Lonestar will make its third visit to Aberdeen, when the country music group appears Jan. 19 at the Dakota Event Center.

  The four-man group appeared at the Brown County Fair in 1996 and 2007. Lonestar has sold more than 10 million albums since its launch in 1995. The group's hits include "No News,""Come Crying To Me" and "Amazed." Original lead singer Richie McDonald has rejoined the group, joining keyboardist Dean Sams, drummer Keech Rainwater and lead guitarist Michael Britt.

  Ticket information is not yet available.

The attorney for a former Aberdeen woman convicted by a Utah jury of abuse in the death of Christina Harms has asked a judge to overturn at least a portion of the verdict.

 In court paperwork filed in Sherrie L. Beckering's case, David J. Berceau, her lawyer, asks that a judge re-evaluate the guilty verdict.

 A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 21.

 Court documents Berceau filed say that a judge can overturn "a jury verdict when the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, is so inconclusive or inherently improbable as to an element of the crime that reasonable minds must have entertained reasonable doubt as to that element."

 In subsequent pages of a legal memorandum asking that the verdict be overturned, Berceau argues that evidence in the case does not prove that Beckering, 51, acted in concert with at least two other people in abusing Harms. Utah law, under what's called a group enhancement statute, allows for longer prison terms in cases in which offenders are found to have participated in criminal activity with two or more other people.

 The jury found in September that Beckering was guilty of aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult. It subsequently found that the group enhancement clause applied in her case. That increased the maximum sentence Beckering faces from 15 years in prison to life in prison.

 When Harms was found dead in March 2011 on the floor of the Beckering home in Kearns, Utah, she had bruises on her body, bandages wrapped tight on her arms and fingers and a pepper seed stuck under one eyelid. An autopsy found she was severely dehydrated and had potentially fatal levels of Benadryl or a similar drug in her system.

 Harms, who also used to live in Aberdeen and suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, graduated from Central High School in 2007.

 Beckering's husband, Dale Beckering, was previously found guilty by a Utah jury of abuse in the case. He's serving a prison term of one to 15 years. Cassandra M. Shepard, 28, who was Harms legal guardian, is charged with murder. Her trial is scheduled for next year. The Beckerings, Shepard and Harms all lived together in Kearns. They all used to live in Aberdeen.

 Berceau wrote in court paperwork that there was not enough evidence for the jury to find that Sherrie Beckering "was aided or encouraged by Dale Beckering in committing this offense."

 "The mere presence of Dale Beckering, the defendant's husband, as co-resident is not sufficient to prove the defendant acted in concert," Berceau wrote concerning the group enhancement statute.

The Edmunds County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the theft of an ATM machine from the Wakeside Bar and Grill on Thanksgiving night, said Sheriff Lenny Braun.

 Law enforcement found an ATM three miles north of Wakeside on the side of the road the day after Thanksgiving. The machine was destroyed and all the money was taken.

 There are no leads or suspects at this point, Braun said.

 "We have a put out some feelers, but that's about it," he said.

 Anyone with information should call the Edmunds County Sheriff's Office at 605-426-6262.

- Reporter Scott Feldman

Brown County Sheriff Mark Milbrandt will meet with the Brown County State's Attorney's office Friday to discuss if charges will be filed in the collision involving a police car in November, said Tom Schmitt, chief deputy of the Brown County Sheriff's Office.

 On Nov. 11, an officer with the Aberdeen Police Department was making a U-turn near the intersection of Sixth Avenue Southeast and South State Street to stop a traffic violator when another vehicle struck the police car from behind, Schmitt said Wednesday.

 No one in the collision was injured, he said.

 Estimated cost of repairs to the police car was $1,500 and $1,800, Schmitt said in November.

 This is the third collision this year involving Aberdeen police officers. In January, a police car collided with a truck while it was escorting an ambulance to Avera St. Luke's Hospital. The driver of the truck was cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

 In March, two police cars collided into each other at an intersection and careened into an apartment building when they attempted to respond to a call for backup from a third officer. Two people were hospitalized in that accident. One officer was cited for his role in the wreck; he is no longer employed with the police department.

After securing its place in state history, the Warner volleyball program is now earning national fame.

On the heels of an undefeated march to the State B championship without losing as much as a single game, the Monarchs, their coach Kari Jung and senior leader Rachel Rogers have all earned national acclaim.

Jung has been named the CBS MaxPreps Small Schools Coach of the Year, the Monarchs have also been named the Small Schools Team of the Year, and Rogers was selected as a Second Team All-American member.

"I don't even know what to say," Jung said when informed of the awards Thursday morning.

Jung, who is in her 15th year at Warner, guided the Monarchs to their third state championship in the past six seasons this fall. She was quick to deflect any individual attention back to her team.

"I feel pretty honored," she said. "I think a lot of coaches could have coached the kids that I had and done well with them."

The Monarchs were not only unbeaten in matches, winning all 34 of them, they also did not lose a single set among the 90 that they played this past fall.

"As a coach I don't go into the season thinking, let's try to win every set," Jung said. "Your ultimate goal is try to get better each match. Things just fell into place for us. We're just very fortunate that we didn't have injuries and illnesses."

Whether Warner was playing a subpar foe in the middle of the season, squaring off against Class A powerhouses with much larger enrollments or competing under the bright lights of the state tourney, the Monarchs never had a down moment.

"We talked about that going into the season," Jung said, "just making sure that we stayed focus, because we knew that we had to continually improve."

At the center of it all was Rogers, a 6-foot-2 senior and Northern State recruit who had a monster season after coming off a knee injury her junior campaign. Rogers recorded her 1,000th career kill during the State B championship match against Arlington.

"I think Rachel just really improved her game since last season," Jung said. "This year she just was playing with so much more confidence. Her level of play just shot up. She just had so much fun. She just wanted to get after it on every ball."

The MaxPreps release also pointed out the play of Ashley Rozell and Carly Rozell in leading Warner to a season for the ages.

Marina Rose, a senior defensive specialist from Coventry (Conn.) was named the MaxPreps Small Schools High School Player of the Year.

Rose, who is a three-time Gatorade State Player of the Year nominee, led Coventry to its seventh-straight state title. Coventry finished the season 24-0 and has a win streak of 76 straight matches.

Rose, who at 5-foot-9 played all over the court, had several impressive statistics, including a 78.9 percent kill percentage that led all high school volleyball players in 2012. She committed only seven service receive errors in 307 chances, and also had 409 digs and 92 aces with a 95 percent serving percentage.

With Rose leading the way, the Patriots needed less than one hour to defeat Holy Cross (Waterbury, Conn.) 3-0 (25-7, 25-12, 25-8) to win the 2012 Class S state championship. Rose was named Tournament MVP as she registered 13 kills and 13 digs against Holy Cross.

The Patriots lost only two games all season. Rose lost just one match in her four seasons at Coventry.

The straight-A student will play volleyball at Providence.

Other Player of the Year nominees included Sara Sponcil from Veritas Prep (Phoenix), Gabby Deshotel of Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.), Amanda McKinzie of St. Philip (Battle Creek, Mich.) and Sarah Wallace of Ross (Branson, Calif.).

After a perfect run through every foe, it is hard to imagine what the Monarchs will do for an encore, but for now the celebration will continue for a squad that absolutely refused to lose this past season.

"The girls know that this season will always be part of South Dakota history," Jung said. "They cherish it. They really enjoyed it."

On the Web
For complete bios on members of all three All-American teams, see http://t.maxpreps.com/VCyrr4.

The most important day of Mary Ann Fischer's life was not the day she gave birth to quintuplets, but rather a day much earlier in her life, the Rev. Shane Stevens told friends and family members at Fischer's funeral Friday morning.

While the births made worldwide news, it was Fischer's baptism that that gave her the grace and energy to take care of a family of 11 children, Stevens said.

"God knew that she was a woman who could receive such a great gift as the gift of her family," he said.

Fischer's funeral was a traditional, Roman Catholic ceremony that drew approximately 200 people to Sacred Heart parish in Aberdeen. Outside the church was winter calm, a scene much different that outside St. Luke's Hospital the days after Fischer gave birth to the first surviving quintuplets in the United States on Sept. 14, 1963. Media members from around the world descended on Aberdeen to cover the story, causing a sometimes chaotic scene.

Greater than giving birth to quints, greater than raising 11 children and greater than any other accomplishment in Fischer's life, though, was her baptism, Stevens said.

"That was - that is the most important day for her," he said.

Wednesday night, family and friends gathered for a wake service and shared stories. From those stories, Stevens said, it was clear that Fischer was thinking of others even in her final days.

Fischer had recently been battling leukemia and checked into Avera St. Luke's Hospital on Dec. 6 with pneumonia. She died Sunday at 79.

Stevens said he knows the Christmas season will be difficult for the Fischer children. But he encouraged them to honor their mother by making her joys and enthusiasm, her abilities and accomplishments, their own.

"Take these gifts for yourself and use them to make this word a better place," Stevens said. "For God knows we need it."

Death can cause extreme fear and worry for those who don't know God, Stevens said. But that was a concern for Fischer, he said.

After the service, friends and family members gathered for the second time in as many days to have lunch and visit in the parish hall on the east side of the church.

Thursday afternoon, Fischer was interred at the Hecla City Cemetery.

Fischer was born June 8, 1933 on her grandparents' farm near Hecla. Her parents were Patrick "Elmer" and Evelyn Brady. She graduated from Hecla High School where she played track and basketball. She attended the Aberdeen School of Commerce and married Andrew Fischer on May 14, 1955. The couple met at the King Pin Bowling Alley in Aberdeen.

All 11 of the Fischer children are still living, many in the Aberdeen area. They include Dan Fischer, of Aberdeen; Jim Fischer, of Fargo, N.D.; Charlotte Burgard, of Aberdeen; Julie Wilson, of Westport; Evelyn Johnson, of Aberdeen; Denise Bahmuller, of Aberdeen; Annie Hoerner, of Aberdeen; Maggie Torres, of Aberdeen; Cathy Bales, of Redfield; Margie Walter, of Phoenix and Cindy Shorley, of Aberdeen.

The quintuplets, formally named Mary Ann, Mary Magdalene, Mary Catherine, James Andrew and Mary Margaret, were born in the early morning hours of Sept. 14, 1963. They were premature and spent their first days in incubators and the first months of their lives in the hospital.

Media coverage of the quints in the early years was intense and sometimes inaccurate. It subsided as the kids got older, but led to the family preferring privacy. Mary Ann and Andrew Fischer divorced in the 1980s.

Aberdeen hosted a parade to honor the quintuplets on Oct. 14, 1963 drawing an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people to town. The parade was also broadcast on national television.

The Fischers were the first set of surviving quints to be born in the United States. Five children were born Oct. 20, 1959, to a woman in San Antonio, though four died within nine and a half hours and the final child died about 18 hours after birth. The first set of surviving quints in the Western Hemisphere were born on May 28, 1934, in Canada.

Ten people from the Aberdeen area have been named to Prairie Business Magazine's annual list of 40 business leaders younger than 40.

 The magazine, based in Grand Forks, N.D., published the award winners along with biographical descriptions in its December issue.

 Aberdeen area winners and descriptions from the magazine include:

• Kory Anderson, 29, president, Horsch Anderson, Anderson Industries, Anderson Brothers Farms. Anderson began working as an engineering manager for Horsch Anderson in Andover in 2005. He launched Anderson Industries in Aberdeen in 2006 and has steadily expanded the business, most recently through the acquisition of a Mapleton, N.D., company in 2011. Additionally, he and his brother formed Anderson Brothers Farm in 2011, a farming business that raises corn and soybeans.

• Derrick Dinger, 32, managing director, Northwestern Mutual. Dinger became managing director for Northwestern Mutual in 2009 and has since grown his office from three representatives to 10. Production has more than doubled. In 2012, he received the Emerging Leader award from the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce. He is an active member of the Wolves Club board of trustees and a committee member for Northern State University athletics.

• Scott Eisenbeisz, 36, director of clinic operations for Sanford Health Aberdeen Clinic. Eisenbeisz became the clinic director in 2010 and oversees a medical staff of more than 40 providers. Previously, he served in a variety of administrative roles within Sanford Health, most recently as director of primary care. In that position, he worked with rural health clinics, quality payment programs, the Diabetes Health Coach program and electronic health record projects.

• Randy Grismer, 38, general manager, Comfort Inn. In addition to his role as general manager of the Aberdeen Comfort Inn, Grismer operates a restaurant bar and event facility at the Ward Plaza Hotel. He helped create the Aberdeen Hotel Alliance, a self-taxing authority for the town's hotels, generating more than $300,000 annually for marketing and events. He has also held leadership roles with the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is a board member on the James River Water Development District.

• Jennifer Klitzke, 35, administrative assistant, United Way of Northeastern South Dakota. Klitzke has worked in the nonprofit community for 12 years. At United Way, she implemented new donation and accounting software upgrades. In 2010, she received the Emerging Leader award from the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce. Her community involvement includes leading the Kids Voting Aberdeen committee.

• Matt Prehn, 36, principal business relationship manager, Wells Fargo Bank. Prehn has spent 12 years at Wells Fargo Bank. As principal business relationship manager, he oversees its business banking team members. He has served for nine years as a member of the Aberdeen Sertoma Club and eight years as a member of the Hub Area Habitat for Humanity. He has spent two years on the board of directors at the United Way of Northeastern South Dakota and is a member of the Aberdeen Parks and Recreation board of directors.

• Emily Richardt, 31, director of public relations, committees and programs, Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce. Richardt recently joined the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce after having spent 10 years as a journalist. During her time spent as a reporter, she received several awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in public service, journalism's highest honor, as part of the staff of the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald for its coverage following Hurricane Katrina. While working at the Aberdeen American News, she was named South Dakota's young journalist of the year in 2006.

• Jennifer Slaight-Hansen, 39, director of sales and marketing for Wooden Mallet. Slaight-Hansen joined Wooden Mallet in 2008. Since joining the company, she has renegotiated dealer contracts, resulting in a 25 percent cost savings and opened more than 50 new accounts, comprising nearly 30 percent of the current year's sales. She is also a founding member of the Aberdeen Downtown Association. She has served as a Aberdeen City Council member since 2009.

• Val Wagner, 35, CEO for Wagner Farms in Dickey County, N.D. Wagner and her husband manage a family farm and ranch. She is a vocal advocate for rural North Dakota and American agriculture and previously served on the American Farm Bureau Federation's National Young Farmer and Rancher Committee. She is working to make a profitable farming operation so that her four sons and generations to come can continue to work on a family farm. She writes a column for the Aberdeen American News.

• Nicole Walter, 33, director of member services and events, Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce. Walter joined the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce in 2003 as an administrative assistant and has since served as project coordinator and membership director. She obtained an Institute for Organization Management certificate in 2010 through the U.S. Chamber and implemented a membership perks program at the local level in 2011. She is extensively involved in community service activities in the areas of youth, education and community development.

A vehicle fire Thursday morning on U.S. Highway 12 near the Bath corner was quickly extinguished, said Dion Bahr of the Groton Fire Department chief.

 The fire was called in about 8 a.m., he said. The vehicle, a four-door sedan, belonged to a man from Wisconsin, Bahr said.

 There were no reported injuries, Bahr said.

 The fire started because of an engine malfunction, he said.

 Several people who drove by stopped to help keep the fire under control before firefighters arrived, he said.

 The firefighters were on scene for about 45 minutes total, to make sure the fire was completely out, Bahr said.

- Reporter Scott Feldman

An Aberdeen man was hospitalized Thursday afternoon after a collision at the intersection of Sixth Avenue Southeast and South Lawson Street.

 Steven Schiel, 22, was in fair condition at the Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center, an administrative resource nurse said.

 Schiel was turning south onto South Lawson from Sixth Avenue in a car when an eastbound pickup on Sixth Avenue driven by David Pettigrew, 56, of Aberdeen collided with Schiel at the intersection, according to an accident report from the Aberdeen Police Department.

 Schiel and Pettigrew were both wearing seat belts, the report stated.

 No citations have been issued, and the investigation is still ongoing, according to the report.

 Eastbound traffic on Sixth Avenue was diverted for 20 to 30 minutes as emergency workers cleaned up the wreckage.

- Reporter Scott Feldman

The new Marriott TownPlace Suites hotel going up west of Karl's TV and Appliance at 402 S. Norwood St. looks nearly finished from the outside, but there is still plenty to do inside, Paul Darling, one of the owners, told me Wednesday.

  Elevators are being installed and painters are completing the upper floors. Carpeting will be laid early next week, he said.

 Construction is going well and is on schedule, Darling said, with a planned opening in early spring.

 The three-story, 56-unit hotel will be a nice addition to Aberdeen, he said. It is an extended-stay hotel. Every room has a small kitchen, including a stove, refrigerator, microwave and sink.

 There will be studio, one bedroom and two bedroom suites available. Even the studio option has a kitchen and a nice work area, Darling said.

 The hotel's proximity to the new Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center and Lakewood Mall is a plus.

 Darling is with Americal, which has developed many hotels. Americal has eight other properties, and at one time had 14. Darling said this is the first extended stay hotel he has worked on and he is excited about it coming to Aberdeen.

Frozen yogurt

 I stopped into Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt on Thursday to check out the new place. It opened on Wednesday in the Lamont Building at 205 Sixth Ave. S.E. The shop has bright orange and white furniture and lime green walls. It is prettier than it sounds - cheery and fun.

 Manager Kristine Hinman said the opening on Wednesday went very well. There was a steady stream of customers, with a few of them coming back twice in one day, she said.

 When I was there, I saw about a dozen customers or so, all of whom were excited to give the self-serve frozen yogurt bar a try.

 The nice thing is that customers can create a dish of frozen yogurt on the decadent or healthy side, depending on their tastes. The toppings range from fresh fruit and nuts to chocolate chips, sprinkles and candy.

 The yogurt dispensers are clean, stainless steel with a bit of a high-tech look. The yogurt is made from fresh milk, which is delivered daily.

 Orange Leaf is the first shot in the Aberdeen frozen yogurt wars. A Cherry Berry Frozen Yogurt Shop is coming to Aberdeen in February.

Buttons galore

 JCPenney has made bold moves this year, first by going to a "fair and square" pricing system and then with a nationwide Christmas button promotion. The store gives away buttons with a code on the back. Those who enter the code on the JCPenney website can win prizes.

 Usually my eyes glaze over when I hear about giveaways, because the odds of winning are so small. Well, the odds of winning with the buttons is excellent. It is one-in-four. I know several people who have won. Usually it is a $10 gift certificate. Who doesn't want a free $10?

 Now there are some big prizes, including appliances, jewelry and family vacations.

 I talked to Curtis Clifton, the Aberdeen JCPenney manager, who said that the button promotion has been a big hit. When I spoke with him Thursday, he said 10 million button codes had been entered online and more than 3.5 million prizes have been won. Rumor has it that an Aberdeen customer has won one of the family vacations, but Clifton could not confirm that.

 He said the button promotion has helped increase traffic and sales at the Aberdeen store. No purchase is necessary to receive two buttons, plus they are kind of cute.

Follow @Business_AAN on Twitter or email business@aberdeennews.com.

Beginning Jan. 8, Maurices will move to a temporary spot within Lakewood Mall to make way for remodeling.

 The store will return to its current spot when renovation is completed in March. At that time, the clothing store will unveil a whole new look.

 The temporary location is in Space 43, right across the hall from Maurices current spot, in the former location of C.J. Banks. Maurices will be closed Jan. 6-7 to prepare for the move.

 Store manager Mary Weber-Carrels, who has worked for Maurices 27 years, said she and her co-workers have been "waiting forever for this brand-new store."

 The store was an original Lakewood Mall tenant in 1990. Weber-Carrels joined Maurices in 1985, when the store was downtown.

 "We've had a lot of changes throughout the years. But this is the best yet, I think," she said.

 The store will have a new color scheme, new lighting and new displays. The dressing rooms will be revamped. In addition, lounge-type seating will be created "where friends can give and get instant feedback on what styles look best on them," according to a news release.

 In June, Aberdeen officials rejected a building permit application for Maurices because the mall was in violation of the city's landscaping ordinance.

 The landscaping ordinance is currently being revised. City officials have been unsuccessful in discussing landscaping with the Rubloff Development Group, which owns the mall. Rubloff is based in Rockford, Ill.

 City Attorney Adam Altman said Thursday that the city is not going to hold up a tenant's building permit "in order to achieve landscaping ordinance enforcement with the owner."

Students attending state universities in South Dakota could see their tuition rise by 4 to 5 percent next school year because of the pay increases that Gov. Dennis Daugaard has proposed for state government employees and because of the rising cost for their insurance.

 That's because 57 percent of the university employees aren't covered by general funding from the Legislature. Their salaries and benefits are paid from other sources, including tuition and fees.

 The state Board of Regents, whose members govern the university system, discussed the governor's budget recommendations as one of the agenda items at their business meeting Thursday.

 Monte Kramer, the university system's vice president of finance and administration, said the preliminary numbers indicate that the pay and insurance increases would require about 4.5 percent more from tuition.

 The governor recommended a 3 percent salary increase and up to an additional 3.5 percent for employees below the midpoint of the salary ranges for their jobs. The insurance program needs a 14 percent infusion of additional money.

 University faculty wouldn't qualify for the extra 3.5 percent of midpoint pay, because they aren't classified as career-service employees.

 They instead have been receiving in many cases a different supplement from the salary competitiveness program that the regents independently operate by charging an additional 1 percent increase in tuition most years.

 Regent Randy Morris of Spearfish said students would be hit with 5.5 percent more tuition if that 1 percent salary enhancement remains in effect.

 "I'm not sure we can afford to do both," Kramer responded.

 Several regents immediately signaled they aren't ready to call for the additional 1 percent again.

 "The students did not agree to this increasing every year," regent Jim Hansen of Pierre said.

 The tuition and fees decisions will come at the regents' April meeting.

 "All the constituencies need to know there are things beyond our control," regent Harvey Jewett of Aberdeen said. "We pay for 58 percent of employees and don't have a printing press."

 Regent Dean Krogman of Brookings agreed the 1 percent enhancement isn't guaranteed, but he urged the board members to keep in mind the need for faculty salaries to be competitive in the higher-education marketplace.

 "We should be able to justify it to the students," Krogman said.

 Whether it is 4.5 percent or 5.5 percent, the regents would be limited in their ability to further increase tuition and fees for other campus needs.

 Last March, they approved an average 6.5 percent increase for the current academic year. That followed increases of 6.9 percent, 4.6 percent and 5.9 percent the preceding three years.

 The regents also ruminated Thursday about other ideas being discussed by university officials regarding tuition and fees.

 One concept under consideration would give university presidents the authority to set an additional amount of tuition or fee on non-resident students, with the money to be earmarked for specific purposes such as scholarships.

 Another item floating to the top again is offering reduced non-resident tuition to students who are children of alumni.

 There also is consideration under way about providing tuition discounts for state government employees taking courses at the university centers in Pierre, Rapid City and Sioux Falls, which currently charge a full price per credit that is considerably higher than at the traditional campuses.

Jim Mehlhaff from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission will speak in Redfield on Saturday about proposed laws intended to prevent an Anderson Seed situation from ever happening again.

 Anderson Seed went bankrupt earlier this year without paying farmers for $2.6 million in sunflower seeds which had been delivered to its warehouse.

 There has been a lot of finger-pointing since the company's grain broker license was pulled in February.

 While many farmers blame Anderson Seed owners for deception, others criticize the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission for failing to adequately regulate the company.

 PUC officials said after Anderson's collapse that laws needed to be changed to allow the commission to know more quickly a grain buyer's financial status.

 Chris Nelson, PUC chairman, led a review committee to suggest proposed changes in the law.

 Mehlhaff, the PUC's grain warehouse director, said the proposed legislation focuses on timely disclosure of financial information, modest increases to the bonding requirements and criminal penalties for grain buyers that fail to comply.

 Farmers and others who attend the meeting will have an opportunity to give their input.

 A main point of contention is the bonding requirement. Anderson Seed, a company that could purchase up to $10 million worth of grain, was required to have only a $100,000 surety bond to pay producers.

 Nelson, who won re-election to the PUC board in November by a large margin, campaigned on strengthening disclosure laws rather than creating a large bond fund. A system where farmers pay a few cents per bushel to create a fund, which is done in North Dakota, would take money out of producers' pockets without reducing the chance of a company going bankrupt, he has said.

 Under the proposed legislation, the bond for a $10 million company would increase by $50,000 to $150,000.

 Ray Martinmaas, an Orient farmer who lost $47,000 when Anderson Seed failed, said, "The bond is a joke. I have said it before, increasing a bond by $50,000 won't do anything. Who wouldn't throw away $150,000 to get $10 million."

 While Martinmaas doesn't think the bond means much - pennies on the dollar for the amount of money lost - he said he is entitled to his share.

 His claim to the Public Utilities Commission for a percentage of the bond was denied because commission staff ruled he had entered into a voluntary credit agreement with Anderson Seed and therefore was not entitled to bond money.

 Approximately $400,000 of the $2.6 million lost by farmers was voluntary credit agreements, Mehlhaff said.

 Nine producers did not qualify for all or a portion of their claims because of voluntary credit agreements, Nelson reported in October.

 Martinmaas is the only farmer to appeal the decision of PUC staff. His case will be heard by the commission on Dec. 18 in Pierre.

 Mehlhaff said that 26 farmers have made staff-approved claims totaling just over $2 million. About $400,000 is not eligible because of voluntary credit agreements and about $200,000 was not claimed.

 "Some farmers did not file a claim because they knew it was a voluntary credit agreement, the amount was small or they did not want to go to the trouble of filing," he said.

 An internal audit of Anderson Seed showed 39 producers had delivered seed for which they did not receive payment, Nelson said in October.

 After a decision is made on Martinmaas' appeal, a final pool of applicants will be determined and money will be distributed to them on a prorated basis, he said. The money, however, will not be released until Circuit Court Judge Tony Portia approves the distribution plan. The distribution will likely take place sometime in the early part of 2013, Mehlhaff said.

 Mehlhaff said that increasing the bonding requirement is only a small part of the legislative package. Most of the laws focus on disclosure. For example, when Anderson Seed applied for its grain buyers license in 2010, its financial information was from the end of its previous fiscal year. The information was already nine months old when the PUC reviewed it, he said.

 Under the proposed legislation, financial information must be more current, he said.

 Anderson Seed may have misled the PUC or broken laws. A criminal investigation is still ongoing, said Sara Rabern, public information officer for the South Dakota Attorney General's Office.

 Chris Studer, communication director for the Farmers Union, which is hosting the meeting in Redfield on Saturday, said the meeting is to educate member and the public about about issues in agriculture.

 Bonding and grain buying legislation are statewide issues, he said.

 "We want to start a conversation among farmers," he said. "We want them to learn about the legislation so they can be protected."

Meeting on Saturday

 A meeting on the proposed grain buyer legislation will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Leo's Good Food Restaurant, 603 N. Main St., in Redfield.

Legislative plan

 A proposed five-point legislative plan for grain buyers includes the following items:

• 1. Timely financial disclosure at time of application.

• 2. Inclusion of a perjury statement. Applicants caught providing false information are subject to a felony perjury charge.

• 3. Financial disclosure at time of inspections. Records must be provided within five days.

• 4. Increasing surety bond amounts and increasing the number of company size categories. Most bonds increase by $50,000.

• 5. Immediate reports of failure to comply. A company which falls short of licensing requirements at any time must report that to the Public Utilities Commission under criminal penalty.

Source: Jim Mehlhaff, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission grain warehouse director

Gettysburg business was destroyed by a fire in this afternoon, Potter County Emergency Manager Cheryl Sautner said.

J & B's Quickstop caught fire about 1 p.m. when the fryer malfunctioned, according to several witnesses, including a few members of the Gettysburg Fire Department, Sautner said.

Sautner said everyone managed to make it out of the building before the fire spread and that no injuries were reported.

Firefighters from Gettysburg, Hoven and Lebanon responded to the scene and were still fighting the fire at 3:15 p.m., she said.

The fire has not been completely contained yet, but there is no danger of the fire spreading to other buildings, she said.

There will probably be an investigation after the blaze is extinguished for insurance purposes, even though the root cause seems clear, Sautner said. 

Bethelehm Lutheran Church in Aberdeen will host a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. Saturday in the church chapel, 1620 Milwaukee Ave. S.E., in support of the victims of the Connecticut school shootings today.

All area members of the Evangelical Church of America will join together for the vigil. The public is invited.

OTHER REMEMBRANCES

There will also be a moment of silence before the Northern State University basketball games tip off this weekend. The women's basketball team will play St. Cloud State tonight at 6 p.m., at Wachs Arena. The men's basketball team will face St. Cloud State at 8 p.m.

Other events will be added as they come in.

 David G. Moser, 53, of Aberdeen was taken to the Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center in Aberdeen.

 Moser was stopped at the intersection's stoplight at 11:40 a.m. when a northbound pickup driven by Michael James Donner, 65, of Aberdeen collided with the back of Moser's car, according to an accident report from the Aberdeen Police Department.

 Donner, who was not injured, was cited for speeding, the report stated.

 There is the $4 million-plus in tax rebates that Gov. Dennis Daugaard promised to Bel Brands for the proposed processing plant at Brookings.

 And there is the broader effort by his administration to help double the milk cows in South Dakota from the present 92,000.

 More dairy is an economic development priority for Daugaard and state Agriculture Secretary Walt Bones, himself a dairyman. They are recruiting outside South Dakota. They need talent to move here.

 The second piece they need is public acceptance from local residents and environmental activists over adding modern-size dairy farms to the landscape.

 That won't be easy. Adding 90,000 more dairy cows into South Dakota's rural economy is bound to spark local arguments about environmental protection.

 As a commercial activity, dairy tends to be very concentrated. Dairy cows don't come with on/off switches. They need to be milked several times a day, every day.

 We also don't have the dairymen in South Dakota to do that kind of constant work for twice as many as cows.  For a solid living, a modern commercial producer needs many hundreds or even thousands of cows. Cows mean manure.

 We don't mind much when livestock are on range and pasture because manure is spread far and wide too. The concern comes when livestock are concentrated into small areas. This is why environmental regulations in our state laws and rules call for manure-handling systems at concentrated feeding operations. Even though a producer owns the land, above is public air, and beneath is public water.

 There was the recent withdrawal by backers of the Hanson County Dairy. That fight saw state Rep. Stace Nelson, R-Fulton, help lead the opponents in blocking the dairy's water permit. It is an example of the disputes that might be ahead.

 But the expansion strategy proceeds. A "dairy drive" was held for members of the Legislature on Sept. 26.

 Among stops were the cheese plants in Milbank and Lake Norden, where Valley Queen Cheese and Davisco Foods International, respectively, process 3.2 million and nearly 4 milllion pounds of milk daily.

 The bus tour for the 25 legislators was intended to drive home the message that milk production needs to be increased.

 With Bel moving into the Big Sioux River valley - Brookings officials say their goal is to make their city and South Dakota State University the dairy center of South Dakota - there will be increased competition for milk, unless there are more cows, too.

 Already, a new business that would produce better feed for dairy is taking shape in Brookings. It would further refine the distilled grain byproducts from ethanol plants.

  Bel needs thousands of cows to produce milk for its proposed plant at Brookings. The work force at the plant would be 200 to possibly 400.

 That's not counting the many related jobs at the dairy farms and for the feed producers and feed processors.

 To get Bel's commitment, Brookings city officials delivered millions of dollars in incentives. The governor helped seal the deal with the promise of a tax rebate on the construction and equipment.

 The governor, to his credit, told the truth to the Legislature during his budget speech in early December that he doesn't have the money to make good on his promise. He asked the Legislature for it.

 His fallback is to take money from the Future Fund, which originally was intended for research and science infrastructure when it was created 25 years. It has since evolved into a job-training fund to help employers.

 The Future Fund's money comes from an extra tax that nearly all employers pay.

 The third debate the Legislature will face is what South Dakota should offer businesses that want to expand or move into the state.

 Economic development is a battle of one state against other states and other nations. Businesses routinely ask what they can get in return.

 Daugaard and many of the Legislature's Republicans wanted to make grants available and pay them by taking 22 percent of the contractor excise tax proceeds on an ongoing basis. The voters rejected that plan in November.

  One of the flaws some voters saw was fairness. Daugaard's plan favored big businesses, but relied on taxes that South Dakotans are subjected to on construction projects, including small businesses ineligible for grants.

 A long-standing complaint is starting a business in South Dakota costs a lot in taxes, especially if the business project involves construction and buying equipment.

 This is what the old construction-tax refund program, which expires Dec. 31, attempted to partially alleviate.

 It was expanded by the Legislature during the Rounds administration. But lawmakers ultimately sent it into the sunset after they saw how much it was costing and who was or wasn't benefiting.

 Daugaard's grants plan would have put the aid at the discretion of the state Board of Economic Development. It members are appointed by the governor. Some opponents saw the potential for favoritism by the board.

 The Rounds-era rebates didn't involve favorites. They were available to any business that met the legal requirements, whether that business was popular or not. But small businesses didn't qualify, and the bigger the project, the bigger the rebate - which again raised the fairness question.

 What then can be done - if anything should be done - that would make South Dakota competitive?

 Perhaps a tax credit or a temporary break on unemployment tax for each job created, regardless of business size?

 Perhaps a temporary break on the Future Fund tax for the new job?

 Perhaps more time to pay sales tax and contractor tax, through direct payments to the state treasury, on expansions and new construction?

 If incentives are available to all employers to add jobs in South Dakota, they likely have a better chance of acceptance.

 And by the way, who doesn't really like cows?