REGION 2A | OBITUARIES 3A | MIDWEST 3A | VIEWS 4A | SPORTS 7A-8A | CLASSIFIEDS 9A-11A | WORLD 12A TOMORROW: Our Annual Spring Sports Preview Printed on Recycled Newsprint Printed with SOY INK YANKTON RECYCLING THIS WEEK: NORTH OF 15TH STREET 75¢ Cold With Gradually Clearing Skies 9 a.m.: 28 | 3 p.m.: 36 | DETAILS: PAGE 2A Y ANKTON D AILY Volume 139 Number 289 The Dakotas’ Oldest Newspaper | TWO SECTIONS | www.yankton.net P RESS & D AKOTAN FRIDAY April 4, 2014 Mary Pfeiffer NMLS #648742 At Home With Mary Knows Construction Loans From The Ground Up w y o n o k y t a a w j o o r o p ding l ui b s e “ s l tt i t a l u P e a d i ns e i m o r h u o w y din r d a w e r e a s ’ t I t . t c e j o y t n ” i ty i u q t e a e w s a u q E em M . t u d o n e a un f u d n a ng e m o r h u o o y r a t s m s o r f r et M L der en g L sin g u o l H C I er FD b n. io t a at lic p p ur a a o t y b p e er w t h si h. V s o fini t t r a t m s ur n o h y o t i u w o p y l e er h eiff e f e y P r a et M homefederal.com Yankton | 800-244-2149 605-655-2847 marypfeiffer.com to m o c . er ff e ei f e p y ar m t ea at g a b p t c e j o o r n p io t uc r t s n ext co ur n INSIDE Classic ‘Charlie Brown’ Play Hits The YHS Stage • 1B BY NATHAN JOHNSON [email protected] The Yankton County Commission was work- ing in the dark Thursday afternoon. That’s not a joke. In an ironic turn of events, power at the Yankton County Government Center and the surrounding area went out within several min- utes of NorthWestern Energy Area Manager Brad Wenande speaking with the commission about the company’s plans for a large electrical infrastructure upgrade. With the lights out for just under 30 minutes starting around 4:45 p.m., the commission did- n’t skip a beat and continued to discuss a con- ditional-use permit for a campground. However, Wenande made a quick exit from the meeting in order to investigate what caused the power outage. On a more serious note, Yankton County Highway Superintendent Brian Gustad told the commission that it was lucky the county was not in the dark about a situation that devel- oped recently under the James River bridge along Old Highway 50, or 309th Street. “I think, if we hadn’t reacted so quickly, we might not have a bridge,” Gustad said. On March 16, he received a call from a con- cerned citizen about what was occurring at the structure. “There was an ice jam in the main flow of the river, and it started pushing water to the outside,” Gustad said. “It started flowing under BY DEREK BARTOS [email protected] Music knows no boundaries, but unfortunately, its audiences often do. To help bring the joy of song to confined residents, a singing group comprised of eight area women for the past three years has been per- forming private concerts throughout the community, mostly for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. “We enjoy singing for those audi- ences and consider it part of our purpose,” said Kathy Grow, one of the founding members of Mirabile. Now, to spread its sound even further, the group is holding its first public concert at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Yankton United Church of Christ located at Fifth and Walnut. The per- formance, “Grace & Soul,” is free and open to everyone. “We wanted a chance to do a longer program, and in a place with wonderful acoustics,” Grow said. “We are really excited about this opportunity.” Formed in 2011, the group began with just four women after Grow and three other members of her church signed up to sing a song for worship service. After their performance, the singers realized that they had en- joyed the process so much that they didn’t want to stop. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a four-part series profiling the candi- dates for the Yankton City Commis- sion. The election in April 8. ——— NAME: Nancy Wenande FAMILY: Married to Brad Wenande for 19 years with 3 children Tyler (17), Drew (14) and Courtney (12). EDUCATION/OCCUPATION: 1988 graduate of Yankton High School, 1992 graduate of Black Hills State Univer- sity with a BS in Travel Industry Man- agement. Recently sold the family business, Paul's Kwik Stop, to pursue some community-oriented opportunities. IF INCUMBENT, YEARS OF EXPE- RIENCE: Nine years as a city commis- sioner, with the last two years as mayor. ——— 1. Why do you want to be a city com- missioner? I appreciate the op- portunity to serve as your city commis- sioner and mayor so that I can be a part of positive change in Yankton. Many peo- ple have great ideas on how to im- prove our community, but very few people want to spend their time dedi- cated to implementing those ideas. I have been committed and will stay committed to working to keep Yankton on the path of growth and prosperity. 2. The City Commission recently decided that it would continue with plans to build its new water treat- ment plant adjacent to Water Treat- ment Plant No. 2 in Riverside Park rather than a different location. Do you agree with this decision? Why or why not? I agree with the decision to build adjacent to the current plant. Upon re- view of the HDR site analysis, the total project costs certainly were a signifi- cant component of my decision to support this option over the other three proposed sites. In a perfect world, I would love to relocate the plant out of Riverside Park, but at a BY DEREK BARTOS [email protected] So close, but just a little short. Following its “Last Blast Final Campaign Push,” the United Way & Volunteer Serv- ices of Greater Yankton offi- cially ended its 2014 fundraising effort this week with about $462,000 — slightly shy of its goal of $470,000. It is the fifth straight year the organization has failed to reach its tar- geted amount. However, United Way ex- ecutive director Lauren Han- son called the campaign a success, noting that this year’s total is the highest amount the organization has ever raised. “You always want to hit 100 percent, but this year was a great year, and we’re still super proud of that,” she said. Hoping to reach its goal for the first time since 2009, the United Way held its “Last Blast” last Friday in an at- tempt to raise the final $26,000 needed. Board and staff members were stationed at Hy-Vee to collect funds and Decision 2014 Commitment A Priority For Wenande Wenande * * * A Riprap Rescue Quick Action Saves James River Bridge DEREK BARTOS/P&D Members of Mirabile rehearse for their first public concert, set for this Sunday at the Yankton United Church of Christ. For the past three years, the singing group has performed private concerts, mostly at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. United Way Ends 2014 Campaign At $462,000 UW | PAGE 11A USA Weekend Bringing Music To Others CONCERT | PAGE 11A WENANDE | PAGE 11A BRIDGE | PAGE 11A ‘Something We Have To Do’ Community Choir Branching Out, Set To Hold First Public Concert KELLY HERTZ/P&D Thursday’s wintry mix of rain and snow didn’t stop this individual from making use of Meridian Bridge. Light rain fell through most of the afternoon, but snow began falling at about 4:10 p.m. Yankton and Clay counties were under a winter weather advisory until 7 a.m. today (Friday). Winter Storm Walk Power Outage Hits 3,400 In Yankton BY RANDY DOCKENDORF [email protected] About 3,400 NorthWestern En- ergy customers in Yankton lost power shortly before 5 p.m. Thurs- day as a storm system rolled through the region, but power was restored in about a half-hour. The outages affected only por- tions of Yankton, according to NorthWestern spokesman Tom Glanzer. “Around 4:50, our power line that feeds three (substations) in town had a line break away from it, but they don’t know why,” Glanzer said, noting Yankton wasn’t seeing strong winds at the time. “The line tripped out, but we got everything back on line at 5:18, so it was 20 minutes to a half-hour,” he added. Meanwhile, rural electric co-ops in the south-central and southeast parts of the state weren’t reporting widespread outages, according to spokeswoman Brenda Kleinjan with the South Dakota Rural Electric As- sociation (SDREA). The lack of reported outages wasn’t unusual, Kleinjan said, not- ing the website and its map are typ- ically used for major storms requiring outside assistance. However, a check of co-op Face- book pages also showed no reports of outages, Kleinjan said. Bon Homme Yankton Electric, based in Tabor, was urging mem- bers to be prepared for bad OUTAGE | PAGE 11A