Since purchasing the land in 2012, Valley Ag has been working on making the Spink location of their company complete. Well, they are finally done with construction and celebrated with an Open House March 23.

Barb Haberling of Elk Point was honored during halftime at the South Dakota State A Boys Basketball tournament of the Elk Point-Jefferson game. She received the South Dakota High School Activities Association Distinguished Service award.

By Beth Sherard-Hutcheson times1reporter@gmail.com The Jefferson City Council convened as the Board of Equalization to hear one grievance over the assessed valuation of their property. The City of Jefferson saw an increase of 10 percent on assessed values.

Three bridge replacement contract agreements and corresponding documents were approved at the Union County Board of County Commission meeting March 21. Union County Highway Executive Secretary Cristy Harkness was present to go over several items in relation to the highway department.

Three additional positions were approved for the 202324 school year at the Dakota Valley School Board meeting March 13. The first position is a certified EL teacher and the second an additional SPED teacher.

The North Sioux City Council convened on March 21 as the regular council, but also held a prior meeting as the Local Board of Equalization. There were five grievances to hear from North Sioux City residents contesting their assessed property values.

An election integrity bill, supported by South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, passed another legislative hurdle Wednesday, March 1. Senate Bill 207 would strengthen the ban on the inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars to influence the outcome of an election.

Governor Kristi Noem, in coordination with the South Dakota Depar tment of Veterans Affairs, is proclaiming Wednesday, March 29, 2023, as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day.” The Governor and the Department are calling on all South Dakotans to recognize the courage, service and sacrifice of the men and women who served during the Vietnam War. More than 27,000 South Dakotans were called upon to stand up and fight.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 2021 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis, which shows that environmental releases of TRI chemicals from facilities across the nation covered by the program remained below pre-pandemic levels and releases in 2021 are 10 percent lower than 2012 releases, even with an eight percent increase from 2020 to 2021. Additionally, in 2021, facilities managed more than 89 percent of their TRI chemical waste through preferred practices such as recycling, energy recovery and treatment, while reporting that they released 11 percent of their TRI chemical waste into the environment.

Multiple teacher and coaching contracts were approved at the Elk Point-Jefferson School Board meeting March 13. Non-certified personnel salary agreements were approved for Melissa Curry adding Middle School/High School Principal’s Secretary for 2022-23 school year and Jake Terry as 7th Period – sixth grade computer class for 2022-23 school year.