I want to make you aware of the K-12 Connect program, which provides free internet service to eligible K-12 students in their homes for the 2020-21 school year. As you know, because of COVID-19, we are using distance learning on a regular basis, and we know that some students may struggle because of a lack of internet connectivity.
Your household is eligible for this program if you meet the following requirements:
Must have at least one student currently enrolled in an accredited South Dakota K-12 school; and
Must meet the income eligibility guidelines for the free and reduced school lunch program; and
Must not have internet services in the home as of July 1, 2020
Eligible households should receive a letter indicating eligibility and identifying the appropriate telecommunications company to call in order to access free internet service through this program. Letters were mailed Oct. 26.
Enrollment closes Nov. 20, 2020. To enroll, families should call the telecommunications company noted in their letter to set up service. That company will install the necessary equipment on a first-come, first-serve basis. Installation will occur as time and available equipment allow. Eligible students who live in more than one home will be provided connectivity at their primary residence.
Internet service will be provided through June 30, 2021. After that time, the household must return equipment to the internet provider or continue services at the household’s expense.
If you do not receive a letter, but believe your household is eligible, please call (605) 773-3248 or email .
Hello Parents/Guardians, Due to Covid-19 we will be doing our band and choir concerts a little different this year. Prior to this pandemic Mr. Sittig and Mr. Steckler and I decided to do both choir and band concerts on the same night. Since we cannot change dates for our fall concert, here is how we are going to do our November 17th Concert. Starting off in the Old Gym at 6:30pm the Middle School Choir will perform.
At 7:15pm in the Dragons Lair (new gym) the Middle School Band will perform.
At 8:00pm in the Old Gym the High School Choir will perform.
Finally, at 8:30pm in the Dragons Lair (new gym) the High School band will perform.
We are trying this method to provide social distancing for all the concerts. Each concert will be about 30 minutes long.
Hopefully this method will allow parents and family to attend.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me or Mr. Sittig at or
Editor’s note: This article was produced through a partnership between South Dakota News Watch and the Solutions Journalism Network, a national non-profit group that supports rigorous journalism about responses to problems.
South Dakota election officials are taking a wide range of steps — and implementing some creative measures — to ensure easy access to voting and provide for an accurate ballot count during a time of unprecedented electoral challenges.
The 2020 general election is being held amid a deadly pandemic, is attracting record numbers of absentee and early votes and is drawing high voter turnout.
County election officials who run ground-level electoral operations in South Dakota have been working for months to manage early voting and prepare for safe, orderly in-person voting on Election Day on Nov. 3.
Many strategies have focused on processing absentee ballots, which by law cannot be counted until Election Day.
Election officials have recruited more poll workers as some older workers sought to avoid the risk of COVID-19. Some counties have formed absentee ballot review panels to sort and certify ballots and created new, absentee-only voting precincts to simplify the vote-counting process. Temporary ballot boxes have been installed in some areas so voters do not have to send in their ballots by mail. The state has also held several mock elections to test its voting systems and prepare county auditors for a long, busy Election Day.
Auditors have also found ingenious ways to overcome electoral challenges. One auditor held a voter education session through the windows of a nursing home to reach elderly voters who could not leave the facility. Another bought and erected a surplus military tent to create a safe, socially distanced early voting site. And a few auditors have taken advantage of a rarely used state law that allows high school students to get excused absences to fill in as temporary poll workers on Election Day.
As with any vote, the stakes are high, but may be higher this election, especially for those tasked with running them. Electoral processes, especially mail-in voting, have come under scrutiny by President Donald Trump. The U.S. Postal Service has battled to keep up with a nationwide flood of mail-in ballots. Record numbers of voters are casting absentee ballots, many for the first time. Some polling locations have been shut down due to the pandemic, and many in-person polling sites will be partially staffed with first-time workers and must focus on maintaining cleanliness and social distancing. Many South Dakota counties are using new ballot-counting machines and technology.
The number of polling locations in South Dakota will be down in 2020. The state had 508 polling sites during the 2016 general election, and as of mid-October, the state had only 474 polling sites secured for the 2020 general election at a time when voter turnout could be as high as 70%, according to Kea Warne, elections director in the Secretary of State’s Office.
Warne, who has worked on South Dakota elections off and on since 1993, said preparing for the 2020 election has been challenging, but rewarding.
“Every election cycle brings its own challenges, but this cycle has definitely been unique in the challenges being faced by election officials,” Warne said. “This has led to most likely the busiest election cycle I have been a part of.”
In the 2020 general election, South Dakota voters can vote for president, seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, a spot on the Public Utilities Commission, three statewide ballot measures on legalizing medical and recreation marijuana and sports betting in Deadwood, and numerous local legislative offices.
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Editor’s note: This article was produced through a partnership between South Dakota News Watch and the Solutions Journalism Network, a national non-profit group that supports rigorous journalism about responses to problems.
South Dakota election officials are taking a wide range of steps — and implementing some creative measures — to ensure easy access to voting and provide for an accurate ballot count during a time of unprecedented electoral challenges.
The 2020 general election is being held amid a deadly pandemic, is attracting record numbers of absentee and early votes and is drawing high voter turnout.
County election officials who run ground-level electoral operations in South Dakota have been working for months to manage early voting and prepare for safe, orderly in-person voting on Election Day on Nov. 3.
Many strategies have focused on processing absentee ballots, which by law cannot be counted until Election Day.
Election officials have recruited more poll workers as some older workers sought to avoid the risk of COVID-19. Some counties have formed absentee ballot review panels to sort and certify ballots and created new, absentee-only voting precincts to simplify the vote-counting process. Temporary ballot boxes have been installed in some areas so voters do not have to send in their ballots by mail. The state has also held several mock elections to test its voting systems and prepare county auditors for a long, busy Election Day.
Auditors have also found ingenious ways to overcome electoral challenges. One auditor held a voter education session through the windows of a nursing home to reach elderly voters who could not leave the facility. Another bought and erected a surplus military tent to create a safe, socially distanced early voting site. And a few auditors have taken advantage of a rarely used state law that allows high school students to get excused absences to fill in as temporary poll workers on Election Day.
As with any vote, the stakes are high, but may be higher this election, especially for those tasked with running them. Electoral processes, especially mail-in voting, have come under scrutiny by President Donald Trump. The U.S. Postal Service has battled to keep up with a nationwide flood of mail-in ballots. Record numbers of voters are casting absentee ballots, many for the first time. Some polling locations have been shut down due to the pandemic, and many in-person polling sites will be partially staffed with first-time workers and must focus on maintaining cleanliness and social distancing. Many South Dakota counties are using new ballot-counting machines and technology.
The number of polling locations in South Dakota will be down in 2020. The state had 508 polling sites during the 2016 general election, and as of mid-October, the state had only 474 polling sites secured for the 2020 general election at a time when voter turnout could be as high as 70%, according to Kea Warne, elections director in the Secretary of State’s Office.
Warne, who has worked on South Dakota elections off and on since 1993, said preparing for the 2020 election has been challenging, but rewarding.
“Every election cycle brings its own challenges, but this cycle has definitely been unique in the challenges being faced by election officials,” Warne said. “This has led to most likely the busiest election cycle I have been a part of.”
In the 2020 general election, South Dakota voters can vote for president, seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, a spot on the Public Utilities Commission, three statewide ballot measures on legalizing medical and recreation marijuana and sports betting in Deadwood, and numerous local legislative offices.
The chance for human or mechanical error is present in every election, and may be higher than normal during the 2020 election cycle. Voter errors on absentee ballots cast in the June primary election in South Dakota resulted in 1.4% of the ballots being rejected, about 1,200 of the roughly 88,000 cast. In the 2018 general election, only 307 of about 90,000 absentee ballots were rejected, and only 378 of about 102,000 absentee ballots cast in the 2016 general election were rejected.
Errors in processing of absentee ballots led to different final results in two primary races in South Dakota, with one mistake in Douglas County changing the reported outcome of a legislative election after a recount.
On Oct. 19, with more than two weeks to go before the Nov. 3 general election, 125,552 South Dakotans had returned absentee ballots to their county auditors, said Secretary of State Steve Barnett. Another 41,811 voters had requested absentee ballots but had not returned them, he said. In the 2016 general election, voters cast 102,390 absentee ballots.
The sharp rise in the number of absentee voters, especially first-time absentee voters, has some election experts worried that there could be a corresponding increase in human errors and honest mistakes by both election officials and voters.
Such errors and the aftermath could undermine public confidence in the electoral process when faith in the system is badly needed.
“I think one of the biggest concerns everybody should have is the degree to which people are going to make honest mistakes; voters and election officials alike,” said Michael Hanmer, research director at the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland. “These are human processes, and we know that we’re going to make mistakes, and certainly, the risk goes up when we’re doing something new.”
Barnett said he is confident that South Dakota’s election will be safe and accurate. County election officials learned a lot from the June primary election and have taken many steps to improve the voting process, including preparing for early voting and tabulation of high numbers of absentee ballots, he said.
“We’re looking forward to a good turnout on Election Day for this year and a safe and smooth election,” Barnett said.
Barnett and Warne said they expect some long-term positive outcomes from the 2020 electoral process, including greater public interest in how elections are run, more involvement of young people either in voting or in helping run elections, and continued higher absentee voting which could increase turnout in the future.
“Efforts from local election officials have resulted in first-time poll workers, including younger workers,” Warne said. “From the [high] absentee numbers, the pandemic has also led many of our voters to consider utilizing that method of voting, which I think may continue into the future.”
Preparing for an unusual election cycle
By mid-October in Brookings County, about 4,700 absentee ballots had been cast, said county Election Supervisor Jenna Byrd. She expected to see more than 7,000 total absentee ballots returned by the Nov. 2 deadline. In 2016, Brookings County voters returned 4,654 absentee ballots.
To handle the extra workload, Byrd recruited 25 people solely to sort and certify absentee ballots. The new election workers will be split into eight, three-person boards and there will be one superintendent in charge of the operation. Byrd said she is confident her absentee boards will handle the workload and deliver a fair and accurate result. “It’s a well thought out process, we’ve got integrity here, and we do the best that we can,” Byrd said.
Some county auditors are thinking outside the box to assist citizens in voting. In Hand County, Auditor Doug DeBoer came up with a unique solution to help residents vote at the two assisted-living facilities in the county seat of Miller. Both buildings were locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were not allowing visitors inside, but their residents still wanted to vote.
State law allows auditors to temporarily set up an in-person early voting booth inside nursing homes or assisted-living centers in order to help seniors vote. But the pandemic-related lock downs meant DeBoer could not access either facility inside, leaving voting absentee by mail as the only option.
Voting absentee by mail is more complicated than voting in-person. First, a voter must apply for an absentee ballot and wait for it to arrive in the mail. The voter then has to fill out the ballot and sign a declaration saying the ballot is theirs. The ballot must then be notarized, or the voter can attach a copy of their driver’s license to it. The voter then has to place the ballot in its official return envelope, sign the envelope and mail it back to the county auditor.
Any missed step or inconsistent signature can cause an absentee ballot to be rejected and go uncounted.
Under state law, ballots can be rejected for several reasons, including: multiple ballots in an envelope; no signature on a ballot envelope; a non-matching signature on the envelope or ballot; the ballot is not returned on time; the ballot was returned in an unofficial envelope without a signature; or because the voter died before election day.
The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office does not track the reasons why poll workers reject ballots, said Rachel Soulek, the Help America Vote Act coordinator for the office. In the past, most ballots were rejected because they are not returned by 5 p.m. the day before an election, she said.
DeBoer said he worked with the staff at the Courtyard Villa Assisted Living Center and the Good Samaritan Society assisted-living center to help residents vote.
At Courtyard Villa, DeBoer set up a temporary auditor’s office in an entryway and was separated from residents by a set of large, glass doors. DeBoer was able to verify identifications and answer questions through the glass doors while a facility staff member in personal protective equipment shuttled ballot envelopes between voters and DeBoer. A total of 13 Courtyard Villa residents were able to vote with DeBoer’s help.
At the Good Samaritan building, lock down measures were more extreme. DeBoer was not allowed into the building; instead, he had to go window to window verifying identifications and sliding ballots through small openings for 16 voters.
“Luckily, some of the residents had large picture windows, others had small windows, but I could effectively verify who they were,” DeBoer said.
Trying to provide space for social distancing during voter registration and early voting was impossible in Fall River County, where the elections office is in the cramped courthouse built in Hot Springs in 1893.
Fall River County election officials bought and erected a surplus military tent to host safe in-person early voting after social distancing was deemed impossible in the historic county courthouse. Photo courtesy Fall River County auditor
Auditor Sue Ganje and a county emergency management official searched the state of South Dakota government surplus site and found a large military tent valued at $15,000 for sale for just $1,500.
They bought the tent, set it up on county property next door to the courthouse and began to house staff of the elections office and welcome visitors in the tent that allowed for social distancing and easy cleaning. The county spent a bit more money to provide the tent with electricity and lighting.
In-person voting on Election Day will be held at the local community center as usual, but having the tent next to the auditor’s office has made it safe and easy to host early voting and other election activities with limited time spent transporting people or equipment, she said.
“It’s a daily pack in and pack out of equipment, but it’s working quite smoothly,” Ganje said. “People can drop off voter registrations or absentee ballots, and they’re just making it happen out there. It’s been a real lifesaver this year.”
Like other county auditors, Ganje had some of her regular poll workers decline to work the 2020 primary or general election, mostly because they were older and at high risk of complications from the coronavirus.
Sue Ganje
Ganje was aware of a state law that allows South Dakota high school students to get an excused absence from school to help out at the polls, but she had never faced a shortage of workers before.
Suddenly in need of more staff on Election Day, Ganje approached a government teacher at the local high school and is now set to receive help from eight students who will be let out of school to work the election. Those who are 18 or older can perform all electoral duties; those under 18 can perform tasks such as guiding voters through the polls, running errands or disinfecting voting equipment.
“We hope it’s a super experience for them,” Ganje said. “I think it’s exciting to see the interest from the younger ones to pitch in and help, and hopefully we’ll hold to them in the future, getting them interested early in voting and elections.”
Ganje said she’s seen some silver linings to what she described as a “weird election season,” including educating more people about how to successfully vote early or by absentee, and a rallying of the community to learn about and support the electoral process.
“I’ve seen that people are really resilient, and people are pitching in any way they can.,” she said.
In the June primary, when many government buildings were closed, Butte County Auditor Elaine Jensen arranged for the county to move a trailer home to the county administrative property for use as a temporary election facility. Once equipped with electricity, a heater and computers, that trailer worked well.
Jensen said she now knows that the the temporary building can work if needed in the future. “It kind of takes the election wherever we want it to go,” she said.
After some planning, Jensen has decided to run the fall election from the permanent administration building and open all four county polling sites.
In the week leading up to the Nov. 3 election, Jensen said that rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases in the region led eight poll workers to call and say they were unavailable to work Election Day.
Jensen was trying to recruit local high school students to fill in, but was confident she could adequately staff the polling locations in Belle Fourche, Nisland, Newell and Castle Rock. Like other auditors, Jensen is focused on maintaining the safety of voters and poll workers amid the pandemic. Pens, voting booths and equipment will be sanitized before each use, and hand sanitizers and disinfectants will be omnipresent at the polls, she said.
“It’s a trying time, a very trying time and it’s been difficult for auditors across the state,” Jensen said. “But I am so passionate about elections; I just feel that it’s so important for everybody to have the right to cast their ballot.”
Challenges remain; transparency important
Voters in Native American communities and reservations around South Dakota face a unique set of challenges when participating in elections. Counties that include Native American reservations have been accused of not having enough polling places to adequately serve widely dispersed populations. Poverty also plays a role in limiting access to polling places. Many Native Americans do not have access to reliable transportation, which makes traveling to polling places that can be 60 or more miles from their homes nearly impossible.
Many Native Americans don’t have the same type of address with street names and house numbers typically found in other communities. Instead, extended families rely on post office boxes located in towns that can be dozens of miles from their homes to receive mail. Such arrangements make voting absentee by mail more difficult.
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to make voting in the 2020 general election even more difficult for Native Americans. Tribal communities tend to have higher rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and have less access to advanced medical care, so large gatherings of people such as those found inside polling places can be doubly dangerous to Native communities. Tribal governments have recognized the danger posed by crowds and instituted lockdowns to protect vulnerable populations.
For the most part, Native American voters have the same access to absentee and early voting as every other South Dakotan, Barnett said. Any registered voter can apply for an absentee ballot or vote early in person at their county courthouse.
In recognition of the unique challenges Native American voters can face, tribal communities have worked with Barnett’s office to set up satellite absentee voting locations in five counties with large Native American populations. The five counties are Buffalo, Dewey, Jackson, Oglala Lakota and Todd.
The satellite locations are funded through grants awarded to states under the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act. Each satellite location must be located in a place that is easier for most community members to access than the county courthouse.
“We feel it’s important that they take advantage of those satellite sites,” Barnett said. “There are some challenges there … I think it is important that anybody can get access (to voting).”
Yet at least two South Dakota tribal governments and a Native American voter rights group, Four Directions, say the state has not done enough to enfranchise indigenous voters.
In September, the Oglala Lakota and Rosebud Sioux tribes, along with Four Directions, sued several state agencies, including the Secretary of State’s Office, in federal court. The organizations claim the state departments of Public Safety, Social Services and Labor and Regulation broke federal law by not offering adequate voter registration services to Native Americans as required by federal law. The suit is pending.
No matter how well trained poll workers are or how many absentee voting guides are published, Hanmer said, errors can and do happen during elections.
“There’s never been an election without errors,” Hanmer said. “We have to recognize that it doesn’t mean that they weren’t fair. Because, again, I think a lot of the mistakes are honest mistakes, and we’ll learn from them.”
Phyllis Barker had served as auditor in Douglas County, South Dakota for about seven years on June 2, 2020, when she made a mistake that changed the reported result of the District 19 Republican primary election for state representative.
The 2020 primary saw 525 voters cast absentee ballots in Douglas County, a huge increase over the 2018 primary when 70 absentee ballots were cast. For the first time, Barker had to recruit a separate, three-person absentee board to sort and verify absentee ballots. The ballots were then counted by two DS200 tabulating machines.
Once the polls closed, the ballots cast in-person at each of the county’s five voting precincts were counted. Barker then had to add the absentee votes to the in-person votes by hand to get final election results and upload them to the state website.
When Barker was uploading results, she failed to include the votes on 86 absentee ballots from one precinct. As a result, the election results displayed on the Secretary of State’s website showed that the wrong candidate had won the election. The mistake was discovered when one of the candidates asked for a recount; ultimately incumbent Rep. Marty Overweg was declared the winner of the primary over challenger Jessica Bahmuller by 21 votes.
“We recounted all of the votes on one machine, and that’s when I noticed the vote totals didn’t match what I had reported,” Barker said.
For the 2020 general election, Barker has created a new absentee voter precinct in Douglas County.
“I’ll have my five regular precincts, plus an absentee precinct, so all those absentee voters will be treated as their own precinct and will be reported in the state system that way,” Barker said. “There won’t be any human adding before the numbers are put in.”
Reducing the opportunity for human error is critical for election officials, said Thessalia Merivaki, an American politics professor at Mississippi State University who researches the impact of election administration on voters. Publicly acknowledging an error is important, Merivaki said.
Election officials must be transparent when errors occur, she said. Voters should be told what happened, how the error occurred, and what will be done to prevent the mistake from happening again in order to maintain confidence in the election system, Merivaki said.
“For the broader public, transparent procedures and honesty from election officials are very important to maintain a level of trust,” Merivaki said.
Distracted, Drunk and Drowsy Drivers Pose Dangers to Trick-or Treaters and other road users this weekend
October 29, 2020 –As Halloween 2020 approaches, AAA is raising concern for a dangerous traffic safety trifecta – increased pedestrian activity, drunk driving, and drowsy driving – all of which converge this Halloween weekend. The ghostly holiday falls on a Saturday this year, followed a few short hours later by “falling back” at the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, November 1.
Halloween festivities amid the COVID-19 pandemic will likely look different for many communities, parents, trick-or-treaters, and party goers. Traditional indoor activities, like costume parties for children and adults, can move outside in small, socially distanced settings. However those planning to celebrate should not lose sight of safety first.
Photo courtesy AAA South Dakota
A scare in good fun is expected on Halloween, but AAA warns, not when it comes to child pedestrian safety.
According to Safe Kids Worldwide, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween as any other day of the year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that Halloween is consistently one of the top three days of the year for pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
Creative costumes, trick-or-treating and bags full of goodies become top Halloween priorities, but safety often becomes an afterthought. Excited trick-or-treaters can forget about safety, so drivers, party-goers and parents must be even more alert, as the risk of kids being injured by moving vehicles increases.
“With an increased risk of pedestrian crashes on Halloween night, AAA urges parents to take the time to make trick-or-treaters and their costumes safer and more visible to motorists,” said Marilyn Buskohl, AAA spokeswoman. “In addition, motorists must eliminate distractions, slow down and watch for children, as well as have a completely sober designated driver if drinking is part of a Halloween celebration.”
Halloween is also a statistically dangerous night for drunk driving. The combination of drinking and increased pedestrian traffic on Halloween is a deadly combination. AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) found that:
One-fourth of all pedestrian deaths ranging in age from 5-14 occurred in the four days leading up to Halloween (October 28-31) in 2017.
On Halloween night 2017, 89 people were fatally injured in a traffic crash, with 13 percent involving alcohol.
In 2017, more than half of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween occurred with the pedestrian outside of a marked crosswalk.
From 2013 – 2017, 158 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night (NHTSA)
From 2013 - 2017, 22 percent of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween night involved a drunk driver. (NHTSA)
During that period, 42 percent of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night were in crashes involving a drunk driver. (NHTSA)
In South Dakota, the Department of Public Safety reports:
Pedestrian-involved crashes resulted in 8 fatalities in 2019.
Distracted Driving was a contributing factor in 788 crashes in 2019.
Drinking was a contributing factor in 593 crashes in 2019.
In 2019, alcohol-related fatalities were nearly 28% of the total traffic fatalities.
Of the 77 killed motor vehicle occupants 41 were unbelted in 2019.
AAA Halloween Safety Tips
Motorists
Do not use your phone while behind the wheel, so you can focus on the road and trick-or-treaters.
Slow down in residential neighborhoods and obey all traffic signs and signals. Drive at least 5 mph below the posted speed limit to give yourself extra time to react to children who may dart into the street. Broaden your scanning by looking for children left and right into yards and on front porches.
Look for children crossing the street. They may not be paying attention to traffic and may cross the street mid-block or between parked cars.
Carefully enter and exit driveways and alleys, taking extra care if you are backing up or turning.
Turn your headlights on to make yourself more visible – even in the daylight.
Parents
Make sure Halloween costumes are flame-retardant and light in color to improve visibility.
Be bright at night – have trick-or-treaters use glow sticks or wear retro-reflective tape on costumes and on treat buckets.
Ensure disguises don’t obstruct vision and avoid full facemasks.
Create face masks that coordinate with costumes rather than regular costume masks. This won’t obstruct vision and follows health and safety guidelines for COVID-19.
Instead, use nontoxic face paint. Also, watch the length of billowy costumes to help avoid tripping.
Ensure any props are flexible and blunt-tipped to avoid injury from tripping or horseplay.
Ask an adult or older child to supervise children under age 12.
Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along established routes.
Teach children to stop only at well-lit houses and to never to enter a stranger’s home or garage.
Review trick-or-treating safety precautions, including pedestrian and traffic safety rules.
Trick-or-Treaters
Stay on sidewalks and avoid walking in streets if possible.
If there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic.
Look both ways and listen for traffic before crossing the street.
Watch for cars turning or backing up.
Cross streets only at the corner, using traffic signals and crosswalks, and never cross between parked vehicles or mid-block.
Trick-or-treat in a group if someone older cannot go with you.
Tell your parents where you are going.
Carry a flashlight containing fresh batteries. Never shine flashlights into the eyes of oncoming drivers.
Party Goers
Arrange a safe ride home and/or designate a driver before partaking in any festivities.
Always designate a sober driver.
If you are drunk, take a taxi or ride share service, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.
Before leaving for a party, load ride share apps or put numbers of local cab companies or your designated driver(s) into your phone.
Walking impaired can be as dangerous as drunk driving. Designate a sober friend to walk you home.
If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.
If you know someone who is about to drive or ride impaired, take their keys and help them make safe travel arrangements to where they are going.
AAA provides automotive, travel, and insurance services to 60 million members nationwide and more than 102,000 members in South Dakota. AAA advocates for the safety and mobility of its members and has been committed to outstanding road service for more than 100 years. AAA is a non-stock, non-profit corporation working on behalf of motorists, who can now map a route, find local gas prices, discover discounts, book a hotel, and track their roadside assistance service with the AAA Mobile app (AAA.com/mobile) for iPhone, iPad and Android. For more information, visit www.AAA.com.
This last Thursday, the first round of football playoffs was the last game for Garretson Blue Dragon Football. It was a brutal match against Winner, ending in a 0-40 score against GHS.
Ryan Flanagan
“We knew going in that we were facing a really good football team,” said GHS Head Coach Chris Long. “We had a good gameplay that we worked on all week in practice and felt it gave us the best chance to cause them problems. The first series we did some good things, but a few missed tackles hurt us.”
“We made some early mistakes and before we knew it we were down 24-0. With the weather conditions and the fact that they are very good defensively, we were in trouble at that point.”
The Blue Dragons couldn’t break through or dodge Winner’s lines, and offense was slowed to a crawl or outright stopped. They also couldn’t hold back Winner’s offensive game, and it was over by the half, Winner scoring 400.”
Coach Long said that it was a pleasure to coach the Dragons this year for him.
“This senior group is one of my favorites,” he said. “They work hard, show up and have great attitudes. There were opportunities this year to win a few more football games that we’ d like to have back, but I really commend this group for the attitude and character. We’ll miss them.”
Garretson ends their season with a 2-7 record. Winner is 8-0, #1 Class 11B -They host McCook Central next week in 2nd round of playoffs.
Just before print, the Gazette received word that it’s likely the Blue Dragons will shift to 9-man football for next season.
by Morgan Pierret , GHS Blue Ink and staff reporting
Volleyball has been on a roll. They were 16-3 with just one week left in the regular season.
Lily Ranschau
Two out of the three games the Lady Blue Dragons have lost has been to the Parker Pheasants. The Pheasants (13-7) are currently ranked first in their region. The Pheasants are definitely the girls’ biggest competition, but every set they’ve played against Parker has been close. If standings stay the way they are, the Blue Dragons will not have to play Parker unless both teams advance to state competition.
Volleyball’s post season starts November 3. with the semi-finals on November 5. Teams that advance from there will be in the SoDak 16. The Lady Dragons are currently seeded second in their region, behind Sioux Falls Christian. If they keep this position, they will have a first round bye in the regional tournament.
Last year, the girls made it into the SoDak 16, but unfortunately lost. This year, they are hoping to make it one step further, to state. State this year will be held in Watertown November 19-21.
Kennedy Buckneberg, one of the team’s seniors, said the girls need to work on their defense. She said they need to be smart with ball placement, so it can set up a good rest of the play for the girls. The team is hoping to make it far this year with this strategy.
The girls had a busy schedule this week, with their last three regular season games, which are all played in the Dragons’ Lair in Garretson. They played Sioux Valley on Monday and Colman-Egan on Tuesday, and play Dell Rapids St. Mary on Friday.
In the game against Sioux Valley, the Lady Dragons were victorious, settling the game in three matches with a score of 25-15, 25-20, 25-19. Results for the game against Colman-Egan were unavailable at press time.
Make sure you get out and support these girls, as this is one of the best records Garretson volleyball has had in years.
The State XC Meet was held on Saturday at Hart Ranch in Rapid City.
“The conditions and course were less than ideal but were memorable for our runners as none of them have ever run in snow before,” said Coach Jason Bohl. “They ran in cold and snowy conditions and the course was less than favorable as we ran after both Class B and Class AA ran on the course and made it even more treacherous. Times were probably 40 seconds slower than other classes due to the condition of the course.”
“The girls finished 12th in Class A,” Coach Bohl said. “We have been struggling all year with various injuries and were still able to qualify a team for the state meet and finish in the top 12 of all Class A teams in the state.”
“On the boys side, Preston Bohl finished in 11th place,” he said. “His performance garnered him All State status. He has been putting in the time to better himself and it paid off for him this past weekend.”
Preston Bohl was the only Boys GHS XC runner to qualify for state this year. Makala Heesch placed 58th, Payton Cambbell placed 60th, Kylie Christensen placed 76th, Taylor Benson placed 77th, Adair Hanisch placed 114th and Lucie Frewaldt placed 116th.
On Friday, October 30, the Garretson City Council invites you to a Main Avenue official re-opening and ribbon cutting. The event will occur at 2:30 PM at the corner of 3rd & Main. This short ceremony will be accompanied by the Garretson High School Band, and featured speaker will be council member Greg Franka.
SIOUX FALLS – In a turn-around from last year, Joshua Shellum with the South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit gave a positive report to the Minnehaha County Commission at this Tuesday’s meeting.
He told commissioners that in all of the major areas they covered, there were “no deficiencies in internal controls.”
In 2019, the same department found several problems with the county treasurer’s office in how they were handling their required reports.
At that time, Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson blamed problems they were having on a new county computer system.
Her office had gotten approximately 18 months behind in required reports they were supposed to provide to the auditor’s office, as well as to the county commission.
As a result of the delay, there were several months when revenues and expenses did not balance.
But, with the latest report, all of those problems seem to have been solved.
Commissioners Gerald Beninga and Jeff Barth both expressed pleasure with the state’s latest report.
The new audit gives the county an “A1” rating for all operations.
And according to Commission Chair Jean Bender, that A1 rating makes Minnehaha County bonds a low-risk, high-quality investment.
A late change
Commission Administrator Carol Muller presented a change order for an additional $520,000 to build a wall, increase drainage and do landscaping around the north entrance to the newly remodeled Minnehaha jail.
The reason for the additional work is due to the county being “pro-active,” according to Muller.
It is believed that during heavy rains, that entrance would probably flood, so before that happens, they want to get a 30-inch high wall built. And along with a flood gate and a pump system, the county is also looking at putting in a berm to help move any water.
Although the change order was unexpected, Muller said this still leaves the overall jail renovation project under budget.
Commissioners voted 5-0 to accept the order.
Light ‘em up
At the end of the meeting, Bender said that moisture from recent snowfalls has allowed them to lift the countywide burn ban enacted on Oct. 13.
Because next Tuesday is Election Day, there will be no commission meeting on Nov. 3. The next meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
