Ross Dolan
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PLANKINTON -- The "Welcome Home, Nick," banner over the food line at the Commerce Street Grille & Bar in Plankinton said it all. "It's kind of cool to see how many people will come out to support you," said Nick Lawson, 17, who is still recovering after being accidentally shot in the chest June 22 by long-time friend Logan Evans, also of Plankinton. Lawson was center of attention Saturday as area residents crowded about and wished him well during a benefit meal and auction to raise money to defray medical expenses.
A severe thunderstorm tore through the area Saturday night, bringing welcome rain but also damaging hail and wind. The Parkston and Dimock areas were especially hard-hit. Rain totals were greatest in Mitchell, where 2.18 inches fell between 7 a.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday. A small but powerful storm band with 2-inch-diameter hail struck an area between Dimock and Parkston around 7 p.m. Saturday. “It’s pretty bad around Dimock,” said Norbert Zirpel, 83, of rural Parkston.
A delay in ordering laptops means students and teachers at Mitchell High School might not get their new computers until a week after school starts Aug. 19. “Carpet and computers — it seems you can’t order them early enough,” muttered Superintendent Joe Graves as he walked past hordes of Mitchell High School students Monday. They were crowding hallways while signing up for photo identification cards and lunch and activities passes. District Technology Officer Dan Muck said 954 Hewlett-Packard laptops were ordered for MHS staff and students at the beginning of July.
2013 fundraising goal set at $455,000.
State Auditor Toby Qualm on Tuesday reviewed numerous violations of laws and accounting practices turned up by an audit of Davison County's operations and finances. Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke said later that she does not believe the audit was a bad one, but Commissioner Gerald Weiss differed.
It's official: Dakotafest has been sold, just weeks before the opening day of the annual agricultural trade show near Mitchell. In a Monday press release, the Washington, D.C.-based American Farm Bureau Federation confirmed its purchase of Cygnus Business Media's agricultural events and publications. The Cygnus deal had been rumored prior to Monday's confirmation.
A rain-soaked Kim Kowall, of Mitchell, follows his drive from the sixth tee Friday at the Wild Oak Golf Course during the Veterans of Foreign Wars Golf Tournament. The undaunted group was one of 21 teams to brave rain and wind during the two-person scramble. With Kowall were golfers Dale Anderson, Nathan Hofer and Dan Rang. Proceeds benefited the VFW and its struggle to recover from lost business suffered during the demolition of its former neighboring structure, the old Longhorn Bar. (Ross Dolan/The Daily Republic)
Advocates for tighter investment banking controls want South Dakota's congressional contingent in Washington, D.C., to get on board with a movement to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. The 1933 act aimed to curb the speculative investment excesses that led to the stock market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. The nation has apparently forgotten the lessons of that earlier time, said Robert Hockett, 62, of Pierre, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2002.
Mitchell's Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter wants to sell its Main Street building to the city of Mitchell and move to another location, but the vets hope the city will offer a higher price than the $150,000 currently on the table. Mayor Ken Tracy said bids to repair the common wall between the VFW post and the former Longhorn Bar, which the city purchased prior to demolishing, all exceeded $150,000. That's the price the city offered the veterans recently to sell their building or fix their wall.
Dakotafest has been sold. South Dakota’s largest farm show, held each August in Mitchell, has been acquired this week as part of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s purchase of the Cygnus Business Media agriculture group, according to EXPO, a website for the trade show industry. The American Farm Bureau Federation is agriculture’s largest nonprofit trade organization. The deal includes the purchase of IDEAg, the marketing and management arm of Cygnus Business Media, and its portfolio of four farm shows, including Dakotafest. Under the deal, the former Cygnus shows will become a s