p d news@yankton.net ress page 3 sd task...

Vergene Stockland-Fletcher

Vergene Grace Stockland-Fletcher, 83, of Akron, Iowawent home to her Lord andSavior on Au-gust 9th, 2013followingcomplicationsfrom a stroke.

Vergenewas born Jan-uary 3rd, 1930in Freeman,South Dakotato Paul andMary (Wipf)Wollmann. She grew up inFreeman and Hurley. Vergenemarried Frank Stockland,Senior on March 18th, 1948.They farmed near theWakonda area and raisednine children. Frank passedaway in 1979. Vergene mar-ried Robert “Bob” Fletcher ofSioux City on April 2nd, 2005and they resided in Akron,

Iowa. Vergene enjoyed bak-ing, dancing, embroidery,bingo and spending timewith her family and friends.She was known as the but-terfly grandma to her grand-children and greatgrandchildren because shealways wore a butterfly aspart of her outfit. Vergenewas a member of CalvaryEpiscopal Church in SiouxCity, Iowa.

She was preceded in deathby her husband Frank, hersecond husband, Lloyd Fick-bohm, her parents, twobrothers (Art and Arnold)and two sisters (Edna andErma).

Survivors include her hus-band, Bob Fletcher of Akron,Iowa; nine children, David(JoAnn), Carol (Guy), Linda(Carl), Steve, Pam (Jim), Julie(Al), Frank (Robin), Banita(Musie) and Lee (Angie); aswell as 23 grandchildren and23 great grandchildren.

Visitation will be atHansen Funeral Home in Ver-

million on August 12 from 5p.m. to 7 p.m.

Funeral service will beheld August 13 at 10:30 a.m.at Calvary Episcopal Churchin Sioux City, Iowa followedby a private burial ceremonyat Union Cemetery with bur-ial next to her first husband,Frank.

Yankton Press & Dakotan

August 12, 2013

Steven AuneSteven F. Aune, 59, of

rural Volin died at his homeafter a courageous battlewith cancer.

Funeral services are at 10a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, atTrondhjem Lutheran Church,

Volin, with the Rev. Mark Os-trem officiating. Burial willbe in the parish cemetery.

Visitations begin at 5 p.m.Tuesday at the Opsahl-Kos-tel Funeral Home & Crema-tory, Yankton, with aScripture service at 7 p.m.Visitations will resume onehour prior to the service atthe church.

Monday, 8.12.13ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net

NEWSROOM: News@yankton.net PRESS DAKOTAN P A G E 3

the midwest

O B I T UA R I E S

Omaha: 2 Bodies Found In Pickup TruckOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha police officer has found

the bodies to two men in a pickup truck near a city pool.Police say the officer was on patrol just before 5 a.m. Sun-

day when he noticed the pickup near Spring Lake Park pool.The officer checked on the pickup and found two dead

males inside.Police say the deaths are being investigated as homicides,

but they provided no more information about their identitiesor how they died.

1 Man Dead In North Omaha Shooting OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say a 23-year-old man

has been killed in a north Omaha shooting, and one man hasbeen arrested.

Police say officers were in the area around 2:40 a.m. Saturdaywhen they heard gunshots. Upon investigating, the officers found23-year-old Craig Brown on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound.Brown was taken by ambulance to an Omaha hospital, where hedied.

Police say 44-year-old Dwayne Blackson has been arrested onsuspicion of criminal homicide and several weapons counts. Healso faces a misdemeanor charge of failing to appear on a warrantin a separate case.

Police say Blackson is being held at the Douglas County jail.

RC Man On Mission For Late Navy PilotRAPID CITY (AP) — A 73-year-old retired Navy fighter pilot

from Rapid City is on an honors mission for a revered SouthDakota pilot who died more than 30 years ago.

Ken Schroeder has spent the last two years trying to securethe Medal of Honor for Cecil E. Harris, a World War II pilot whoreceived numerous honors in his long military career.

But not the nation’s highest military decoration. The Rapid City Journal reports that Schroeder is spending

the weekend driving more than 600 miles round-trip to attendthe annual Corn Fest in Cresbard, the birthplace of Harris. Thegovernor has proclaimed Sunday as Captain Cecil E. HarrisDay in South Dakota.

Schroeder is seeking donations for a proposed memorial toHarris at his college alma mater, Northern State University.

Man Turns Biz Resort Into AcademySIOUX FALLS (AP) — A South Dakota wind power entrepre-

neur has transformed a resort for business retreats into atraining academy for former foster children.

Joe Kolbach had originally turned the former South DakotaSchool for the Blind campus in Gary into the Buffalo Ridge Re-sort and Business Center.

Now it will be home to former foster children ages 18 to 24and military veterans ages 20 to 25.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports that students will spendtheir six-month program living in a dorm on the Buffalo Ridgecampus and receiving on-the-job training. They will be taughthow to balance a checkbook and work with local governments.

The academy opened July 18 with five students.Kolbach says it may take 20 years, but he believes the

academy will “change the world.”

Man Dies After Neb. Feedlot AccidentMITCHELL, Neb. (AP) — An Idaho man trampled by a steer

in a western Nebraska feedlot accident has died. Scottsbluff radio station KNEB reports that 65-year-old Rod-

ney Dickensen of Nampa, Idaho, died this week after beingtrampled by a steer Tuesday and suffering severe head injuries.

Authorities say Dickensen was sorting cattle at the SiouxCounty Feedlot in rural Mitchell when the accident happened.

Underground Lab Seeks $20M BudgetLEAD (AP) — The Sanford Underground Research Facility

in South Dakota’s Black Hills is seeking a $20 million budgetfor the next year.

The Black Hills Pioneer reports that the lab is seeking $12.7million from the U.S. Department of Energy, $2 million fromstate government, $3.8 million from a gift given by T. DennySanford, and some money from other funding sources.

Officials at the federal supported lab nearly a mile under-ground are conducting research on complex subjects such as nu-clear reactions within stars and dark matter, an elusive substancethat scientists believe makes up 25 percent of the universe.

Sanford Lab Executive Director Mike Headley says most ofthe operating money is used for salaries, and the lab tries tooperate as efficiently as possible.

Yankton School District hosts...

Thursday, August 15 th

4:30-6:00 p.m. See where the action is!

Annual Elementary School

Parents and students are invited to tour their school building: Beadle, Lincoln, Stewart, or Webster.

Visit your classrooms and meet your teacher.

pen H uses

2216 Broadway, Yankton

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Mary H. Sternhagen who passed away on August 15, 2012

Ronald R. Nysven who passed away on August 16, 2012

Terrell C. Schanche who passed away on August 18, 2012

Lillian (Manas) Hlavac who passed away on August 14, 1961

Our care and concern does not end with the funeral service. This week we remember with family and friends the anniversary of the deaths of:

665-9679 • 1-800-495-9679 www.opsahl-kostelfuneralhome.com

Guiding and serving families with compassion and trust.

Funeral Home & Crematory, Yankton Memorial Resource Center, Tyndall

Memorial Chapels, Tyndall, Tabor & Menno

This remembrance is brought to you free of charge. If you have a loved one you would like remembered,

contact us at Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory.

Honoring Their Memory

Our Thoughts And Prayers Are With Them

T HOUGHTS For Your Family

W INTZ & R AY Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Inc.

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Stockland-Fletcher

BY DAVID MONTGOMERYArgus Leader

SIOUX FALLS (AP) — Suzanne DeMorewas 39 when leg problems forced her intoa wheelchair and out of the teaching jobshe no longer felt she could adequately do.

Sam Kooiker was 16 when a restaurantrejected his job application because of hiscerebral palsy.

Patricia Docken is 23 andout of the workforce becauseof a combination of develop-mental and physical disabili-ties.

All three situations will, in-directly, be on the agenda of anew task force appointed byGov. Dennis Daugaard to ex-amine ways to help peoplewith disabilities enter theworkforce.

“People with disabilitieswork hard for themselves and their fami-lies, and I am encouraging South Dakotaemployers to give them opportunities toprove themselves as employees,” Dau-gaard wrote in a column announcing thetask force.

A collection of 34 business leaders,nonprofit representatives and state offi-cials are trying to find a way to make thathappen.

“The vast majority of people with dis-abilities are still unemployed or underem-ployed compared to people withoutdisabilities,” said Shelly Pfaff, executive di-rector of the South Dakota Coalition of Citi-zens with Disabilities, a statewideadvocacy group. “There’s a need to dowork when it comes to creating a levelplaying field.”

Kooiker, the Rapid City mayor who tothis day walks with an unusual gait be-cause of his cerebral palsy, said it’s not aquestion of people with disabilities notwanting to keep busy with jobs.

“There are many people with disabili-ties who want to work, but they don’tknow how,” he told the Argus Leader.

The task force has a broad purview, in-cluding people with physical and develop-mental disabilities, as well as those whowere born with their disabilities and thosewho were not.

Most members of the governor’s Em-ployment Works Task Force say they’re

coming in with open minds rather thanspecific proposals. A common goal is tohelp change the culture in South Dakotaabout people with disabilities.

Pfaff said her goal is “to break downsome of the attitudinal barriers that exist,in terms of seeing people with disabilitiesas people first.”

“They have abilities and capabilitiesand skills as other people do,” she said.

Even disability advocates call for real-

ism — some people physically cannot docertain jobs. DeMore, the owner of TheFrench Door bridal salon in Sioux Falls,said some of her jobs require mobility,while others require minimum levels ofcritical thinking and memory. But otherswould be very doable.

“A person cannot help a bride getdressed in a wheelchair. However, theycould be an alterations person,” said De-More, who’s relied on a wheelchair formore than two decades. “People in wheel-chairs have to have different kinds of skillsthan regular people, because you have toovercome those.”

It’s possible the task force could rec-ommend changes in government policy,too. Kooiker is a champion of a rule, nowin place for state and Rapid City govern-ment jobs, that guarantees at least an in-terview for qualified applicants who havecertified disabilities. They’re not guaran-teed the job, but Kooiker said giving peo-ple a chance to make their case in personcan make a big difference.

The policy was controversial in RapidCity when Kooiker first proposed it, requir-ing him to break a tie on the City Council.But when the policy came up for renewal ayear later, it was approved unanimously.

State Sen. Billie Sutton, D-Burke, saidthe task force should look at state fundingfor local community support providerswho already are helping people with dis-

abilities. Sutton is paralyzed from the waistdown and uses a wheelchair to movearound.

Deb Docken, a task force member andPatricia’s mother, said current services forpeople with disabilities often don’t focuson employment.

“That’s a discussion that needs tooccur,” Docken said. “Sometimes, whenyou get into adult services, (employmentis) not even a part of the conversation, and

it needs to be.”But task force member Cindy

Walsh said simple solutions alsocan make a big difference.

“Hopefully, as an employer Ican give input as to how valu-able these people are,” saidWalsh, in charge of human re-sources for Dakota King Inc., afranchisee that operates 35Burger King restaurants in SiouxFalls and throughout the North-

ern Plains. “We do hire people with disabil-ities who have limited jobs they can do,but they have been wonderful assets toour team. They’re very committed and en-thusiastic, the customers love them, andthey’re grateful to have a job.”

Members of the task force and peoplewith disabilities alike said jobs are an im-portant focus.

“Employment is a very big piece of myday,” Deb Docken said. “It’s a very bigpiece of my life. It’s a big piece of what’smeaningful for me. It’s no different if youhave a disability.”

DeMore agreed. When she was forcedto rely on a wheelchair, she and her hus-band launched a search for something pro-ductive she could do.

“I did not want my mind to not bebusy,” DeMore said. “I couldn’t watch an-other soap opera in my life.”

Julie Benz, an assistant vice presidentat Avera McKennan Hospital who overseesrehabilitation, among other areas, said em-ployment “gives us great pleasure” asidefrom the money.

“It’s something we all aspire to, reallycontributing to our families and contribut-ing to our communities,” Benz said. “Thisis a human characteristic, and this is oneway we can better support that.”

SD Task Force Aims To HelpDisabled Enter Workforce

“The vast majority of people with disabilitiesare still unemployed or underemployedcompared to people without disabilities.

There’s a need to do work when it comes tocreating a level playing field.”

SHELLY PFAFF

PIERRE (AP) — SouthDakota Gov. Dennis Daugaardsays the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency hasawarded the city of Sioux Falls$4.9 million to help pay forcleaning up debris from anApril ice storm.

The funds will reimbursethe city for the cost of remov-ing debris caused by the icestorm that knocked downpower lines, trees and treebranches throughout SiouxFalls.

State Emergency Manage-ment Office director Kristi Tur-man says the April stormcaused widespread damagethat required a massivecleanup effort. She says thefederal funding will help thecommunity and its residents.

The federal funds repre-sent reimbursement of 75 per-cent of the eligible expensesfor the project. The state cov-ers 10 percent of the cost, andlocal governments provide theremaining 15 percent.

FEMA Awards SF $4.9MFor Storm Cleanup