It's a rare week when crime or weather fails to lead the way on Journal stats, but this past week was one of them.

Take out the top five story of a pedestrian that was critically injured in an accident in Dark Canyon where a driver - not the one who hit the pedestrian - was charged with a crime, no story had a criminal intent. Well, that is, unless you ask some of the people who attended Wednesday's Tax Day Tea Party in Memorial Park. They would have a different view of our representatives in Washington.

On the video side, where crime is rarely a leader, three of the top five videos had a criminal element. Two of them were file videos dating back more than a half decade. They featured Elijah Page confessing to authorities the torture murder of Chester Poage in a creek near Spearfish. Page has since been executed for his admitted role in the brutal crime. One of his accomplices, Briley Piper, has an appeal before the South Dakota Supreme Court.

Regardless, the lack of a criminal element provides for a bit more variety in this installment of the week in review.

Top Five Stories

1. Rapid Citians gather in Memorial Park for Tax Day Tea Party

Politics took to the streets of Rapid City, Spearfish, Sioux Falls and cities throughout the country on Wednesday. Coinciding with the IRS deadline for filing income taxes, grassroots organizers took to the streets to protest federal spending run amok. In Rapid City, protesters used Memorial Park to take their stand, which, although not specifically against the current administration alone, it certainly turned that way on the Journal blogs. It's been a while since we've seen protesters show up in such numbers (organizers of the Rapid City event estimated somewhere around 1,000). It may not make a huge difference to those in Washington, but it's great to cover as a news event - both in story form and as video.

2. More people rejecting all forms of religion

This story, which came out over the Easter holiday weekend, was certain to spark discussion. According to an American Religious Identification Survey, South Dakotans have become less Christian in the past 18 years. About three of four South Dakotans say they are Christians today, compared to about 95 percent in 1990. And while there is growth in several non-Christian religions, most of the loss is to people who simply quit going to church or believing.

3. Mission couple wins $200,000 in Powerball

Good news for South Dakotans, and great news for Christina and Tom Yellow Boy of Mission. They won a $200,000 Powerball prize in last Saturday's drawing, becoming the third South Dakota winner this year of Powerball's second biggest prize.

4. Pedestrian struck, critically injured on S.D. Highway 44

A sad story about a strange event in which an argument between a grown son and a mother's boyfriend led to a tragic accident - and some criminal charges. According to police, 28-year-old Nick Byers got into a heated argument with his mother's boyfriend, Charles Humpal. When Byers had enough, he got out of the vehicle driven by Humpal out by Dark Canyon Road and S.D. Highway 44. Byers was then struck as he walked along the highway by a pickup truck driver that couldn't see him in the dark. Meanwhile, Humpal left the scene of the accident and was arrest on a DUI charge.

5. Hammer time for cell phone used to run up $5,000 bill

What parent of a teenager today hasn't been at this breaking point? A Cheyenne dad took out his frustrations on his teenage daughter's cell phone after the 13-year-old ran up a $5,000 phone bill by sending and receiving about 20,000 text messages in about a months time. My favorite line of the story, though, is the final paragraph of the story, which says that the daughter "has been grounded until the end of school. She says she feels band and has learned her lesson." For her sake, let's hope that's true.

Top Five Videos

1. A Plan to Kill

Perhaps the most chilling video we've ever put up on the site, confessed murderer Elijah Page details the events the night that he and two other men tortured and killed Chester Poage at Higgins Gulch near Spearfish in 2000. Filmed by investigators at the site of the murder, the full video was simply too graphic to put up for public consumption. But what is here is disturbing enough to give you nightmares.

2. Tea Party

Journalists like to call protesters such as these as "angry, torch bearing villagers." In reality, all they had were signs, but that was plenty for great video. Rapid City Tea Party organizer Gordon Howie offers up his views of the grassroots effort, that brought about 1,000 people to Memorial Park on Wednesday.

3. Meet Snoopy 4-19-09

With a name like Snoopy, you can't go wrong. And you can't go wrong with the Pet of the Week video, a persistent top finisher in the most viewed videos every week here at www.rapidcityjournal.com.

4. Emergencies and the Law

Scott O'Conner, Rapid City Firefighter/Medic, talks about the difficulties of navigating traffic while on emergency calls in the Rapid City area. One of the most interesting problems: Drivers recognizing the ambulance sire and simply stopping in traffic or pulling over to the left, which in essence, causes more problems. Videographer Tim Appel went on a call with O'Conner and company and gets a passenger seat view of navigating the streets - albeit, a speeded up version for Journal readers.

5. Chester Attempts Escape

More video from Elijah Page's confession on the murder of Chester Poage.

Rapid Reply of the Week

It was a big week for Rapid Reply. A couple of stories, including the coverage of Rapid City's Tea Party protest and another on the decline of church-goers, brought in hundreds of, er… enthusiastic comments.

But this week, I'm looking beyond the expected biting back-and-forth and looking for something a little more encouraging. I found it in the story of Texas Cole, whose story of misspent youth turned to college, the military and athletic excellence as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter is inspiring.

A Friend wrote on Apr 16, 2009 6:14 PM:

" Texas has changed so much in the time that I have known him. He went from being in trouble a lot to serving our country and being a college student. I admire him for the drastic changes in his life and having a goal to reach for. God bless Texas and I pray that he will excel in all he strives for. "

Poll of the Week

When it comes to the Journal poll, silliness is our game. Well, often, it is. The best answer was left off this poll. Offered up by one of our editors during the daily planning meeting, answer No. 3: Depends!

Are you willing to pay for use of a coin-operated downtown public restroom?

Yes

385 votes 22 percent

No

1,389 votes 78 percent

Editor's pick

Journal video central

Up until recently, I believed that most people knew that the Journal had it's own video page where Journal and video AP's can be sifted through and viewed. You can get there by simply clicking on the "view all" button the video player on the home page.

There are scores of videos here, along with a search function that allows readers to find video of topical interest. So in case you missed it, check it out. You can see the page by clicking here.