Category Archives: News

Leonard Jansen, 92

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Leonard Walter Jansen was born June 19, 1924, in Dallas, SD, the sixth child of thirteen to Albert and Lena (Gruhn) Jansen. He attended several country schools and graduated from Dallas High School.

On February 7, 1946 Leonard married Donna Mae Wardrip. To this union two children were adopted, Mary Jane born March 31, 1948 and David Leonard born October 20, 1950.

In 1953, Leonard and Donna bought the Henry Saathoff farm west of Dallas where he showed his great love for farming. Upon their retirement, they built a new home in Gregory and spent many winters in Arizona until 1997 when Donna was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and they remained at home in Gregory. Donna died suddenly on May 26, 1999.

On August 11, 2000, Leonard married Clarice (Hight) Christiansen. They then sold the house in Gregory and moved back to the farm west of Dallas.

After a fall in their home, Leonard entered Rosebud Country Care Center in December of 2015. He passed away suddenly on Dec. 4, 2016 at the age of 92.

Join Swier Law Firm in Helping the Animals at the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society this Holiday Season!

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Usually, the only difference between animals in shelters and the ones curled up by our side is merely a stroke of bad luck. Many of us consider our animals as a member of the family unit, and rightly so. After all, it is a horrifying thought to picture the animals we love sitting alone in a shelter – so it is easy for us to simply not imagine it at all. They deserve better.

Swier Law Firm is putting down its legal books and asking you to join us in raising money to help the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society this holiday season. Let’s make sure our furry and feathery friends find a forever home. Join us in feeding some of the most innocent and unconditionally loving souls! The coming holiday season is the toughest time of the year for the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society because of freezing temperatures and holiday spending. Whether you want to give two dollars or two hundred, every single contribution matters.

Even if you don’t have an extra dollar or two, many of us have some blankets, pads of paper, or a junk drawer full of unused pens that are just waiting to be put to good use. Please take a moment and look at the wish list of bare necessities below to keep our furry and feathery friends warm, fed, and happy.

The initial motivation behind this holiday fundraiser at Swier Law Firm was the loss of some very loved four-legged family members this past year. We decided the best way to honor them was to help feed some of their less fortunate brothers and sisters. Whether you’re making memories or remembering them, we encourage all donations to include a photo, memory, or message to honor those animals that have enhanced the quality of our lives. Near or Far—You Can Help!

Stop in or mail your items to 2121 W 63rd Place Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57108 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.on Monday through Friday. If you can only make it outside of those hours, please contact us and we will set something up with you personally. Or donate Funds at our GoFundMe page created specifically for this movement and we’ll use 100% of all donations towards the Wish List. Donations are accepted until January 13, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. and a final itemized list of all donations will be posted no later than January 20, 2017.

Wake Up! Missing 1-2 Hours of Sleep Doubles Crash Risk

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AAA Foundation study reveals the dangers of getting less than seven hours of sleep

Drivers who miss between one to two hours of the recommended seven hours of sleep in a 24-hour period nearly double their risk for a crash, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 35 percent of U.S. drivers sleep less than the recommended seven hours daily. And with drowsy driving involved in more than one in five fatal crashes on U.S. roadways each year, AAA warns drivers that getting less than seven hours of sleep may have deadly consequences.

“You cannot miss sleep and still expect to be able to safely function behind the wheel,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Our new research shows that a driver who has slept for less than five hours has a crash risk comparable to someone driving drunk.”

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s report, Acute Sleep Deprivation and Risk of Motor Vehicle Crash Involvement, reveals that drivers missing 2-3 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period more than quadrupled their risk of a crash compared to drivers getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. This is the same crash risk the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration associates with driving over the legal limit for alcohol.

The AAA Foundation report found that in a 24-hour period, crash risk for sleep-deprived drivers increased steadily when compared to drivers who slept the recommended seven hours or more:
· Six to seven hours of sleep: 1.3 times the crash risk
· Five to six hours of sleep: 1.9 times the crash risk
· Four to five hours of sleep: 4.3 times the crash risk
· Less than four hours of sleep: 11.5 times the crash risk

While 97 percent of drivers told the AAA Foundation they view drowsy driving as a completely unacceptable behavior that is a serious threat to their safety, nearly one in three admit that at least once in the past month they drove when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.

“Managing a healthy work-life balance can be difficult and far too often we sacrifice our sleep as a result,” said Jake Nelson, director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research for AAA. “Failing to maintain a healthy sleep schedule could mean putting yourself or others on the road at risk.”

Symptoms of drowsy driving can include having trouble keeping eyes open, drifting from lanes or not remembering the last few miles driven. However, more than half of drivers involved in fatigue-related crashes experienced no symptoms before falling asleep behind the wheel. AAA urges drivers to not rely on their bodies to provide warning signs of fatigue and should instead prioritize getting plenty of sleep (at least seven hours) in their daily schedules. For longer trips, drivers should also:
· Travel at times when normally awake
· Schedule a break every two hours or every 100 miles
· Avoid heavy foods
· Travel with an alert passenger and take turns driving
· Avoid medications that cause drowsiness or other impairment

The AAA Foundation report is based on the analysis of a representative sample of 7,234 drivers involved in 4,571 crashes. All data is from the NHTSA’s National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey which comprised a representative sample of police-reported crashes that involved at least one vehicle that was towed from the scene and resulted in emergency medical services being dispatched to the scene.

Kelsea Kenzy Sutton joins team at First Fidelity Bank

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Kelsea Kenzy Sutton will be the fifth generation of the Lillibridge family to work at First Fidelity Bank. She will be joining the bank as an Assistant Compliance Officer beginning Jan. 1, 2017. Her duties will include making sure the bank and all its branches are following all national and state banking laws and regulations, as well as professional standards and accepted business practices.

Kelsea is a graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder Colorado, where she received her BA in English and History. She then attended the University of South Dakota at Vermillion where she completed her law degree and also a Master’s degree in History. Kelsea was previously employed as an associate attorney by Johnson Pochop and Bartling, a law office located in Gregory, South Dakota.

Kelsea is married to Billie Sutton and they have one child named William (Liam) John Sutton. They reside in Burke, South Dakota, and enjoy being active members of their community.

Two Named to All-Academic

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Shayden Drey and Kray Krolikowski, both of Winner, and members of the University of Sioux Falls football team, have been named to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference fall all-academic team.

To be eligible for this honor, students must be a member of the varsity traveling team and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher.

Furthermore, the student must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and must have completed at least one full academic year at that institution.

Wrestlers Placed 2nd in Tournament

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Wyatt Turnquist Defeated 4-3 in KWLPG Finals

Winner Area wrestling team opened the season by taking second place at the Kimball tournament on Saturday.

First place went to Atlas Willuweit, Kaleb Brozik and Tre Doren.  Taking second were Wyatt Turnquist and Avery Gilchrist.  Kaden Keiser and Jayden Schroeder placed third.  Landon Debus and Aaron Gilchrist placed fourth.  Trevor Peters, Riggin Shippy, Chet Bryan, Achilles Willuweit and Nick Blare all took fifth place.

“We had a great tournament on Saturday. We wrestled really well but we still have a lot of little things to work on,” said coach Spencer Novotny.

All three wrestlers who won first place had records of 3-0.

Atlas Willuweit won the championship match with a 10-3 decision over Hunter Pranger of Mount Vernon/Plankinton.  Brozik won the 170 pound championship match with a 7-1 decision over Kaylor Pinney of Philip area.  Doren at heavyweight won his championship match with a 3-1 overtime win over Austin Moore of Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes.

Turnquist and Avery Gilchrist also wrestled in the championship match. In the finals, Cadyn Coller of Philip Area won by decision 4-2.  Gilchrist was pinned in the championship in 48 seconds by Keagan Fitch of Philip Area.

Keiser won his third place match with a 5-1 decision over Bradyn Lhotak of Wagner.  Schroeder won by pin in 3:30 over Blake Crowser of Philip Area in the third place match.  Debus was defeated 11-0 by Cody Donnelly of Philip Area in the third place match.

Aaron Gilchrist was pinned in 2:03 by Hunter Wright of Redfield/Doland in the third place match.  Peters won by decision 5-3 over Wyatt Stevens of Wessington Springs/Woonsocket.  Shippy won by fall in 45 seconds in the fifth place match. Shippy pinned Austin Severson of Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes.  Bryan was also in a fifth place match and won by pin in 1:44 over Geoffrey Devries of Philip Area.

Achilles Willuweit won the fifth place match in a pin in 56 seconds over Warren Soulek of Kimball/ White Lake/ Platte-Geddes.
Blare won a 3-2 decision in the 5th place match. He won over Alex Cruz of Redfield/Doland.

Coach Novotny said the team’s technique was pretty good. “I knew going into this weekend that we wouldn’t be in great condition but we worked through it and even had some over time matches that we didn’t run out of gas in.”

The coach said the team is going into a busy week. The team will wrestle in a triangular in Gregory on Thursday and in the Rapid City tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Boys Basketball Team Opens Season on Dec. 9

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Winner High School boys basketball team will open the season on Dec. 9 at Wagner.

The Warriors, who finished last season with a 19-6 record, will return eight lettermen including seven seniors. The lettermen are: Drew DeMers, Cameron Kuil, Trevor Bertram, Isaac Naasz, Chase Kingsbury, Luke Engel, William Schroeder and sophomore Brandon Volmer.  In addition to the seven seniors, there are 3 juniors, 10 sophomores and 14 freshmen.  Seniors who graduated from last year’s team are Devon Leiferman and Lattrell Terkildsen.

Last season the Warriors had an interesting run to the state tournament. They knocked off Todd County at home, then beat Red Cloud on their home court and in the championship defeated Little Wound in the ice arena at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
At the state tournament in Rapid City, the Warriors came up short in the first game against St. Thomas More. The Warriors placed sixth at the state meet. This was the second consecutive year Winner played in the state tournament.

Coach Brett Gardner, who is starting his third season at the Warrior helm, says the seven seniors have both varsity and state tournament experience. The three returning starters are DeMers, Kuil and Naasz.  Gardner says: “We have great leadership. We should be athletic and fast. We might not be as tall as other teams so we have to be faster. We will use our athleticism to our advantage.”  The coach says the team will play an up tempo style this year. “We want to get some fast break points on transition.”
Gardner says the Warriors have good shooters in DeMers, Bertram and Engel. “They need to knock down some shots with Cameron, Chase and Isaac needing to get to the rim and finish layups. Willy Schroeder is also a good shooter,” said Gardner.  The coach says the team will lean on seniors to do a lot of things.  “Our goal is to compete every night and defend the full 32 minutes, knock in some shots and have some fun,” said Gardner.

The first week of practice the team has been working on footwork and fundamentals. “We pride ourselves on defense. Fundamentals, foot work, team work and defense is what we are concentrating on,” said the coach.  Gardner says Winner has an awesome schedule and plays in two conferences—Big Dakota and SESD.

The Warriors will play 20 games and have 11 home games.  Winner will be in two classics—the Snowball Classic in Winner and the Hanson Classic in Mitchell.  As he looks at teams in Class A, Gardner says Class A is stacked this year. “Class A is the best it has been in five years. St. Thomas More returns all its players, Madison is back, Sioux Falls Christian returns a lot in addition to Sioux Valley having a lot of returners.”  Assistant coaches will be Trent Olson who is starting his 14th year and Blake Tideman who is beginning his third year.

The 2016-2017 boys basketball schedule includes:
Dec. 9—At Wagner
Dec. 16—At Miller
Dec. 17—Sully Buttes, home
Dec. 22—Parkston, home
Dec. 27—at Bon Homme
Dec. 30—Snow Ball Classic in Winner
Jan. 3—Chamberlain, home
Jan. 6—Bennett County, home
Jan. 7—Gregory, home
Jan. 10—at Valentine
Jan. 19—Pine Ridge, home
Jan. 21—Hanson Classic in Mitchell
Jan. 24—Todd County, home
Jan. 27—MVP, home
Feb. 4—at CEB
Feb. 7—St. Francis, home
Feb. 10—at McLaughlin
Feb. 14—Platte-Geddes, home
Feb. 17—Mobridge-Pollock, home
Feb. 20—at Crow Creek
Feb. 27—Regional
March 16-18—State A in Sioux Falls

Colome Boys Open season on Dec. 13

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The Colome High School boys basketball team will open the season on Dec. 13 when they host Marty.

The Cowboys have eight returning lettermen—Isaac Kortan, Kelly O’Bryan, Will Cahoy, Andrew Laprath, Jackson Kinzer, Holden Thieman, Layton Thieman and Beau Bertram.  The only loss from last year is Reed Harter.  Added to the team this year is Kolton Salonen who played last season for Gregory.

There are 21 athletes on the team this year. The seniors are: Holden Thieman, Kortan, Garrett Salonen, O’Bryan, Cahoy and Tristan Munroe.  The juniors are : Laprath, Jeremiah Yeaman, Salonen. The sophomores are Beau Bertram, Kinzer, Wyatt Cahoy and Calvin Ringing Shield.  Jacob Beckers is the only freshman.  There are five 8th graders on the team: Rhett Bertram, Allen McKenzie, Nathaniel Hanson, Mike Supik and Linkyn Petersek.

Last year the Cowboys were 16-7 and won the district for the first time since 1978. The Cowboys lost to Corsica-Stickney in the region championship.  Coach Drew Weber says the Cowboys have a deeper and more experienced team this year.

Two seniors are injured and will return to the team later in the season. Weber says when Kortan and Holden Thieman return they will provide more depth to the team.  According to Weber, one thing the team needs to improve on is shooting. “We have to have someone step up and knock down some outside shots,” he said. Last year that outside shooter was Harter.  “Offensively our goal is to move the ball, be quick with a lot of movement,” said Weber.  On defense, Colome will play man to man.  What the team has this year and lacked in others is more height and length.

The Cowboys will play in several classics this year in addition to the Jones County Tournament. Colome will be in the Snowball Classic in Winner, the Highmore Classic and the DSU Classic in Madison.  Derek Graesser is the assistant coach.

The Colome boys schedule includes:
Dec. 13—Marty, home
Dec. 15—at Gregory
Dec. 17—at Cody-Kilgore
Dec. 30—Snowball Classic in Winner
Dec. 31—Wessington Springs, home
Jan. 3—at Lyman
Jan. 9—Crow Creek, home
Jan. 12-14—Jones County Tournament
Jan. 17—at Jones County
Jan. 24—Kimball/White Lake
Jan. 27—at Platte
Jan. 28—at DSU Classic
Feb. 3—AC/DC
Feb. 4—at Highmore Classic
Feb. 7—at North Central
Feb. 11—at Menno
Feb. 14—at Burke/South Central
Feb. 23—Tripp/Delmont/Armour, home
Feb. 27-28—Districts
March 7—Regional

Letter Winners to Lead Lady Warriors

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Nine returning letter winners will lead the Winner Lady Warriors basketball team as they open the season Dec. 9 at Wagner.  This will be a girls and boys double header.

The Lady Warriors finished second last year at the state tournament as the fell to St. Thomas More in the championship game.
Winner finished the season with a 21-5 record.  Gone from last year’s team are Allison Cox, Bailey Volmer, Sydney Fritz, Kylie Horstman, Haylay Halverson, Calah Covey and Edith Eagle Hawk.

The nine letterwinners are: Gabby Kocer, Samantha Schuyler, Alexis Richey, Abby Marts, Chloe Bartels, Madyson Frazier, Kyren Meek, Rachel Sherman and Sidney Hollenbeck.  Last year Sherman did not play due to a torn ACL.

Even though Winner does not have any returning starters coach Larry Aaker says there are five to six girls who have seen significant playing time. “They came into the game a lot and played a reserve role,” he said.  There are 26 girls out this season including 6 seniors, 3 juniors, 8 sophomores, 8 freshmen and 7th grader Bella Swedlund.

Aaker says in the line up is a good mix. There are a couple of guards, couple of post players. Some of the older girls are good defenders and are scrappy. Some of the younger girls have good offensive skills. “Hopefully they can progress on the defensive side. By the end of the season if we can get a good mix we will be in good shape,” explained Aaker.  In practice the girls have been working on the press, defense and shooting drills.

Aaker looks for the Lady Warriors to play an up tempo game. “The key for us is shooting layups and not spend too much time in the half court.”  Aaker looks for some good shooters this year and feels the Lady Warriors will shoot more 3 point shots than they have in the past.

Winner is a member of both the Big Dakota and SESD Conference. The Lady Warriors were the Big Dakota champs and placed second to MVP in the SESD.  As he looks at the Class A teams in the state, Aaker says there are a lot of good teams with probably St. Thomas More being the favorite. According to Aaker, other top teams will be Webster who Winner played in last year’s state tournament, West Central, McCook Central/Montose and Hamlin.  Assistant coaches will be Sam Olson with Rob Cox as a volunteer assistant.

The 2016-2017 schedule includes:
Dec. 9—at Wagner
Dec. 15—South Central, home
Dec. 17—Sully Buttes, home
Dec. 22—Parkston, home
Dec. 27—at Bon Homme
Dec. 30—Snowball Classic in Winner
Jan. 3—Chamberlain, home
Jan. 5—at Todd County
Jan. 7—Gregory, home
Jan. 10—at Valentine
Jan. 14—at Dakota State Classic
Jan. 17—Bennett County, home
Jan. 19—Pine Ridge, home
Jan. 23—at Miller
Jan 27—MVP, home
Feb. 2—Crow Creek
Feb. 4—at CEB
Feb. 9—at Platte-Geddes
Feb. 10—at McLaughlin
Feb. 17—Mobridge-Pollock, home
Feb. 21—Region
Feb. 23 and March 3—Region
March 9-11—State A in Brookings

4 Letter Winners to Lead Colome Girls

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The Colome girls basketball team will have four letterwinners returning.  They include Callie Heath, Kaydee Heath, Rayne Hermsen and Jaclyn Laprath.   The Cowgirls have only one returning starter in Callie Heath.

Lost from last year’s team are Taylor Hrabanek, Morgan Hofeldt, Mariah Kinzer and Destinee Noteboom.

Colome girls opened the season Dec. 6 at home against Corsica-Stickney.

Coach Lori Kalenda says the Cowgirls will be a young team with 6 high school girls, six 8th graders and a 7th grader.
Kalenda said three sophomores who saw a lot of playing time as freshmen are: Kaydee Heath, Hermsen and Laprath.
Kalenda says the team will be quick by not as tall as in the past. “The girls are excited as they have been in practice for two weeks and are ready for a game,” said the coach.  The assistant coach will be Laura Windsperger.

The Cowgirls play two games the opening week.

The Colome girls schedule includes:
Dec. 8—at AC/DC
Dec. 13—Marty, home
Dec. 17—at Cody-Kilgore
Dec. 30—at the Snowball Classic in Winner
Dec. 31—Wessington Springs, home
Jan. 5—at Kimball/White Lake
Jan. 7—Todd Co., home
Jan. 10—at Jones County
Jan. 12—Burke/South Central, home
Jan. 19-21—Southern Plains tournament
Jan. 27—at Platte
Jan. 30—Lyman, home
Feb. 4—at Highmore Classic
Feb. 7—at North Central
Feb. 10—Kadoka, home
Feb. 11—at Menno
Feb. 13—at Gregory
Feb. 20-21-24—District
March 2—Region
March 9-11—State B