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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, May 17, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 3088 ~ 17 of 55
media are typically notified, and the weather is monitored with wind being a prime concern.
In the case of an ongoing wildfire, however, it was impossible to meet those sensible requirements yet the decision was made to proceed even though it was too windy to use air tankers on the first two days
of the fire.
In the end, firefighters did a great job in difficult conditions as no homes were destroyed or lives lost.
The question remains, however, if the decision to let the fire burn was the right one.
The Forest Service and firefighters need to consider changing their policies on Black Hills wildfires. The area is growing in population and that needs to be given as much weight as the health of the forest when
it is already burning. ___
Madison Daily Leader, Madison, May 14
Should South Dakota get into sports betting?
We wrote last December about the state of New Jersey challenging a federal law that bars most states from authorizing sports gambling (Nevada is a notable exception), and the Supreme Court agreed to hear it. The court did, and today issued its ruling: The federal law has been struck down, effectively legalizing
sports gambling throughout the country.
New Jersey, of course, will start taking bets as quickly as it can, and other states are eager to follow.
Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf said gambling revenue will be good for his state’s budget. The legislature had tentatively made sports betting legal, awaiting the Supreme Court ruling.
Those who are happy with the ruling include casino operators, state government officials, some profes- sional team owners and others who see dollar bills coming to them. Discouraged are the NCAA, other team owners, some players’ associations, counseling services for addicted gamblers and others.
Consider us on the side of those discouraged by the ruling.
Most of the laws prohibiting gambling on sports were established in the last century, beginning with the famous “Black Sox” scandal of 1919, when gamblers paid Chicago White Sox players to throw the World Series.
A college basketball point-shaving scandal in 1951 revolved around City College of New York and other schools. It had long-lasting effects on not only the individuals involved, but the schools themselves.
The influence of gamblers and organized crime in professional and amateur sports was considered im- moral, and in some cases, dangerous.
We can’t predict what South Dakota will do, but we certainly hope citizens won’t be able to place legal bets on the DSU Trojans or MHS Bulldogs. The potential for wrongdoing, corruption or conspiracy between a local gambler and a local athlete isn’t something we want to face.
Given South Dakota’s history with gambling in Deadwood, at Native American casinos and a statewide lottery, we don’t expect the state legislature to suddenly reject a new gambling opportunity. But we think it should.
___
Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, Yankton, May 14
Port Yankton tries a new course
Supporters of the Port Yankton proposal to eventually get a gaming/entertainment facility in this com- munity have vowed to try the idea again, this time by taking their case directly to the people with a peti- tion drive.
It’s a good idea to try this route, given the energy that had been expended last year prior to the pro- posal’s quick exit in Pierre this past winter. If proponents had given up on the idea so quickly, it would have said a lot about what they see as the true merits of the proposal.
This move will also entail a lot of mobilization in order to gather enough valid signatures — which will likely be in the neighborhood of 27,000 names; the number will be determined after this fall’s elections — to get the proposal for a constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot. To make that, the signatures have to be filed by November 2019, which would be the first step in a long procedural process to get on the ballot.