Broadcaster Press 05 January 28, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com 2 0 1 3 Year in Review January 2013 February 2013 Police Standoff More details have emerged, through both police and news sources, concerning the Christmas day standoff in Vermillion that ended with an apparent suicide. In a press release it sent to local media Wednesday, the Vermillion Police Department declined to release the identity of the deceased or any other members of his household involved in the incident which began in the early morning hours of Dec. 25. Lottery Scammer Convicted A Dakota Dunes man was convicted of forgery charges relating to a video lottery scam. Travis Law will serve two months in the South Dakota State Penitentiary relating to the incident, which took place at Coyote Convenience. Dec. 21 also was the date of sentencing for a Texas couple facing their own forgery charges. Juliana Adams and Kenneth Story each were convicted of forgery, while Adams was cited on the additional charges of identity theft and obtaining/attempting to obtain a prescription by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. Burst Pipe It all started when the fire alarm kept going off in Coyote Village, a residence hall on the University of South Dakota campus, at about 9 p.m. Monday. Several hours later, on one of the coldest nights Vermillion has experienced this winter, a number of the 500 USD students who reside at in the almost new student housing found themselves scattered – first at several different university locations, and later at a couple Vermillion motels that are serving as students' temporary homes. They were forced to leave the building after a water pipe burst, forcing university officials to shut off electricity and water utilities to the residence hall. By mid-Tuesday afternoon, it appeared that those students likely would have to spend at least one more night in their substitute housing. Below-freezing temperatures may be the cause of the water pipe break. University officials suspect the temps could have caused the pipe to freeze and break, which led to flooding in parts of the main lobby, a hallway, a maintenance room, laundry room and three residential rooms in the facility. Fire Midwest Ag, located in the 1400 block of E. Cherry Street, Vermillion, suffered an estimated $50,000 in damages from a fire Friday night, Feb. 1. The Vermillion Fire Department responded to reports of the fire at 8:40 p.m. Friday. According to a report from Vermillion Fire Chief Richard Draper, motorists driving past the Midwest Ag business reported to 911 smoke and fire coming from the building. First units on scene reported heavy smoke conditions and fire in the rear of the building. Upon entry, crews moved equipment including a skid steer to a safe area and extinguished multiple fires including a large burning oil tank. The fire department’s quick interior attack and coordinated ventilation limited the smoke and fire damage to the production area of the business ultimately limiting damage. Guns in Schools? To arm or to not arm school employees? That was the issue that District 17 legislators grappled with during a legislative forum held Saturday morning. Freshmen State Reps. Ray Ring, Vermillion (D), Nancy Rasmussen, Hurley (R) and Sen. Tom Jones, Viborg (D) addressed a large audience during the two-hour meeting held in Vermillion City Hall meeting chambers. “Dribble-A-Thon” The basketballs started bouncing in the DakotaDome at tip-off that started the Feb. 14 men’s game between South Dakota and Oakland. Twenty-four hours later, when a non-stop “Dribble-A-Thon” hosted by USD and Classic Hits 106.3 (KVHT), the Coyote Radio Network, had ended, all expectations had not only been realized, they had also been surpassed. With an initial goal of raising $1,000 in mind, local organizers discovered how truly generous the Vermillion and USD communities can be. Last week’s activities raised $5,000 in cash and pledges. The event was held to benefit the family of Conrad Adam. Conrad, a 6-5 junior at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, is fighting osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He underwent surgery in October that required the amputation of his left leg above the knee. Because basketball has been an important part of Conrad’s life and his family has strong ties to the University of South Dakota – his sister, Katherine, is a freshman at USD and his parents, Karl and Joan Adam of Pierre, are USD graduates – Coyote Athletics and USD President James W. Abbott set out to raise money to help pay for expenses related to Adam’s battle with osteosarcoma. “Since basketball has played a significant role in Conrad’s life, we wanted to do something with Coyote men’s basketball and the USD community to show our support for Conrad, who has been very courageous in this fight,” Abbott said. USD and Classic Hits 106.3 KVHT partnered with several other activities besides the “Dribble-A-Thon.” They offered “Coyotes and Conrad” bracelets for sale for $5 each, and wound up selling out of the 500 that had been ordered. The university also hosted “Conrad Adam Night” at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16 during the Coyotes men’s basketball game vs. Fort Wayne at the DakotaDome. During half time of that game, Abbott, Head Football Coach Joe Glenn, Charlie Coyote and Athletic Director David Herbster took turns gathering as much YEARS IN BUSINESS money as they could while inside the KVHT “Cash Cube.” Coyote Athletics also dedicated $2 per ticket for new ticket sales for the game on Feb. 16 to Conrad’s fund. The “Coyotes & Conrad” bracelets, available on-line at GoYotes.com, features Conrad’s special inspirational message “No One Fights Alone.” March 2013 Peruvian Tradition Last summer, USD’s Dr. Matthew Sayre took a group of seven students on a research trip to a 3,000-year-old Peruvian temple. Now, he wants to make it a tradition, with a second trip for this summer now in the planning stages. “It’s a really unique experience for the undergrads to not only go abroad and study … but also to be immersed in a local small-town culture,” said Sayre, an assistant professor of anthropology at USD. With support from USD’s College of Arts & Sciences, the students went to the Chavin de Huantar, which is located in the Andes Mountains, and is known to be one of the oldest places in Peru. “It’s certainly a privilege to work there, and when I was offered the chance when I first went to graduate school I immediately said yes,” Sayre said. New Fire Chief Working with community members is one of the main goals of Vermillion’s new fire chief, and he spent Monday afternoon meeting many of them face-to-face. An open house was held for Richard Shannon Draper in the city council chambers from 2-3:30 p.m., during which time he and his family got acquainted with as many local residents as they could. “I really look forward to working with the community,” Draper said. “I strongly believe in a community-focused organization. We’re providing a service to the community, and the community is our customer. “In my tenure, you’re going to see a lot more engaging and getting feedback from the community through inspections, fire prevention, being in the schools, things like that, but then also, whatever programs we can. Whenever the community says, ‘Hey, can you help us with this?’ If we can, we’re going to,” he said. Draper comes to Vermillion with 28 years of service in the fire service. He grew up in Detroit and moved to Pennsylvania, where he first served as a volunteer. A New Name for the Library The Vermillion Public Library has been renamed to honor one of its primary beneficiaries. It was christened the Edith B. Siegrist Public Library by the Vermillion City council during their regular meeting Monday night. A longtime University of South Dakota library science professor, Siegrist donated $800,000 toward the project to expand and renovate the library before she passed away in 2011. A request to change the name was placed both by the Vermillion Public Library Board and the Vermillion Public Library Foundation in a letter addressed to Mayor Jack Powell and the city council members. Eagle Creek Partnership Officials from the city of Vermillion, the University of South Dakota, and state government, including Gov. Dennis Daugaard, • Full Service Restaurant • Full supper menu • Serving beer and wine • Open 7a.m. to 9p.m. Daily Featuring Cakes by Monica 24 W. 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