Daily Republic (Newspaper) - February 13, 2007, Mitchell, South Dakota School attendance Keep students in school until age 18 Senate 3 CBH champs Golden Eagles win conference 7 THE 18 Pages DM COPYRIGHT 2007 THE DAILY REPUBLIC MITCHELL SD Baghdad bombs At least 78 die in crowded 18 PUBLIC 500 410 Home Delivery Bushs plan cuts veterans benefits Budget cuts to veterans health care are planned in 2009 and 2010 following the Bush proposed increase next year Veterans hospital and medical care Flu hitting SD children harder this year 99 01 03 05 07 09 11 SOURCES Office Of Management and AP Budget Congressional Budget Office Veterans face health care cuts in 2 years By ANDREW TAYLOR The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans health care two years from now even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could over whelm the system Bush is using the cuts critics say to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012 After an increase sought for next year the Bush budget would turn current trends on their though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly by more than 10 per cent in many years White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter The proposed cuts are unre in light of recent VA budget trends its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took sus that the White House is simply making them up to make its longterm deficit fig ures look better Either the administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care said Rep Chet Edwards of Texas chairman of the panel oversee ing the VAs budget Or its promise of a balanced budget by 2012 is based on completely unrealistic assumptions Dailys Dose of Wisdom By the time a person has achieved years adequate for choosing a direction the die is cast and the moment has long passed which determined the future Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Writer 19001943 WEATHER Cloudy High zero to 5 Wind chill readings 15 to 20 below zero DETAILS Page 2 WEB POLL This weeks question Should Sen Dan Sutton D Flandreau have been expelled from the state Sen ate for his alleged misconduct with a legislative page Vote at INDEX Lifestyles 6 worldwide web information Kids younger than 10 account for 61 percent of state cases By SARAH DITTMER The Daly Republic More children in South Dakota are experiencing the flu this year than in recent years according to a state health official This flu season children younger than 10 have accounted for 61 percent of the 122 con firmed cases in South Dakota according to Dr Lon Kightlinger the state epidemiologist Its hitting children harder this year Kightlinger said Monday During the 20052006 flu season 40 percent of influenza cases were in children younger than 10 Its unknown why the flu is hitting children harder this year Kightlinger said It just depends on what the virus is doing on any particular year he said It changes from year to year Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Graves said some students have been affected with symptoms or other illnesses in the last two weeks Weve had a number of students gone but it wasnt anything that alarmed us he said Of the 122 confirmed cases since Oct 1 in the state adults older than 50 have accounted for 7 percent and the remaining 32 percent of cases have been among peo ple between the ages of 1149 During the week of Jan 28 the most recent statistics available 38 new cases of influenza A and one case of influenza B were reported in 14 counties in South Dakota and of those cases 11 tested posi tive Three counties report ed new cases of the flu that week include Charles Mix Davis on and Lyman coun ties An exact number of flu cases for each county was not immediately available Monday See FLU Page 16 Minimum wage hike moves one step closer Abortion ban Rounds signs By JOE KAFKA The Associated Press PIERRE A that would ban most abor tions in South Dakota easily cleared its first test Monday in a legislative committee But a new wrinkle was added If it clears the whole Legislature and is signed by the governor the measure would automatically go on the 2008 statewide ballot Voters rejected an abortion ban last year But the new includes exceptions for rape and incest Abortion opponents are encouraged by pub lic opinion polls that showed more South Dakotans would support it with those condi tions HB 1293 received 103 approval in the House State Affairs Committee sending the proposal to the House floor The bills success however is not guaran teed last years supporters are against it See ABORTION Page 10 ROUNDS Sharon Nowotny owner of the Outpost Cafe in White Lake wraps freshly baked chocolate chip cookies Monday before heading home for the day Nowotny and other business owners in South Dakota could feel the impact of state legislation that may raise the minimum wage to in the next two years Not all happy with Senate votes for proposed state raise By SETH TUPPER The Daily Republic Rural South Dakotans may lose some jobs and encounter higher prices if the minimum wage is increased some business owners and managers say Denice Duffy manager of the Win ner Food Center said her business would probably have to cut some parttime positions Duffy would sup port a modest increase she said but not the governors proposed increase to per hour in the next two years Some people may benefit but I think well see a lot more unem ployed Duffy said And were in a rural area where theres not a lot of job opportunities The jump to by 2009 is the last of three proposed increases in Senate 207 which was proposed by Republican Gov Mike Rounds The first step would raise the minimum wage from its current an hour to See IMPACT Page 16 Working for a living Following is the percentage of nonfarm workers in area court ies mat earn or less per and or less per hour according to a state study County Aurora 87 260 Bon Homme 15 66 Brute 23 101 Buffalo 39 125 Charles Mix 36 158 Davison 28 122 Douglas 24 132 Gregory 59 224 Hanson 47 182 Hutchinson 53 170 Jerauld 04 42 Jones 77 338 Lyman 54 220 McCook 79 225 Miner 01 45 Sanbom 06 80 Tripp 87 328 State averages 32 minimum wage increase to By BOB MERCER Republic Capitol Bureau PIERRE The Senate voted over Monday to gradually increase the minimum wage in South Dakota to per hour by July 2009 Senators turned aside an attempt to raise it to I hope you will agree with the governor and myself the time has come to step for ward and increase our state minimum wage said Senate Republican Majority Leader Dave Knudson of Sioux Emails The legislation SB 207 was offered by Gov Mike Rounds It calls for three annu al increases The first would take effect July 1 and raise the minimum to The second increase to would come on July 1 2008 The final increase to would be effective July l 2009 A similar plan is pro through Congress The South Dakota legislation was approved 296 by the Senate It now moves to the House of Representatives Last year Gov Mike Rounds previous See WAGE Page 16 MTIs Paustian says he and some legislators frustrated over continuing governance issue By ROSS DOLAN The Daily Republic With the legislative session in Pierre past the halfway mark Mitchell cal Institute President and CEO Chris Paustian on Monday told members of the Mitchell Board of Education that hes feeling frustrated over the continu ing issue of governance and some legis lators are becoming equally weary of the topic PAUSTIAN Paustian has regular ly attended the current session riding herd on a series of issues he says could determine the future of technical education in the state Foremost in a pack of education bills is SB 95 a that just wont die SB 95 would create a state board of technical institutes and would provide for the transfer of author ity over public postsecondary technical education from the Department of Edu cation to that state board The said Paustian could substan change the face of postsecondary education in South Dakota Considered all but dead by many the measure was resurrected last week by See MTi Page 11 Bob Capitol Bureau SEN ED OLSON listens intently Monday morning as lobbyist Larry Nelson makes his arguments against South Dakotas law allowing criminal executions Nelson a for mer legislator opposes the death penalty Two measures that would clear the way for South Dakotas first execution in 60 years were scheduled for final debate today in the Senate Senate committee OKs update for death penalty law By CHET BROKAW The Associated Press PIERRE A aimed at clearing the way for South Dakota to hold its first execution in six decades was endorsed Monday by a state Senate Committee Gov Mike Rounds suggested the measure to correct a problem that caused him to call off the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Elijah Page in August Rounds postponed Pages execution because state law requires the use of two specific drugs for lethal injection but prison officials had intended to add a third drug to the mix AD 37 other states that use lethal injection for execu tions use a mix KB 1175 would remove the legal reference to specific kinds of drugs The would give state prison officials discretion to determine the sub stances to be used in an execution See DEATH PENALTY Page 16
