December 12, 2017 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Nothing But A Fire Drill Dave Says By Daris Howard Stay Intense! No Electronic Access! Dear Dave, I just accepted a new job that will You say to never give collectors access to your checking acpay me $30,000 a year more than my count. Does that include debit cards, too? old position. I’ve got about $55,000 in Sue debt I’ve been working hard to pay off, and I know now I need to adjust Dear Sue, my budget. Do you have any advice? Yes, it does! Collectors are looking to get as much as they Mitch can on a bad, late debt. I’ve seen numerous situations where collectors have taken more than the agreed-upon amount from Dear Mitch, The first thing I’d say is don’t go someone’s account once they gained access. To be fair, the colcrazy on any big-ticket items while lection business does have a few good people in it. But it also you’re paying off debt. Keep it simple, has those who will lie and make threats. If you’re doing something like scheduling utility payments to and go out to celebrate with a nice dinner after you get your first pay- come through your debit card or out of your personal checking Dave check. Remember, the more you put toward account, that’s perfectly fine. But there are much safer ways to handle situations with debt collectors. You can send a money debt, the faster it goes away. For the time being, I want you to remain order overnight, or wire the cash to them. You can also send passionate about getting out of debt. Your a cashier’s check. Some folks have even used pre-paid debit thought process needs to be, “Wow, I got a new job making more cards that aren’t attached to any of their accounts. The pre-paid debit card isn’t my favorite way to handle money. I can get out of debt even quicker!” Again, I’m okay with you adjusting a bit that first month and hav- these things, but it’s a lot better than giving a dishonest collecing a little fun to celebrate your good fortune. But after that, I want tor the opportunity to really mess you up! — Dave you to turn around and attack that debt with even more intensity than before. Then, once you’re out of debt, you can celebrate that * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and busiwith something a lot nicer. Congratulations, Mitch! — Dave ness, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best- RAMSEY selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 12 million listeners each week on 575 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com. erested in this spot? all 665-5884 to e your ad here. It began the way most miracles do: by accident or the hand of God, take your pick. It might have been the weather, at least partly. For December, the day had been almost balmy and warm. You know, sweaters instead of heavy coats. No mittens in sight. Then there were Christmas lights on the stores, and that little bunch of Girl Scouts out raising money in front of the Read Me Now bookstore. Jasper Blankenship was inside going through the books to fortify his cabin’s library for winter and sat, listening with a smile to the girls as they laughed and waited for customers that weren’t really coming along too briskly. “It’s a shame there aren’t more people out today for those girls,” said Sarah McKinley, behind the counter. Jasper nodded and paid for his books, then walked out to the truck. He stopped and thought for a while, then brought out his violin, rosined the bow, and walked over to the sidewalk next to the girls. “You girls like fiddle music?” he asked. “Sure do.” And Jasper began playing fiddle tunes. Carla Martinez was driving down the street, headed for the Soup ‘R Market when she saw the Girl Scouts dancing with each other in front of their table to Jasper’s music. Before he’d had time to finish that tune, she’d returned with her guitar and joined the fun. Jim Albertson, the elementary school principal, showed up with a harmonica, and he wasn’t bad at it. Dud got out his accordion and joined in the fun. By this time, it was getting dark in the street, and several people turned headlights on the area in front of the bookstore. Older people had joined the Girl Scouts dancing in the streets, and Delbert Chin from the Chinese restaurant across the street sent one of INTERESTED IN THIS SPOT? cups. his girls out with a huge pot ofwww.missourivalleyshopper.com coffee and paper Call 665-5884 on. place your ad here. 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While the board normally sets tuition rates in March, early approval of these specialized programs was granted to allow universities more time to recruit students from surrounding states. “Our universities continue to look for new opportunities to grow enrollments and better utilize capacity of existing campus facilities,” said Regents President Bob Sutton. “Bringing in more non-resident students helps lower costs for all students and also tends to grow our South Dakota workforce.” The undergraduate tuition programs approved will grant the equivalent of: • Resident tuition rate for first-time freshmen and new transfers from Nebraska attending Dakota State University, Northern State University, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, South Dakota State University, and University of South Dakota. • Resident tuition rate for first-time freshmen and new transfers from Colorado and Montana attending Black Hills State University. • Resident tuition rate for high-achieving first-time freshmen and new transfers from Colorado attending SDSM&T. The rate applies to qualifying students with a minimum of a 27 ACT score and a 3.5 grade point average. At the USD School of Law, the regents approved offering the equivalent of resident tuition rates to high-achievwww.missourivalleyshopper.com Call 665-5884 to place an ad. ing law school students with a LSAT examination score of 155 or higher. As approved, the new rates apply beginning with the 2018-19 academic year.ad. www.missourivalleyshopper.com Call 665-5884 to place an www.missourivalleyshopper.com Call 665-5884 to place an ad in the Shopper! Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Call Web site at 665-5884 to place an ad in the Shopper! www.missourivalleyshopper.com Participating Businesses Are… Visit our Web site at Call 665-5884 Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com www.missourivalleyshopper.com to place an ad in the Shopper! www.missourivalleyshopper.com erested in his spot? Call 665-5884 to place an ad. all 665-5884 to ce your ad here. Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com YOU NEED IT TODAY? NO PROBLEM! www.missourivalleyshopper.com FAX IT 605-665-5882 Missouri Valley Shopper Call 665-5884 to place an ad. 216 W. 4th St. • YANKTON,SD 605-665-5884 www.missourivalleyshopper.com terested in this spot? Call 665-5884 to place an ad in the Shopper. Our high school chemistry teacher flipped the fan switch in the chemistry lab, and a loud pop sounded. “Oh, shoot!” he exclaimed. “We can’t do the experiment without the fan.” “Hey,” Brent said. “My dad is an electrician, and I can wire almost anything. Do you want me to take a look at it?” Mr. Hatsker shook his head. “Probably not, Brent. I’ll acquisition the school to get it fixed.” “Are you sure?” Brent said. “I’m sure I could have it fixed in minutes.” “I better not,” Mr. Hatsker said. “I probably need to go through the right channels.” “What about the due date on our lab project?” Marcy asked. “There is no way we can have it done by Friday.” “I will move that back a few days,” Mr. Hatsker replied Mr. Hatsker called the principal to come down, and they discussed the situation. “Well, we can definitely have the district repairman come look at it,” the principal said. “But I can’t guarantee any timetable on it. They are doing some remodeling at the district office.” “My lab should come first,” Mr. Hatsker replied. “The problems with the lab have already put me a couple of weeks behind this semester.” The principal shrugged. “I will do my best.” Mr. Hatsker started us working on some new material in the book. We hadn’t been at it very long when the principal came back. “I hate to tell you this, but they can’t do it for a couple of weeks.” “A couple of weeks!” Mr. Hatsker exclaimed. “We can’t wait a couple of weeks. We need it now.” The bell rang, and we gathered our books to leave. Brent hung around behind as the rest of us headed to lunch. As lunch was coming to an end, he joined us to quickly wolf down some food. “Where have you been?” I asked. He leaned over and whispered. “I fixed the fan in the chemistry room.” “I don’t know if I am happy about that or not,” I told him. “Now we’ll have to do our lab projects.” “Beats studying from the book all class period,” he replied. The next day, Mr. Hatsker started to lecture. “Aren’t we going to go to the lab?” Brent asked. “There’s nothing we can do until the fan is fixed,” Mr. Hatsker replied. “But I think it is,” Brent said. Mr. Hatsker looked at him suspiciously, but we all traipsed into the lab to check it out. He flipped the switch, and, sure enough, the fan spun, rattled, and came to life. Mr. Hatsker shrugged and told us to all get busy. We pulled out the sulphuric acid at our stations and started to work. Soon, those of us closest to the fan started to cough and choke, and before long, everyone was. “The fan is blowing backward!” Mr. Hatsker yelled. “Everyone, outside!” He pulled the fire alarm as we headed out the door. I was the last student out, and I could hear screaming coming through a door in the chemistry lab that always remained locked. I had always thought it was a closet. Through my choking, I asked Mr. Hatsker where it led. “It is a second entrance to the darkroom used by the yearbook class to develop pictures,” he answered through his own coughing. Within minutes, students were pouring out of every door, happy to be out of school. When they found it was because Brent wired the fan backward, they were high-fiving him. But there was one person who wasn’t happy. 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