Argus-Leader from Sioux Falls, South Dakota • Page 15

IM 37 South Dakota Digest Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D. Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1988 Classified Will Briefly Sessions to detail school building proposal plans six town meetings during February and March to inform residents about the plan. Originally planned for late March or April, the election probably will take place in April, Superintendent John Harris said at the board's regular meeting Monday. Legal advisers are continuing to formulate the ballot's wording, he said.

In a related action, the school board received a committee report on high school programs. The board should establish a and Washington High could set up a business program. Board member Sue Brown said students should be able to switch schools in some cases. "We don't see that happening to a great extent, but we should make that available," she said. The board also approved scheduling a negotiation session with Local 304A of the United Food Commercial Workers to discuss a possible 15-cent increase in starting pay for the school district's food service staff.

The rate is now $3.50. Date School Feb. 16 Patrick Henry Feb. 18 John F. Kennedy Feb.

23 Axtell Park Feb. 25 Whittier March 1 Cleveland March 3 Edison All meetings 7:30 p.m. Official: State needs new games to make lottery a winner I. mm mn mmmmmj, jWf ILJ I F'l L23 ii I 1 By MIKE SNIDER Argus Leader Staff The date and language of the Sioux Falls School District advisory election remain unsettled, but the School Board on Monday approved a series of town meetings to precede the election. The non-binding election is being scheduled so the board can determine whether residents support a district plan to spend $29.6 million to remodel Washington High School and build a new high school and elementary school.

The board I rAvln nnf in. ii. i.i ii II. ii.imii hm ii mil iu, 'Ml tit" MIIIBMlimiiillMtflllMlWllMWWM 1 1 TIBm il Legislature today Senate: Considers a bill creating a special fund for income from sales of the South Dakota Bison xjold and silver pieces. House: Debates a bill creating a statewide system for communica- ble-disease control and treatment.

i Committees: House Transportation has a bill requiring annual inspection of motor vehicle lights. Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources has a plan to lift restrictions on using funds from the state pheasant restoration stamp. By TERRY WOSTER Argus Leader Staff PIERRE Interest in South Dakota's lottery will begin to drop sometime this summer unless different games are added to draw new players, a lottery official said Monday. "State lotteries generally witness a decline in the ninth month to first year," Susan Walker, executive director of the lottery, told the House State Affairs Committee. Last year legislators authorized an instant-winner, scratch-ticket lottery, which started Sept.

30. If the state follows trends from other states, the interest will fall off in June or shortly thereafter. The third instant-win game starts this week. Walker said the first two produced about $14 million in total revenue. The odds of winning are about one in 10, and so far, the top prizes have been $5,000.

The House panel is studying a bill to let lottery officials investigate the possibility of expanding into a multistate lotto, a numbers game with higher odds and a higher payoff than scratch-ticket games. The Senate State Affairs Committee also had a hearing on a lottery expansion. The Senate bill would allow video game lotteries. Action on that plan was delayed until Friday. During the committee hearings, no opponents testified on either bill.

Sen. Randy Austad, R-Sioux Falls, who has been a vocal critic of the lottery, said Monday that he will vote against lottery expansion but won't try to organize opposition. "I remain morally opposed to lotteries, but many people seem to want to try it, and I have other issues I want to put time into." Walker said the State Lottery Commission believes South Dakota will need to expand its games but doesn't have a recommendation on specific proposals like lotto and video games. "The rate of decline among state lotteries varies, but most start other games." Walker said a survey commissioned by her office shows that 21 percent of the South Dakotans who are identified as likely to play a lottery aren't participating in the scratch-ticket games. "We believe a lot of those people are potential lotto players," she said.

She also said many people in Drug suspects plead not guilty Fifteen neonle arrpstml Rat. urday on federal drug charges pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Mondav. Authorities indicted 27 people un icaerai ana state charges in connection with a mnltictata amphetamine ring based in the sioux axis area. Twenty-two of those indicted have been ar rested, U.S. Marshal Gene Ab-dallah said Monday.

Nine defendants were indicted on state charges; the 18 others were on federal charges. State's ETSI case to open today South Dakota's multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Kansas City Southern Railroad is scheduled to start today in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls. The case may last four to five months, a lawyer said. Opening arguments could be given today after a 12-member jury and four alternates are chosen, said Dan Doyle, an assistant state attorney general.

South Dakota charges that the railroad violated federal antitrust laws in fighting a proposed Energy Transportation Systems Inc. coal-slurry pipeline. The state had agreed to sell Missouri River water to ETSI. The trial will be lengthy, "but the facts aren't necessarily complex," Doyle said Monday. "I think since it's a fairly significant case, there'll be public interest to begin with, but unfortunately a lot of the witnesses will be on videotape.

The public won't find it a fascinating case." A federal judge in November refused the railroad's request to move the trial out of South Dakota. The lawsuit, filed in 1983, seeks $200 million in damages from the railroad and its parent company, but damages can be tripled in antitrust cases. The state also seeks attorney fees and court costs. Agriculture group endorses Gephardt Leaders for the South Dakota American Agriculture Movement have endorsed Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Present government programs favor large corporations over family farmers, the group officers said in a press release. "Where others have hedged and equivocated, he has stood up for the family farmer with specifics." The American Agriculture Movement is a national farm activist group. Jerome Johnson of Garretson is president of the South Dakota chapter. Small business aid is topic of session The Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council today will hold the third in its series of brown bag meetings and evening seminars on small business topics. The subject of the noon brown bag meeting is free assistance available to small businesses.

Hiring and firing will be discussed at the 7 p.m. session. Both meetings will be held in meeting room 202 of at the Coliseum Convention Hall, 501 N. Main Ave. Future topics of the series, which runs into late March, include employee motivation, insurance and advertising.

For more information call Kate Foley at the chamber at 336-1620 or Larry Faini at 332-1359. Excessive snow could drain fund Another six weeks of snowy weather could drain budgeted amounts for snow removal costs enough to make it neces sary to dip into a contingency account later this Commissioner Loila Hunking said Monday. Hunking said she did not know how much budgeted amounts for overtime salaries had been used up already. A cost estimate of the cleanup for the last snowstorm should be available after city crews clear streets of snow under the current alert, she said. Yesterday Ten years ago on this date, temperatures Sioux Falls, which hadn topped tne freezing point for over a month, dropped to 30 to 60 degrees below zero wind chill as an Arctic air mass moved through the region.

Blowing and drifting snow caused poor visibility and closed roads around Aberdeen, Huron and Brookings. the Sioux Falls area play the lotto in Iowa. "It's estimated that 12 percent of their total revenue comes from South Dakotans." If South Dakota adopted a lotto game, it would take about a year to set up, Walker said. Gary Bennet, an official with Video Lottery Consultants of Bozeman, said a lotto game would pay the state about $1.5 million by the second year of operation. "You'd start to see an increase after that, although it would go up slowly," he said.

In the Senate hearing on the video game bill, Larry Lippon, president of Video Lottery Consultants, said video lotteries would bring South Dakota an estimated $14 million to $23 million annually. He said a key in video games is to have a security system. "You want to assure the public there's a secure glitch-free, cheat-free system in place." The bill proposes that at least 80 percent of the gross from video machines would go as prizes. The state and the machine owners would split the remaining 20 percent, although some legislators said an amendment is being suggested to give owners 70 percent of the after-prize revenue because they invest more in the game setup. three-year policy to encourage program specialization and should not attempt to house every special program at Washington, Lincoln and a possible third high school, the report said.

The report, prepared by a 29-member group including parents, students, teachers and administrators, recommended that students be allowed to petition to participate in other schools' programs. For instance, Lincoln High School could establish a specialized program in vocational education you do?" he said. "But I won't do it again, I can tell you that." About 6 30 a.m., Elcock went to the terminal. An hour later, Elcock returned, but Abdo wouldn't let him inside. "I went to the trailer and started hearing things flying and busting," Elcock said.

"He was just getting drunk and obnoxious and wanted to raise some hell, I guess." Windows on a Cessna single-engine airplane were broken; two others were slightly damaged. Several fiberglass panels on the garage door were kicked in. Inside the terminal, the vending machines were broken open and the contents were thrown onto the floor. Components of a computer system were tossed through a window into the main area, and holes were kicked in the walls. Elcock said he was insured.

Yankton will look back and say perhaps this wasn't for the best." Jennewein said she thinks the prison will be run so the Bureau of Prisons can use Yankton as an example to convince other cities to accept prisons in residential areas. She and her family live three blocks from the college, which has been closed since 1984. City Commissioner Jim Abbott, who joined his fellow commissioners in endorsing the prison last year, said residents had spoken in favor of the prison through the December election. He said the city would see some economic benefit from the influx of employees. "I do not see it as something that will depress local real estate prices," said Abbott, who lives near the campus.

Jennewein said she thinks some residents were confused about the election and thought they would be able to vote again on whether to turn the campus into a prison. "I think we'd have seen a different vote, had we been able to vote: prison or no prison," she said. iTM.friHlv1 1 IMllMmilTIffO UTTi 1 Hi MrTF -Mua uoovjoi fji iuiu uy ivnrc; nwLivicn nrA Pir A Crrrs Vmlsart uArian a niaoA rrf mmm rtor oni iirmont VAac Argus Leader photo by MIKE ROEMER VsldJIUS aUJUBlCl L.UIU1 rdlta VCIV culu l-'-rv, uiursn hiiui piv vji wiifuui t.i-mj owner of the Great Planes Airport in Tea, survey the thrown through it. Three travelers who took refuge at scene at the airport Monday. The window was the airport were charged in the incident.

Man arrested in airport vandalism Census study shows drop in S.D. ranking By STEVE ERPENBACH Argus Leader Staff TEA A stranded traveler given shelter at the Tea airport ransacked the terminal early causing an estimated $7,000 in damage, authorities said. Daryl Elcock, 26, owner of Great Planes Airport, said a man began throwing objects throughout the building about 7:30 a.m. Michael Abdo, 21, was arrested about 8:30 a.m. Abdo faces a maximum penalty of 10 years for third-degree burglary and felony damage to property charges, said Jeff Masten, Lincoln County state's attorney.

He is being held in the Minnehaha County jaiL Two other juveniles will be charged with petty theft. They were arrested and released to their guardians' custody. Yankton college board OKs prison bid The man and two juveniles are from the Lake Andes area, he said. Elcock, who lives in a trailer a few feet from the terminal, wasn't injured during the incident. Broken glass, damaged equipment, candy and coins littered the floor of Elcock's one-story terminal Monday morning.

The baseboard heater and telephone were ripped from the walls. Three airplanes sustained about $3,000 damage, Elcock said. The three were stranded about 2 a.m. when their car went into a ditch along a county road about one mile from the airport. The juveniles knocked on Elcock's door, asking for a ride to Lennox.

When Elcock learned that the roads weren't passable, he offered to let them stay in the terminal. "I kind of hesitated, but what do purchased and had to maintain the century-old campus. "I think it's going to be a move toward growth of the community, for industry as well as improvement of lifestyle an economical boost in Yankton," Wright said. "I don't think the character of Yankton will suffer." Wright, who lives across the street from the campus, said he did not think people would pay attention to the prison once they got used to it. But Shirley Jennewein, who worked with Citizens for a Better Alternative to oppose the prison, said she and others are concerned about having one in a residential neighborhood.

She said a prison would slowly change the character of the city of 12,200. "I would be very surprised if the atmosphere of the town had not changed drastically in 10 years' time," said Jennewein, a mother of five who teaches at Mount Marty College in Yankton. "I expect there will be a time when many people in Dakota and Minnesota. Iowa lost 2.2 percent of its people, Nebraska grew by 1 .8 percent. If 1980-86 trends continue, South Dakota could be surpassed by North Dakota in population in the year 2004.

The last time that occurred was 1920. Projecting South Dakota's 2.5 percent growth, the state would have about 762,000 people in the year 2004, while North Dakota would have about 768,000 with its 4.1 percent growth. Some demographers say that North Dakota will not continue to grow this fast, however, because of continued slumps in its energy industry. When South Dakota lost a second congressional seat from reapportionment in 1982, it trailed only Montana and Nevada also single-seat states in population. But Texas' 26th District (Fort Worth-Arlington) and Arizona's 1st District (Phoenix-Mesa) grew so fast between 1980-86 that they surpassed South Dakota.

North Dakota grew faster than South Dakota despite the fact that it has suffered recessions in its two largest industries farming and energy. South Dakota has a com-paratively small energy industry. 1 But Calvin Beale, a rural population expert at the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture, said North Dakota traditionally has had a more volatile demography, and that South Dakota's agriculture has been hit harder in the 1980s. He also said North Dakota today is not likely growing faster than South Dakota because its late 1970s oil boom has given way to bust.

"North Dakota goes up and down," Beale said. "It had its growth up through about '83, and although it has had this decline since '83, the decline has not been as much as the initial growth. By Gannett News Service WASHINGTON South Dakota is now the fifth most populous congressional district in the nation, down two places from 1980, a study released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows. The study also shows that, if trends continue, South Dakota could lose several more places to fast-growing congressional districts in Florida, Arizona, Texas and California.

The Census Bureau reported Monday that 34 congressional districts all in the Sun Belt or West grew by 20 percent or more between 1980-86. Another 144 grew as fast or faster than the U.S. average of 6.4 percent during the same six years, all but 22 of them in the West or Sun Belt. "It suggests which states are the most likely to gain or lose (congressional seats)," notes census analyst Don Starsinic. Reapportionment of the House of Representatives' 435 seats will be based on population figures from the 1990 census, with the fastest growing states gaining seats at the expense of slowly growing or declining states.

"Congressmen are beginning to think, "What is the likely change of my district for the 1990s?" Starsinic says. The 1992 congressional elections would be the first to use the redrawn districts. The Census Bureau says that from 1980-86, South Dakota's population grew by 2.5 percent, to 708,000. Nationally, the average congressional district now has 553,000 people, up 6.4 percent from 1980, Census says. From 1980-86, South Dakota grew faster than two of its neighbors Iowa and Nebraska but slower than Wyoming, Montana, North YANKTON (AP) The Yankton College Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a letter of intent Monday from the federal Bureau of Prisons to buy the vacant college campus.

Both sides said Monday they were not surprised by the trustee board's action. Supporters said moving federal prisoners into vacant Yankton College buildings will lead to city growth and prosperity, but opponents still expressed unease at the prospect of hosting a prison. "I guess it was inevitable after the election," said Mike Lemon, spokesman for Citizens for a Better Alternative. That group collected signatures to have city residents vote on whether the city should buy the campus, but voters rejected the proposal by more than 3 to 1 on Dec. 15.

Richard A. Wright of Pro-Yankton Citizens, a group that supported turning the campus into a minimum security prison, had said taxes would rise if the city.