10 Broadcaster Press January 26, 2016 www.broadcasteronline.com statement as he stood before his class and guests was, “I wish I could tell you that this road has been easy, but it hasn’t…” He went on to say, “We are a group of very unique people. There are dancers, division 1 athletes, singers, artists…drummers, and dreamers. Congratulations class of 2015, we made it!” Following Brown’s touching remarks, the Class Comments por¬tion began with Jacob Krier, also an Honors Program, NHS, and Regent Scholars graduate, who offered to the class three points of very good advice which were, “1. Do what makes you happy…2. Work hard and take pride in your work…and 3. Stay foolish said during a press conference held on Tuesday. “We are receiving leads from the public and we are following up on them.” Howe said that no suspect has been identified and her husband is not considered a suspect, at this time. Howe said it was his understanding that Hummel was in the area to fish. “It would seem reasonable, since the body was at the landing, that the crime occurred there,” Howe said. “All indications are that the death occurred there. It is a very remote area.” The Highlines Boat Landing area is located south of Gayville and Meckling. County Officials Prepare For Special Election and take your mistakes in stride.” Special Elections Set For June 30 Two recent actions by the Vermillion City Council will be up for public approval at a special election set for June 30. Ordinance 1326 which requires registration of private, in-home, daycares with the city was ap¬proved by a council vote of 7-2 on April 13 after nearly 90 minutes of discussion, sometimes heated, with members of the public. The ordinance requires a provider to register with the city. In order to obtain city certification the daycare provider will need to demonstrate safety items such as having a fire extinguisher, smoke detector, two ways out of basement space used for a daycare, safe elec¬trical wiring, closets that prevent a child from being locked inside and other basic safety requirements, such as having a fenced in yard. The second item which will be decided on by voters is the coun¬cil’s decision to impose a charge upon malt beverage purchases for use toward paying back the bond which will be needed to support the Prentis Park Pool Project. On February 17, the City Council approved a second reading of the ordinance enacting sections 112.24 through 112.31 of the City Code that imposed a 5 percent charge upon malt beverage purchases pursuant to SDCL 354-60.2. The or¬dinance was published on Feb. 27 and became effective on March 19. June Sheriff’s Office Investigating Death Of Sioux City Woman According to Clay County Sheriff Andy Howe, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) are investigating the suspicious death of an adult female who was found late Monday afternoon. The body of Alicia Hummel, 29 of Sioux City, Iowa, was found in the water near the boat dock at Myron Grove, also known as the Highline Landing, around 2 p.m. on Monday. “At this time, due to the suspicious nature of the death, based on indications at the scene, we are treating the matter as a homi¬cide investigation,” Howe 47 Registration for the upcoming June 30 Vermil¬lion special election ended on Monday, however the preparation for the event is ongoing at City Hall. “Absentee voting can be done at the City Hall Finance office Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.,” said city finance officer Mike Carlson. “The sample ballot has been approved and is available here at City Hall and are also available at the website. We have the absentee ballot application on our website, so if you are out of town you can download that, fill it out, have it notarized or send in a copy of a S.D. state identi¬fication card and we will send you a ballot. They have to be a registered voter within the city of Vermillion.” The sample ballot will run in the Plain Talk on June 26, however the wording is running the next few weeks issues, Carlson said. “Voting on the 30th will be held at the National Guard Armory,” he said. “Voting will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Absentee Voting ends at 5 p.m. on June 29. In encourage everyone to bring a valid form of identification, however if they do not have it they can fill an affidavit out at the voting site.” Forum Panel Fields Questions About Upcoming Election lease on Wednesday that the autopsy of Alicia Hummel’s death has been completed and that her cause of death identified. Cause of death was due to drowning with contributing circumstances of an incised wound to the neck and blunt force injuries to the head. Toxicology reports were negative for any alcohol or controlled substances. Law enforcement continues to seek the public’s assistance with informa¬tion that may assist in this homicide investigation. Alicia Hummel, 29, Sioux City, Iowa, was found in the late afternoon on June 1st near the boat dock at Myron Grove, also known as the Highline Area of Clay County. Authorities are asking for the public’s help with information on any suspicious activity in this area on June 1, 2015 July Residents Hope For Bright Daycare Future At 10 p.m. on the dot Tuesday night, results were finally posted after hours of counting thou¬sands of votes from the ballots of the Vermillion City special elections and both measures were upheld. According to the staff around 24 percent of voters turned out for this election, an unusually high number for a summer special election. The Daycare ordinance was adopted in a close race winning by only 62 votes, 629-567. The following is how the Wards voting broke down. Northeast Ward: 47-Yes, 61-No Central Ward: 126-Yes, 72- No Northwest Ward: 120-Yes, 179NoSoutheast Ward: 336-Yes, 255-No Total Votes: 1196 Daycare providers had mixed Johnson Rolls feelings regard¬ing the adoption Final Movie Reel of the day care registration ordinance. “I am really happy that so For Terry (TJ) Johnson it is fair many people got out to vote,” said to say that movies have played an Laurie Kruse, an in-home daycare important role in his life. operator. “The citizens decided. It Growing up the son of theatre JOHNSON ELECTRIC, INC. 49 YEARS IN BUSINESS 78 YEARS IN BUSINESS Malt Beverage Ordinance Approval Means Prentis Park Project To Get Back On Track As 1,206 Vermillion voters made their way to the voting booth on Tuesday, nobody was sure how the vote would turn out. While the bonds for the Prentis Park Pool Project were over¬whelmingly approved by voters last November, there was no guarantee that they would choose to keep the ordinance allow¬ing the city to collect an extra 5 percent on the wholesale costs of malt beverages sold in the community on the books. In the end, the voters’ decision was to keep the ordinance with 63 percent of the vote, 445-761. The following is how the Wards voting broke down. Northeast Ward: 37-Yes, 71-No Central Ward: 57-Yes, 145-No Northwest Ward: 165-Yes, 137No Southeast Ward: 186-Yes, 408-No Steve Ward, who represents the Southeast Ward on the Vermillion City Council, said he was very pleased by Tuesday’s turnout. “I think the turnout was the most surprising thing to me,” he said. “I think that the people were engaged in the process. When I started city council one of the things I was concerned about was that we were not having community discussions on the big issues in front of us. I really think that the community that was here this summer really was very engaged in the process about the merits of the ordinances.” 1016 West Cherry Street 605-624-2994 Vermillion, SD 57069 years 101 West Cherry St • Vermillion 1966 - 2015 605.624.8624 Standard Ready Mix 605-624-3511 1016 E. Cherry St • Vermillion, SD 105 East Cherry Street Vermillion, SD 57069 605-677-5214 www.vermillionfcu.com YEARS IN BUSINESS 70 was close. We got the message out there and I think that our community leadership are ready to take on some of the responsibilities of regulating the daycares. This is an important issue. I think they did their homework and are ready to take on the task.” RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS celebrating YEARS IN BUSINESS As the summer heated up, so did the speed of the construction on the new Sports Performance Enhancement Arena, Science, Health and Research Lab and Outdoor Track and Soccer Complex on the University of South Dakota Campus. The three projects carrying an estimated cost of $66 million and a projected completion date ahead of the 2016-17 academic year. Pictured is the South facing wall of the new SPEC where exterior portions of the wall Attorney General Marty Jack- were being placed. Behind the wall you can see the back side of the new ley and Clay County Sheriff Andy seating. Howe announced in a press re- Hummel Autopsy Results Released If the turnout for Tuesday’s forum hosted by the VCDC Legislative Affairs Committee on the upcoming special election set for June 30 is any indica¬tion, community members are very in¬terested in the Malt Beverage Tax and the Daycare Ordinance at the center of the debate. Held in the City Hall Council Cham¬bers, community members offered questions for nearly two hours on the issues helping to clarify the debate in order to help decide which way they want to vote. The special election issues are: • Imposing a charge upon malt beverage purchases; •Creating a requirement for day care businesses to register with the city and provide for certain health and safety requirements. YEARS IN BUSINESS 54 57 owners, Johnson said he began working in his parents theatre when just a child. When he went to col¬lege at Wayne State in Wayne, Nebraska he was approached by (the owner)Jack to manage a theatre in Wayne, and then 30 years ago was transferred to Vermillion’s Coyote Twin Theatres, where he stayed until last Friday. “He knew my parents owned the theatre in West Point, Nebraska, so he came to my dorm hired me part-time at the theatre in Wayne,” Johnson said. “I worked there all through college, went away tried to work in my degree, couldn’t find a job. He hap¬pened to call six-months later and ask if I wanted a job in Vermillion. I jumped on it.” Fast forward 37 years (30 years in Vermillion) Johnson has said it is time to step away and into a slower pace of life. Clay County Abstract & Title 121 West Kidder Street #104 • Vermillion, SD 57069 605-624-2068 • contact@claycountytitle.com UNIVERSITY CLEANERS & Formal Wear Tuxedo Rentals for all your special occasions 124 E. Main Street • Vermillion, SD 57069 • (605) 624-2645 City To Consider Second Substation Site Vermillion Light and Power (VLP) superin¬tendent Mark Koller said the time is now for the city to consider installing a new, second substation site in Vermillion. The current $1.08 million project for the new breakers is entering the final stages, Koller said. “We have done all of our switching and things are the way we want them to be in a normal mode right now,” he said. “With is this project we put in two new 115 kV (1 kilo¬volt equals 1,000 volts) break¬ers. We have our east line and our west line and they are actually tied together at our substation right now. With the relaying that was done with this project, if something were to happen to one line or the other, what should hap¬pen is the lights will flicker, but not go out. It is called a redundant system.” The project also included new 15 kV high voltage break¬ers, which according to Koller run the town. that are then returned in part to the share¬holders. It encourages locally grown and locally eaten food. As Sam Heikes likes to say, “Savor the local flavor.” August National Night Out Events A Fun Success With countless hours of preparation behind them, organizers of Vermillion’s Na¬tional Night Out events say the day was a big success. Vermillion Police Officer Crystal Brady said this year’s new format was something they will look to continue in the future. “We used to have something where we had events in the park and had carnival games for the kids,” she said. “I think changing it to the block par¬ties, scavenger hunt and movie kind of helped us bring in dif¬ferent age groups. I think this definitely works a lot better.” Brady said there were six block parties held across town. “We had a lot of people turn out for all of them I was told,” she said. “We didn’t have as many people as we wanted for the scavenger hunt, but those that did attend had a great time. We had some clues that were like picture clues that they had to take a picture of. One of those things was the Coyote sculpture at the corner of Cherry and University Street. They had to find the clock on City Hall and take a picture, the middle school and then we had some clues where they had to figure out the rid¬dle and take a picture of it. The first teams that came back won gift certificates to WalMart. We have a budget that we do for National Night Out and we purchased those.” Olson Sworn In To School Clay County Board As Communications Stammer Center 100 Retires Rachel Olson was sworn in as percent the Vermillion School District’s Compliant With newest board member as Dave Stammer stepped out after nine State years of service. “Having been elected as a board member of the above school district in Clay County, South Dakota do solemnly swear that I will support the laws and constitution of the United States and the state of South Dakota and to perform the duties of a school board membership,” a portion of the oath read. Olson’s actual appointment to the school board will be delayed until the board’s next meeting because all board members needed to be present in order to assign them to committees. Olson and Superintendent Mark Froke will both attend the New Board Member Training on August 5 in Sioux Falls. Stammer was recognized by the board in a brief presentation where Stammer was presented with a patriotic print. Local Farm Profiled By National Magazine When it comes to fresh, locally grown, sustainable produce, the name in Vermillion is Heikes. Sam and Heidi Heikes, the dynamic father/daughter duo, run their family farm just past Hwy 50 on the edge of Vermillion. They serve as a beacon for those who want to know what they are getting and how it is grown. They rely on shareholders to continue to provide our community with the best, healthiest food that is also extremely accessible. In a nation that deals with food de¬serts resulting in absurdly high prices for healthy foods, GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms), and high rates of pesticide and herbicide use on produce, the Heikes family is doing a great service to the Vermillion Com¬munity. They operate a CSA (Com¬munity Supported Agriculture) which offers shareholders weekly baskets of in-season produce for the price of roughly $1.22 a day per person. Com¬munity Supported Agriculture began in 1985 and allows shareholders to provide the growing capital that the farmer then uses to grow crops For Vermillion and Clay County alike, the people behind the scenes of the Clay Area Emergency Ser¬vices Communication Center (CAESCC) are working to ensure that in an emergent situation, the help you need is just a phone call away. “We dispatch for fire, EMS, law enforcement, we do some with highway patrol, city workers, and county workers in Clay County,” said Ryan Ander¬son, CAESCC director. “We answer all 9-1-1 calls for Clay County and some other counties, for example on the interstate a call may bounce to us and we transfer them to the appropriate county. We monitor the jail, the courthouse, the parking lots just for security, and let the jailers in and out, making sure the incorrect people don’t leave the jail.” Recently, CAESCC underwent their first ever compliance check with the state and passed with flying colors. “Basically, the 911 direc¬tor for the state is going around to all the PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) and checking that all of the PSAPs are compli¬ant with the state’s admin¬istrative rules,” Anderson said. “She is checking to make sure we are all complying with the rules. We were found to be 100 percent compliant.” Rules that were checked included: Are you opera¬tional seven days a week? Do you do a hearing test, drug test and background search when hiring people? Do you have call answering protocols? Do you docu¬ment everything? Are you in a secure building where the public can’t easily access you? Anderson said there are also many financial compli¬ance questions. The South Dakota Ad¬ministrative Rules regarding communication centers were passed a few years ago as the state is trying to improve its 9-1-1 operations. While Anderson said he did not know how other center’s checks have gone, he was proud that CAESCC was 100 percent compliant. “It was a proud moment to find out we met all the standards and that we are on par with what they feel a communications center should be doing,” he said. “We