Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, Jan. 22
Greater police presence needed downtown
What will it take for the Rapid City Police Department to make the downtown a public-safety priority?
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Alderwoman Lisa Modrick told Police Chief Karl Jegeris the city has an “urgent need” that should be addressed. Alderman Jerry Wright called it an “extremely serious situation” and that he “can sense danger” while downtown. He would later make a motion to immediately appropriate $200,000 to deal with the panhandling, loitering, public drinking and all the problems that come with that behavior.
Aldermen Jason Salamun, John Roberts and Steve Laurenti repeatedly asked what can be done “now” to shore up public safety in Rapid City’s core business district.
The council members’ questions followed public testimony from downtown business representatives who - as one said - were “asking for help.” The Elks Theatre representative talked about the brick that was thrown through one of their windows last Sunday night by a vagrant who is well-known to police. Jegeris would say later that the man’s 64 past interactions with police, 15 trips to detox units and countless nights in jail were “a cry for help.”
The owner of the Firehouse Brewing Co. reported a theft that occurred Monday night at his busy downtown establishment when two men walked in and stole some wine. He said that at times it has become “scary” downtown.
Those testimonials took on additional meaning a few hours later when the city awoke Wednesday morning to the shocking news that a convenience store clerk had been stabbed to death while attempting to stop a beer theft on Mount Rushmore Road.
Through it all, however, Jegeris remained steadfast in his reluctance to commit additional long-term resources to address a problem of great concern for those who invest, work, live and spend money in downtown Rapid City.
Jegeris repeatedly said he does not have the resources to do this now even though he oversees a department with 129 officers and an annual budget of more than $12 million.
He explained that it is a complicated social problem and cited the work of Rapid City Collective Impact, a group that is looking at a wide range of issues, as the source of a possible long-term solution. In an email he sent later in the week to the City Council, he advocated establishing an ambassador program that would be overseen by another organization and finding funds for a “social work team” to handle the problems that exist today.
The police chief offered many reasons on Tuesday night on why the department could not respond with more vigor to the council’s requests or do little more than offer a temporary solution, continually citing the overwhelming nature of the problem that bedevils the downtown.
We now ask him to consider the reasons for committing more resources despite the challenges its poses to his department.
Business groups and the city itself have invested considerable resources and funds into making our downtown part of the Black Hills tourism experience and a place where locals can shop, eat and bring their children to a place like Main Street Square where they can dance in the water fountains in the summer and skate at the ice rink in the winter.
The downtown is populated by small businesses that play an essential role in its vitality and also collect sales tax, which is needed to fund our city operations.
In the past several years, we have seen many improvements in the City of Presidents, which now features statues of past presidents on downtown street corners where it is not unusual to see tourists mugging for photos with the works of local art.
Even now, the city is looking at a President’s Plaza-style development on the corner of St. Joseph and Fifth streets. City government also has worked diligently to extend a revitalized downtown district east beyond Fifth Street and now has a master plan to guide it.
Rapid City is thinking big when it comes to its downtown, which is good for the entire community.
But we also have vacancies in downtown Rapid City. Alderman Roberts said Tuesday night that a friend recently decided to move his business out of the downtown due to safety concerns. Many people have their own stories of uncomfortable encounters while downtown.
The council ended Tuesday night’s meeting by voting to form a task force to look at the problem and someday offer solutions. Before the vote, Mayor Steve Allender pointed out that over the past 30 years many task forces had been formed to tackle this persistent problem.
A task force is fine but no quick action can be expected from its work. Business owners and others have concerns that need addressing now, and it is the police department’s duty to respond to those concerns rather than offer excuses or seek additional funding.
It’s time to make the downtown a top public-safety priority, which can be as simple as putting more boots on the ground to start, which we have started to see since Tuesday’s meeting, and then making the long-term commitment for an expanded police presence.
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American News, Aberdeen, Jan. 25
Students helping communities deserve praise
Our schools work best when students are taught the value of helping others.
The most recent example is the work being done by the boys and girls involved in the student group Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. Known as FCCLA, it works to prepare students to be good citizens no matter what their vocational calling.
There are more than 60 FCCLA chapters in schools throughout South Dakota, but none in the state’s three largest public districts: Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen. That is something state leaders hope to change, and that we would like to see change.
FCCLA sounds like a group that would benefit not only the largest of our schools, but more of the smaller ones as well.
“We really focus on service projects as well with the students,” said state president Kaley Schweitzer, a senior at Redfield High School. “Our theme this year for state and nationals is U.P. - Unlimited Possibilities.”
Pretty cool theme, as well as to have the group’s state leader come from our area.
Including Redfield, area schools Bowdle, Eureka, Faulkton, Gettysburg, Highmore-Harrold, Miller, Selby Area, Sully Buttes, Clark, Doland, Groton, Hitchcock-Tulare, Rosholt, Sisseton and Webster Area have FCCLA chapters. In the past, the American News has shined its light to the good works of FCCLA chapters in some of those schools, just as we did recently on Redfield’s chapter.
Students in this organization do great things for their communities. They help feed those without food, raise money for good causes and bring awareness - and, we hope, solutions - to problems with their communities.
“We really work on trying to have service projects help out the community,” said Cindy Brace, family and consumer science teacher and FCCLA adviser at Redfield High School. “Sometimes organizations will come to us and say, ’We need your help, can you help us?’”
Students can be rewarded at the state and national levels for their work. But even if such awards don’t come their way, they are often rewarded by the lives they touch and change for the better.
That kind of reward can’t be beat.
Community service is the biggest goal for any chapter of FCCLA. We like that philosophy, because when you make your community and its residents stronger, they have the ability to pass that strength on to even more people.
To get an FCCLA chapter, a school has to have a family and consumer science program. The chapters are a school-sponsored organization.
Students interested in joining an existing chapter should talk to their school’s adviser or a member or officer. Schools interested in starting a new chapter can contact FCCLA state officials at sdfccla.org.
Brace said she has seen FCCLA transform student members.
“As an adviser, when I watch these students join as a seventh-grader to a senior, it’s amazing to see all the skills that come around and that they have developed, from their speaking skills to their organization skills to decision making,” Brace said. “All these things that they do when they’re putting projects together, from seeing a seventh-grader to a senior, it’s amazing.”
Congratulations to all FCCLA members. And thank you for your service.
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The Daily Republic, Mitchell, Jan. 23
Newspaper a source of information past, present, future
“The paper is a thing of the past for a lot of people.”
That comment was made by Mitchell City Councilwoman Bev Robinson at the group’s most recent meeting last week.
Robinson - appointed to the council by Mayor Jerry Toomey when Randy Doescher vacated his seat - is certainly entitled to her opinion. But it’s not correct.
In fact, the content produced by our newspaper has never been viewed more when accounting for print and online readers, and we have figures to prove that.
Robinson’s comment was made during a discussion on the city’s recycling services, specifically addressing how Dependable Sanitation educates the public on the services it provides.
A company spokesman told the council that there were “some newspaper ads” purchased to which Robinson replied with the aforementioned statement.
We wish Robinson was educated more on the topic before speaking publicly about it.
So here are some facts:
- Our readership has never been stronger at The Daily Republic. Approximately 23,000 people read our print edition daily.
- We average more than 1 million page-views on our website, mitchellrepublic.com, every month.
- Our web audience has steadily increased since we began tracking it on Google Analytics in 2014. Last year, our website had 1.4 million users and more than 12 million page-views.
We strive to produce ample amounts of local content daily, and that in turn has helped us to be an award-winning product. Much of the information we have can’t be found anywhere else, which is why we’re so confused about Robinson’s comments.
The position of a city councilperson should be to help support local business and not attempt to hurt them, especially in an open meeting, regardless of their agenda. What’s surprising is Robinson is a local business owner and has typically advocated for supporting local business. Her statement last week, though, did not follow that trend.
We hope moving forward Robinson is educated about statements she makes publicly.
Our newspaper is a thing of the past, but we’re also the main source of information in the present and will continue to be in the future.
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