Monday, 12.26.11 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net 12 the midwest PRESS DAKOTAN NEWS DEPARTMENT: [email protected] Christmas Eve Fire Destroys Fort Pierre Bar FORT PIERRE (AP) — A state highway was temporarily closed from smoke that destroyed a Fort Pierre bar. Authorities say a wood-burning stove is likely to have started Senate Hopefuls Veering Right the fire that gutted the Dudley’s Valley Tap bar on Saturday. No injuries were reported. BY MARGERY A. BECK Fischer claims the endorse- Nebraska GOP primary voters,” Wagner said of Fort Pierre assistant fire chief Rick Cronin tells KCCR-AM that Associated Press ments of former GOP Gov. Kay Bruning’s NRA statement. “I think that so far, the bar’s two owners lived in the building. They were the only peo- Orr, one-time GOP Rep. John every time a candidate has made a prominent ple there when the fire was reported shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday. OMAHA, Neb. — The race for the Republican McCollister and several Repub- public declaration of a particularly conservative Part of U.S. Highway 14 was closed for several hours while fire- U.S. Senate nomination in Nebraska appears to lican state lawmakers. Bruning position, they’ve improved their position.” fighters battled the blaze. Thick black smoke made it almost impos- be a scramble for which candidate can claim to garnered the endorsement of Wagner noted that Bruning was criticized sible to see. be most conservative. the and 2008 last summer when he compared welfare recipi- The bar’s co-owner, Jill Pfeiffer, says the bar will be rebuilt. It Candidates have claimed to be to the right of GOP presidential candidate ents to raccoons, but he said Bruning also had been in business for 51 years. Cronin says it’s a total loss. the National Rifle Association and to have Mike Huckabee. Stenberg coun- “raised quite a bit of money” from those who ap- tered with endorsements from proved of the comment. backed tea party ideals before the tea party Stenberg movement began, making it clear that those ultraconservative U.S. Sens. “Moderate voters don’t show up to vote in South Dakota State Prison Inmate Dies vying for the GOP nomination believe that the Jim DeMint of South Carolina primary elections, and so candidates have to ap- SIOUX FALLS (AP) — South Dakota investigators are looking into most conservative candidate has the best shot and Mike Lee of Utah, both favorites in the na- peal to the most extreme elements of their party the death of an inmate at the state prison in Sioux Falls. in the primary. tional . And Flynn recently to help them win a primary,” Wagner said. Dale Wickherst died Thursday. The 55-year-old Wickherst was The winner could face incumbent Sen. Ben claimed he was “tea party before the tea party Stenberg said he’s convinced that Nebraska serving a seven-year sentence for damaging property. The offense Nelson, among the most conservative Democ- came along.” voters want to know which candidate is most happened in Beadle County in east-central South Dakota. rats in the Senate. He’s expected to announce One of the more surprising comments came conservative. South Dakota’s Department of Corrections says an autopsy will within days whether he’ll seek re-election. this fall from Bruning, who declared to a group “Looking across the country, we’ve seen Re- be done to determine what caused Wickherst’s death. In The Republican race, Nebraska Treasurer of Republican students at the University of Ne- publicans run as conservatives, and then they The state criminal investigation division will look into the inci- and former state attorney general braska-Lincoln that the NRA is “to the left of get to Washington and their voting record does- dent. The corrections department says that’s standard procedure set the conservative tone with the announce- me.” n’t match the conservative promises they made ment of his candidacy in February. It’s clear the statement is one Bruning’s cam- as candidates,” Stenberg said. “I think it’s very when a prison inmate dies. “Nebraska’s next senator needs paign would rather forget. important that Nebraska’s next U.S. senator be to be a genuine, lifelong conservative,” Stenberg “I don’t know that that’s necessarily the best someone who is firmly committed to conserva- Omaha Man Shot After Group Invades Home said at the time. focus of him talking about his conservative tive principals and will vote that way once The remark was an allusion to Attorney Gen- record,” said Trent Fellers, Bruning’s campaign elected to the Senate.” OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 54-year-old Omaha man is hospitalized eral Jon Bruning’s law student days in the early manager. “Jon led the lawsuit against Oba- Stenberg said many Nebraskans were disap- after a group of people forced their way into his home and shot 1990s, when he wrote school newspaper articles macare and formed the Medicaid Fraud Unit pointed in President George W. Bush and Repub- him. critical of the NRA and in favor of a woman’s that has saved Nebraska taxpayers $43 million. I licans who controlled Congress from 2000 to Omaha police were called to a south Omaha residence shortly right to choose an abortion. think those are better representations of him 2006 because they allowed the national debt to after 10 p.m. Saturday. The victim, Fred Meredith, told authorities Since then, all of the Republican candidates talking about a conservative record.” grow, didn’t stop illegal immigration and failed that six people knocked at the door and asked for a friend inside. — Stenberg, Bruning, state Sen. and But statements of extreme conservatism to develop domestic energy sources. Once the door was opened, the suspects came through, displayed investment adviser Pat Flynn — have seemingly aren’t necessarily a detriment to Republican pri- “Nebraska voters, like Republicans across a firearm and shot Meredith. one-upped the other with a slew of conservative mary candidates, said Mike Wagner, a political much of the country, don’t want to see that The suspects fled on foot. Meredith was taken to an Omaha hos- endorsements. There also have been repeated science professor at the University of Nebraska- again,” Stenberg said. “They want true conserva- pital in serious condition. Police say his injury is not believed to be pledges to reject new or increased taxes, reduce Lincoln. tives who will not only promise to do those life-threatening. government spending and fight abortion rights. “I’m not sure that that’s too far to the right of things, but will actually do them.” Police searched the area for the suspects cut couldn’t find them. Some Residents Are R.C. Church Surprises Shoppers With Gifts South Dakota Setting Own RAPID CITY (AP) — A Rapid City church has been surprising Upset With Deadwood shoppers at a store with presents. The Saddle Mountain Church has been offering those in need a Standards For Public Schools mix of gifts, including Christmas dinners, gift baskets, Christmas Highway Project trees and gift cards. SIOUX FALLS (AP) — South Dakota is its target each year, but only those that fall DEADWOOD (AP) — Some Deadwood Church member Taray Hall tells the Rapid City Journal that the drafting a new public school monitoring plan in the bottom 15 percent would be required residents are upset about future plans to Friday night event was the church’s fifth annual effort to help those that would create a performance index to to make major changes. widen a stretch of U.S. Highway 85 from two in need around Christmas time. evaluate schools and seek improvements Schopp said South Dakota’s plan could in- lanes to three. Laurie Lepel came to the Family Thrift store Friday night to buy from falling in the bottom 15 percent. clude three to four groups of schools with The Black Hills Pioneer reports that the a roast for Christmas dinner. It was only thing she could afford. A decade after a federal education law different goals. 2013 Department of Transportation project But she left with gifts that left her in tears. called “No Child Left Behind” set a goal of Gregg Talcott, principal of Brandon Valley having every student in the nation be profi- High School in Brandon told the Sioux Falls will widen the stretch that winds from Lepel walked away with a full Christmas dinner, given away by cient in math and reading by 2014, the fed- Argus Leader that local school boards will Cemetery Street in Deadwood to the inter- volunteers at the church, along with a gift bag and a decorative eral Education Department is instead demand improvements even if state officials section of Highway 385. Christmas reindeer. allowing states to set their own academic do not. The South Dakota DOT recently notified achievement targets. “Internally, you’re going to deal with property owners along the Highway 85 cor- Refuges Announce Neb., Iowa Deer Hunts “We won’t be interfering with the way that,” Talcott said. “Do we really need to put ridor who will likely be affected by the proj- they do business in their schools,” said the amount of state dollars and intervention ect. LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Boyer Chute and DeSoto National Melody Schopp, South Dakota’s education into those (higher-performing) schools?” The widening and addition of a center Wildlife Refuges are holding a January muzzleloader deer hunt for secretary. “What we should be doing is fo- Natasha Ushomirsky, an analyst for The turn lane would remove all on-street park- Iowa and Nebraska hunters. cusing on those schools that need the most Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based ing. The hunt will run from Jan. 11 through Jan. 18, and will apply to improvement.” organization that promotes student achieve- Super 8 owner Ron Island says the proj- antlerless deer only. Nebraska hunters need a Season Choice Area The proposed system will evaluate ment, said South Dakota’s system will not ect would likely cause him to lose all his 21 permit for the hunt. Iowa hunters will need a January antlerless schools based on students’ test scores and provide state scrutiny for most schools. parking at his Deadwood motel. deer license, but they can use similar permits from Harrison or Pot- attendance, teacher and administrator rat- “By just focusing on the lowest of the low- Mayor Francis Toscana says the city tawattamie counties. ings, and the school’s “learning climate.” For performing schools, kids who are struggling does not have an official position but wants Boyer Chute Refuge is open to Nebraska hunters only. DeSoto high schools, their graduation rates would in some of the other schools don’t receive to see if there’s some sort of compromise. has land in both the states of Iowa and Nebraska, and hunters from be included. the attention they deserve,” Ushomirsky both states may hunt. Each school would be expected to meet said.

Lincoln Hopes New Surfacing Technique Adds RRinging iinn thethe Life To Streets N NEWEW YYEAREAR LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln will be using a technique called microsurfacing on some streets withwith a next summer in hopes of prolong- ing their lifespans by another decade or so and saving money. Workers will apply a coat of oil, rock aggregate and cement mixture to seal cracks and blem- ishes. The mixture helps prevent water from getting into cracks, freezing and then turning into potholes. City engineer Thomas Shafer told the Lincoln Journal Star that it’s like getting an oil change for your car. “You take care of your good roads and keep them good so you’re not paying for the costly repair later,” he said. Shafer said the process has been around for 15 or 20 years, and Lincoln tried it before on Hwy. 52 at Gavins Point Dam damaged roads and it didn’t work like it should have. O ppenen toto “You can’t take underlying bad NNewew pavement and try to fix it with this,” Shafer said. “It lost favor everyoneeveryone among people.” FireworksFireworks But used correctly, he said, the tthh sstt mixture has been called a “foun- DDec.ec. 2288 - 3 1 tain of youth” for roads. The newspaper reported Season!Season! Thursday that Ballou Pavement Solutions of Salina, Kan., will be 1 00am-8pmam-8pm paid about $852,000 for the work. Shafer said the city estimated the cost at $673,000 but the higher bids were due to the specialty na- ture of the process. The work won’t take place until summer, but the agreement was approved by the City Council last month in order to get state aid, which will pay for 80 percent of the work. The mixture costs $2 a square yard, compared to $12 a square yard that comes with milling and repaving the road, Shafer said. And, he said, it takes less time. Shafer said some drivers will wonder why work is being done on good stretches of road. “The point is to make it stay good at a cheap cost,” he said. OOPENPEN TTOO EEVERYONE!VERYONE! www.yankton.net