Saturday, 10.20.12ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net

NEWS DEPARTMENT: news@yankton.net 3PRESS DAKOTANthe region

OB ITUAR I E S

THE DAKOTAS’ OLDEST NEWSPAPER(605) 665-7811

Published by YANKTON MEDIA , INC.319 Walnut St., Yankton, S.D. 57078

PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY-SATURDAY MORNINGSPeriodicals postage paid at Yankton,

South Dakota, under the act of March 3,1979.

Weekly Dakotian established June 6,1861. Yankton Daily Press and Dakotaian es-tablished April 26, 1875.

Postmaster: Send address changes toYankton Daily Press & Dakotan, 319 Walnut,Yankton, SD 57078.

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PRESS & DAKOTAN

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for the cards, memorials, flowers, food, mass offerings, visits, phone calls & prayers during this time of loss of our mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, great-great-grandmother, aunt, & friend, who will be missed dearly.

We give special thanks to Dr. Fanta for her compassion & care that helped ease her pain. To family & friends for their tender loving care. For the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home, their services were greatly appreciated. To Fr. Ken Lulf of St. Benedict Church, for the beautiful visitation, mass & burial services. Thank you to the pallbearers, honorary pallbearers & gift carriers. The pianist & choir for the beautiful music, and for the funeral committee who worked so hard on a delicious lunch. Thank you again, for the gracious acts of kindness & may God Bless You all.

Mother, we love you & will always be grateful for the sacrifices you made for your family. God Bless You. The special memories of you will live forever in our hearts.

Katherine Mary Logan August 30, 1916 - October 5, 2012

Marlene & Fred Schmidt Lavone & Harold Wuestewald

(the late) Kathleen & Richard Huss Marlin Logan & Lauren Rogers

Thank Thank You... You...

Elect

Jim VanOsdel

W INTZ & R AY FUNERAL HOME and Cremation Service, Inc. 605-665-3644

W INTZ FUNERAL HOME INC.

Hartington, Coleridge, Crofton 402-254-6547 www.wintzrayfuneralhome.com

IN REMEMBRANCE Earl Pinkelman 9:30 AM, Saturday

Holy Trinity Catholic Church Hartington

Helen Kaiser 10:30 AM, Tuesday

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church Tabor

Yankton Monument Co.

Fam ily M em orials

325 Douglas Ave., Yankton, SD 57078 Office (605)664-0980 • 1-800-658-2294

Cell (605)610-6992 www.gibsonmonuments.com

by Gibson Amber Larson

BY DEREK BARTOSderek.bartos@yankton.net

South Dakotans intending to vote in the Nov.6 general election who have not registered haveonly one more business day to do so.

Registrations must be filed by the end ofbusiness Monday, Oct. 22. Residents can checktheir registration status at www.sdsos.gov, andmay register to vote at their respective countyauditors’ offices, driver licensing stations, cityfinance offices, military recruitment centers,certain Department of Human Services officesand public assistance agencies that administerprograms such as SNAP, TANF and WIC.

With several races and issues to be deter-mined early next month, many South Dakotanshave made sure to register to vote this year tomake their voices heard. According to SouthDakota Secretary of State Jason Gant, there area total of 523,174 active voters registered inSouth Dakota as of Oct. 17, with a net gain of16,300 people to the voter registration list sincethe beginning of the year.

“In light of the presi-dential election in 2012,along with so many otherimportant races and bal-lot questions, I expecteda lot of registrations inthe run-up to the generalelection,” Gant said in anews release.

In Yankton County, theunofficial number of reg-istered voters as of Oct.18 is 13,898, up from the13,592 active voters thecounty had on May 21, ac-cording to Yankton

County Auditor Paula Jones.“We always see a rush of voters as the dead-

line to register gets closer,” Jones said.Jones said that the deadline rush, while still

present, has evened out somewhat since thestate opened up absentee voting to all voters in2006. With the ability to vote earlier, many resi-dents don’t wait until the last minute to register,she said.

“When people come into vote absentee, of-tentimes they have to (register), update theiraddress or change their party, so that’s whenthey do it,” she said.

Absentee voting in South Dakota began Sept.21. In Yankton County, absentee votes are upcompared to previous years, in which totalshave ranged from 1,200 to 3,300 votes, Jonessaid.

“We’re well over 1,200 voters, and we’re stillabout three weeks out,” she said. “I look for thatnumber to be around 3,500 absentees (by thetime of the election).”

Voters can file absentee up until 3 p.m. theday of the election. Residents may vote absen-tee in person at their county auditor’s office. Tovote absentee by mail, an application must firstbe completed. Applications are available at theoffices of county auditors and atwww.sdsos.gov.

You can follow Derek Bartos on Twitter attwitter.com/d_bartos

S.D. Voter Registration Deadline Nears

Decision

’12

SIMPLYTHEBEST

SUBMITTED PHOTODiane Twinamatsiko is the 2012 Ability Building Services “26th Simply theBest” recipient. Nominations for this award are submitted by co-workers.Simply the Best is a banquet and conference honoring outstanding DirectSupport Professionals. One candidate is chosen from each of the 19 com-munity support providers in South Dakota. Diane was nominated for herexemplary performance as a Direct Support Professional in supportingadults with brain injuries. Diane's day consists of rehabilitative efforts inthe form of teaching classes, working one on one with people on cognitiverehabilitation and helping to structure peoples days and routines so thatthey have meaningful days. Diane was nominated for her positive caringattitude in supporting people with traumatic brain injuries. Diane at-tended the awards banquet and Green Star Symposium conference inSioux Falls along with her fellow 'Simply the Best recipients'.

Helen (Zitka) KaiserHelen (Zitka) Kaiser, 89, of Yankton and formerly of Tabor died

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, at Avera Yankton Care Center, Yankton.Mass of Christian Burial is at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Wenceslaus

Catholic Church, Tabor, with the Rev. Joe Forcelle presiding and Mon-signor Carlton Hermann concelebrating. Burial will be in St. Wences-laus Cemetery, Tabor.

Visitation is 2-8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, at Wintz & Ray FuneralHome, Yankton, with a rosary at 4 p.m. and a vigil service/rosary at 7p.m. Visitation will resume one hour prior to the Mass at church onTuesday.

To send an online sympathy message, visitwintzrayfuneralhome.com.

Rita BourretFuneral services for Rita

Bourret, 68, of Tyndall will beheld at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday,October 23 at St. John LutheranChurch in Tyndall with Rev.Dean Schroeder officiating. Visi-tation will be held on Mondayfrom 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. atthe Goglin Funeral Home inTyndall, with a prayer serviceat 7:00 p.m. Burial will takeplace at a later date in the Tyn-dall Cemetery. Rita passedaway on Thursday, October 18,2012 at the Good Samaritan So-

ciety of Tyndall. Online condo-lences may be sent atwww.goglinfh.com

Historical Society Seeks Preservation Input PIERRE — The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of the

South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre is preparing for its fed-eral fiscal year 2013 grant application and invites public commentthrough Oct. 31 on the state’s preservation needs and projects.

The SHPO manages the National Register of Historic Places pro-gram of the National Park Service in South Dakota. The office relateshistoric preservation to economic, social and educational state objec-tives. It surveys, inventories and registers historical properties; and itpromotes public awareness and provides technical assistance on theirpreservation.

Among the questions to consider are: • What properties or areas need to be inventoried? • What properties should be considered for nomination to the na-

tional register of historic places? • What properties are at-risk or endangered?, and • What kinds of technical preservation assistance are beneficial? “Public input or responses to these questions will help the pro-

gram in preparing its annual work plan,” said Jay D. Vogt, director ofthe State Historical Society. “And preservation promotes economic de-velopment and cultural tourism.”

The SHPO Annual Work Plan Suggestion Form may be obtained on-line at history.sd.gov/Preservation in the right column under “In theSpotlight” or by contacting the SHPO office at 605-773-2907 orshpo@state.sd.us.

Thrivent Dinner And Meeting SlatedYankton and Bon Homme County Chapters of Thrivent Financial for

Lutheran annual meeting and dinner will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct.28, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1009 Jackson, Yankton.

RSVP to Joanne at 665-6467 or 660-3391 by Oct. 24.

p.m.; Tabor, 3 p.m.; Olivet, 5 p.m.In addition, postal hearings will

be held at noon Oct. 30 at Kaylorand at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 31 at Geddes.

No meetings are scheduled atthe present time in Cedar andKnox counties in northeast Ne-braska.

The communities hosting nextweek’s meetings are not the onlyones affected by the USPS pro-posal. About two dozen towns insoutheast South Dakota and abouta dozen towns in northeast Ne-braska would see reduced hours.

• In southeast South Dakota,Centerville, Menno, Scotland,Springfield, Viborg, Armour, Avonand Tripp would be reduced to sixhours.

Chancellor, Gayville, Hurley,Irene, Jefferson, Lesterville, Mis-sion Hill, Tabor, Wakonda, Del-mont, Geddes and Pickstownwould be reduced to four hours.

Davis, Olivet, Utica, Volin andKaylor would be reduced to twohours.

• In northeast Nebraska, Butte,Lynch, Niobrara, Springview, Verdi-gre and Wausa would be reducedto six hours.

Center, Coleridge, Fordyce,Newcastle, Wynot and Kilgorewould be reduced to four hours.

Belden, Magnet and St. Helenawould be reduced to two hours.

Next week’s USPS meetings willlook at survey results and offerresidents a chance to speak,Nowacki said.

“If a resident did not returntheir survey by the date specified,it won’t be included in the tabula-tion that is presented at the com-munity meeting,” he said.“However, it will be part of therecord and gives the resident an

opportunity to make their con-cerns known if they can’t make itto the meeting. Any comments andquestions brought up at the meet-ing will be recorded as well.”

USPS officials will weigh thecomments and information beforetaking action, Nowacki said.

“A week or so after the meeting,we will issue a final decision andpost that in the office,” he said.“The changes will not go into effectuntil at least a month after thatposting, and no changes will bemade during the holiday period ofDec. 1 to Jan 12.”

The changes will impact win-dow service only, Nowacki said.There will be no changes as towhen post office boxes can be ac-cessed or to mail collections anddelivery services.

“We will also work with commu-nities to expand the use of villagepost offices in these communities.VPOs are located within an exist-ing business and managed by theproprietors,” he said.

“It is possible that a communitycould have both a regular post of-fice open for 2-6 hours a day and aVPO located within a store wherecustomers could buy stamps andsend Priority Mail packages duringthat business’s regular hours.”

The USPS proposal has drawnconcern not only from affectedpostal patrons but also from for-mer postmasters.

Dennis Nemmers and Judy AnnBarnard, representing the SouthDakota Retired Postmasters, sub-mitted a letter to the Press &Dakotan regarding the USPS pro-posal. Nemmers and Barnard ad-dressed their letter tocommunities affected by changesin post office hours.

“As part of the POST Plan, ifthese post offices do not have apostmaster, the post office hourswill be reduced to either two hoursper day or four hours per day,”they wrote. “Post offices withthese hours will not be run by a ca-reer postal employee.”

The USPS proposal for reducedhours at a large number of post of-fices represents a change from anearlier proposal to close certainpost offices.

The change represents bothgood and bad, Nemmers andBarnard wrote.

“It is good the post office willbe open in your community,” theywrote. “It is bad if there is ‘no oneavailable’ to run the post office forthe two hours or four hours perday. This is because the USPS hasdetermined to use ‘non-career’ em-ployees to run these offices. Ifthere is ‘no one available,’ the postoffice will be closed.”

The two retired postmastersurged constituents to contact theirstate’s congressional delegation.

“Let our elected U.S. senatorsand U.S. representative know rightnow that you and your communitymembers are concerned with whatwill happen if there is indeed ‘noone available,’” they wrote. “Yourpost office will be closed — period,end of story, without any input orinformation sharing between yourcommunity members and theUSPS.”

For South Dakotans, the respec-tive websites for U.S. Sens. TimJohnson (D-S.D.) and John Thune(R-S.D.) are johnson.senate.govand thune.senate.gov. The websitefor U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) isnoem.house.gov.

For Nebraskans, the respectivewebsites for U.S. Sens. Mike Jo-hanns (R-Neb.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) are johanns.senate.gov andbennelson.senate.gov. In theHouse, the respective websites forReps. Jeff Fortenberry, Lee Terryand Adrian Smith (all R-Neb.) arefortenberry.house.gov,leeterry.house.gov and adrian-smith.house.gov.

“It is very important that com-munities understand that the mostimportant part of the process be-gins with completing the survey,because that is the informationthat begins the process and deter-

mines what will be discussed atthe community meetings,” Nem-mers and Barnard wrote.

“Without the surveys, the com-munity meeting will have littlemeaning at all.”

Unlike post office closings, thecommunity is being asked to makeone of four choices, the formerpostmasters said.

“Possibly, communities feelnone of the choices are acceptable,but only the first choice (of re-duced hours) keeps the post officeopen,” they wrote. “It is extremelyimportant that customers com-plete the survey as it will deter-mine if the office stays open ornot.”

The first offices will be reducedNov. 17, they noted, with the nextoffices starting Jan. 12, 2013, untilall vacant POST Plan offices havehad the changes implemented.

“After your USPS/town meeting,write down any questions youhave that did not get answered,”Nemmers and Barnard wrote.“Send the original copy to theUSPS Dakotas District Manager, theUSPS Western Area Vice Presidentand to the closest local state officeof both U.S. senators and your U.S.representative. The addresses ofthe South Dakota congressionaldelegation are listed in local news-papers.”

The mail addresses are as fol-lows:

USPS Dakotas District Manager,PO Box 7500, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-7500; Phone: (605) 333-2604

USPS Western Area Vice Presi-dent, 1745 Stout Street, Suite 1000,Denver, CO 80299-5000; Phone:(303) 313-5100

The information in the letter isprovided by Retired South DakotaPostmasters, Nemmers andBarnard wrote.

“Let us do together,” theyadded, “what we cannot do alone.”

You an follow Randy Dock-endorf on Twitter attwitter.com/RDockendorf

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