American Indian activist Russell Means is beginning the new year free of an old burden. Means was pardoned by South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow earlier this week. The pardon wipes away a felony conviction, stemming from a 1974 courthouse riot Means was involved in. He spent a little more than a year in prision for the offense. Governor Janklow called Means into his office Monday to discuss the pardon. Means and Janklow were friends in the late 1960's, when they worked together on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. And Means says that in this case, an old friend turned out to be a good friend.