded 20 years ago this week. An airplane carrying Gov. George Mickelson and seven others smashed into a silo on a farm near Dubuque, Iowa, killing all aboard. 

I was working that night as city editor.  Our first hint of the disaster came in a phone call from a former Argus Leader reporter who worked at an Iowa newspaper, telling us that an airplane had crashed in eastern Iowa. The plane’s tail number was registered to the South Dakota Department of Transportation, he said.  Our business editor, Brenda Wade Schmidt, immediately noted that Mickelson and others should have been returning to South Dakota after a trip to Cincinnati to try to persuade the owners of John Morrell and Co. to continue operations in Sioux Falls. Could the plane be theirs?

It was almost impossible to believe that it was and I think back at how we numbly worked to find out and to confirm the news that we were all dreading. There was no Twitter back then, no Facebook, no text messaging or cell phones to keep in touch with the reporters we dispatched via a chartered plane to the scene.

Reporters working that night across the state undoubtedly remember those tortured hours trying to piece together information and finally, the sad confirmation we all silently hoped would not come.

The tremendous sense of loss resonated even deeper in Sioux Falls because in that plane along with the governor were three prominent city business leaders. The men - Roger Hainje, president of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation;  Angus Anson, general manager of Northern States Power (now Xcel Energy) and David Birkeland, chief executive officer of First Bank of South Dakota (now US Bank) – were respected community leaders. Four others - Ron Reed, director of the state Office of Energy Policy and Roland Dolly, commissioner of the Office of Economic Development as well as state pilots David Hansen and Ron Becker – also died in the crash.

 The tragedy and the funerals that followed bound this state together in unprecedented fashion.

In tomorrow’s Argus Leader, Brenda Wade Schmidt recalls that sad day And, in Sunday’s newspaper, Steve Young looks back on Gov. Mickelson’s  funeral procession from Pierre to Brookings and the spontaneous outpouring of grief and support shown by average South Dakotans who lined that highway to pay their respects.

I had the opportunity last night to meet a young woman from Madison, SD. Amy Shan, one of our Argus Leader Academic All-Stars, is a high school senior who is headed to the University of Pennsylvania to study business.

How did she arrive at her college choice? She says that once she had decided to major in business, she simply Googled “best undergraduate business programs in the country.”  First on the list – Penn. She decided right then that she wanted to attend the Ivy League school and set out to be accepted.She was and is flying out today to finalize her registration and get a closer look at the Philadelphia campus before enrolling this fall.

Other schools that showed up in her search: MIT, Cal – Berkley and Michigan. Great SEO strategy by Penn’s Wharton School of Business.  But Amy admitted  she also was impressed by the fact that Penn was founded by Benjamin Franklin.

I wish her and all of our 2013 Academic All Stars the best as they move on this spring. You can meet them all Sunday in the newspaper or in this really neat online presentation: http://www.argusleader.com/section/aas

We learned this week that some 2,600 tons of steel will be needed to build our  new Sioux Falls events center. We also learned that Egger Steel and Gil Haugan Construction along with two out-of-state firms will be working that steel into place over  the coming months.

 What we did not learn – and may never know  – is just how much all that steel work might cost. As in earlier rounds of sub-contractor bid lettings, the city’s construction manager at risk isn’t releasing any information on the bids. The city hasn’t seemed inclined to find an avenue to present it either, though there is always hope for a change of heart.

 I know city taxpayers wouldn’t mind a more detailed report.

 Another interesting public record dispute centered on government spending is playing out in Huron.

 The Huron School District reached a settlement agreement with a former superintendent. The Mitchell Daily Republic has been trying to find out what the agreement provides, but has been denied a copy.  Reporters did discover that the former superintendent has been receiving nearly $11,000 a month since his resignation.

 The newspaper is appealing the school board’s refusal to provide the information. The dispute will be heard by the state Office of Hearing Examiners. It’ll be interesting to learn the decision.

 The same general question is involved:  Shouldn’t Huron taxpayers know what this agreement is costing?

It was a cyber mystery to me.

Earlier this week, I received a call asking about a pair of police mug shots that were appearing on one of Argus Leader Media’s websites.

It seemed odd, considering that particular website had been discontinued several years ago - or at least that’s what we thought.

Perhaps even odder was the contention that police mug shots were appearing there, since in this state, such photographs are not released for public view.

So, how were these booking photos showing up on a defunct website? The answer appears to involve a mixed-up feed we were receiving from a Tennessee newspaper.  

Clearly, in Tennessee, police booking photos are available for public view.

Actually, that is one of the changes being studied by Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s Open Government Task Force this year. I’m on that task force, as is Argus Leader reporter Jonathan Ellis and many other news, government and law enforcement officials. We are hoping to effect some important changes in state law – among them, making booking photos public.

The task force also is looking at opening to the public the transcripts from 911 calls as well as as additional information on police logs and related incident reports.

The group is meeting again next month and presumably will arrive at recommendations for changes that then will be presented to the state legislature for consideration.

I encourage you to find out how the legislative candidates in your district feel about these and other such moves.

Open government should be an important campaign issue in this state.

If you have never had the chance to cover a press conference, here’s your opportunity.

Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether will be at the Argus Leader on Wednesday for our first citizen-led interview session.

Three members of the Argus Leader Opinion Advisory Panel will be asking the questions and if you have something you’d like them to ask, let us know.

You can send your suggested questions in advance to bschmidt@argusleader.com or just log in and ask your questions live.

The citizen interview begins at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Watch it at argusleader.com.

As journalists, we sometimes have to tell tragic stories.

Energy and adrenaline fuel the effort to get answers and to try to explain the unexplainable - at least for a while.

In my experience, it’s only much later that personal emotions can surface.

When I look back on major news events, sad news events whether local, such as the shooting this week, or national as the Sept. 11 terrorism attack, it’s the in-the-moment coverage and the sense of being immersed for hours in a gigantic story that stand out.

I remember driving to work the morning after Gov. George Mickelson and others died in a plane crash in eastern Iowa in April 1993. We had worked into the night on the story and after a couple hours of sleep I was headed back to the newsroom.

As I drove along  41st Street, that morning though, I noticed the giant flag that flies over Perkins Restaurant.

It had been moved to half-staff to salute those who died. But that big flag was drooping so low it seemed as if it might touch the cars streaming below it.

It was stunningly sad. And that’s the moment the tragedy really hit me.

You can tell the political season is heating up.

In just the past two days, I have fielded several complaints on Argus Leader coverage of the presidential campaign.

One person complained about an opinion piece written by one of our syndicated national  columnists, Mona Charen.  She disagreed with Charen, obviously, but also thought her writing was based on falsehoods. Why, she wanted to know would the Argus Leader carry this column? “Give me Pat Buchanan any day even though I don’t always agree with him.”

The answer, of course, is that we try to offer a broad array of opinions on national issues. Those columnists usually draw added attention during a heated political campaign. But then, that’s the columnist’s goal after all.

Another reader criticized our coverage of President Obama’s visit to Sioux City, Iowa on Saturday. The complaint wasn’t that we covered the appearance, but that our reporter included comment from a state Republican Party official in his story. The writer believed apparently that it was an unnecessary attempt to provide balance in the report.

We’ve even had some reaction to the posts from our guest bloggers. Two South Dakota delegates agreed to give us their insights on the national party conventions.  I think their contributions, which are posted on David Montgomery’s blog, “Political Smokeout” have been interesting. If you haven’t read them, take a look here and here.

 It’s only 61 days till Nov. 6.

It’s possible South Dakota could execute three men before Thanksgiving this year.

Attorney General Marty Jackley has asked that Eric Robert be put to death the week of Oct. 14. Convicted murderer Donald Moeller’s execution already has been set to occur during the last week of October or early November.

And an execution date could be set in upcoming weeks for Rodney Berget, who is on death row with Robert for killing corrections officer Ronald  Johnson.

No matter what your view of the death penalty, some sobering weeks lie ahead here.

Traditionally, a representative from the news media is allowed to witness an execution. The Corrections Department decides who that will be. The death of Elijah Page in 2007 was witnessed by two reporters – one from the Rapid City Journal and one from the Associated Press.

The Argus Leader will apply once again to witness these upcoming executions. They are important events to chronicle.

Our former city editor, Jeff Martin, witnessed an execution while working at the Tulsa World. In August, 2006, he wrote an account of what he had seen.

Here’s an excerpt:

In the moments before witnessing an execution, the sights and the sounds rain down on the senses.

And the rituals of death are seared into memory:

The rhythmic pounding and kicking of steel cell doors, a traditional show of respect as the inmate is led to the chamber;

The condemned man’s last words, barely audible over a prison microphone that hardly works;

His chest, heaving violently as a final burst of air rushes from the lungs.

The images are as vivid now as they were five years ago on a surreal autumn night inside H Unit, death row at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Several steps in the march toward death are universal. In 37 states, the method is the same: Injection, a process developed with advice from a University of Oklahoma doctor in 1977. Northern states still learn how to carry out executions from southern states such as Texas and Oklahoma, where death is now routine.

Unless there’s a last-minute reprieve, life will end for Elijah Page in Sioux Falls the same way it did for Alvie “Jim” Hale in Oklahoma on Oct. 18, 2001.

I don’t know if Jeff volunteered to witness that execution. I hope so.

In my opinion, it’s not a story assignment an editor would make lightly.

I think the Sioux Empire Fair needs more space. After spending some time on the fairgrounds this past week, I couldn’t escape the feeling that the baby goats were just a little too close for comfort along the main walkway.

We’re talking with the fair managers on Thursday morning here at the Argus Leader  and I’ll ask about that as well as some other topics concerning the annual summer event.

Regarding the subject of the design and layout of the fair, I wonder why, when you park in the lot east of the grandstand, are you funneled through an entrance that runs right along the Beer Garden. I have nothing against that setting myself, but if you’re pushing a stroller or have the grandkids along, you might prefer a little more scenic route, especially in the evening. There is an alternative path, but for some reason, a chained gate stopped us from taking  it.

The claustrophobic feel continued for me on the north end of the fairgrounds as well. We sat down to play some bingo in the big tent set up near the National Guard Armory. The carnival rides are right next to it. The noise and songs were so loud that you could hardly hear the caller.

Maybe that giant roller coaster took more than its share of acreage, I don’t know. But I felt crowded.

Overall, though, it’s a pretty nice fair with a lot of energy and activity. Some of the free stage performances were excellent and the chislic was right on.

The grounds and buildings could use a little work, though.

I took in the Tracy Lawrence concert and left with a wood sliver in my hand from the ragged benches in the grandstand.

If you have questions, comments or ideas for the Sioux Empire Fair managers, you can ask them by logging on to argusleader.com at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Hope you can join us.

This week we launch a new live digital conversation feature on argusleader. We have invited a local newsmaker or community leader to stop by each week for a short interview and Q/A session with the Argus Leader Editorial Board.You can listen in to the discussion and offer your own thoughts and questions as well.

Our first guests are Sioux Empire Fair offiicials Scott Wick and Jo Beal. They’ll be here for a live-streamed interview at 9 a.m. on Thursday. 

Feel free to send us your questions in advance or just plan to join us online at 9 a.m. Thursday.We expect the interviews to run about 30 minutes.

Here is the list of upcoming guests. All interviews begin at 9 a.m.:

- Wednesday, Aug. 22: Michelle Erpenbach, Sioux Falls City Council Chair

- Thursday, Aug. 30: Craig Lloyd, Sioux Falls developer

- Thursday, Sept. 6: Doug Morrison, Sioux Falls School Board president

- Thursday, Sept. 13: Mark Cotter, Sioux Falls public works director

- Thursday, Sept. 20 - Steve Young, Argus Leader reporter on his “Journey to Sudan” project.

Even in today’s atmosphere of instantly shared rumor and gossip, the FBI’s files on former Gov. Bill Janklow stand out for their recklessness.

As Peter Harriman reported last recently, the FBI kept 10 separate files on Janklow over 34  years. The biggest volume of information was gathered during the late 1960s and early 1970s when President Gerald Ford was considering appointing Janklow as a director of the National Legal Services Corp.

But this supposed investigation into the life of the longest serving governor in South Dakota history raises serious questions. In addition to what one might expect to find in an investigative file – military service records, legal documents, driving records, etc. - are investigators’ notes relaying rumors and stories that in some cases, even the person relaying the information, essentially has deemed unreliable.

Some of the people speaking to the investigators flat out said they didn’t like Janklow, and then went on to pass on stories they’d heard about him.

One interviewee said of Janklow that she “came to find him very offensive, (he) did not have a pleasant personality and that she did not like him and therefore would not recommend him for anything.”

The investigators dutifully wrote down each comment and then apparently made no real effort to verify the accounts they had gathered.

If you peruse the documents in the file, you will find that many  people offered positive reactions to Janklow as well. One former associate said Janklow, “had a refreshing attitude towards hard work and has the ability to socialize well with anyone he encounters.”

FBI officials said that the work done by investigators today is much more thorough. They attempt to verify the anecdotal accounts, for starters.

That’s a welcome and necessary change, I believe.  If you’re interested in reading more from the FBI’s files on Janklow, you can find the documents here.

Former Mayor Gary Hanson predicted it - 2012 would be the year Sioux Falls would run short of water.

He didn’t really mean it the way it sounds, but 2012 always has been used as the deadline for construction of a Missouri River pipeline.

Hanson and city planners estimated 2012 was the year that Sioux Falls’ growth and demand would start to outpace the supply from our existing water sources.

We reported it many times throughout the lengthy development of the Missouri River pipeline project that would become the Lewis and Clark Water System.

2012 seemed like a long way off back then. But as this hot, dry summer rolls on and the Big Sioux River drops to potentially dangerous levels, Hanson’s prediction seems all the more on target.

Luckily, as Steve Young reports here the water is rolling into our city pipelines this week.

Talk about good timing.

Reporters, photographers and editors here at Argus Leader Media generate plenty of conversation with their writing and photography. But there also are meaningful discussions occurring before their work makes it online or in print each day. In this blog, I hope to give you an idea of how our coverage unfolds and provide a window on  the news-gathering business in general from story assignments to editorial board meetings. I will draw attention to the excellent work of our journalists and throw out a few of my own observations on news and news gathering in Sioux Falls, along the way. I hope you find some of it interesting. Please let me know if there are topics you’d like to discuss. Thank you.