BY DEREK BARTOSderek.bartos@yankton.net

Despite the spring season approaching,frozen soil depths continue to cause concernand likely will be problematic even whenwarmer temperatures arrive.

According to state climatologist DennisTodey, many areas of South Dakota have seenabove-normal frost depths this winter, withnorthern parts of the state reporting frozen soillevels of up to 5 feet.

Todey said such frost depths are currently

causing problems with bothwater pipes and roadconditions.

“You’re hearing aboutwater main breaks all overthe place, and in some cases,the lead pipes to housesaren’t deep enough for thefrost depth we are seeing, andthey’re freezing up,” he said.“Some municipal water systems have men-tioned to people to run water more frequentlyto make sure the water doesn’t freeze.”

As reported in the Press & Dakotan lastmonth, the effects of the frozen ground onroads can be seen locally. Lack of moisturecombined with cold temperatures has taken atoll on many surfaces, said Yankton CountyHighway Superintendent Brian Gustad.

“The frost is so deep, (the roads are) heav-ing and hoeing,” he said.

The frost depths the state is experiencingcould also affect agriculture this spring, Todeysaid. The soil will take longer to warm and

Thickening Clouds, Breezy9 a.m.: 27 | 3 p.m.: 40 | DETAILS: PAGE 2

PRESS&DAKOTANYANKTON DAILY

Volume 139Number 264

THURSDAY ■ March 6, 2014

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

Looking ForThe Repeat,Crofton AndWynot Head

To StatePage 7

75¢

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

TOMORROW: Looking At RTEC’s Impact On Students Print

ed o

nRe

cycle

d Ne

wspr

int

Print

ed w

ith

SOY I

NK

YANKTON RECYCLING THIS WEEK:

NORTHOF 15TH STREET

14 D A Y S U N T I L

SPRING

I N S I D E

Spry

By The Associated Press

PIERRE — A statewide ban on textingwhile driving was endorsed Wednesday by aSouth Dakota Senate committee as part of acontinuing battle between supporters of twocompeting measures.

The State Affairs Committee voted 5-4 toapprove a measure, passed earlier by theHouse, which would make it a petty offensecarrying a $25 fine to text behind the wheel.

Law enforcement officerscould issue tickets for tex-ting while driving only afterstopping drivers for someother traffic offense, andlocal government could nothave texting bans that differfrom state law.

Some who spoke atWednesday’s hearing saidthey prefer a Senate-passed

bill, scheduled for a hearing Thursday in aHouse committee, which would impose a$100 fine and allow cities and counties tocontinue passing and enforcing bans that dif-fer from state law.

The committee chairman, Sen. Larry Rho-den, R-Union Center, said the panel neededto keep the issue alive by passing the Housebill.

“If we don’t pass this, we’re going to riskhaving nothing,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden said details of the bills don’t mat-ter much because South Dakotans tend toobey the law. He said a majority of peoplewill change their habits not because theyfear getting caught “but by virtue of the factit’s against the law.”

The bill’s sponsor, House Speaker BrianGosch, R-Rapid City, said the law on textingwhile driving needs to be the same every-where in South Dakota so drivers don’t haveto guess what they can do in each area.

“They need to know the rules of the roadare going to be the same wherever they go,”Gosch said.

After the Legislature refused to ban tex-ting in recent years, a half-dozen citiespassed their own bans. Gosch said citiesand counties should be prohibited fromhaving their own bans because a 1929 statelaw already bars them from having traffic

BY RANDY DOCKENDORFrandy.dockendorf@yankton.net

Nearly 200 plaintiffs, includ-ing a handful of area residents,filed a federal lawsuit Wednes-day against the U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers.

The suit challenges theCorps’ management of the Mis-souri River, according to a newsrelease. Farmers, small busi-nesses and other property own-ers along the Missouri River areseeking millions of dollars indamages.

The suit alleges the Corps’changes in rivermanagementhas caused re-current floodingsince 2006.Record floodingin 2011 lastedmore than 100days and wasdeclared theworst in the re-gion’s history, the suit notes.

State Sen. Dan Lederman (R-Dakota Dunes), one of the plain-tiffs, said his home suffereddamages during the 2011 flood-ing. His family was displaced forfour months.

Lederman told the Press &Dakotan that damage has oc-curred along the entire lengthof the river. He noted an esti-mated $2 billion in agriculturallosses alone.

“This is an issue that affectsresidents and farmers along1,700 miles of the MissouriRiver,” he said. “The lawsuit ad-dresses the losses suffered bynot only my family and commu-nity but also farms, businessesand local governments alongthe Missouri River.”

Corps spokeswoman MaggieOldham with the Omaha Dis-trict acknowledged the Corpswas aware of the lawsuit butdoesn’t comment on pendinglitigation.

The “mass action lawsuit”seeks to have the legal chal-lenge recognized by the courts,then address each plaintiff’sclaim on its own.

The lawsuit, Ideker Farms,Inc. et al. v. the United States ofAmerica, was filed in the U.S.Court of Federal Claims in Wash-ington. The plaintiffs are repre-sented by two law firms,Polsinelli of Kansas City, Mo.,and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Tollof Washington, D.C.

The lawsuit was filed on be-half of farmers and other prop-erty owners in Missouri,Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska andSouth Dakota, according to anews release. The suit seeksdamages sustained from one ormore floods in 2007, 2008, 2010and 2011. All four floods re-ceived a presidential disasterdeclaration.

BY ROB NIELSENrob.nielsen@yankton.net

The Heartland Humane Society (HHS) isanother step closer to opening the doors ofits new facility on East Highway 50 in Yank-ton. The construction phase of renovationson the former Yankton Motor Company build-ing have commenced and fundraising isabout to enter its next phase.

HHS Executive Director Kerry Schmidtsaid so far the process of moving into thenew building is on track.

“We’re moving ahead at a pretty goodpace,” Schmidt said. “We had a lot of volun-teer opportunities in February and January,and got the majority of the move-in part ofthe shelter painted and ready to go. We haveto finish some projects here in March. WelflConstruction (of Yankton) started work lastweek at the shelter, so we are currently in the

process of installing some new plumbing, up-grading water lines and building alaundry/grooming facility, and putting up afew walls to help us with temporary housingfor animals until we can move into phase twoof the project.”

Additionally, window signs have been do-nated by Signs by Design. Sherwin Williamsdonated the paint used in the building.

Schmidt said she anticipates being in thebuilding by Easter at the latest.

She added that fundraising for the initialphase of construction was a success and thenext phase will deal with the garage portionof the building.

“The first part of the project, as far as giv-ing us the ability to move in here, is about$60,000 and that includes upgrading thephone systems, the paint and the phase-one

A Frozen Concern

Heartland Humane Society’sMoving Day On The Horizon

Deep Frost Level Creates Water Pipe, Road, Ag Issues

Todey

A Somber Celebration

PHOTO: AMY MAJERES/MMCSister Penny Bingham (right), Sacred Heart Monastery Prioress, places ashes on the forehead of Mount MartyCollege student Jamie Thelen during MMC’s Ash Wednesday Mass at Bishop Marty Memorial Chapel. The serv-ice also included musical selections to welcome the arrival of the Lenten season. Easter Sunday is on April20.

Rhoden

CorpsFacesFlood

Lawsuit

Texting BillSurvives InS.D. Panel

ROB NIELSEN/P&DWorkers from Welfl Construction Corp. work on the fu-ture home of the Heartland Humane Society. The spacethey’re working in will eventually house kennels andvet services.

TEXTING | PAGE 12

HEARTLAND | PAGE 12 LAWSUIT | PAGE 12

FROZEN | PAGE 12

Lederman

BY NATHAN JOHNSONnathan.johnson@yankton.net

VERMILLION — It’s not often that best-selling au-thor and Bloomberg television host Jeffrey Hayzlettmakes a public speaking appearance in his homestate of South Dakota.

However, with his brash and impassionedspeech about how to succeed in business mixedwith his personal anecdotes about years of experi-ence, he made sure the crowd at the Wire Me Awakeentrepreneurship conference held at the Universityof South Dakota wouldn’t soon forget him.

“I’m home,” Hayzlett said. “This is awesome. Idon’t get to do this often.”

When people ask him why he doesn’t do morepublic appearances in the state, he replies, “Toomany people see me naked at the Y.

“If you think this is going to be a normal corpo-rate presentation, you can kiss that good-bye right

off the bat,” Hayzlett assured thelaughing crowd.

Hayzlett was the keynotespeaker for Wire Me Awake. Duringits third year, the conference movedfrom Yankton to Vermillion andbegan a partnership with the uni-versity. Organizers sought to createmore learning opportunities for stu-dents. In addition to several speak-ers, the conference included a

business pitch competition with a chance for topfinishers to win thousands of dollars in order to sup-port their visions.

Much of Hayzlett’s speech focused on his time aschief marketing officer of the Eastman Kodak Com-pany, a position he left four years ago.

WIRE | PAGE 3

Hayzlett

Bloomberg TV Host Shares Business Tips