Pennington County Crowds Out Blind Businessman...

...but who's got the story right?

I was all ready to go crusading against Big Government this morning (go ahead, check the URL: you're not reading Dakota War College). KELO brings us this AP story about the Pennington County Commission booting blind businessman Wayne Sumner and his snack shop from the courthouse, just because they have crowded offices.

What?! Kick out a blind guy, just to make room for more file cabinets? And right at Christmas time? Those cruel, cold-hearted county commissioners! I oughta....

Hold on: read the news. I Google about and find that Scott Aust covered this story in better detail last Sunday in the Rapid City Journal. Where the AP story portrays Sumner as "surprised by the decision," Aust the 71-year-old shopkeeper "wasn't surprised his lease wasn't renewed":

“Sooner or later, either I was going to retire or they were going to fail to extend the lease,” he said. “It gave me something to occupy time. There are good business days and bad business days, but it wasn’t unexpected and it didn’t shock me or anything. Sooner or later, it was going to happen.”

Kind of tough to get surprised about something a week after it happened, don't you think? The AP story, in the sketchy form posted on KELO, leaves an impression of Christmas grinchery afoot. But the fuller original story suggests no such thing. Sumner actually sounds like the closing might suit him (and certainly his wife):

Sumner doesn’t begrudge the county. In fact, he said the shop hasn’t been making as much of a profit in recent years, primarily because of the impact of going smoke-free and installing a security system. [PP is right: the rampant nanny state does kill small business!]

“People used to stop by here and have coffee, smoke and visit with their clients or whatever,” he said.

Sumner said he’s getting long in years, so retirement is a possibility, though not a certainty.

“I’m so old, my wife would like me to retire. But if I find something else that interests me, I’d probably do it. Who knows? I may fade into obscurity and oblivion,” he said [Scott Aust, "County Commission Won't Renew Courthouse Coffee Shop Lease," Rapid City Journal, 2007.12.16].

Oh, but back up another couple days: the Rapid City Weekly News spins the story back the other direction [emphasis mine]:

The operator of the snack shop in the Pennington County Courthouse will lose his contract in 90 days after county commissioners decided the space could be better used for crowded county departments. Wayne Sumner, who has run the snack shop since 1988, was not aware that commissioners intended to take this step. He attended the Tuesday, Dec. 11, commission meeting with the understanding that his contract would be renewed for three years and left the meeting still under that impression [Vicky Wicks, "Commission Ends Contract with Blind Snack Shop Operator," Rapid City Weekly News, 2007.12.11].

So maybe Sumner was surprised that the decision came when it did. But after a couple days, Sumner was ready to say that in the grand scheme of things, the shop closing was no big deal. he spoke with calm resignation to KOTA-TV:

"Oh it was not unexpected. One of these days at my age I'm gonna either retire or die," says Sumner.

An optimistic attitude from a man who will be out of work in 90 days.

Commissioners and courthouse employees hate to see Wayne and the coffee shop go, but understand the need for more work space.

"I like Wayne. It's a service for the public and the county that he's providing. And we had testimony at our county commission meetings, for space we're really cramped," says Schmidt.

And though no plans are in the works for another coffee shop that's ok with Wayne. He's ready to move on.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, probably be an essentially lazy, probably not a lot," says Sumner.

The contract for the coffee shop ended in 2004. Commissioners say it was only a matter of time before a decision would be made on whether to renew or cancel the contract [Lela French, "Courthouse Coffee Shop Closes in 90 Days," KOTA-TV, 2007.12.14].

So alas, no crusade this morning. No government cruelty in our midst. Just a few mixed messages from the media, and an old guy who can maybe spend more time with his wife.