Category Archives: Local

Twenty South Dakota anglers competed in the 2018 Academy Sports & Outdoors BASS Nation Central Regional Tournament held March 7, 8 and 9 on Toledo Bend Reservior in Many, Louisiana.

Local anglers competing were Shane Stiehl, Eric Storms and Bryce Hauf all from the local Borderline Bassmasters club. The other anglers representing South Dakota were from other BASS clubs in the state.

The Central Region consists of 19 states who each had a twenty member team and all anglers competed on March 7th and 8th. The two days of competition was a field of 380 anglers that were paired together as boater and non boater, but competed against other boaters and non boaters. The top 62 boaters and non-boaters moved on to fish on Friday March 9. Each man who survived the cut had two goals – to represent his state proudly and to lock up a spot in the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship which will be held on an undisclosed date and fishery later this year.

Shane Stiehl placed 20th overall on the boater side and Bryce Hauf placed 48th on the non boater side and they will be representing South Dakota at the Championship later this year.

Winter just does not want to let go of its grip on the area.

Friday freezing rain and snow fell in the Winner area. The ice on the trees caused many branches to break. There were reports of lots of tree branches down all over Winner.

Due to ice on electrical lines here was some power blinks but there was never a total power outage in Winner.

In rural areas, some people lost power. Rosebud Electric Cooperative reported 75 percent of the power that was off was south of Colome and in the Clearfield area. They said at 10:15 a.m. on Friday the first outage was reported and as the day went on about 100 customers were without power. The REC got people back up and running on Friday but on Saturday when the heavy ice started dropping off the electrical lines, more people, including some of the same ones from Friday were without power. REC reported by 6 p.m. Saturday everyone had power. A full crew was working to restore power to their customers.

During the storm, only one pole was broken and that was in Colome. REC estimates there were a dozen wires broken.

With the poor weather on Monday, there were some sporadic outages reported by REC.

Monday there was light snow in Winner ranging from one to three inches. Fog early Monday morning reduced visibility.

The snow on Monday was wet and heavy meaning there was a lot of good precipitation.

From March 13 to March 19, Winner received 8.5 inches of snow. The greatest amount was recorded on March 17 when 3 inches was reported from the snow and icy storm on Friday. The precipitation from that three inches of snow was .25.

Due to Friday’s snow and ice there was no school in Winner. Colome school was on spring break. Due to the bad weather, the Tripp County Courthouse offices closed early on Friday afternoon.

Sid Bice, Denver, Colo., formerly of Winner, will be fighting for the LFA flyweight world championship in his home state of South Dakota.

The fight will be April 20 in Sioux Falls at the Sanford Pentagon.

On Feb. 7 members of the Colome High School choir participated in the Kimball Vocal Contest.

Jeremiah Yeaman sang “Silent Worship” and received a superior. Grace Campbell also earned a superior with her solo, “Though Not Deserving.” Madison Gill sang “Piejesu” and was awarded a superior as well. Jaclyn Laprath and Taylor Chasing Hawk earned a superior for their duet, “My Heart’s in the Highland.” Becca Marso sang “Caro Mia Bien” and earned an excellent. Jordyn Seegers scored an excellent for singing “Kyrie.” Isaac Beltman performed the song, “My Lord, What a Mornin’” and received an excellent. As for the large girls group, an excellent was received for their performance of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”

On Feb. 21, Madison Gill traveled to Chamberlain to present her trumpet piece in front of a group of judges. She received an above average score on her performance of “Habanera.”

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

Toby Morris of Dougherty and Co., Pierre, presented a financial overview on the feasibility of expanding the city jail at the March 8 meeting of the Winner City Council.

The city is proposing to purchase the American Legion building and property for a  $2.45 Million jail expansion.

Morris said the city has run the current facility as a profitable enterprise. “From a business perspective this is huge,” said Morris.  The City of Winner would be obligated to a $150,000 payment a year for 20 years.

He added that crime is not going away and from a business side it makes sense to do the expansion.

Morris based his projections on an anticipated maximum  capacity of 35 additional clients of day. This would bring in a net income of approximately $300,000.

Awareness is the first step to understanding and community inclusion. Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month has been observed each March in the United States since 1987, and this year, to celebrate the month, Community Connections, Inc., CCI, welcomes the public to an open house to learn more about the organization.

From 2-4 p.m. Friday, March 23, all are welcome to attend the open house at Community Connections recently remodeled building “Corner Way” at 325 N. Main, Winner, formerly known as the Car Wash building.

Guests will enjoy cookies and beverages and be able to tour the remodeled building as well as have the opportunity to meet some of the many staff and people who choose to receive services from Community Connections. Guests are welcome to ask questions, learn about services offered by Community Connections, apply for a job with our organization, or just visit and meet some neighbors!

CCI’s mission is to support real people to make real choices and live real lives. What it means to live a real life is different for every person, but it often involves goals and dreams that people without disabilities have, like getting a job, pursuing a hobby, learning a specific skill, becoming more independent, or having closer relationships. CCI is proud to have been a part of the Winner community for the past 43 years, and strives to provide the highest quality services to meet the changing needs of people with disabilities in our community to assure that every person, regardless of ability, reaches their fullest potential.

Developmental disabilities may impact a person’s cognitive, behavioral or physical abilities. Examples of developmental disabilities include autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

To learn more about Community Connections please visit: http://www.winnercommunityconnections.com/

The South Central Development Corporation is hosting a couple of events in April.

On April 3-4 there will be a free homebuyers education class. It will be held from 6-9 p.m. in the city office.

Participants must attend both evenings to get a certificate of completion.

This class is in cooperation with NeighborWorks Dakota Home Resources.

In a recent housing survey by the local development corporation, out of the 215 respondents, 83 said they would be interested in a homebuyers education class.

The NeighborWorks Homebuyer education course provides an unbiased comprehensive overview of the home buying process to help homebuyers make smart, informed decisions in every step of their homeownership journey.

Persons can RSVP on line at

winnerhomebuyerclass.eventbrite.com

Persons who have questions can call 842-1551.

The development corporation will be hosting a job fair in the Winner auxiliary gym on April 9 from 8-11 a.m.

Businesses who would like to have a table at the job fair can call Karla Brozik at the development office at 842-1551.

The development corporation will hold its annual meeting on March 26 at 7 p.m. at the Winner Legion.

Kamber Hossle of Hamill graduated from South Dakota State University following the fall 2017 session.

She graduated with a bachelor of science degree.

Keely Bertram of the Black Hills State University women’s basketball team has been named to the all-tournament team at the Colorado State University-Pueblo Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship.

Bertram finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Black Hills defeated Fort Lewis College and Metro State—Denver to advance to the RMAC championship game. Black Hills State was defeated by Colorado University-Pueblo 84-69.

BHSU moved on to the NCAA TDII tournament and will play Angelo State on March 9 in Lubbock, Texas.

Bertram is the daughter of Rahn and Maria Bertram of Elk Point and the granddaughter of Larry and Sherry Bertram of Colome.

Lyric Delgarito, special education major from Winner, was honored as the December 2017 Student Support Services Student of the Month at Black Hills State University.

Delgarito was nominated by Summer DiGioia, SSS retention advisor, who said, “Lyric puts forth effort and positivity in all that she does. Lyric is a very dedicated college student who has such enthusiasm and excitement when it comes to college.” Lyric says she struggled to understand the material during her early years in school. It wasn’t until she asked for help in her junior year of high school that she was tested and diagnosed with a reading disability. This diagnosis opened the door to new resources, which Lyric was eager to use.

Lyric said, “I feel that seeking out help in areas you do not understand is the first step. I learned that hard work goes a long way and that failure is not a breaking point or a reason to quit, but a reason to persevere.”

Lyric’s long-term goals are to return to her home reservation of Rosebud and work as a Special Education teacher to help youth overcome their challenges and follow their dreams. Lyric said, “My people deserve a great education and future for themselves.”