Weather Report from Lake Herman: Wet!

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it... other than shooting YouTube videos! John Nelson on the east side of Madison reports four inches last night alone. Here's the view from Lake Herman of our prairie monsoon season:

Part I: The Driveway—Too Much Water



Part II: The Boat Ramp—Conservation of Gravel and Energy



Part III: The Yard: Gophers Afloat

Chadron Rejects Madison Pro-Booze Thinking, Keeps 1 a.m. Closing Time

Over a twelve-month period, good college town Madison saw significant expansions in the availability of alcohol:

1. Grocer Dan Roemen shut down Mr. Movies to make room for more liquor sales space, a move not viewed favorably by local readers.
   
2. The Madison City Commission voted to permit alcohol consumption in city parks.
3. The Madison City Commission extended closing time for bars from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.

On that last note, Madison bar owners argued that their boozy patrons were hopping in their cars at the 1 a.m. closing time and driving to Wentworth, Nunda, and other locations with later-closing bars. It's not safe to send all those paying customers—er, neighbors—out on the highway at that hour!

The same arguments were lodged before the Chadron City Council last month as it considered an identical measure. Bar owner Darin Garman warned that Crawford, Hay Springs, and Alliance would make the change and draw Chadron's late-night drinkers to the highways.

Yet the Chadron City Council . Why did this Nebraska college town say no to later booze?

"Eighty to 85 percent of the students we see having problems, alcohol is almost always a factor," Randy Rhine, [Chadron State University] vice president for enrollment said during discussion of the proposal to add an hour to the time bars are allowed to remain open. "Alcohol is probably the number one substance abused on our campus."

"I can't see it benefiting anyone to be out that much later ...with that much alcohol in your system," said Dr. Kristi Johnson. "I don't understand what it's going to gain for our community."

...[A]dding an hour to the hours of bar service will "increase all the risk factors," for alcohol abuse, said CSC nurse Ann Dockwiler. Every year the college has about a dozen incidents involving taking a student from a residence hall to the emergency room because of an alcohol overdose, she said, and many more cases which aren't serious enough to require an ER visit, but still have to be monitored by staff members. "It's a huge issue for us," Dockwiler said.

..."There seems to be a huge risk, and benefit to a very few," noted council member Steve Duncan.

"I'm of the opinion that nothing really good happens after midnight," said council member John Gamby.

"I think 1 a.m. is long enough," said council member Rob Harvey [George Ledbetter, "City Nixes 2 a.m. Closing, Retains Dog Licensing Rule," Chadron Record, 2010.08.23].

Chadron is a town about our size. They have lots of college students, just like Madison. And, at peril of stereotyping, one might argue that, a little more isolated out on the high western plains, folks there might have a little more excuse to seek solace in a stiff drink than us Madisonites on the lush green side of the 100th meridian.

Yet Chadron says whoa at 1 a.m., and Madison doesn't. Go figure.
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Bonus What-If: Consider that if Madison hadn't extended its closing time, and if the local bars had sent everyone home at 1 a.m. on Labor Day Weekend, then by the time fireman Scott Johnson responded to that fire call and then blew into the breathalyzer around 3 a.m., the alcohol might have settled out of his system enough not to warrant a DUI arrest.

Social Media Study: South Dakota Good Place for Captions

They could at least have made us legendary.

NetProspex issues a really cool report rating cities, corporations, and industries on their use of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. Given that one report earlier this year found South Dakota had the highest percentage of residents with Facebook accounts of any state in the Union, I was curious how we'd rate in this study of social media in general.

[map of top cities using social media, from 2010 Social Business Report, NetProspex, p. 22; click image to enlarge!]

Alas, we don't. For NetProspex, South Dakota and its High Plains neighbors are just a convenient empty space to squeeze in captions.

But we do learn where the leaders are in tweeting, Facebooking, and other clicky diversions:

Top Industries	Top Companies	Top Cities
Search Engines and Online Portals Advertising and Marketing (e.g.: @Buzz52: Mad Men last night-OMG! C-Hndx ++smokin!) Banking Traditional Media (not the laggards we might think they are!) Toys and games	Google Microsoft Amazon Juniper Networks Adobe (No South Dakota companies make the top 50)	San Francisco, CA San Jose, CA New York, NY Austin, TX Boston, MA

NetProspex takes time to note that the Midwest is the "Least Social Media-Savvy U.S. Region." What? Have they not seen Travis Dahle's Twitter feed? Now there is some legendary tweeting. :-)

Treat for Political Map Junkies: Google Maps Election Projections

Google rides again with a convenient little cartopolitical diversion: our favorite seekers of world domination have created an interactive map of projections for the 2010 midterm elections! You can see best guesses from Cook, Rothenberg, CQ-Roll Call, and RealClearPolitics for the Senate, House, and gubernatorial races in each state or for the whole country at a glance. Republicans, revel in the pinkish tide sweeping across the country in the gubernatorial races. Democrats, thrill to the too-close-to-call battle in the South Dakota House race (CQ and Cook say toss-up; RCP says lean GOP; Rothenberg says teeny tilt Dem).

Worth noting: Google ignores the third candidate in South Dakota's House race, B. Thomas Marking, who I might suggest hasn't missed much since he suspended his campaign for FEMA training in Alabama.

Also worth noting: the Google election projection map is embeddable... but as I test it this morning, lacks a horizontal scrollbar that would allow me to fit it into the humble 460-pixel confines of this blog's main content panel. Alas!

Eye of the Storm -- Blink! Rain, Rain, and More Rain

I made it to town between downpours. In the Mundt library, I missed most of the second gullywasher of the afternoon, oblivious in my earphones. The rain broke just in time for my sanitary district meeting.

I stepped outside, looked up—hey! This isn't a hurricane... so how come this storm has an eye?

The rough rainy grey moved in fast to close the gap.



Downtown, folks parking by the Stadium Grill needed galoshes:
The storm drain at North First and Egan was still playing catch-up on gullywasher #2:

Thirty minutes later, that corner was dry.

As I raced the dark, on-rushing front home, I found more water. Lots of water in the ditches headed for the lake, big water on the golf course... oh yeah, and someone's black Angus grazing in the ditch south on 451st (glad I didn't meet him in the dark! Come get your livestock, neighbor!). And then there was all this water by my house:


This isn't my current driveway; this is the gravel trail down to our old cabin and the fishing point. Splash splash—hardly need to get out of the car to fish. We also have a minor stream running across our front yard. What fun!

The black clouds raced overhead, then boom! Big northwest wind, and the heaviest rainfall of the day. Time to check the sump pump... where'd I leave that hose?

Stimulus Won't Bring Back Old Growth: Two Perspectives

The federal stimulus is doing some good. However, it will not bring us back to the happier economic days of the 1990s and a few of the G.W. Bush years. Two economists offer differing explanations with the same grim conclusion: the economy just ain't what it used to be.

First, Robert Reich says consumers are simply out of gas:

After three decades of flat wages during which almost all the gains of growth have gone to the very top, the middle class no longer has the buying power to keep the economy going. It can’t send more spouses into paid work, can’t work more hours, can’t borrow any more. All the coping mechanisms are exhausted [Robert Reich, "Why No Amount of Fiscal or Monetary Stimulus Will Be Enough, Given How Small A Share of Total Income the Middle Now Receives," Robert Reich's blog, 2010.09.21].

Then Jeffrey Rubin notes that we're out of cheap gas:

What's being overlooked is that last cycle's rate of growth was fueled for the most part with cheap oil--oil was below $30 a barrel for the first half of the period. Even today's oil prices weren't encountered until the last year of growth. That's not incidental to the performance of the world's largest oil-consuming economy, which relies on imports for over half of its 19-million-barrel-a-day requirement.

Feed the US economy cheap oil, and you'll see robust growth rates and a drop in the jobless rate to four-decade lows--no matter who's in the White House. But throw in $147-per-barrel oil, and the US economy stops dead in its tracks [Jeffrey Rubin, "Obama's Fiscal Stimulus No Substitute for Cheap Oil," Huffington Post, 2010.09.21].

Now before you think TransCanada's Keystone pipelines will solve that problem by swelling our supply with Alberta tar sands oil, heed Rubin's reminder that tar sands oil doesn't flow for much less than $100 a barrel.

By this thinking, fiscal stimulus doesn't do much but help us tread water instead of drowning in Depression. Under the concentration of wealth and high oil prices, the economy just can't rebound to the levels of growth necessary to generate the future revenues that would pay down the deficit spending we're using in the current stimulus.

But the answer is not simply to abandon the stimulus and hope everything works itself out. The "work itself out" crowd brought us to a shrinking middle class and continued dependence on oil. To get out of the economic doldrums and beat the deficit, we need to (says Reich) reorganize the economy to expand the middle class again and (says Rubin) kick our addiction to oil in favor of cheaper, cleaner energy sources.

Catangui Firing Threatens Academic Freedom, May Earn Censure for All SD Universities

The SDSU Collegian reports that the university's possibly improper firing of tenured professor and Extension Service entomologist Mike Catangui could have repercussions for the entire South Dakota public university system:

Political science professor Delmer Lonowski, SDSU's AAUP representative said the AAUP is waiting for the grievance process to conclude before deciding whether or not to investigate a possible censure.

However, [SDSU labor union COHE president Bill] Adamson said an investigation is very likely.

"If you read between the lines, the AAUP will probably conduct an investigation," he said. "They won't censure just SDSU. They'll censure all the universities in the entire BOR system" [Emma DeJong, "Faculty Reviews Dismissal," SDSU Collegian, 2010.09.15].

According to DeJong, Catangui is asking the Board of Regents to review SDSU's decision to dismiss him. So if the Board of Regents gets it wrong, the AAUP could well drop the hammer on the whole system.

Upholding SDSU's decision looks more and more like the wrong decision. DeJong reports that the university is confirming that Catangui's research was part of the reason for his firing:

SDSU officials have declined to comment about personnel matters, but Rich Helsper, SDSU's attorney, made a general statement that SDSU "follows the COHE agreement to the letter," and "every faculty member is afforded all due process rights, not only under general law, but under the COHE agreement."

The BOR fired Catangui June 21 for reasons that have not been completely made public. Helsper confirmed that part of the reason for Catangui's termination is that he followed his own research, instead of a mandated requirement, in deciding when to spray for the removal of soybean aphids.

"Really it's becoming a public issue at this point because there is a serious threat that the university is going to get a censure from AAUP," said Bill Adamson, president of the SDSU chapter of COHE [DeJong, 2010.09.15].

Yikes. A professor gets fired for following the results of his research. That's a textbook definition of violation of academic freedom.

DeJong reports that Catangui had an opportunity to address the SDSU Acaademic Senate at its regular meeting yesterday. No word yet on the outcome of that meeting. The professors' governing body is waiting until its September 28 to make a decision as to what if anything it will do concerning Catangui's dismissal. The profs are waiting to act because they think there's more to this case than the university is letting on... and they're saying it publicly:

Senators Sandy Smart, animal and range sciences associate professor, and Patty Hacker, a health, physical education and recreations professor, said they think there is information that they likely won't be able to know.

"There's something darker under the surface," Smart said. "Somebody's out to get somebody." Hacker agreed.

"There is a distinct possibility that there is something under the surface we will never be privy to because it's a personnel issue," Patty Hacker said. "…I would hesitate to push something forward for immediacy knowing what the ramifications are going to be down the road" [DeJong, 2010.09.15].

Somebody's out to get somebody—that's a pretty serious statement to put on the record. But one can perhaps understand strong feelings from professors who look at a colleague's dismissal and see no reason given other than a pretty clear statement that speaking and acting on the basis of freely and fairly conducted research can get you fired.

What is the deep dark something under the surface? Is it manipulation or suppression of research unfavorable to Monsanto, whose executive board member David Chicoine also serves as SDSU president? Is it something else? Is there some other ethical, financial, oor political issue afoot?

Lest our state's entire university system suffer AAUP sanction, SDSU and the Board of Regents had better lay out the full story and either make clear they have done the right thing or quickly rectify any errors they have made.

Nesselhuf Tops SOS Poll; Constitution Party Cracks 4%!

The latest Madville Times poll shows a strong standing for Demorat Ben Nesselhuf, at least among all you Web literati. I asked "Which candidate will get your vote for South Dakota Secretary of State?" Here's what 141 of you said:

Lori Stacey	6 (4%)
Jason Gant	36 (26%)
Ben Nesselhuf	99 (70%)

Votes: 141
Conducted 2010.09.20–22.

A last-minute push from the Constitution Party camp pushed Lori Stacey just over the 4% mark, an amazing showing for otherwise hapless purveyors of conspiracy theories, unsupportable libel lawsuit threats, and ineffective legal arguments. The latest from the Stacey bunker: this broadside branding South Dakota Right to Life as deceivers for endorsing Republican Jason Gant.

Stacey says nothing about Gant's demonstrable deceit concerning his no-show at last week's scheduled forum with Ben Nesselhuf on Thursday at Western Dakota Tech.

What might the numbers of the candidates in double digits tell us?

1. Nesselhuf voters find great comfort in reading the Madville Times. :-)
2. My eager readers prefer Nesselhuf's focus on issues specific to South Dakota, including his intelligent and outside-the-box attention to economic development, over Gant's GOP playbook campaign of fear-mongering over voter fraud that happens elsewhere but is hardly an issue in South Dakota.

More polls to come! Stay tuned!

Vista Family Dairies Exists! Looks Like Millner Buying Bankrupt Dairy Back

Vista Family Dairies, the high bidder in last week's auction of bankrupt and polluting Veblen East mega-dairy, finally exists, as of Tuesday, September 21. The South Dakota Secretary of State has finally received the LLC's Articles of Organization. Vista Family Dairies has the same street address as Prairie Ridge Management, the company headed by Richard Millner that built Veblen East and lobbied the South Dakota Legislature to exempt huge dairies from the Family Farm Act.

Vista's agent is Jorden Hill of Veblen. Its organizers are Robert Jameson of West Fargo, ND; Jeffrey Topp of Grace City, ND; and Wayne Viessman of Gary, SD. Hill and Viessman have been partners with Millner in his previous South Dakota dairy exploits and in lobbying Congress for easier regs on hiring foreign workers.

Millner's name isn't on the Vista "Family" Dairies papers... but how much would you like to bet he's rounding up the investors for what feels like a bankruptcy shell game?

Campaign Ad Watch: Dusty Johnson Keeps It Simple

Pastor Steve Hickey's right: Public Utilities Commissioner Dusty Johnson's elevator pitch is a heck of an ad:



No cheesy music, no schmaltzy imagery of Commissioner Johnson gazing at majestic buffalo or picking wildflowers with his kids along the Keystone pipeline route. Just the man himself, a little humor, and his cut-to-the-chase argument for why he thinks we should hire him again.

And in the Web bonus of the week, we all will be freeze-framing the opening second trying to identify the woman exiting the elevator and the exact expression the producers directed her to make over Dusty's laying that sticker on her bosom.

My PUC vote remains undecided, but I will definitely keep this ad in my folder for the next time I teach job interviews in speech class. Now I want to see the follow-up ad where Dusty delivers this pitch while taking the stairs.

Voting Rights Call for Action: Pierre Should Guarantee Shannon County Balloting

I take voting for granted. I assume that I can walk into the Lake County Courthouse during business hours any time between now and Election Day and and fill in my ballot.

I guess I'm lucky I'm not living in Shannon County... and part of a key Democratic-leaning constituency that the state's Republicans would love to see miss the vote:

Native Americans have long faced police harassment, illegal voter challenges, and election-day chaos on the way to the polls in South Dakota. Those problems may soon be over on the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. That's because South Dakota has no clear plan to provide any voting at all in this fall's election.

The imminent disenfranchisement of thousands of voters follows resignations of officials in the off-reservation county that handled outsourced, non-tribal government services, including elections, for Pine Ridge's Shannon County. However, the crisis may also have arisen because Oglalas, members of the nation's most marginalized ethnic group, have emerged as deciders in South Dakota elections -- as have tribes in other areas since 2000, when Native support helped send Washington state's Maria Cantwell to the U.S. Senate. With Shannon County voters turning in the nation's highest Democratic performance in recent presidential elections, sidelining them is a game-changer in close contests, including this year's race for the state's sole Congressional seat, held by Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

South Dakota's head election official, Secretary of State Chris Nelson, has taken a hands-off approach to the problem, saying the counties involved should solve it. If they don't, said Attorney General Marty Jackley, who's up for re-election, "the state will weigh the need to take action" [Stephanie Woodard, "South Dakota Election Scandal: Are Oglala Sioux Voting Rights Doomed?" Huffington Post, 2010.09.20].

I might be able to appreciate Secretary Nelson's fatherly, "you kids settle your own differences" approach, if we weren't talking about a fundamental Constitutional (federal and state) right. Shannon and Fall River counties may need to untwist their own knickers, but the state has an obligation to ensure every eligible South Dakotan has the same opportunity to vote. Our right to vote should not hinge on a bureaucratic spat or any other vagary of local government.

I can vote every business day at my courthouse. Every citizen of Shannon County and every other jurisdiction in South Dakota should have the same opportunity. Secretary Nelson should deputize a couple folks in his office, give them a van loaded with ballots and a couple strong metal boxes, and send them with a Highway Patrol escort to set up an absentee polling place in Pine Ridge.
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Bonus: Chat with Secretary Nelson live online this morning at 9 a.m. Mountain (that's 40 minutes from the time of this posting!) on the Rapid City Journal's live web chat, hosted by Kevin Woster.

Grassland Wilderness: Noem Willfully Uninformed, Ikes on Board, Herseth Sandlin Still Thinking...

As we wait to see if the Senate will act on Tim Johnson's really good grassland wilderness bill, it is worth noting that GOP House hopeful Kristi Noem not only has not read the whole bill (S. 3310, the Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act... all six whopping pages of it!), but also won't even listen to folks who could explain it to her:

Several weeks ago we requested a meeting with Noem to provide information about wilderness and share with her the support this legislation has received from over 50 local organizations including hunters, the Oglala, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock and Lower Brule Sioux Tribes, conservationists and others. Unfortunately, we received no response.

I hope Noem reconsiders, and bases her decision on factual, accurate information this time around [Cheryl Warren, SD Wild Grassland Coalition, letter to the editor, Rapid City Journal, 2010.09.15].

The South Dakota Izaak Walton League also supports the Cheyenne River grassland wilderness plan. More wild-eyed grass-hugging greenies? Not from the looks of the folks I see at the Ikes' clubhouse on Lake Herman.

I note that Richard Rasmussen's letter cites Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's "recognition that Sen. Johnson's grassland wilderness bill positively affects hunting and the economy." But Herseth Sandlin's office has yet to finish its evaluation of "this complex issue" and issue the endorsement that Senator Johnson's bill deserves.