Clips

News articles that Andrew Atwal has written

April School Board Meeting

YSD Hears Of Potential For New Resource Officers

Posted: Monday, April 8, 2013 10:32 pm

By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The potential for Yankton School District (YSD) to get two School Resource Officers (SROs) was discussed at the regularly scheduled YSD school board meeting Monday night.

Lt. Mike Burgeson of the Yankton Police Department (YPD) said officials have been working on getting funding for a five-year grant, which would place two SROs in the Yankton School District.

“Right now, we are planning on getting the grant money awarded,” he said. “If all goes according to plan, they will announce grant recipients in September and award the money in October.”

If the money is awarded, YPD will hire two new officers to replace the two who are transferred into YSD. Training for the SROs would begin next spring, with officers fully integrated into the district for the start of the 2014 school year.

There is a contingency plan in place if the grant money is not awarded.

“If we don’t get the grant funding, we would continue with business as usual with YSD,” Burgeson said. “We would still make sure kids know some of the issues in schools and there are also other grants out there that we could apply for.”

Any SROs for the district would be fully armed, as is the case with SROs in other districts across the region.

Burgeson said since Jan. 1, officers have been called into YSD to help deal with 10 disturbances-of-school cases and one simple assault case. He added SROs can help alleviate these problems.

“SROs would help with instruction, along with working with counselors and school principals,” Burgeson said. “They’ll also help to coordinate school safety plans and help with security at the major sporting events. They’ll be very busy.”

Also Monday, Board members discussed the impact of Title I and class-size reduction funding at the meeting.

“We’re still waiting for the federal government to notify the state government about funding being available,” said YSD superintendent Joe Gertsema. “After that, the state government would notify us about funding.”

He added that he believes Title I funding will continue because it is the main avenue in which the federal government controls testing requirements.

Last year, board members did not become aware that funding would be available until the summer.

Because board members cannot assume the funding will continue until they are notified that it will, they were forced to non-renew contracts for three teachers who work for YSD through the federal funding. In addition, board members used reduction-in-force on seven teachers.

If funding becomes available, some of those positions could be filled.

Due to the contractual impasse between the YSD board and Yankton Education Association (YEA), board members also approved the 2013-14 school year teacher contracts under the same terms as this years teacher contracts.

“Teachers will have 15 days to sign and approve the contracts,” Gertsema said. “This helps the board know who will be coming back next year and who isn’t so they can begin working on replacing those not coming back.”

Board members and the YEA will begin mediation in order to come to a contractual agreement.

“The YEA contacted the Department of Labor to request mediation,” said YSD board president Chris Specht. “The Department of Labor will contact YSD to set a date on when mediation will begin.”

YEA and the school board met four separate times for a total of nearly 30 hours to negotiate an agreement, Specht said.

“We just couldn’t come to an agreement,” he said. “Concerns were voiced and it’s no ones fault that an agreement couldn’t be reached.”

If mediation does not lead to a contract deal, there are statutory options both parties can consider.

Also at the meeting the board:

• amended the 2013-14 school calendar to accommodate the annual Lewis and Clark Debate Tournament at Yankton High School (YHS) and approved the 2014-15 school calendar;

• approved the purchase of new Spanish textbooks for the 2013-14 school term;

• considered a resolution to support Yankton Area Transit, but it did not need to be approved because of the recent resolution from Yankton Area Transit;

• board members met in executive session to discuss teacher contract negotiations.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Soda Pop Tab Collection

Community Works Together To Raise 1 Million Soda Pop Tabs

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

There are 1 million reasons why renowned children’s author David Schwartz will be coming to Yankton later this month.

Because many of his books are based on the number 1 million, officials decided to attempt to raise 1 million soda pop tabs by the time Schwartz visits in late April.

Last year, the Yankton Reading Council, which is a group of school teachers and administrators, decided to bring Schwartz to Yankton.

Officials contacted Schwartz to see if he could come to Yankton this spring. When they found out the cost of an appearance, the organization took its leftover money from the year before and received numerous donations from parents’ organizations in Yankton, as well as Home Federal Bank, to make the appearance possible.

Schwartz will be in Yankton for four days, beginning April 22. He will speak at two schools each day, and will give a presentation for the public to attend April 23 at Yankton Middle School.

Thanks to support from community members, that goal has been reached.

“Once the word got out there, people came and brought their own pop tabs in,” said Sacred Heart School librarian Jane Goeden. “Ability Building Services also had been collecting tabs and donating them to the Ronald McDonald House. However, they donated 100,000 pop tabs to our collection.”

In gearing up for Schwartz’s visit, teachers are doing several projects based on his books.

“He has a number of camouflage-type books, so we’ve had students make their own with poems based on the creature with camouflage,” Goeden said. “We also turned one of his books into a song, and we hope to present that to him when he speaks here.”

Lincoln School principal Paul Struck said Kathleen West, who was previously a principal at Stewart School, approached the Reading Council with Schwartz’s name and information about his books. Officials ultimately chose Schwartz over other authors because his books incorporate the Common Core Standards, which South Dakota has been moving towards.

Goeden said that most of Schwartz’s books are educational, and primarily based on math and science skills.

“They’re really fun books with a lot of words, colors and photos,” she said. “He’ll be available to sign books during his presentations and will have books available to be purchased as well.”

Goeden added students in class love his books and can easily relate to topics discussed in the books.

His presentations to the schools will focus on math, science and how important reading is for children as they grow into adults.
One of his presentations, titled “Math + Literature = Learning + Fun,” will be given to students in grades 1-6 and will feature numerous visual elements during the presentation.

When Schwartz speaks to the public, the 1 million pop tabs collected will be displayed and presented to him.

“It’s interesting how, when you start something like raising all these pop tabs, things start to come out of nowhere,” Goeden said. “We were able to get to the goal of 1 million pop tabs through the generous support of organizations and community members who helped pitch in their tabs to help us reach our goal.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

School Board Preview Brief

YSD School Board To Meet Monday

Posted: Friday, April 5, 2013 11:30 pm

From P&D Staff Reports

The Yankton School District (YSD) school board will meet Monday to discuss teacher contracts and the school calendar for 2014-15. In addition, board members will discuss buying new spanish textbooks and will hear a report from Lt. Mike Burgeson from the Yankton Police Department on student and school safety. Board members will also consider a resolution supporting Yankton Area Transit.

The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. at the Administration Building located at 2410 West City Limits Road.

Teacher Contract Impasse

YSD Board, YEA Reach Contract Impasse

Posted: Thursday, April 4, 2013 11:09 pm

From P&D Staff Reports

The Yankton School District (YSD) school board and the Yankton Education Association (YEA) have reached an impasse in contract negotiations.

“Now we will go through the legal process,” school board President Chris Specht said Thursday. “The Yankton Education Association and the board are both focused on coming to an agreement.”

In a letter published in today’s (Friday) Press & Dakotan, YEA President Paula Weydert said association members are “saddened” that the negotiation process came to an end when impasse was recently declared.

“The YEA is willing to be an equal partner in any fiscal discussion and solutions concerning budgetary matters that will help YSD,” she wrote. “We were disappointed when we were not provided with requested documents and information about fiscal matters, which prevented us from being able to make an informed decision regarding contractual matters.”

The board and the YEA will now attempt to reach a contractual agreement through the legal system.

Superintendent Finalists: Detailed

Finalists For YSD Superintendent Post Announced

Posted: Thursday, April 4, 2013 11:05 pm

By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net

And then there were five.

After receiving around 40 inquiries for the superintendent vacancy, the search for Yankton School District’s (YSD) next superintendent is down to its last remaining finalists.

Those five candidates will all come to Yankton April 11 for interviews with board members, faculty and staff and members of the community. Upon completion of the interviews, the school board will select the new superintendent.

Finalists are:

• Brad Berens, who is currently the principal of Mitchell Middle School;

• Cynthia Clark, who serves as the director of curriculum and assessment at the San Mateo (Calif.) Union High School District;

• Steve Grond, who currently is the superintendent for the Boyden-Hull (Iowa) School District;

• Wayne Kindle, who is the Yankton High School Principal;

• and Bob Sittig, who is the superintendent and elementary school principal at the Baltic (S.D.) School District.

“All of the finalists are quality candidates and we were impressed with their education and training,” said Chris Specht, YSD board president. “They’re all worthy of interviews.”

Board member Jay Williams said officials had a good slate of qualified candidates from which to choose.

“The board selected these five from the list of candidates after reviewing each of their resumes and discussing their qualifications,” he said. “All of the candidates submitted answers to a series of questions about how they would approach managing YSD, and I felt as if these candidates had the best answers.”

As part of the search for the next superintendent, the school board hired the firm Dakota Educational Consulting (DEC), led by Rick Melmer and Tom Oster.

“The firm really did their homework,” Specht said. “They did what the board hoped, and expected, they would do and they helped us identify some of the candidates for the school board.”

Williams said he thinks the consultants were extremely helpful during the process.

“They were able to put together a group of candidates that they had vetted to ensure they all met the qualifications for the position,” he said. “They contacted references and prepared a thorough document describing each of the candidates. They went over each of the candidates and answered any questions the board presented.”

Berens has served as the Mitchell Middle School principal for the last 11 years, after previously serving as a teacher in Mitchell and elsewhere across South Dakota.

“Having grown up in South Dakota, I know that Yankton has a solid school district and a very supportive communication system with the community,” he told the Press & Dakotan. “I feel as if the experience I’ve gained in the Mitchell district prepares me for this job. There are also a number of similarities between the two districts.”

Berens said the number one thing that most schools deal with is financial challenges, and Mitchell has gone through some of those challenging times.

“I know Yankton has, and still is, in the process of dealing with some of those financial issues,” he said. “Financial problems are something that a lot of districts have been, and are still, currently working through.”

Berens added that if he is hired as the next YSD superintendent, he will remain passionate about sharing what schools are doing for the community with the people they serve.

“I want the community to feel as if the school is a safe place for their kids,” he said. “There also needs to be a collaboration between the school district and the community, and that is something that I value highly.”

Berens stated that there are a indicators that Yankton is a community that highly values its school district. He said he’s always liked the challenge of administrators, and is excited about the opportunity to potentially work for YSD and the community.

Sittig served as a teacher in Baltic for more than a decade before switching gears to move into the administrative level.

“I’ve held a variety of positions over the years, including coach, activities director, teacher, principal and now superintendent,” he said. “I think the experience and knowledge I’ve gained through wearing all of these different hats gives me a good knowledge base for working with a K-12 school district.”

One of the biggest differences between the Baltic School District and YSD is the size — Baltic has about 415 kids enrolled in the district.

“Despite the size difference, you deal with a lot of the same budget issues — Yankton’s numbers are just bigger,” Sittig said. “I’ve had good people to work with at Baltic, and I’m aware of a lot of good people that are in the Yankton district as well.”

Grond has spent the last eight years as superintendent of the Boyden-Hull School District in Iowa. Prior to that, he had worked as a teacher and coach at both Watertown and Brandon Valley.

“I have a background in South Dakota, and, as a coach, I had interaction with kids, teachers and coaches from Yankton and I always came away impressed by them,” he said. “Yankton has a solid reputation for high achievement and a standard of excellence in academics, arts and athletics.”

Grond said one of the biggest differences between the Boyden-Hull district and YSD is the size. Boyden-Hull has about 630 students enrolled, and the town of Hull has a population of about 2,200.

“There are similarities in the fact that we want what’s best for our kids,” he said. “We want the best education money can afford, we want our kids to achieve at high levels and we want their to be accountability with the district.”

He said his background in larger districts has helped him understand the nuances of what it takes to work in a bigger district. He also added that, unless your school district is growing dramatically, many schools are facing budget issues.

“With budget issues, you have be able to make tough choices,” Grond said. “There is a concern with the budget from the YSD school board and the community and I do have a background in dealing with budget issues.”

Cynthia Clark received her Bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University, and since that time, has worked for a number of years in California.

She served as a principal for C.K McClatchy High School, located in Sacramento for four years. After that, she became the Director of School Improvement for the Sacramento City Unified School District. Clark currently works as the San Mateo Union High School District’s director of curriculum and assessment, a position she has held for more than a year.

She was not available for comment by press time.

Wayne Kindle, the Yankton High School (YHS) principal, declined to comment about the position until a final decision is made by the board next week.

“We will get to take a really close look at all the candidates next week, and they’ll also get a chance to take a look at us,” Specht said.

Williams said he’ll be looking for a candidate that has great leadership skills and one that can pull the community together behind YSD. He said he’s confident the interview process will allow the board to identify this person.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Superintendent Finalists Brief

YSD Superintendent Finalists Named

By Andrew Atwal andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The Yankton School District (YSD) school board has announced the finalists for the superintendent position.

Finalists are:

Brad Berens, principal of the Mitchell (S.D.) Middle School
Cynthia Clark, director of curriculum and assessment at the San Mateo Union High School District in San Mateo, Calif.
Steve Grond, superintendent of the Boyden-Hull School District in Hull, Iowa
Wayne Kindle, principal of the Yankton High School (YHS)
Bob Sittig, superintendent and elementary school principal of the Baltic School District in Baltic, South Dakota.

All finalists will be interviewed for the superintendent position on April 11.

State Attorney General Interview

An Interview With State Attorney General Marty Jackley

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley talked synthetic drugs, gun control and the period of purple crying while speaking with the Press & Dakotan Wednesday.

Synthetic drugs include K2, bath salts and night lights. They are very dangerous and have led to a number of hospitalizations for abusers in the state, and even have led to the recent deaths of two teenagers who used them in North Dakota.

“Manufacturers take a lot of dangerous chemicals, many of which have never been tested, and mislabel some of them as bath salts,” Jackley said. “They essentially take a bunch of chemicals that give you hallucinations, label them wrong, then sell them for a lot of money.”

Synthetic drugs first began appearing in South Dakota around five years ago. Jackley went to the Legislature to alert them of the problem.

“We decided to make possession of synthetic drugs a misdemeanor in South Dakota at that time,” he said. “We wanted to be proactive about it. We sent a memo to local businesses and said the law will be coming, and 99 percent of the businesses in the state said ‘Oh wow’ and took the drugs off of their shelves.”

More recently, however, a Senate Bill was passed that characterized nine different chemical categories as a felony offense for possession.

“The bad guys kept changing the chemical makeup of the drugs so this year we teamed up with the Department of Health (DOH) and made it a drug analog, which is what the federal government had, as a felony,” Jackley said. “The Legislature was able to give law enforcement the tools they needed so that people can no longer buy synthetics over-the-counter.”

He added that he’s sure some people still buy the synthetic drugs under the table or on the Internet, but he thinks because it is now a felony to possess the drugs, this problem may be subsiding.

“The problem of synthetic drugs is not only a criminal problem, but also a public health problem,” Jackley said. “Use of the drugs can lead to addiction, suicidal tendencies, an accelerated heart rate and kidney failure.”

Also Wednesday, he spoke about Senate Bill 70, which attempts to address public safety concerns in the state and the overcrowding of state prisons.

“The big point of the bill was geared towards non-violent criminals, which make up about half of the state prison population,” Jackley said. “The bill protects lower-level criminals, particularly those with addictions and property crimes, and places a heavy hammer on manufacturing and distribution of drugs.”

A 10-year felony, for example, became a 25-year felony on those individuals stealing more than $500,000.
The bill also addresses chronic alcohol users and DUI offenders.

“This addresses addiction issues, including through 24/7 monitoring, drug and DUI courts, which we’ve had really good success with so far in the state,” he said. “However, prosecutors are still the gate-keeper on whether an individual goes to drug court.”

Jackley touted the success of the Northern Hills drug court. He said possession of drugs used to be an automatic jail sentence, but now taxpayers save money through the drug court program.

“Drug court addresses addiction,” he said. “We want to continue to expand the concept, and not just have there be a revolving door of prosecution and jail.”

The program has led to re-offender rates dropping significantly, he said. Some studies show this rate dropping by more than 50 percent.

“This needs to stay as an offender-pay program, and certain aspects of it won’t work if it’s run by the Department of Corrections (DOC),” Jackley said. “It needs to be run by sheriffs and police. We couldn’t be more happy with the positive results it’s had.”

He added that there will always be situations of offenders trying to cheat the system, but emphasized how much re-offender rates have dropped since the program started.

“The program hasn’t cost taxpayers a dime since its went over to an offender-pay model,” Jackley said. “It’s dealt with addiction crimes and is not a situation where we’ve been easy on crimes.”

One of the other topics Jackley spoke about Wednesday was the issue of gun control this legislative session.
He said at this past winter, all 50 Attorneys General got together in Washington to meet with Vice President Joe Biden, who’s son, Bo, is the attorney general of Delaware.

“This year, Joe Biden came to us to strictly attempt to address gun control,” Jackley said. “He laid out the Obama’s vision for gun control policies.”

Jackley noted that he is a “Second Amendment attorney general,” and has been given a “A” rating by the National Rifle Association (NRA).

“I understand the issue of public safety, but also appreciate the right to bear arms,” Jackley said. “So I’ll be watching very closely to how this all unfolds.”

One of the aspects on the gun control legislation calls for universal background checks on those who try to purchase guns.

“On the surface, universal background checks don’t sound bad,” he said. “But, what does it mean for private sales? What happens with guns that are passed down through a family? Are background checks a wise use of federal resources? These are all questions that need to be answered.”

Biden also called for 30,000 additional police officers. Jackley said he does not know the full details of the proposal, including who would pay for the officers.

However, he said he was able to get an additional DCI agent for the Northern Hills because of the rise of crime experienced there due to the influx of North Dakota oil workers.

“They’ve seen two to three times more crime there, and the number of rapes has gone up in that area from one to 12 this year,” Jackley said. “I was able to justify the need through statistics and showed the benefits of the agent.”

One of the more controversial laws passed by the Legislature this winter was the sentinel bill, which allows districts to have an individual trained to carry a weapon during the school day.

“This is still in the early stages, but I anticipate proposing a two-week training period for those who are school sentinels,” Jackley said. “One week of training will be on firearms, including shooting about 1,600 rounds, which is similar to what law enforcement personnel shoot during their training. The other week will deal with training on the use of force in various situations.”

He added that the Legislature didn’t appropriate money for the training, so it’s up to the district or individual to fund it.

In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Jackley has also been explaining the importance of a new program being introduced across the state.

The Period of Purple Crying is a new way to help parents understand that the emotional and stressful early days during a newborn’s life is a normal part of their development.

“It’s a time frame from about 2 weeks old to 6 months that every child goes through with a period of crying,” Jackley said. “It begins slowly and consistently increases until the crying peaks. It typically lasts about 35-40 minutes and takes place during the evening.”

The project came to fruition through South Dakota medical professionals, but Jackley is involved because he often has to deal with child abuse situations where a parent shakes their child, resulting in death or injury.

“We want to let parents know that this is what will happen and they need to be prepared for it and not act inappropriately when it takes place,” he said. “When a new parent comes in and has a child, before their child is discharged, they’ll get a brochure and watch a 10 minute video about the Period of Purple Crying.”

The goal of the program is to educate parents and to diffuse instances in which parents could overreact and harm their children.

“We will roll out the program even more later on this month,” Jackley said. “We’re hoping to be at the front end and be proactive to help solve this problem.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Teen Court Program

Teen Court Program Kicks Off In Yankton County

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

In order to give teens a taste of justice and responsibility, the Boys and Girls Club of South Dakota recently brought its teen court program to Yankton County.

“It’s basically a juvenile diversion program offered to first-time offenders and put on by teens for teens,” said Kelsie Thoreson, teen court coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club of Yankton, Moody and Brookings counties. “Teens play the roles of the jury and attorneys, and then we also have a local adult attorneys that serves as the judge for the court. There is also a real bailiff present and we have an adult jury monitor to make sure the jury members are staying on task and within their guidelines.”

She added that the court is for sentencing only, meaning teens can only be a part of the program if they admit guilt to their offenses. If a teenage defendant successfully completes the program, they will have no juvenile record of the offense.

Volunteers in the teen court program also experience several benefits.

“It’s great for teenagers that volunteer for their public speaking,” Thoreson said. “It also gives them more of a knowledge about formal court and the court setting itself. We also have a number of incentives built in for youth volunteers that commit for a given amount of time.”

Some of the incentives for volunteers include teen court sweatshirts and name tags for all volunteers.

For defendants in the program, part of their sentencing requirements includes them having to be a member of the jury for up to six sessions. Jury members in their trial determine the number of sessions in which the defendants must participate.

In addition, defendants must complete several Community Action Points (CAPs) within 120 days of sentencing.

“The jury must decide how many CAPs a defendant must complete,” Thoreson said. “It’s on a point system, and there are a number of things a defendant can do to get all their points. If they do one of the activities with their parents, it doubles the amount of point for that activity.”

She added that CAPs are not equal to hours, and each activity is given a point amount.

So far, Thoreson said the program has made an impression on the teenagers who participate in it.

“The program really has a lot of positive impacts associated with it,” she said. “Our re-offender rates have dropped for those that complete the program — there is a 90 percent chance they won’t re-offend by the time they turn 18.”

She added that the program is also very family-oriented, which is another benefit for defendants and their family members.

“Most of the time for the cases that we deal with, there has been trust broken between the parents and child, so we work on things they can do with their parents to work together,” Thoreson said. “We work on re-establishing that trust and restoring the bond so the program impacts families in a positive way as well.”

The first teen court trial was held in Yankton on March 18, and trials are held on the first and third Mondays of each month at the courthouse. Volunteers also participated in a mock trial this past Monday night.

“The mock trial served as good practice for our youth volunteers since we’re just starting and it’s only the second court night,” Thoreson said. “On April 15, we’ll have two court hearings and we want to keep it to a maximum of three or four trials each court night.”

There are currently 12 teen court programs across South Dakota.

“Kids really think the program is cool and exciting,” Thoreson said. “They got really interested and into it during their training. Two Mondays ago for our first hearing, our youth attorneys showed up and said they didn’t get any sleep the night before because they were so nervous for their trials.”

Although there are a lot of cases the teen court can handle, some are kept in the hands of the formal court system.

“State Attorney Rob Klimisch works with me to decide which cases the teen court will handle, and which the formal court will take,” Thoreson said.

There is a three-strike rule in place for teenagers participating in the program. If they don’t show up for something or do not get their work completed, they are given a strike. After three strikes, their cases will be moved back into the formal court.

“My goal is to have the court be successful and professional,” Thoreson said. “I want to promote a professional atmosphere and make sure it stays like that.”

Teenagers interested in volunteering for teen court can contact Thoreson at kthoreson@greatfuturessd.org or contact the Yankton County Boys and Girls Club at 668-9710.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Pheasant Hunting Group

http://yankton.net/articles/2013/04/02/community/doc515a5206edea7190544142.txt

Local Pheasants Forever Prepares For Banquet

Todd VanMaanen (left), along with his father Phil (center) and Rick Kuchta (right) are shown following a day of pheasant hunting near Roscoe. The Pheasants Forever Yankton chapter seeks to promote hunting in the area, and aims to raise money at a fundraiser Saturday at Minervas. (Courtesy Photo)

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 1:07 AM CDT

The Yankton chapter of Pheasants Forever has spent more than $880,000 during its existence to acquire land the public can use for hunting — and it’s always looking for more.

“There was very little public space available for hunting in the Yankton area 20 years ago,” said Ron Pesek, habitat chairman of the chapter. “We work with government agencies to help in getting more land available for hunting. Over the years, we’ve developed more than 1,300 acres within 40 miles of Yankton to be used for hunting.”

Pheasants Forever will hold its annual fundraiser on Saturday at Minervas in hopes of raising more money to be used to get land for hunting and to support land owners who leave their grasslands and food plots undisturbed during the winter.

“The maximum payment we give to those landowners is $300,” Pesek said. “This equals around $10,000 a year we spend on that, which really isn’t a lot of money. However, it does help those landowners cover their costs.”

The banquet, open to members only, will feature raffles, a meal and live and silent auctions. Memberships will be sold at the door and cost $35. A youth membership for children 15 and younger is also offered and costs $20, which will include a meal at the banquet.

Pheasants Forever will also be sponsoring a few area youth to attend a wildlife camp this June in the Black Hills.

“We had a meeting and decided we will sponsor up to four kids from the area to go to the camp,” Pesek said. “Kids can send in a letter to be sponsored and go to the camp. It’s primarily a learning camp, but also is fun for anyone who enjoys wildlife and the outdoors.”

The camp will last for one week and features a number of outdoor activities including canoeing, archery, conservation, game management and fishing and shooting skills.

Youth who want to be considered for sponsorship must write a letter on why they would like to go. All letters, which must be postmarked by April 12, can be mailed to P.O. Box 757, Yankton, SD 57078.

Because of the drought, Pesek said pheasants have faced bad conditions in the immediate area.

“The drought has been tough on a lot of birds and other wildlife,” he said. “All wildlife has been impacted by the drought and it’s really been a difficult situation. The numbers of pheasants in the area are down as well.”

Kevin Heiman, chair president of the group, said they work to do everything they can to improve the habitat for pheasants and increase their numbers in the area.

“We have to play within Mother Nature’s guidelines, and we can’t control that too much,” Pesek said. “It has been the driest it’s been here in 50 years. Our ultimate goal is to give wildlife a place it can live and thrive in the area.”

He added that Pheasants Forever is a particularly unique organization because it is one of the only groups that allows local chapters to keep all their profits at the local level.

“For other organizations, if local groups profit, their money will go back to the national organization,” Pesek said. “Here, aside from membership fees, whatever we profit stays within our control and is kept here locally.”

As of last year, the Yankton area chapter of Pheasants Forever was the all-time leader in habitat expenditures among all chapters in the state. A large portion of the profits it’s had has gone into getting more land for hunting.

“When it comes to acquiring public hunting grounds, usually it’s because the land owner wants their grounds to become a public hunting place,” Pesek said. “Usually we’re not going to auctions to get lands. We’re working with individuals.”

The group recently lent a hand in purchasing an old tractor ground outside of Tabor.

“We really played a minimal role in that process; we let everyone else do their staff and we acted as the ‘clean-up batter’ in order to make the land acquisition work,” Pesek said. “A lot of different organizations put up money to get that to become public hunting land.”

The area, which encompasses more than 190 acres, features fishing, duck, deer and dove hunting, and has song birds for people to watch.

Pheasants Forever also puts an emphasis on getting kids exposed to the outdoors.

“We put on a number of youth events throughout the year to get kids interested in being outside, hunting and fishing,” Pesek said. “We want to introduce the sport of pheasant hunting to new generations. The sport is so vital to the state economy — more pheasants are shot in South Dakota than in any other state. We hope that we can help to continue that trend.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Scam Alert

Bond Scam Targeting Area Residents

By Andrew Atwal

andrew.atwal@yankton.net

Published: Friday, March 29, 2013 12:12 AM CDT

Area residents are being warned of a scam that solicits money to help out a family member in need.

Yankton Police Chief Brian Paulsen said this is a variation of one of the more common scams out there.

“Most of the scams that have been reported have required a certain amount of money to be wired somewhere,” he said. “A lot of scams come down to parents, grandparents and other family members knowing where their kids and grandkids are.”

Paulsen said Yankton residents have recently been called by someone claiming to be their child. In a majority of these cases, the scammers have not received their money because the family members knew where their child was at the time the call was received.

“People just need to be extremely cautious,” he said. “Anytime someone is asking for money to be wired, (there) should be an immediate red flag that goes up. People should think this just doesn’t seem right.”

Nancy Saunders, laboratory coordinator at Mount Marty College, said she had a number of students say their family members have been called by the scam artists.

“This has happened twice to kids I know,” she said. “Someone called an elderly person in their family and said this is their grandson, and they’ve been in a car accident and need money immediately to get transported for help.”

The scammers asked for $2,000 to be wired to a certain number. In both cases, the caller would talk in a muffled voice that was very hard to distinguish.

In another case, one of Saunders’ soccer players, who was in high school at the time, had this happened to his grandmother.

“The scammers called his grandmother and said he was out of the country and needed money wired immediately in order to get back into the United States,” she said. “In both situations, the money never got wired over. One of the ladies said her bank wouldn’t allow her to do it because it was a scam; in the other situation, Western Union said this number is incorrect and this is a scam.”

Paulsen said there are a number of scams floating around.

“It’s tough to nail down a lot of the specific scams out there because there are so many of them, but this one with the bond money is a big one,” he said. “It’s probably happening every day, but a lot of times it’s not getting reported. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done besides document the case.”

Paulsen added that it’s difficult to do much about the scams because, in most cases, victims are being called from phone numbers that cannot be tracked. In addition, the numbers to which the money is to be wired are also impossible to track.

“If people get a call, they need to call the police and let us know that it’s going on and it happened to them,” he said. “This is a good one to let the public know about because it’s happening a lot in the area.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal