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The Daily Republic

It’s not that we approve of drug abuse. We don’t.

And we do take a very dim view of armed robbery. Really, we do.

But a 62-year prison sentence for using a BB gun to stick up a pharmacy for prescription painkillers?

It seems like a lot to us.

Seventh Circuit Judge Jeff Davis sentenced Terry Vicars, 32, to 62 years in the state penitentiary for robbing a Walgreen’s pharmacy in Rapid City on July 19. Vicars got away with more than 2,000 tablets of morphine and OxyContin, both highly addictive drugs.

Vicars will have to serve at least 75 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, which means he’ll be in prison for the next 46 years. Since he’d be at least 78, if and when he gets out, that’s effectively a life sentence.

Vicars had a criminal history that included convictions for receiving stolen property, possession of drugs with intent to deliver and criminal conspiracy.

Then there’s the BB gun, masquerading as a deadly weapon in the commission of a robbery.

All of that is a strong argument for increasing his prison time.

The question is, how much?

In many jurisdictions, people who commit murder or manslaughter get less prison time than 45 years.

What he did go in to that store with is an addiction to drugs. He’ll go to prison with one, too.

We taxpayers can either pay to keep drug addicts in prisons for the rest of their lives, or we can choose to spend more of our state and federal prison budgets to treat drug abuse.

While we think Vicars should spend some serious time behind bars, we’d most like to see that time tied to treatment of his drug addiction.

We aren’t soft on crime, nor do we think the Walgreen’s robber should get a slap-on-the-wrist sort of prison sentence.

But 62 years?

Rapid City Journal

Gov. Mike Rounds has a plan to earmark about $10 million to be distributed in loans for energy conservation projects on government and school buildings throughout the state.

Though all $10 million will be in loans, according to Rounds’ press secretary Mitch Krebs, the loan money will be divided evenly between two basic categories: 1) local governments and schools and 2) state government buildings including Board of Regents institutions.

It’s a smart idea.

Promoting conservation just makes sense in terms of being responsible with the energy we use. Plus, the bonus is that the money saved by developing and implementing the projects will go toward paying back the loans.

Sounds like a win-win scenario.

The governor said the loans will carry a 4 percent interest rate. He also said projects designed to conserve the most energy - and subsequently most likely to repay the loans the quickest - will be given top priority. Ideal conservation projects will likely include improvements involving weatherization, lighting and heating.

Conserving energy is important. And it’s something that Americans, in general, haven’t been the most conscientious about, historically. Consider the facts. According to the Energy Information Administration, America has 5 percent of the world’s population but consumes more than 20 percent of the planet’s resources and about a quarter of all the energy used in the world.

Given facts like these, it’s good to know that our governor — and our state government — are ready to step up to the plate and do their part to conserve both our state’s energy and its dollars.

Each of us can play a role in conserving energy every day. By performing simple tasks such as turning lights off after leaving a room and programming heating thermostats might seem like small things, but they things add up.

Conserving energy is a smart thing to do.

Let’s all do our part.

Aberdeen American News