Gene Hetland

A Wagner woman will spend time in prison for drug offenses and for failing to report the death of a child.
The case of 29-year-old Laurie Cournoyer was the first conviction under the South Dakota version of Caylee's Law since it took effect last July 1

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Millions upon millions of Catholics worldwide are keeping an eye on the Papal Conclave, as the College of Cardinals votes on the Church's next leader.

And I'd be willing to bet even non-Catholics are paying attention

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It happened again, and it's not uncommon.

At police briefing we heard about a purse being stolen from a vehicle. It was nothing out of the ordinary, as it happens far too often.

People wind up reporting lost or stolen property from an unlocked vehicle, garage or home, and it's the kind of theft that can be prevented

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It was a little over 59 years ago that Edward R. Murrow publicly criticized Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy, who had alleged the federal government was full of Communists.

Now, I was very young then, but I do remember the McCarthy hearings, which were televised, in which McCarthy accused anybody and everybody, it seemed, of being subversive

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Tournament season always reminds me of basketball tournaments I have seen, and they go back a few years.

The first South Dakota Class "B" Basketball Tournament I saw was in 1966. Of course, there was no distinction between boys' tournaments and girls' tournaments in those days because these were the Dark Ages, when high school girls and, for that matter, college women were more or less out of luck

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I saw an item about a program coming up from the Siouxland Libraries that, I have to admit, set me to thinking in a different direction.

Seems the program on March 20 will have an expert talking about growing unusual houseplants that are easy to grow.

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Agents of the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force say they made two arrests and seized drugs and drug paraphernalia when they carried out a search warrant Wednesday afternoon at 1009 South Foster Avenue

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I can't remember the last time I carried a pocketknife.

Oh, there was a time when I did, but I was much younger then, and I don't have much use for one now.

So when the TSA announced it would allow air passengers to carry small knives on board, it didn't strike me as something that would affect me much

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I know we already have enough to worry about, but now there's something new, and some experts are calling them a "nightmare."

USA Today carried a story about superbugs, something new to be infected with that can't be treated but can be fatal

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Okay, I might have creeped you out a while back when I wrote about germs that could be on your office coffee cup. You know, the one you've been meaning to wash.

Well, I saw a story today about germs on cellphones

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