It's been a long week for the folks at Mount Rushmore.

First, Mother Nature decides not to play nice and put a nice, thick blanket of fog over the Shrine of Democracy just at the time they plan to launch their annual fireworks display.

Vowing to press onward (and upward) with the show after reviews of a test shot come back generally positive from the crowd - many of whom have been at the Memorial for more than eight house - the display ends up looking like a surreal scene out of a technicolor war film.

Needless to say, some spectators were less than enthralled.

But who would have thought things would go downhill from there?

On Wednesday, a group of climbers from the environmental Greenpeace group used the famous faces as a platform - quite literally - to get their point across.

Able to breach security without being apprehended, a crew of fewer than a dozen activists scaled the mountain, then rappelled down the faces and unfurled an enormous postcard of sorts for President Obama, urging him to get tough on global warming.

Oh, there was other news going on this past week. Bad weather. Bad accidents. Bad guys in court. Bad economy. And don't forget that one really good thing, the Fourth of July.

But as far as the news spotlight goes, this week belonged to Mount Rushmore.

Top Five Stories

Greenpeace climbers hang Obama banner on Mount Rushmore

Perhaps as stunning as the act was, it was just as remarkable in the way the organization was able to run streaming video of the event while it took place, had climbers "tweeting" while on the face of the mountain and have a news release sent to the far reaches of the globe all within minutes of the event.

Rushmore fireworks launch despite clouds

If you're feeling a bit too cheery and need a little grumpy in your day - for instance, maybe you have to chew out a child or get ready for an Ultimate Fighting bout - scroll down and read the comments on this story. That should do the trick.

Woman accused of embezzling over $200K

We seem to get a lot of stories about clerks in both the private and public sector stealing from their employers, but few steal this much - a whopping $200,000.

Rushmore officials defend fireworks decision

With so much heat coming down from the decision to move forward on the Rushmore fireworks display, this story answered a lot of people's questions. One key one was that delaying the show wouldn't have done any good as the wind that eventually dispelled the clouds would have blown the fireworks out over the crowd, which wasn't an option. And the staffing requirement for the show couldn't be replicated, and that was just on site.

But the quote of the week came from Mount Rushmore Memorial Society president Gene Lebrun on the disappointing nature of the show. "When you live in South Dakota, you just gotta go with the weather," Lebrun said.

How true; how true.

Motorcyle accident on Interstate 90 snarls traffic

An Idaho biker's decision to try a risky - and illegal - move of crossing both lanes of traffic on Interstate 90 west of Rapid City ended up causing an accident that backed up midday traffic for quite a bit on Tuesday.

Hey, isn't the Sturgis rally right around the corner. Perhaps this was a bit of training for everyone involved.

Top Five Videos

2008 Mt. Rushmore Fireworks

We put up last year's fireworks to remind everyone what a great fireworks display it is. Then, we put it up after this year's show to remind everyone what a great fireworks display it was.

Greenpeace Interview

Reporter Jeremy Fugleberg shot this interview outside the Federal Court building in Rapid City as members of the Greenpeace team that scaled Mount Rushmore on Wednesday faced criminal charges.

While this volunteer was hampered a bit by what she could say about the event - they are facing charges - she was able to give readers a bit of insight into the event and the life of a Greenpeace activist.

RCPD: The Beat 7-6-09

So what's this guys name? Is it Tim?

I dig the new video series by Tim Appel, but more of that further down in the column.

Police: Fla. Teen Fits Profile of a 'Sociopath'

All I have to say is: This kid's got problems. Even cat haters wouldn't want to spend five minutes in a locked room with this guy.

Day at Mount Rushmore

Further proof that the Fourth of July is a lot more than fireworks, especially at Mount Rushmore. Music. People. Programs. A great day despite the rain.

Rapid Reply of the Week

I'm not an advocate for legalizing marijuana (heck, I'm not really an advocate of aspirin or cough medicine, either, but that's a whole different story.)

But this comment brings to light an interesting point in the sentencing of Bob Newland. The longtime advocate for legalizing marijuana was given one year in county jail (with all but 45 days suspended), mandatory drug testing, a suspended fine and a stipulation that for the next year, he suspend all of his advocacy on the behalf of legalizing marijuana.

Judge Jack Delaney says giving Newland a light sentence and then having him take a position as public figure on the behalf of the illegal drug would be a clear sign to youths - many of whom he sees before him already are users - that smoking marijuana is OK.

The question is, though, can you sentence someone to be quiet? And by that, I mean in America. Certainly, the likes of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi (if he were still alive) would say, "Oh, yeah, you can."

But it is the first time I heard of a court order being putting on someone - even as a stipulation of early release - to have them keep their lips zipped or prevent them from advocating in public. Anyways, here's the comment, though I just rambled on twice as long as it is.

what a deal wrote on Jul 6, 2009 6:08 PM:

" The worst part of this sentence is that, as a condition of his probation, he must surrender his constitutional rights to free speech and participation in the political process that puts "criminals" like Newland and others into prison. I agree with "baloney": the jail space should be used for real criminals. This won't stop until we started repealing a bunch of bad laws before we pass bans. "

Poll of the Week

I guess we could have taken out the phrase besides Rushmore. Or maybe the word impressive to controversial.

Besides Rushmore, which has the most impressive fireworks in the Black Hills?

Lead (459 Votes, 20%)

Belle Fourche (269 Votes, 12%)

Hot Springs (115 Votes, 5%)

My neighbor (430 Votes, 19%)

Memorial Park (682 Votes, 30%)

Arrowhead (129 Votes, 6%)

Elks (86 Votes, 4%)

Black Hills Speedway (130 Votes, 6%)

Editor's Pick

The Beat

Tim Appel's new series on spending an afternoon with members of the Rapid City Police Department has a lot of promise, and viewers really like it.

Two of the top four videos of the past months are the first two installments of Appel's weekly ride alongs. Streets of San Francisco it isn't, and not even COPS, but it does give the public a look at the jobs the men and women in blue do each day.