It's a busy time of year. The holiday season brings a rush of activity like no other, which generally means a slow down in Web traffic. That is, unless you have a week like we had.

On the day after Thanksgiving, a day where Web traffic generally dips to holiday like lows, we saw one of our most read stories of the year after a Wal-Mart shopper allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old girl. And that wasn't the only black eye for Wal-Mart that day as news spread on the wires that a store employee was killed when anxious bargain hunters broke down the doors at a Manhattan store and trampled him.

Of course, there was plenty of other news, including the culmination of the criminal case against Maconnel Baker whose huffing while driving incident earlier this year left a Rapid City man in a wheel chair.

And there was popular Parade of Lights. And the Rapid City Rush's home opener. And Bob Newland.

What more can an old newshound such as myself ask for?

Top Five Stories

1. Rapid City Wal-Mart shopper may face assault charges

Black Friday did not bring the best out in area shoppers, and at least in one incident, it required a police investigation after a man reportedly assaulted a 15-year-old girl in a dispute over an xBox gaming system.

The amazing thing is that the number of fights at Wal-Mart is currently running even with the number of fights at Rapid City Rush home games. That being said, I must ask, "Can't we all just get along?"

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/12/03/news/top/doc4936cd69197d9660289684.txt"> 2. Huffer who struck Mines student gets suspended sentence

This story proved to be lightning in a bottle. Rarely have I witnessed a story evoke such immediate and raw emotion as that of Maconnel Baker's ill-fated huffing excursion while driving outside a North Rapid elementary school and the subsequent damage he did to property and life. One of the chief victims of Baker's crime was Shaun Herrod, a School of Mines student who suffered a traumatic brain injury.

That alone evokes strong emotion.

But most readers were upset that Baker received only a suspended prison sentence and a six month jail sentence. The Rapid Replies, some of which could not be posted for their raw emotion and strong language, rolled in like few other stories.

3. Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down

Wal-Mart may not have been the place to be on Black Friday, especially in New York where a pre-dawn rush for bargains turned deadly for a store employee. It really makes one want to do even more your holiday shopping online next year.

4. One instant changes everything for Tech student

You cannot tell the story of Maconnel Baker without telling the story of his victim, Shaun Herrod. A heartbreaking story of a family's struggle to overcome the devastating results of a tragic car accident, it is a portrait of a fragile survivor supported by a dazed but strong family. It is perhaps the best thing I've read on www.rapidcityjournal.com this year. If you haven't already, you need to read it too.

5. Rapid City teens lucky to survive rollover

The headline might seem a bit editorializing at first glance, but after you read the story, you realize it's simply accurate.

A group of teens riding in the back of a pickup truck escape significant injury after it rolls. It is simply miraculous in many aspects. I just wouldn't want to have been those kids when their parents got a hold of them.

Top Five Videos

1. Rush Slams The Eagles 4-0

The Rush's inaugural game on home ice at Rapid City's Rushmore Plaza Civic Center proved to be successful. So did the video recapping the game as viewers clicked in on a rate double that of the next closest ranked video of the week.

2. Festival of Lights Parade

Another successful Parade of Lights, and this time, you didn't even have to leave the comfort of your own home. As for videographer Tim Appel, that wasn't an option. But he did a great job of capturing the video with a steady hand against those strong northwesterly winds. Ah, the life of a video journalist. Amazingly, it was probably only the second toughest shoot of the week for the man behind the camera.

3. Rush Fans Excited

Newly minted Rapid City Rush fans share their pre-game excitement over the opening of the new ice arena in Rapid City and their hopes for the inaugural season.

4. Black Friday

It takes some gumption to get up at 3 a.m. and go bargain shopping on Black Friday. It takes even more will power to get up at 3 a.m. on Black Friday and know your not going to get in on any of the bargains. But the intrepid Mr. Appel was up at the wee hours of the morning and battling the chill of darkness to catch those bargain hunters before they made a rush on the stores.

I especially like the second part of the video, of which brought the expected response and was only missing one - of the guy shooting the video.

5. Pet of the Week 12-02-08

Meet Buck. The Pet of the Week feature continues to draw in viewers, and who can blame them.

Rapid Reply of the Week

When I was news editor at The Black Hills Pioneer in Spearfish, I used to treasure the days when Bob Newland would walk in through the front door. I mean, it wasn't anything personally, really, although Bob's a fine guy to talk to. It's just that I knew he had the kind of news that could really engage readers.

Oh, yeah, a lot of it was controversial, but it was generally well thought out and he was the perfect guy to carry the message.

Well, Bob is back in the news with his efforts again to try to persuade the State of South Dakota to legalize medicinal marijuana. Do I think he has a real chance? Not really. But his dogged determination in pressing the issue among the state's elected leaders always makes for good copy.

And good Rapid Replies. More than 100 folks weighed in on Newland's pitch and they're still rolling in. Here's a few of my favorites:

well wrote on Nov 30, 2008 11:50 AM:

" Just legalize it all together BUT… TAX THE HECK out of it, It's time the potheads start paying their share of things!!!! And if it was legalized for health reasons we would find out how many sick people there are!!! "

Use your brain wrote on Nov 30, 2008 11:52 AM:

" Mr. Newland,

If you are serious about this law then you know that getting legislation passed at the state level is useless in light of federal law. You're just opening people up to federal charges and exposing them to rigid sentencing guidelines they wouldn't face at the state level. Use your energy on your federal legislators. "

let it be wrote on Nov 30, 2008 6:25 PM:

" There's no excuse for legalizing alcohol and not pot. If it's controlled, it can be a useful drug. Has marijuana resulted in violence, overdoses, etc? Nope, unlike alcohol. I took Ambien for anxiety issues when my husband was deployed, and I woke up with candle wax all over my clothes because I was lighting candles in my room, while sleeping, as my toddler son slept upstairs. Stopped taking it that day. Side effects for legal drugs include nosebleeds, suicidal tendencies, insomnia, and a host of horrible concerns. I for one am against pharmaceudical companies that hide behind poisons that are only used to treat, never to cure. The state would save millions in not prosecuting pot crimes. Why do we need the government to legitimize our lives? It's a victimless crime to smoke pot. "

dont do it wrote on Nov 30, 2008 3:31 PM:

" Oh, come on. What an excuse. Legalize it..which will create a whole bunch of problems. We have Dr.'s now who prescribe meds that people truely don't need. The same will happen with marijuana. There are other meds out there to solve the problem. Marijuana is just an excuse. "

legalize it wrote on Nov 30, 2008 6:27 PM:

" I bet if everyone on this board smoked a joint we wouldn't be fighting right now. :) "

Poll of the Week

Maybe the members of the Rapid City Council should check out our poll results.

On the heels of the city council's 2.5 percent raise, how big do you expect your next raise to be?

No raise, just lucky to have a job

958 57 percent

Up to 3 percent

318 19 percent

More than 3 percent

212 13 percent

No job, no raise - was laid off

187 11 percent

Editor's Pick

Life on Pause

I'm not going to go into a lot more detail on the story of Shaun Herrod, but as excellent as Heidi Bell Gease's story was on the accident that left the School of Mines student in a wheelchair, the audio/photo slideshow by Seth McConnell is just as good.