OUR VIEW: Week in review: the best, worst

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CHEERS to the Mitchell sixth-graders who were behind a large donation of food for the Salvation Army. The Mitchell Middle School students last week loaded about 600 pieces of canned and dry food, after reaching their goal of reading more than 100,000 pages in September. After they reached that goal, County Fair and Coca-Cola agreed to donate the items. This sounds like a great program, and anything that gets kids involved in helping others deserves mention.

Speaking of County Fair, CHEERS to a new program that will see the state Division of Motor Vehicles place a self-service terminal in the local grocery store. It was announced last week that the DMV will put a 24-hour, fully-automated vehicle registration renewal station at County Fair and five other locations throughout the state. The sites should do much to add convenience to this annual process, and we’re glad to see that County Fair’s new and expanded store was one of the chosen places.

CHEERS to news that the rivalry between South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota is growing. We reported last week that the state’s two largest universities will compete in more athletic and academic competitions in the future.

Everyone must know by now that their football teams will meet this weekend in their first matchup in a decade, but we’re happy to see that other competitions are slated, too. The South Dakota Showdown Series will pit SDSU and USD in 17 men’s and women’s sports as well as in academic competitions. This is a great idea, and fun not only for the students and athletes but also for the entire state.

HISSES to the terrible crime that happened late last year in Huron. Last winter, Werner Fajardo was accused of raping teenage girls at his uptown bar. He was accused of assaulting the girls after plying them with booze or other intoxicants, rendering them unable to defend themselves.

Last week, Fajardo was sentenced to 100 years in prison, and for that, we are thankful. But even that long prison term won’t do anything to reverse the effects on those poor girls who were victimized. Judge Jon Erickson said it was one of the worst rape cases he’s seen in 35 years on the bench. It’s a sad and horrific saga, but at least Fajardo will pay for it.

CHEERS to the CASA fundraiser held last week in Mitchell. The idea is to raise money for Court Appointed Special Advocates, which provides advocacy services for children involved in legal proceedings.

Money was raised through the program’s annual sale of popcorn balls, which were made at Amstar in downtown Mitchell. About two dozen volunteers made 3,253 popcorn balls, which were delivered throughout Mitchell. Those who didn’t participate in this worthy cause definitely should consider it in the future.

Tags: opinion, updates, editorials