The SINGLE COPY $1.25 tax included lllerler rressess USPS 349-720 Vol. 139 No.M 10 www.themillerpress.com [email protected] PMiller, Hand County, SD 57362 Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020 WJLS results, 7 Fire poster, 12 John T. Page | The Miller Press | November 7, 2020 COUNTY AUDITOR Doug DeBoer feeds a ballot into the tabulator while the election board reviews ballots the machine would not read. Counting the votes in Hand County John T. Page On November 3, 2020, millions of people took time to visit their lo- cal polling station and cast their vote in the general election. Mil- lions more voted early by mail due to the pandemic. At 7 p.m. the polls in Hand County closed and the tab- ulations began. Hand County Au- MHS Volleyball, 12 ditor Doug DeBoer and the Elec- tion Board, along with several other workers, gathered the ballots from all 12 precincts and set about feed- ing them into the tabulation ma- Who is Frosty? chines. When a machine refused to Clue #3 read a ballot, the election board re- My spouse grew up not near but viewed it and fi lled out a replace- far and number 1 was on the car. ment ballot. South Dakota saw a high rate The Mystery Snowman “Frosty” of voter turnout. Across the State is fun and an important part of The 73.88 percent of registered vot- Miller Snow Queen festival, four ers participated in the election and weeks of clues will be published in 81.21 percent of registered voters in The Miller Press so get your think- Hand County participated. All pre- ing caps on and guess this year’s cincts fully reported their results. “Frosty” Kori Blake, fi rst-time poll worker, Submit your guess by calling stated, “I was very impressed with Ashley Conkey at 605-204-0701 or the checks and balances used to Jan Kittelson | The Miller Press | November 7, 2020 mail it to: 19139 369th Ave., St. guarantee our votes.” THE ST. LAWRENCE POLL workers help a gentleman vote during the Nov. 3 general election. Lawrence, SD 57373 The Miller Blake continued they checked voter identifi cation, signatures on I knew and by how busy we were. who gathered 150,460 votes at the and Dusty Johnson, won their pro- Snow Queen Pageant will be held We had an 80-plus percent turn- state level. spective races for national offi ce. Saturday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. at the the absentee ballots, and cross-ref- erenced all the voters to insure a le- out,” Blake stated. “I defi nitely will Hand County Local Bryan Bre- Rounds returns to the United States Miller Armory where Frosty’s iden- do it again; I enjoyed everything itling won a decisive victory in the Senate with 276,220 votes and tity will be revealed. gal election. With all the claims of voter fraud about it!” State Senate race with 9,419 votes. Johnson holds his seat in the Unit- circling the country today, she was The presidential race fell in fa- Incumbent Spencer Gosch will ed States House of Representatives proud of the policies South Dako- vor of current president Donald J. return to his seat in the State House with 321,973 votes. Hand County ta has in place to insure a fair elec- Trump with 261,219 votes. Hand of Representatives and candidate contributed 1,480 votes to Rounds tion. County contributed 1,433 votes to Charlie Hoffman will join him in and 1,647 votes to Johnson. “I loved seeing all the people. I the republican candidate and 373 representing District 23. The republicans won the race Inside: was impressed by how many people to Democratic candidate Joe Biden Both incumbents, Mike Rounds for Public Utilities Commissioner Top Stories 2 with Gary Hanson accruing 272,371 votes across the state. Public Notices 9 Several statewide questions ap- Classifi eds 10-11 City passes electric rate ordinance peared on the ballot. The citizens of South Dakota voted to retain Jus- Youth & Sports 12 John T. Page orandum of destruction for the council to approve. The tice Steven Jensen on the State Su- The Miller City Council held its regular meeting on fi nance offi ce is legally required to maintain the pre- preme Court overwhelmingly with Mon., November 2, 2020. All members attended. vious four years of fi nancial records, the city current- 81 percent of citizens voting yes. Inserts: The meeting began with the second reading of Or- ly holds the last ten years. Coss plans to destroy the re- Two items passed that involve the dinance 713. The ordinance consolidates the electrical cords from 2010 to 2014. This will leave the city with legalization of marijuana in South surcharges as they appear on electrical bills into one six years of records, at which point the decision could akota. 70 percent of voters fell in fa- Kessler’s Hometown Grocer surcharge simplifying how electrical bills are read. be made if the fi nance offi ce will further reduce to four vor of legalizing it for medical use. Mayor Ron Blachford received a letter from Lou years of records or maintain more. The amendment legalizing the reg- Rediger about fl ooding that occurred on their prop- Rustler Roost Executive Director Shawn Cudmore- ulation and taxation of Marijuana erty. The letter contained a request to have a storm Kremer sent a letter to the Council requesting dona- faced a harder battle with only a drain moved in an effort to help water drainage on the tions such as food and cleaning supplies. Alderwom- small majority of 54 percent allow- property. Blachford stated he wanted the city to take an SuAnne Meyer moved to deny the request. She ing it to pass at the state level. a stand on this issue since similar instances happen explained they denied similar requests that were not A slightly larger majority of 58 throughout the city during heavy rains. After discus- included in the budget so it would not be fair to do- percent legalized sports gambling at sion among the council and Water and Sewer Depart- nate to Roost. However, she did suggest reaching out Deadwood expanding the options Weather ment Head Terry Manning and Street Department Head to Cudmore-Kremer to let her know how the process available in the tourist destination. Date High Low Precip. Ron Hoftiezer the council voted to table the issue until works when requesting donations from the city. This election proved diffi cult for more research can be done. The water and sewer project provided several hefty Democrats in South Dakota with Oct. 29 42 24 Hoftiezer approached the council with plans to pur- bills for the council to pay. The various bills from SPN, only 11 Democrats in the State Leg- Oct. 30 53 29 chase a new UTV for the city. Through a West Nile Dahme Construction, and TLC Olson Construction to- islature meaning 90 percent of the Oct. 31 54 28 Grant the street department received over $7600 to aid taled $1,172,628.87. Meyer expressed concern over the South Dakota Legislature is Repub- Nov. 1 47 28 in the purchase of the vehicle. After researching the total amount and the city’s ability to pay it immediate- lican. various options available, Hoftiezer decided the best ly, but Finance Worker Christi Danburg, fi lling in for The 2020 election will likely not Nov. 2 71 46 option would be purchasing a new Polaris UTV since Coss due to sickness, informed Meyer the bills are like- be decided for awhile, but with Nov. 3 75 40 the grant money will cover more than half of the vehi- ly on a “pay as available” basis. a little bit of patience we will all Nov. 4 74 39 cle. The Miller City Council holds its next regular meet- know the path that our country will Chief Finance Offi cer Sheila Coss submitted a mem- ing Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. take for the next four years. Top Stories www.themillerpress.com • Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020 Pandemic threatens fragile rural health-care system in South Dakota Sale Report Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020 Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News people, South Dakota is In rural South Dakota, serious health problems are SPRING CALVES Watch among the most rural of all more common while health care is less accessible John/Rocky Heezen............ 88 blk/bwf steers ....................536# .........$166.25 Editor’s note: This article is states and home to a heavi- Rural South Dakotans have a higher rate of death from .......................................... 61 blk/bwf steers ....................445# .........$184.00 the second of three parts of a ly diffused population. Even many health conditions, a higher prevalence of poverty .......................................... 21 bwf heifers ........................ 486# .........$161.50 special report by South Dako- before the pandemic, that and less access to health-care providers than non-rural res- .......................................... 57 black heifers ......................483# .........$154.00 ta News Watch called “Small equation presented a major idents, according to data from the Rural Health Informa- .......................................... 37 blk/bwf heifers ...................393# .........$161.00 Towns, Big Challenges.” See challenge for health-care pro- tion Hub. The following data show the rate of death per Millard/Bonnichsen ............ 98 blk/bwf steers ....................547# .........$165.75 the entire series at sdnews- viders to serve small-town 1,000 residents or the prevalence of diseases in percentag- .......................................... 48 blk/bwf steers ....................440# .........$183.75 watch.org. and remote populations, and es in non-rural (metro) and rural (non-metro) areas. .......................................... 56 blk/bwf heifers ...................498# .........$153.00 The COVID-19 pandemic do so in a fi nancially viable .........................................