THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK

“Politics is the work of overcoming complacency and fear. That’s where real courage comes from. Not from turning on each other but by turning toward one another. Not by sowing hatred and division but by spreading love and truth. Not by avoiding our responsibilities to create a better America and a better world but by embracing those responsibilities with joy and perseverance and discovering that in our beloved community we do not walk alone.”

— President Barack Obama in his eulogy to Rep. John Lewis

STATE LEGION BASEBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

At Pete Lien Memorial Field, Rapid City:
FRIDAY—
5 p.m. MDT: Brandon Valley vs. Pierre.
7:30 p.m.: Rapid City Post 22 vs. Renner
SATURDAY—
2 p.m.: Friday’s losers (loser eliminated).
4:30 p.m.: Friday’s winners (winner advances to championship game).
7 p.m.: Winner of 2:00 game vs. loser of 4:30 game (loser eliminated; winner advances to championship game).
SUNDAY—
Noon: Championship game #1.
2:30 p.m.: Championship game #2, if necessary.

BASEBALL UPDATE

One of the keys to victory in baseball is capitalizing on the opponent’s errors, putting the baseball into play and forcing the other team to make plays. That was never more apparent than Monday night before a big crowd at Hyde Stadium as Pierre Post 8 hosted Harrisburg in one of four Legion baseball super-regionals. In Game 1 Pierre took advantage of Harrisburg mistakes to rally for a spine-tingling win. In Game 2 Harrisburg had chance after chance to take control of the game and never could. Clutch pitching and hitting didn’t hurt either as Pierre swept the doubleheader, winning the best-of-3 series in two games and advancing to the four-team state tournament.

Pierre Post 8 vs. Harrisburg (Game 1): Harrisburg put its No. 1 starter, Chase Mason, on the mound for the crucial opening game, and Pierre went with Jack Van Camp. That proved to be a good move as Van Camp went six innings, giving up only two hits and walking only three while striking out nine. Through four innings, of the 12 Harrisburg outs, seven were Van Camp strikeouts. He did get out of one early jam in the second when, with two Harrisburg men on base, River Iverson made a diving inning-ending catch in left field. Pierre had a chance with two runners in the bottom of the fourth, but a double play killed that threat. Finally in the top of the fifth the visitors broke through. A leadoff home run, the team’s 40th of the season, made it 1-0. A subsequent single and an error allowed a second run to score. Down 2-0 with three at-bats remaining, Pierre began its rally, one run at a time, with Harrisburg’s help. In the bottom of the fifth, Matt Lusk scored from third with two out on a passed ball past the catcher. In the sixth Andrew Coverdale’s two-out single led to a tie game when the pitcher, attempting to pick Coverdale off first base, threw the ball away, and Coverdale scampered to third. From there Andy Gordon came through with a clutch RBI hit to tie the game. Lusk, the team’s closer all season, went to the mound for the seventh, needing to keep the game tied, and he got Harrisburg 1-2-3 with two of the outs via strikeout. Pierre’s winning run in the bottom of the seventh came without the aid of a hit. Coverdale with one out was hit with a pitch. On a ball hit by A.J. Goeden, the shortstop bobbled the ball, and Coverdale was able to reach second base safely. A wild pitch moved him along to third. A walk to Cade Hinkle loaded the bases, setting up a perfect situation for walkoff-wizard Garrett Stout. On the first pitch to him he ended the game with a solid single, giving Pierre a 1-0 lead in the series.

Pierre Post 8 vs. Harrisburg (Game 2): Batting last in the first game and first in the second game, Post 8 had momentum continue with a four-run top of the first to jump on Harrisburg in its do-or-die game right from the start. Coverdale provided an RBI single, Iverson scored on an error on another of those fateful pickoff attempts which never work, Gordon had an RBI hit, and Lincoln Kienholz’s hit made it 4-0. A passed ball in the second made it 5-0. Pierre starter Stout didn’t have his best stuff, but he gutted out a strong effort, and the fact his teammates had provided him with a comfortable lead helped. Stout walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. After one strikeout a balk scored Harrisburg’s first run, but Stout struck out the next two men to quell the threat. He held the visitors scoreless through the third and the fourth as Harrisburg continued to fail on one scoring opportunity after another. Through four innings they had stranded nine runners. Post 8 began to put the game and the series out of reach with a three-run fifth on RBI hits by Gordon and Lusk and a run-scoring wild pitch. Stout was replaced just into the fifth inning, but he had struck out eight among Harrisburg’s first 12 outs and allowed only one hit. The problem, one which Harrisburg failed to capitalize upon, was that Stout walked nine and hit one. Still when he left, he and his team had an 8-1 lead. A hit batter with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth off reliever Aaron Booth made it 8-2, but the next reliever, Jack Mayer, got a strikeout to strand more Harrisburg runners. Pierre added its ninth run on an Iverson double, and a fielder’s choice ball put into play by Coverdale plated the final run in a 10-2 win. Harrisburg went scoreless in the sixth and seventh and at game’s end had stranded 14 runners on base, having been handed 15 free runners on walks and hit batters. Yet they had only one hit in the game. Pierre takes a 31-16 record and a seven-game winning streak into the state tournament.

Four Corners: Having already qualified for the state amateur tournament, Four Corners reached the District 3B championship game where they lost to Plankinton, 10-3. Justin Allen had three hits and J.D. Farley two hits for Four Corners. The first Four Corners game at the state “B” tournament in Mitchell will be at 11 a.m. Sunday against Clark. The winner of that game would play Elk Point or Wynot, Neb., at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday. The quarterfinals are Aug. 13-14, the semifinals Aug. 15 and the state championship game Aug. 16.

Pierre Trappers: In the past week the Trappers lost to Fremont, 7-4; beat Souris Valley, 8-3, then lost to Souris Valley by 18-6, 6-2 and 11-5 scores. Pierre plays Souris Valley at home tonight (Thursday) and goes to Dickinson to play Badlands Friday through Monday. Next week the Trappers will be home vs. Badlands Tuesday and Wednesday, home vs. Hastings Aug. 14-16 and home vs. Badlands Aug. 18-19 to close the season.

Sioux Falls Canaries: The Birds lost to Milwaukee, 5-4; won one of two vs. Chicago, winning 12-11 in 11 innings and losing 13-2 and 14-12 in 11 innings, then beat Milwaukee, 3-1. Sioux Falls is at Milwaukee Thursday and at St. Paul Friday through Sunday before playing St. Paul at home next Tuesday through Thursday.

Minnesota Twins:
Thursday—at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m., FSN, MLBN.
Friday—at Kansas City, 7:05 p.m., FSN.
Saturday—at Kansas City, 6:05 p.m., FSN.
Sunday—at Kansas City, 1:05 p.m., FSN.
Monday—at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m., FSN.
Tuesday—at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m., FSN.
Wednesday—at Milwaukee, 6:10 p.m., FSN, FS1.

Colorado Rockies:
Thursday—San Francisco, 1:10 p.m.
Friday—at Seattle, 7:40 p.m.
Saturday—at Seattle, 7:10 p.m.
Sunday—at Seattle, 2:10 p.m.
Monday—Arizona, 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday—Arizona, 6:40 p.m.
Wednesday—Arizona, 1:10 p.m.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: pineapple.
Friday-Sunday: raspberry.
Monday-Tuesday: root beer.
Wednesday-Thursday: coconut.

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Opening competitions for each sport:
— Football: Aug. 28 at Sturgis.
— Volleyball: Aug. 28 at Rapid City Central.
— Cross country: Aug. 28 home for Pierre invitational.
— Boys golf: Aug. 17 at Sioux Falls Washington invitational.
— Girls tennis: Aug. 21 at Sioux Falls invitational.
— Girls soccer: Aug. 14 home vs. Brandon Valley.
— Boys soccer: Aug. 14 home vs. Brandon Valley.
— Competitive cheer/dance: Aug. 29 at Aberdeen invitational.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

Opening competitions for fall sports:
— Football: Aug. 21 home vs. Winner.
— Volleyball: Aug. 29 home vs. Bennett County.

Football schedule:
— Aug. 21, Winner, 7 p.m.
— Aug. 28, at Chamberlain, 7 p.m.
— Sept. 11, at Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central, 7 p.m. (at Forestburg).
— Sept. 18, Miller/Highmore-Harrold, 7 p.m.
— Sept. 25, at Wagner, 7 p.m.
— Oct. 2, Mount Vernon/Plankinton, 7 p.m.
— Oct. 9, Hot Springs, 6 p.m.
— Oct. 16: at Groton Area, 7 p.m.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Opening competitions for fall sports:
— Football: Aug. 21 at Warner.
— Volleyball: Sept. 3 vs. Miller.

Football schedule:
— Aug. 21, at Warner.
— Aug. 28, Wall, 7 p.m.
— Sept. 4, Potter County, 7 p.m.
— Sept. 11, at Herreid/Selby Area, 7 p.m. (at Herreid).
— Sept. 25, Hitchcock-Tulare, 7 p.m.
— Oct. 2, North Border, 7 p.m.
— Oct. 9, Faulkton Area, 7 p.m.
— Oct. 16, at Ipswich/Edmunds Central, 7 p.m. (at Ipswich).

COUNTDOWN

1 day: Sully County Fair, Onida (Aug. 7-9).
1 day: Sturgis motorcycle rally (Aug. 7-16).
1 day: Pierre Players’ “Native Gardens” (Aug. 7-9, 13-15).
1 day: State Legion baseball tournament, Rapid City (Aug. 7-9).
8 days: State 4-H Finals rodeo, Fort Pierre (Aug. 14-16).
8 days: Pierre Governors soccer openers (Aug. 14).
11 days: NBA playoffs begin (Aug. 17).
11 days: Democratic National Convention (Aug. 17-20).
14 days: First day of school in Pierre (Aug. 20).
15 days: Central States Fair, Rapid City (Aug. 21-30).
15 days: Sully Buttes Chargers football opener (Aug. 21).
15 days: Stanley County Buffaloes football opener (Aug. 21).
17 days: Indianapolis 500 (Aug. 23).
18 days: Republican National Convention (Aug. 24-27).
18 days: First day of school at Stanley County (Aug. 24).
22 days: Pierre Governors football opener (Aug. 28).
22 days: Pierre Governors volleyball opener (Aug. 28).
23 days: Stanley County Buffaloes volleyball opener (Aug. 29).

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Directions: Draw a 4×4 box of 16 squares. Number the top row of four boxes 1, 2, 3 and 4 from left to right. Number the left-hand row of boxes 1, 5, 6 and 7 from top to bottom.

Clues:
ACROSS—
(1) To cause suffering.
(5) Ontario Real Estate Association.
(6) Exclude.
(7) Yankton radio station.
DOWN—
(1) “Peter Pan” captain.
(2) Navy football rival.
(3) Guide or restrain.
(4) Minnesota Wild hockey’s Dumba.

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons are still unbeaten this season—both the March portion of the schedule and the summer portion once the MLS season continued. In the quarterfinals of the “MLS is Back” tournament, Minnesota stunned San Jose, 4-1, to advance into the semifinal against Orlando City FC at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN2. That winner will play in the championship match next Wednesday at 7 p.m.

HOCKEY UPDATE

Minnesota Wild: In the Stanley Cup qualifying series against Vancouver, the Wild won the first game, 3-0, but lost Game #2, 4-3. With the series tied 1-1, the third game will be today (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m. The fourth game will be Friday at a time to be announced. Game #5, if necessary, would be played Sunday. Go to www.nhl.com to find game times and television networks involved.

FOOTBALL UPDATE

Revised schedules for the three closest Big 10 Conference schools:

NEBRASKA
Sept. 5: at Rutgers
Sept. 12: Illinois
Sept. 19: Wisconsin
Sept. 26: at Iowa
Oct. 3: Minnesota
Oct. 10: at Ohio State
Oct. 24: at Northwestern
Oct. 31: Penn State
Nov. 14: at Purdue
Nov. 21: Michigan State

MINNESOTA
Sept. 5: at Michigan State
Sept. 12: Michigan
Sept. 19: Iowa
Sepit. 26: at Wisconsin
Oct. 3: at Nebraska
Oct. 10: Indiana
Oct. 24: Purdue
Oct. 31: at Illinois
Nov. 14: Northwestern
Nov. 21: at Maryland

IOWA
Sept. 5: Maryland
Sept. 12: at Purdue
Sept. 19: at Minnesota
Sept. 26: Nebraska
Oct. 3: Northwestern
Oct. 10: at Illinois
Oct. 24: at Penn State
Oct. 31: Michigan State
Nov. 14: Wisconsin
Nov. 21: at Ohio State

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Lynx: The Lynx won both of their WNBA games this week, 83-81 over Chicago and 78-69 over Connecticut. After playing New York last night, Minnesota (now 3-1) plays Indiana at 5 p.m. Friday on FSN+, Los Angeles at 6 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2, and Washington at 5 p.m. next Tuesday on FSN+.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• Augustana University has had a national championship team in three different sports in the past three school years, and Midco Sports Network this month is broadcasting those teams’ championship game telecasts. Tonight (Thursday) the softball team’s 2019 title game will be aired at 7 p.m. The baseball team’s 2018 championship game will be seen at that time next Thursday, Aug. 13, and the men’s basketball team’s thrilling win in 2018 will be seen Aug. 20.
• We hope to have games being played from this month into the new year so that we can have our annual weekly football contest here in the Midweek Update. Our first contest (you pick the winners of 10 games each week) will appear just two weeks from now. At first we will have to use just high school games, then we will add college and NFL games as they come onto the scene—IF they are played at all. Anybody is welcome to participate. We keep track of each contestant’s scores each week so that we can crown a champion in February as soon as the Super Bowl is over. (Since we will have some high school games for which you pick winners, rest assured we will NEVER make it known to anybody if you happen to pick against your local high school team!)
• How about a trivia question! What do these South Dakota towns have in common—Hurley, Lebanon, Burke, De Smet, Baltic, Milbank, Brandt, Madison, Draper, Wood, Pollock and Wallace? Send me your guess to parkerhome16@hotmail.com.
• USD’s non-conference football game at Iowa State scheduled for next month is now on life support. Iowa State’s Big 12 Conference has ruled that each member team will play nine conference games and only one non-conference game. Since Iowa State still has both USD and UNLV on its schedule, one of them has to be eliminated.
• Not knowing when the baseball season may be called to a halt, I’ve watched nearly every Twins telecast so far. One of my first observations is that each telecast is much better when Justin Morneau is the color analyst. . . . . . I’m glad I was watching Tuesday afternoon when a drone suddenly appeared in the sky over center field. It didn’t take long for Byron Buxton to get the heck off the field, and everybody else followed him—quickly!—to their dugouts. You all have seen dogs or cats get loose on a major-league field, or a beach ball being thrown onto the field at Dodger Stadium, but a drone hovering overhead, looking ominous, is something new. But, as the announcers said, nothing is surprising in 2020.
• A question for our readers: Just in case you haven’t watched or read about the news in the past couple of days, who in the world do you think uttered this quote regarding more than 150,000 deaths in this country from the coronavirus pandemic—“It is what it is.” Yep, you are right. He said it. The same guy who, reading a script he obviously had not read over in advance, pronounced “Yosemite” as YO-SA-MIGHT. He had the word “Sequoias” in the same sentence and made it through that one.
• And now just yesterday afternoon NCAA Division II canceled its national championships for football, volleyball, soccer and cross country. So we wait to see if the NSIC (Northern, Augustana, USF), the RMAC (Mines, Black Hills State) and other leagues cancel their football seasons. Is anybody else besides me getting the idea that this fall we will be watching reruns of football from previous years rather than live games? Where are all those people who said this virus thing would be over and we would be back to “normal” by this fall? (Actually they’re out there going to public events as if “normal” were already here.)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I dream of a world where truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true.”

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Aug. 6:
Tenley Fitzke, Patti (Mercer) Jordre, Janet (Schuh) Fulk, Nick Bengs, Boston Bryant, Matthew Booth, Chris Brinkman, Lynette McCarty, Justin Williams, Greg Byrum, Kipp Stahl, Michelle Dvorak, Ryan Yackley, Lincoln Schoenhard, David Perry, Lois Byrum.
— 4th anniversary, Scott/Bailey (Armstrong) Wagner.
— 15th anniversary, Travis/Becky Lindekugel.
— 43rd anniversary, John/Mary (Junkman) Hoover.
— 54th anniversary, Jim/Judy Ulmen.
— 9th anniversary, Jacob/Chezarae Shoup.
— 15th anniversary, Mike/Corinna (Bevers) Christopher.
— Anniversary, Rod/Terry Fisher.

Friday, Aug. 7:
Reese Fisher, Sylvia Jo Imsland, Sam Fjelstad, Jeremy Hamm, Judi West, Jane Naylor, Leighton Hoover, Suzanne Stahl, Tate Rinehart, Bob Tobin, Rick Swanson, Chev Hackett.
— 44th anniversary, Myron/Deb Bryant.
— 16th anniversary, Roby/Krista Bass.
— 37th anniversary, Geoff/Beth (Pospisil) Simon.
— 16th anniversary, Benjamin/Shannon (Dykstra) Herbert.
— 55th anniversary, Ken/Diane Stofferahn.
— 16th anniversary, Josh/Jessica (Wilson) Bosma.
— Anniversary, John/Jan Artz.
— 44th anniversary, Myron/Anita Rau.
— 10th anniversary, Garrett/Kelsey (Bartel) Glynn.
— 10th anniversary, Chad/Winter (Nicholas) Hendrickson.
— 10th anniversary, Wayne/Melissa (Stewart) Crawford.
— 10th anniversary, Lucas/Mary (Holm) Keahey.
— 11th anniversary, Justin/Stacey Briese.
— 11th anniversary, John/Laura Williams.

Saturday, Aug. 8:
Molly Kreycik, Mike Herman, Drew White, Korina Deal, Roger Johnson, Patrick Gengler, Declan Pope, Daniel Timmons, Sam Holden, Dantae Dvorak, Dylan Dowling, Kristen Job, Marla Willard, Neil Fennell, Sue Gapp, Brady Mullett.
— 22nd anniversary, Jonathan/Andrea (Viken) Urbach.
— 22nd anniversary, Nathan/Jill (Storsteen) Weber.
— 11th anniversary, Max/Lisa Huber.
— 5th anniversary, Ali/Rachel (LeBeau) Hachem.
— 5th anniversary, Ryan/Cassie Blake.

Sunday, Aug. 9:
Brynn Sogaard, Remington Reilly, Collin Livermont, Rebecca (Zebroski) Neises, Jenny Hallenbeck-Orr, Megan (Joachim) Jaeger, Mary Sieck.
— 34th anniversary, Jeff/Lisa Mammenga.
— 6th anniversary, Ryan/Kelly (Lingle) Royer.
— 23rd anniversary, Chuck/Hope (Hoover) Brenny.
— 12th anniversary, Justin/Stephanie (Mutschler) Pierson.
— 17th anniversary, Nick/Brittany (Bailey) Jarecke.
— 45th anniversary, Terry/Janet Hofer.
— 56th anniversary, John/Linda Knox.
— 17th anniversary, Chris/Jenny Derry.
— 33rd anniversary, Chris/Sarah (Kringel) Hibbitts.

Monday, Aug. 10:
Gracie Weinheimer, Kyndal Van Zee, Sue Light, Christopher Nath, Stella Lindbloom, Stephanie Bengs, Ron Lutz, Laynee Brandt, Kaydee Hewlett, Liv Smith.
— 18th anniversary, Toby/Amber Bryant.
— 51st anniversary, John/Margaret Ellefson.
— 18th anniversary, Brett/Stacy Anderson.
— 18th anniversary, Joseph/Michelle (Maskovich) Soulek.
— 18th anniversary, Thomas/Dulcie (Bellander) Stotts.
— 8th anniversary, Dustin/Cidna Pitlick.

Tuesday, Aug. 11:
Courtney Sheffield, Terry Becker, Mike Snyder, Archie Haag, Alex Ludemann, Susan Quinn, Scott Lamb, JoAnn Nelsen, Tom Opoien.
— 2nd anniversary, Nick/Sasha (Kean) Bishop.
— 2nd anniversary, Steve/Cassie Long.
— 20th anniversary, Mark/Meghann (O’Day) Kjolsrud.
— 8th anniversary, Jim/Lindsey (Jungwirth) Costello.
— 35th anniversary, Dave/Denette (Eisnach) Becker.
— 14th anniversary, A.J./Amanda (Huck) Stoeser.
— 13th anniversary, Clinton/Missy (Drew) Figland.
— 13th anniversary, Austin/Lindsey Schneider.
— 13th anniversary, Jonathan/Sarah (Yackley) Ploeger.

Wednesday, Aug. 12:
Lindsay Ambur, Cooper Hogan, Courtney Zander, Taylor Murtland, Molly Wilbur, Mary (Holm) Keahey, Kari Anderson, Bo Rosane.
— 3rd anniversary, Chris/Ashlee Voller.
— 41st anniversary, Dave/Marcia Mack.
— 14th anniversary, Tim/Lindsey (Simons) Ferber.
— 14th anniversary, Jeff/Jamie (Stokke) Lemire.
— 20th anniversary, Kevin/Julie Lors.
— 20th anniversary, Christopher/Jessica (Yost) Cox.

Thursday, Aug. 13:
Kory Davis, Misti (Currier) Baumberger, Sam Herrscher, Charissa Howard, Bobbi (West) Meyer, Leto Knudson, Finn Meiners, Andi Mancuso.
— 4th anniversary, Jerry/Aly Bollinger.
— 9th anniversary, A.J./Tisa Wharton.
— 9th anniversary, Cody/Raelynn (Foss) Dewell.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

The Pierre city commission was planning to commit at least $6.5 million to the basic design of a new outdoor municipal swimming pool. But the commission decided Tuesday night to increase its contribution to $10 million. (News courtesy of “Today’s KCCR News.”)

The Mount Vernon amateur baseball team for which Bradley Dean plays earned a state tournament berth when they beat Parkston, 11-1, last week. Brad had two hits in the game.

Shawn and Whitney (Stoeser) Schnabel are expecting their first child in February. Earlier this summer the Schnabels moved from Spearfish to the St. Louis area where Shawn is now offensive line coach for the football team at Missouri Baptist University.

Bonnie Gudahl, 81, Salem died July 28. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the United Church in Salem. She is survived by two sons, Kevin Gudahl of Chicago and Tim Gudahl of Pierre; three daughters, Robin Gudahl of Howard, Dawn Wood of Littleton, Colo., and Brenda Jolley of Canistota; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; her twin brother, Ron Merriman of Pierre, and another brother, Lyle Merriman of Lakeland, Minn.

We mentioned in a recent Midweek Update that Claire (Garry) Peschong had retired from the U.S. Navy after 19 years. Our story implied that she was retiring because she was now suffering from cancer. The good news is that Claire recently marked a full year in remission.

In a program at USD this week, T. Denny Sanford made a $12.5 million endowment to the law school, which will be renamed the Knudson School of Law in honor of Sioux Falls attorney Dave Knudson. Sanford’s endowment will fund up to 10 full-tuition scholarships for each incoming class for generations. After attending Harvard for his undergraduate degree and New York University for his law degree, Knudson earned his MBA at USD in 1981. He became part of the Danforth law firm in Sioux Falls and soon became a partner there. He was chief of staff for Governor Janklow. He served in the state senate from 2003 to 2011 and was majority leader from 2007 to 2011. He worked as senior vice president at Sanford Health from 2010 to 2015 and is now senior vice president at United National Corporation. At this week’s ceremony Sanford said Knudson “has been by my side as an attorney and an adviser for 34 years.” Knudson’s wife is the former De Welch, a native of Blunt. They are the parents of two sons, Mike Knudson and his wife Kylie of Sioux Falls and Mark Knudson and his wife Rohini of Redmond, Wash., and they have three grandsons.

Judith (Andersen) McNeil, 80, of Onamia, Minn., died Aug. 1. A family gathering will be held at a later date. She is survived by two brothers; four children, including Mary Jo Bullard and her husband Harlan of Pierre; 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Congratulations to Riggs High alumnus Kirk Albertson (’97), who announced his engagement to Virginia Peterson this week.

Jack Sutton, who played on the Harrisburg Legion baseball team against Pierre this season and in the super-regional this week, is the son of Riggs High alumnus John Sutton and the grandson of Sully County native Matt Sutton.

Mary Ellen Ronish died Aug. 1 at the age of 76. A graveside memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, at Scotty Philip Cemetery. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Born in Redfield, Mary Ellen married Michael Ronish in 1961. They celebrated their 59th anniversary earlier this year. She worked as a teller at Fort PIerre National Bank, Security National Bank and First National Bank. The Ronishes wintered on the Arizona desert. She is survived by her husband, Mike; her daughter, Brenda Hardwick and her husband Jim of Pierre; her son, Chad Ronish and his wife Carmen of Hill City; six grandchildren; a sister, Alline Heidenreich of Aberdeen, and three brothers, Gerald Maxwell of Sacramento, Calif., Robert Maxwell of Fort Pierre and Don Maxwell of Phoenix.

Openings/reopenings/restrictions:

1. The Dakota Valley schools at North Sioux City will require masks wherever social distancing is not possible, including in buses. The same is true of the Rapid City Catholic schools.
2. The Spearfish school district has delayed the opening day of the year to Sept. 8, and the board there is debating a mask mandate.
3. Harrisburg athletes, cheerleaders and band members will be given a specific number of spectator passes with the expectation that the passes will be used only for their own family members.
4. A family friend, Holly Lindsay, and her family recently moved from Rapid City to Oklahoma. In their new school district students whose last names begin with letters A to K will go to school Mondays and Tuesdays; L-Z go on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and everybody goes to school virtually each Friday. The Sioux Falls district will require face coverings in all buildings. Half of each school’s student body there will start school Aug. 27, and the other half will start Aug. 28.
5. Governor DeWine in Ohio is issuing a mandate that masks will be required in all K-12 public schools in that state when the school year begins.
6. One of Governor Noem’s staff members explained that the governor does not discourage wearing masks, but that she is opposed to mandatory masking. She did, however, say in an e-mail last week that masks “may” do more harm than good.
7. The Brandon Valley school district will use event passes to limit attendance at school events. They also ruled that students who choose to attend school online will not participate in extra-curricular activities at school.
8. South Dakota is plunging ahead with every large-scale event it can possibly schedule. A near-capacity crowd attended the opening night of racing at 9,000-seat Huset’s Speedway at Brandon Sunday night. Hundreds have been attending the Sioux Empire Fair in Sioux Falls this week. There the fair workers wore masks, but the majority of the crowd did not. The state amateur baseball tournament begins Friday for a 10-day run in Mitchell, and there are no restrictions there whatsoever. And then there is the motorcycle rally.
9. The Chicago public schools will announce only all-remote learning to start the school year.
10. The mayor in Bismarck is appealing to residents to wear masks. The number of positive cases in the Bismarck metropolitan area has passed 1,000, and North Dakota’s statewide total of active cases has reached a new high.

Closings/cancellations:

1. The Northeast Conference, which has colleges in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, has postponed its football season, the fourth league to do so.
2. The coronavirus reared its head on the Augustana and Northern campuses last week. Six Augie athletes tested positive, so all athletic activities were stopped last Thursday. At NSU eight students tested positive as well as one high school student who had attended an athletic camp on the campus.
3. Major league baseball’s Field of Dreams game between the White Sox and the Cardinals at Dyersville, Iowa, where the movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed has been canceled until next summer. Many of the Cardinals players have tested positive for the virus, and the team’s games this week have not been played.
4. The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes’ traditional Christmas spectacular has been canceled for this coming holiday season.
5. The college triathlon season for this fall has been canceled in all schools.
6. The state Department of Health now says 93 South Dakota residents and three out-of-staters acquired the coronavirus at the Baptist Camp Judson near Keystone. Forty-four of the 93 have recovered, and there have been no deaths yet, which will likely be the state’s main talking point.
7. This is getting pretty close to home. In Minnesota the high school football and volleyball seasons have now been postponed from this fall to a winter/spring season.
8. And now it begins. Connecticut (UConn) is the first FBS school to cancel its football season.
9. The ECHL of which the Rapid City Rush is a member has delayed the start of its hockey season from mid-October to Dec. 4.
10. The Yankton Quarterback Club will not hold its weekly program meetings until at least the basketball season.
11. In Tennessee the Knox County schools have pushed back the start of school from Aug. 10 to Aug. 24 due to lack of staff. In addition, students were given the option of in-person or virtual learning, but teachers were not given that choice. Teachers were told they could take a leave of absence if they wanted all-virtual classes. Now the virtual staff is down to one solitary teacher, and those teachers told to take leaves of absence are not being allowed to teach virtual classes.
12. In Iowa at least two school districts are refusing to follow Gov. Kim Reynolds’ demand that they return students to classrooms. She and the state are threatening administrators of those districts that they will be subject to discipline regarding their teaching/administrative licenses if they do not follow her orders.
13. The Valleyfair amusement park south of Minneapolis will remain closed until 2021.

Debra Bollinger of Richmond, Va., has spent two weeks in the northern Black Hills to finalize the remodeling of the old part of her family’s vacation home. The Bollinger family will have an updated retreat, and Deb plans to spend from June through September there starting next year.

Cody and Kashia (Axthelm) Rosenau of Del Rey, Calif., are the parents of a son, Otis Andrew Rosenau, who was born Aug. 1. He weighed 11 pounds and measured 21 3/4 inches. He joins a brother, Ezra, who will be 3 on Sept. 30. Otis was born at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica.

“Native Gardens,” the first show of Pierre Players’ 2020-21 season, opens this weekend at Grand Opera House. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The play continues Thursday, Friday and Saturday next week at 7:30 p.m.

Mark Meierhenry, 75, died July 29 in hospice care after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis. A native of Gregory, he was born two weeks after his father was killed in action in World War II. He graduated from USD in 1966 and from the USD School of Law in 1970. His first job in a long legal career was as director of legal services for the Crow Creek, Lower Brule and Rosebud reservations. From 1974 to 1979 he lived in Vermillion where he formed the Meierhenry, DeVany and Krueger law firm. Meierhenry served two terms as South Dakota’s attorney general from 1979 to 1987, during which time he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court six times. He then built his own law practice in Sioux Falls with his son, Todd, and George Danforth. Todd’s wife, Sabrina, and their daughter, Mae, also entered law and practiced with the firm now known as Meierhenry and Sargent. Meierhenry’s daughter, Mary, is a doctor. Besides his work in law, Meierhenry wrote children’s books with his friend, David Volk, former state treasurer. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, former state Supreme Court Justice Judith Meierhenry; their son, Todd Meierhenry and his wife, Sabrina Siebert; their daughter, Mary, and her husband, Wade Dosch, and seven grandchildren. Among those preceding him in death were his father, Vernon; his mother, Mary Meierhenry O’Neill; his stepfather, Robert O’Neill, and three grandchildren.

Rhett Hughes Miller is the son of Derrick and Kelbie (Frederick) Miller of Emery, who became parents for the first time when he was born July 31. Rhett weighed 4.6 pounds and measured 18 inches. He is the first grandchild of Kesiah (Pearson) Frederick and the first great-grandchild of Patty Pearson.

Cecil Staples, 81, died July 28. A native of Butte, Neb., he married Judy Crain of Blunt in 1962. They were married for 58 years. Cecil worked on Oahe and Big Bend dams, on the Frying Pan/Arkansas River diversion tunnel under the Continental Divide in Colorado, and on the beginning construction of Denver International Airport. He worked for several car dealerships in South Dakota and Wyoming, including Holtz Motors, Harding Motors, Queen City Auto, Bill Barth and Wegner Auto. He also sold advertising for KSLT Radio in the Black Hills. Cecil was a car racer on tracks at Pierre, Miller and Rapid City. He was active in numerous roles at Open Bible Church in Blunt and First Assembly of God in Pierre. He is survived by his wife, Judy Staples; their daughter, Debra Wheaton and her husband Richard of Belle Fourche; their son son, Brett Staples and his wife Melisa of Gillette, Wyo.; six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

DAY BY DAY

THURSDAY, JULY 30
The funeral service for Congressman John Lewis in Atlanta today was must-see television. Not many people have three former Presidents among those paying tribute to them in person at their funerals. Services such as this one at the traditionally Black churches in the South tend to run long, and today’s was no exception, but all the major networks stayed with it, knowing full well that the eulogy from former President Obama was coming at the end. He did not disappoint as he never does when he is at a speaker’s podium. Displaying his pettiness, President Trump, who is never invited to any of these events and for good reason, suddenly declared an “emergency news conference” that sent White House reporters scurrying to the press room, precisely at the moment Obama began his eulogy. Trump probably figured the networks would break away for whatever the President himself had to say, but they did not fall for his games. Even Fox News Channel stayed with the funeral throughout the Obama speech.

FRIDAY, JULY 31
Does anybody who is paying attention to major league baseball’s return expect the abbreviated 60-game season to reach a finish? Every day, it seems, there is another reason to worry that we might not make it to the end of September, not to mention the playoffs in October. First it was the Miami Marlins, who played an opening series with the knowledge that some of their players had already tested positive for the coronavirus. Their games were canceled through all of this week. The Phillies, whom the Marlins had played, lost a series. The Orioles flew to Miami but never played a game there. Today a pair of Cardinals, we learn, have tested positive. They were just in Minnesota, but so far the Twins are OK according to tests. But the Cardinals’ game at Milwaukee tonight has already been called off. That’s what will happen when a bunch of good old boys gather at a casino in the midst of a pandemic. Major league baseball is like the United States government in one way—very shaky leadership at the top. We’ve enjoyed having baseball back for a week. But tonight it sounds as if the season could be shut down by as early as next week. Some players can’t quit spitting, can’t stay in their hotel rooms, can’t abide by the regulations, can’t stop celebrating at home plate, and on and on.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1
I am not certain just for what the Noem/Rhoden team is raising funds, unless they have already started taking on cash for their re-election campaign that is still two years away. But to use a fund-raising e-mail, such as the one made public this week, to encourage “all families to send their children back to school without masks” is a new low. She made her point that masks might even do more harm than good. I guess we will see in a couple months if the schools are still open at that point. Her fund-raising e-mail—I did not receive one nor did I expect to—offered the chance to click a link to give $25, click a link to give $30, click a link to give $35, and on and on. I might have responded had I been able to find a link that said “none of the above.” But it seems to me her “encouraging” parents to keep masks off their kids at school is undermining the stressed school boards and administrators who are trying desperately to do the right thing and keep everybody safe. Hopefully they will ignore the governor.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2
Three summers ago I packed up my three oldest grandchildren, who then were ages 15, 12 and 10, and went to Denver for three days of stadium tours, aquarium and museum visits and other sightseeing. One of the “towns” about which we laughed as we passed by was Lost Springs, Wyo., population 4. You will find it as you jog west from Lusk to pick up I-25 over by Douglas. I was reminded of Lost Springs this very morning on the “CBS Sunday Morning” program. They did a segment on the Casper Star-Tribune decision to reduce producing a printed newspaper from seven days per week to five. One of the people whose responses the segment secured was that of a rancher, one of the four people who live in Lost Springs. He said he’s going to miss his newspaper those two days it doesn’t show up in his mailbox. “Some days I just like to sit down with a cup of coffee and read my paper,” he said. Wyoming will become the first state in the nation without a single daily newspaper on the Mondays and Tuesdays when the Casper paper posts only an online edition.

MONDAY, AUGUST 3
Prior to Sunday, I had been called by the lady who organizes the ushers at our church. She asked me to usher at yesterday’s 9 a.m. service, mask included. All was fine until I pulled up to a red light at a downtown intersection and realized that blood was running down my face out of one of my nostrils and that there was already blood on my clean shirt and pants. By the time I got through the red light and pulled into a parking spot, my face, hands and clothes were a mess. It was a good thing I had saved all of those extra napkins from Culver’s visits in my glove compartment! As the blood continued to flow, I drove past the church and saw some familiar usher friends heading indoors, so I knew things were under control. By the time I got back home my nose had stopped bleeding, and I cleaned up myself and the front seat of the car. I missed church in person but settled in to watch the late service online. I’ll give it a shot next Sunday!

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4
Last year when I heard that the Legion baseball people were changing away from the traditional regional tournament format to a seed-point formula similar to what the high schools use for their sports, I was against it. My fear was that we would end up with a state tournament of all Sioux Falls-area teams and the rest of the state would be left out. At least the regional tournament format assured that there would be two teams from each section of the state. But now that we have gone through the new method once, I have changed my opinion. In the past we never heard about the other regionals, it was impossible to follow them, and we didn’t know who had qualified for state until somebody finally told us. But this week all the media were reporting on the regionals and super-regionals, and one reason for that is that they were all happening at the same time. Anybody who sat in on Pierre’s super-regional Monday night can’t say that wasn’t intense, exciting baseball. And as for Sioux Falls area teams, West, East and Harrisburg all fell by the wayside along the way. Since the majority of Legion teams and players are in that metro area, I guess I can stand that they have two of the four teams in this coming weekend’s “final four.”

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5
By the time you read this Midweek Update next week, my oldest granddaughter will have gone off to college. What? Already? When I retired from the Capital Journal and BankWest in the spring of 2004 and left Pierre, she was almost 2 years old. Now here she is, 18 years old, talented, lovely, compassionate, wonderful. You who read this Update every week should brace yourselves because the other day I went through a box of my favorite columns from all my years as a newspaper guy and will be resurrecting them for your reading pleasure over the next few weeks. One of them made use of an unsolicited e-mail that showed up one day in 2005, somebody’s list of things a college student will take only a semester or less to realize. There were a couple on the list that, knowing her as I do, I think would not apply to our Olivia: (1) That you are one of those people your parents warned you about, and (2) That home is a great place to visit but you’re probably glad you don’t live there any more. But college is college, after all, so here are some of those things it won’t take Olivia and her fellow college freshmen long to learn:
* That no matter how late you schedule your first class, you will sleep through it at least once.
* That you have changed so much without even realizing it.
* That you can love a lot of people in a lot of different ways.
* That, if you wear polyester, people will ask why you are so dressed up.
* That each clock on campus shows a different time.
* That, if you were smart in high school, so what!
* That you can know everything and still fail a test.
* That you can know nothing and still ace a test.
* That having a final exam one day is no excuse for not attending a party the night before.
* That most of your education will be obtained outside of class.
* That there is somebody on your campus who will find you a lot more interesting, attractive and fun to be around than anybody in your high school class ever did.
* That your parents will believe you only so often when you say you spent the whole evening in the library.
* That Sunday is a figment of the world’s imagination.
* That psychology is really biology, that biology is really chemistry, that chemistry is really physics, and that physics is really math.
* That your parents are gradually becoming smarter as time goes along.
* That it is possible to be alone even when you are surrounded by friends.
* That you live for getting mail, even junk mail.
* That you have come to know the pizza boy on a first-name basis.
* That looking out the dorm window is a form of entertainment.
* That you will think to yourself at least once a week, “Man, I’m glad Mr. ___ (or Mrs. ___) made me learn that in high school.”
* That Walmart has become such a cool place.
* That the weekend lasts from Thursday through Sunday.
* That rearranging your room is your favorite pastime.
* That everybody on your floor of the dorm will think your mother is the coolest mom around when you get a box full of homemade cookies.
* That wearing dirty socks three days in a row is no big thing.
* That you would rather clean than study.
* That you will think nothing of driving back to campus through the night from an out-of-state concert.
* That next semester you will schedule your classes around your sleep habits and the soap opera schedule.
* That you are starting to think and sound like your roommate.
* That black lights and highlighters are the coolest things.
* That your having such a good time being away from home won’t seem so disappointing to your parents when your name appears on the Dean’s List.
* That your whites don’t turn out nearly so white when you do your own laundry as when Mom does it.
* That friends are what make college worthwhile.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWER

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A MESSAGE LEFT BEHIND

Rep. John Lewis in the last week of his life wrote a piece for the New York Times, asking that it be published on the day of his funeral. Here is part of his final message to us:

“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it. . . . . .

“I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

“When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.”