Our crime reporter Andrea Cook seems a bit frazzled these days.

It isn't that she generally has any outward appearance of being nervous or on the edge - that is, until the scanner in the newsroom goes off. Because when it does, just the slightest hint of dread comes across her face.

That isn't completely unheard of, either. Plenty of tragic and horrifying news first gets heard on the receiving end of a message from dispatch, and the scanner rests about 18 inches from her desk.

But the slightest twinge of dread is more of the "What now?!?" variety than the "Oh, no!" category.

Yeah, it's been quite a couple of weeks in the crime department.

Shootings? Check.

Stabbings? Check.

Murder? Check.

Mayhem? Oh, yeah.

If one only knew Rapid City by the past week or two's headlines, it may seem that we are a mini version of late 70s Gary, Ind.

But if that were true, these incidents would be mere footnotes and not full fledged stories with follow-ups. In reality, I should be happy that these kinds of misdeeds still make the front page of the newspaper and the Web site.

It's just that, not one of them is Sturgis rally related. It's hard to imagine the scenario that begins with the exclamation: "Whew, thank goodness the rally is here so we can quit chasing all this crime news!"

Top Five Stories

1. Three men charged in teenager's rape

With all the mayhem going on in the Hills, it surprised me a bit that this story proved to be the most read item of the week. But then again, three men charged in a single case of rape - whether it's a violent first-degree rape or more of a case of statutory rape, as it was here with the fourth-degree charges - it is always alarming news.

2. One killed in shooting in Allen

For the second time in about a week's time, a law enforcement officer shot a suspect on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The news came to us in a haunting fashion through Rapid Reply as a reader shared the horror of first learning that a young man had been shot and later that he died after an incident in Allen. Later stories indicate that the suspect charged the officer with a knife, leading to the fatal shooting. Haunting indeed.

3. Man hospitalized after standoff on East North Street

A nonpayment of rent at an East North Street motel quickly escalated into a full-scale SWAT team event Sunday afternoon after a man barricaded himself in one of the rooms and claimed to have a weapon and a girl with him in the room.

While the police response spurred plenty of armchair quarterbacking in the Rapid Reply section by readers, the truth of the matter is this: 1) There was a significant threat of violence reported to a young person and potentially others. 2) The police responded accordingly and 3) The situation was resolved with minimal threat to anyone other than the man in the motel room.

It turned out there was no girl, and the man who barricaded himself in the room seriously injured himself before authorities could completely extract him from the motel.

4. Investigation of fatal accident ends with traffic ticket

One of the most closely followed stories of the summer continued this week as the driver of a van involved in a van-motorcycle fatal accident on West Main Street in the Gap was issued a citation for failure to yield.

Once again, there were plenty of people upset by what they saw was a light penalty for an accident that claimed two lives. But in South Dakota, unless alcohol is involved or someone is driving with reckless intent - which certainly wasn't the case here - failure to yield is the mostly likely charge.

And Pennington County State's Attorney Glenn Brenner summed it up well when he said, "It's a terrible tragedy, what has occurred, but it was an accident.

5. Speedboat wreckage pulled from Angostura Reservoir

The investigation into what led to a serious speedboat accident on Angostura Reservoir over the Fourth of July weekend continues. The good news here is that it seems that alcohol was not a factor in the accident and that even though one inured person was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, they have since been released.

This week, that qualifies as good news.

Top Five Videos

RCPD: The Beat (Apparent Homicide)

Videographer Tim Appel and I knew that the day would come when his weekly ride along with Rapid City's finest would lead to real news. We just didn't know it would come after only a few rides.

Tim had his job cut out for him here. The raw footage of the victim of a fatal stabbing in Roosevelt Park and the police officers' and emergency responders' efforts to save the man are rather graphic.

Law enforcement arrested someone with hours of the attack, but they continue to search for the murder weapon.

Days of 76 Parade

Is it possible? A non-crime story in the top five? Well, it is when it is the Days of '76 parade. The annual Deadwood event in which even I participated in as a child drew plenty of viewers.

One Million Miles

Former Wisconsin State Sen. Dave Zien donated his Harley-Davidson to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum on Tuesday after riding 1 million miles on it since 1991. Tim Appel was there again to capture images of the bike and hear Zien offer up his message to give the Journal one of its first Sturgis rally videos of the year.

Meet Foxy

I think Foxy, an eight-month old boxer mix up for adoption at the Humane Society of the Black Hills, could be a match for my 5 year old son when it comes to energy. That being said, we already have a house full of pets. Here's to hoping the pup finds a good home.

Raw Video: Tornado Hits Western New York

When it comes to video, it's hard to beat Mother Nature. I don't even try. I just put it up on the Web site.

Rapid Reply of the Week

It's a big week for baseball here in Rapid City. The district Little League championships and the state American Legion tournament in town offers up plenty of exciting action on the diamond.

And, as chance would have it, Post 22 and Post 320, will get to face off at Fitzgerald Stadium for a Friday night battle of the state tournament's only two undefeated teams. Because they have never met in the regular season, the game is on virtually every local sports fan's radar.

Although the fact that they don't play each other in the regular season leads to a heightened anticipation to tonight's game, I think a lot of people share the opinion of Rapid Replier JD, who offered up the following.

JD on 07/30/2009 09:35:59 said:

"I think that it is sad that these 2 teams do not play during the regular season. It would be a great thing for this city if that were to happen. I am sure either team will represent SD great in the Regionals. May the best team win."

Poll of the Week

This story provided some of the most active debate of the week. I believe former lawamker Bill Napoli once suggested such an amendment to the drinking age law, but it didn't go far.

The argument goes that if you're old enough to enlist, you should be old enough to order a drink. It seems semi-reasonable on the surface, but it appears the majority of Journal readers don't agree.

Should South Dakota lower the drinking age as state Rep. Tim Rounds proposes?

Yes

645 34 percent

No

1269 66 percent

Editor's choice

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