BY NATHAN JOHNSONnathan.johnson@yankton.net

The Yankton City Commission estab-lished a sub-committee Monday to examinethe proposals put forth by five consultantsfor a sports complex feasibility study.

In July, the commission put out a re-quest for proposals from consultants as anew home is sought for the Yankton YouthSoccer Association fields currently onHuman Services Center property. The pos-sibility of expanding the amount of spacefor other sports is also being considered.

The five firms that submitted proposalsare: Stockwell Engineers of Sioux Falls with

a $57,600 bid; RDG of Des Moines, Iowa,with a $75,000 bid; FEH of Sioux City, Iowa,with a $69,000-$92,500 bid; Johnson Con-sulting of Chicago with a $64,975 bid; andC,S & L International of Minneapolis with a$79,000 bid.

Commissioners Charlie Gross, DavidKnoff and Craig Sommer, as well as MayorNancy Wenande, volunteered to serve onthe committee. Interim City Manager AlViereck and Parks and Recreation DirectorTodd Larson will also be involved. Thegroup will read through the proposals todetermine what services are being offeredfor the money and make a recommendationto the full City Commission.

“We’re anticipating that we will bringthis proposal forward for action on theevening of Sept. 24,” Viereck said.

Judging from the past, the question ofwhether the commission will proceed withhiring a consultant is not a foregone con-clusion. When deciding whether to put outa request for proposals, the measure wasnarrowly approved with a 4-3 vote.

During a media briefing Friday, Wenandesaid she believes the commission has anopen mind on the sports complex issueand is trying to do its due diligence.

YANKTON RECYCLING THIS WEEK:

SOUTHOF 15TH STREET

75¢

Hot With Strong Winds9 a.m.: 76 | 3 p.m.: 88 | DETAILS: PAGE 2

PRESS&DAKOTANYA N K T O N D A I LY

VOLUME 138NUMBER 116

TUESDAY n SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

The Dakotas’ Oldest Newspaper | 12 PAGES | www.yankton.net

REGION 2 | OBITUARIES 3 | WORLD 3 | VIEWS 4 | LIFE 5 | MIDWEST 7 | SPORTS 8-9 | CLASSIFIEDS 10-11

TOMORROW: Wagner Facilities Celebrate Ribbon Cutting Print

ed o

nRe

cycle

d Ne

wspr

int

Print

ed w

ith

SOY I

NK

It’s Your Surgery, It’s Your Choice.The Region’s Only Full-Service Hospital with ICU and Emergency Departments Fully Staffed 24/7

BY RANDY DOCKENDORFrandy.dockendorf@yankton.net

In 1993, Sister Consuelo Chavez respondedto a call for a translator to assist the YanktonPolice Department with a Spanish-speakingprisoner.

The call launched her ministry as inter-preter for the local Hispanic community. Herwork took her to a variety of settings, includ-ing schools, medical clinics and legal settings.

The nun’s lifetime of service ended lastweek, when she died Thursday at age 90 afterbattling pancreatic cancer. She passed away atSacred Heart Monastery, which she had en-tered in 1941 and had made her first profes-sion 1943.

The Benedictine Sister, herself of Hispanicdescent, understood the area immigrants’needs and worries. Sometimes it was a job orhousing. Other times, it was a call in the mid-dle of the night for an emergency.

Emma Padron and her two young daugh-ters considered the nun a true friend to His-panics such as themselves.

“Sister Consuelo was always looking forways to help people,” Padron said. “She said, ifyou hadn’t helped someone that day, it wasn’tfull and somehow not lived well.”

But Sister Consuelo’s ministry wasn’t lim-ited to Hispanics, Padron said. “Sister had alove for everyone. Regardless of their race orreligion, she would help them out,” she said.

Sister Consuelo graduated from MountMarty College and pursued a career in educa-tion. She also served as a missionary toGuatemala from 1965-72. After returning, shetaught Spanish at MMC from 1973-93.

As a Spanish teacher at Yankton HighSchool, Judy Tereshinski shared a bond withSister Consuelo.

“Sister Consuelo was a fantastic woman.She gave of herself always — to her Sistercommunity, to her MMC colleagues and to herHispanic friends and neighbors. She was will-ing to go the extra mile at any time of day ornight,” Tereshinski said.

BY NATHAN JOHNSONnathan.johnson@yankton.net

The Yankton County Commis-sion decided Monday to uphold adecision barring a constructioncompany from finishing a bike trailalong Deer Boulevard.

LRC, Inc., of Vermillion wasawarded a $276,000 bid to con-struct the trail from south of High-way 52 to the Missouri River inAugust 2010. Work commenced in2011, and the trail was substantiallycompleted.

However, the County Commis-sion was not satisfied with the endresult. One of the largest concernsis soft spots in the base that willlikely lead to asphalt failure.

The commission voted unani-mously last week to authorize thestate’s attorney to request a forfei-ture of the $76,000 performancebond for LRC on the bike trail proj-ect. Furthermore, commissionersasked that LRC be notified by regis-tered letter that it was not to pro-ceed with any work on the trailafter 3:30 p.m. Sept. 5.

Yankton County State’s AttorneyRobert Klimisch said during a spe-cial meeting at noon Monday thathe had spoken with Amy Powell,president of LRC. She had told himthe company had planned to cometoday (Tuesday) to do the requiredasphalt work.

“I wanted this in front of theCounty Commission again to see ifanybody wanted to reconsider hav-ing them get on the bike path andget this thing finished,” Klimischsaid. “My theory would be thateverybody knows we’re not goingto get anything done this year un-less they’re the ones who finish itup. I know that, historically, theyhaven’t complied with the require-ments of the contract, and that’swhy we’re where we are today. Giv-ing them through the end of theweek wouldn’t (do) any harm to us.It could only be beneficial to us tohave them finish it out. Therewould be no payments until we aresatisfied.”

Powell didn’t return a messageleft by the Press & Dakotan at heroffice by press time Monday.

Commissioners were not as sureas Klimisch that no harm would bedone by letting LRC return.

As part of the State of SouthDakota’s involvement in the proj-ect, it is stipulated that asphalt cannot be placed after Sept. 15. Thereason for that is the high tempera-tures that are ideal for placingasphalt.

“My feeling is, for the time theyhave, (LRC) are going to come in,rush to fill it, pack it and spray it,”Commission Chairman BruceJensen said. “Then we’re back tosquare one, and we’re probably notgoing to be satisfied.”

BY ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Congress returned to Washing-ton on Monday for an abbreviated pre-election ses-sion in which it appears likely to do the bareminimum: making sure that the government doesn’tshut down.

Almost everything else of consequence, most no-tably a set of automatic, economy-rattling spendingcuts and tax increases that have been dubbed a “fis-cal cliff,” will get put off until a postelection lameduck session — and maybe beyond.

Top lawmakers unveiled a six-month spending

bill that would finance the government’s day-to-dayoperations until next March to give the next Con-gress and whoever occupied the White House time towork out a final solution on more than $1 trillion inannual spending for the Pentagon and other Cabinetdepartments.

Typically such temporary funding bills, known inWashington parlance as continuing resolutions, orCRs, freeze spending at current levels. But the meas-ure released Monday actually allows for a 0.6 percentincrease to every program to keep pace with a slightincrease in spending permitted by “caps” set by lastsummer’s hard-fought budget and debt accord.

The 2012 budget year ends on Sept. 30. But not a

single one of the 12 annual agency appropriationsbills has become law, requiring lawmakers to step inwith the stopgap funding measure to avoid a disas-trous partial shutdown of the government.

Just a handful of high priority programs would beawarded larger increases, including a government cy-bersecurity initiative, wildfire suppression efforts, adrive to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and pro-cessing of veteran disability claims. A popular initia-tive to repair the dome of the Capitol was leftunfunded, however, despite a high-profile push bySenate Democrats.

The House is to vote on the six-month spendingbill Thursday, and it appears set to pass easily, eventhough many tea party conservatives are upset that

Congress Returns For SessionFocus Is On Spending Bill; Farm Bill Still In Doubt

CONGRESS | PAGE 12

ONSTRIKE

E. JASON WAMBSGANS/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT

Teachers from Peck Elementary School protest outside a press conference by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel at Maranatha Church,a site hosting for the Safe Haven program, in Chicago, Illinois, Monday. Thousands of Chicago teachers walked off the job Mondayover a contract dispute about evaluations and job security. For more coverage, see page 3.

BY ANDREW ATWALandrew.atwal@yankton.net

The Yankton School District(YSD) school board unanimouslyapproved the operating budget forthe 2012-13 school year at its meet-ing on Monday.

The 2012-13 general fund budgetof nearly $14.9 million represents areduction of over $1.7 million, or a10.6 percent decrease, compared tothe 2011-12 adopted budget. The2012-13 decrease to the generalfund, compared to 2011-12, is pri-marily due to the utilization ofhealth insurance reserves from

YSD’s self-insurance fund, in addi-tion to the reduction of positions.

In order to cut back, the districtcut three teaching positions, a deanof students position, eliminatedfifth grade coaching positions andfroze the classified and administra-tive salaries for the third consecu-tive year, along with year two of payfreezes for certified coaching andadvisory positions.

“All of those things really con-tributed to a big reduction in thegeneral fund budget,” said YSD Su-perintendent Dr. Joe Gertsema.

Jason Bietz, YSD Business Man-ager, added the budget has been

able to stay afloat by the districtutilizing the health care reserves.

In addition to the general fundbudget, the 2012-13 special educa-tion fund budget is a 2.8 percent de-crease from the adopted 2011-12budget. Like the general fundbudget, the cuts come due to theutilizing of health insurancereserves.

“It’s important to note that weare not funding health insuranceout of the general fund budget,”YSD School Board President Chris

ANDREW ATWAL / P&D

Devin Warren, Unit Director of the Yankton Boys and Girls Clubspoke to the YSD School Board about expanding the relationshipbetween the Club and YSD going forward. The Boys and GirlsClub is hoping to have more facilities within YSD in the future.

City Appoints Committee To ExamineSports Complex Consultant Proposals

CountySays No ToMore BikeTrail Work

RANDY DOCKENDORF/P&D

Sister Consuelo Chavez, shown here in a2006 photo, stands outside Sacred HeartMonastery in Yankton. The Benedictine Sis-ter, who died Thursday at age 90 from pan-creatic cancer, provided a lifetime of service,particularly for the local Hispanic community.

CITY | PAGE 12

School Board OKs 2012-13 Budget

NUN | PAGE 12

YSD | PAGE 12

Nun’s PassingEnds Era

For HispanicCommunity

COUNTY | PAGE 12