February 20, 2018 • Page 8 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com The Complex Issue Of Addiction By Gov. Dennis Daugaard As a state, we grapple with many issues. Some are very complex, with no easy fix or single solution. These may require sustained effort over long periods, through different administrations and legislatures and generations of South Dakotans. Drug abuse is one such issue. We continue to wrestle with methamphetamine use in our state. On the prevention front, the Department of Social Services has funded more than 245 presentations, to thousands in communities and schools, urging against methamphetamine use. The Attorney General’s office has also undertaken a preventive education campaign. This month Prevention Resource Centers will complete a meth prevention toolkit for communities. For the most part, we are seeing less meth manufactured in homegrown laboratories. It is more often manufactured on a larger scale and trafficked into the Midwest. The drug interdiction task force, made up of Division of Criminal Investigation agents and Highway Patrol officers, has been hard at work over the last year to stop meth from coming into our state and we need to continue to do more to choke off these distribution channels. For those who are severely addicted, the Department of Social Services is working to expand and increase access to treatment, ensuring treatment is evidence-based and that providers are equipped and trained to provide intensive treatment models. We’ve recently seen some hopeful results from our treatment programs. In the last year, more than 2,000 offenders have received treatment for substance abuse under the Public Safety Improvement Act. In 2017 over 69 percent of individuals entering treatment for substance abuse completed successfully, 25 percent higher than the national average. Ninety-eight percent of those that completed treatment in 2017 reported an ability to control alcohol, 94 percent reported the ability to control drug use, and over 85 percent reported employment at Tow Plow Being Moved From Yankton To Flandreau FLANDREAU, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Transportation is relocating the tow plow currently discharge. We’re seeing a promising trend in based in Junction City/Yankton to Flandreau to get more operators trained on its use during winter snow events. smoking as well. The smoking rate This tow plow will be used during the next few snow among young adults in South Dakota events to clear snow and ice on Interstate 29 between the went from 34 percent in 2011 to 13 Madison and Dell Rapids exits. percent in 2017. High school smokA tow-plow is pulled by a snowplow truck and, along ing rates went from 23 percent to 10 with the front plow on the truck, can clear widths up to percent in that same period, putting us below the national average for the 25 feet by allowing the operator to remove snow from one lane and the shoulder in one pass. first time. “The tow plow has been proven to save wear and tear We can celebrate that we are turnon equipment, and save on fuel and labor costs. It also aling the tide on smoking and seeing success among those who seek drug lows crews to get the roadway cleared more quickly and efficiently,” says Mitchell region engineer Craig Smith. treatment. These facts make me When the driver deploys the bi-directional tow plow, hopeful that South Dakota can meet the wheels turn as much as 30 degrees in either directhe addiction challenges ahead. tion, which causes the tow-plow to steer to the right or We cannot mandate away addiction; no legislative fix will completely left of the truck. The tow plow works similarly to a wing plow but with a much greater reach to clear more surface solve the meth problem. Some answers simply extend beyond gov- area. The department’s tow plows will have different seternment’s capabilities. But we must ups for material that can be used to more effectively treat do all we can, and we need all hands road surfaces. The two different set-ups the SDDOT will on deck. Private organizations, law be using can apply a direct liquid spray or a pre-wetting enforcement, communities and salt application. individuals all have a role to play. To see the tow-plow in action and get more informaProgress may be incremental but it tion from an interview with the Sioux Falls tow-plow will come so long as South Dakotans driver, visit the SDDOT YouTube channel https://www. are persistent. youtube.com/user/SouthDakotaDOT. For complete road construction information, visit www.safetravelusa.com/sd or dial 511. Third Ballot Question Petition Validated For 2018 General Election Ballot PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Secretary of State Shantel Krebs announced that the petition submitted for an initiated measure to increase the State tobacco tax and create a postsecondary technical institute fund for the purposes of lowering student tuition and providing financial support to the State postsecondary technical institutes was validated and filed by her office. It is the third ballot question to be placed on the November 6, 2018 General Election Ballot. It will be titled Initiated Measure 25. An Initiated Measure requires 13,871 valid signatures to be placed on the ballot. This initiated measure petition included 19,025 signatures. “We reviewed the random sample of signatures, and 82.88 percent were found to be valid,” stated Secretary Krebs. Any citizen may challenge the Secretary of State’s approval of a ballot measure and must submit an original, signed affidavit to the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office within 30 days of validation. Electronic submission of affidavits will not be accepted. The deadline for a challenge to Initiated Measure 25 would be Monday, March 19, 2018 by 5 p.m. central time. The remaining five petitions will be reviewed by the Secretary of State’s office in the order in which they were received. The South Dakota Legislature also has the ability to include constitutional amendments on the 2018 ballot and South Dakota citizens have the ability to submit a referendum petition concerning laws passed during the 2018 Legislative session. 2-1-17.1. Submission of affidavit challenging petition to secretary of state--Appeal. Within thirty days after a statewide petition for an initiated constitutional amendment, initiated measure, or referendum has been validated and filed, any interested person who has researched the signatures contained on the petition may submit an affidavit to the Office of Secretary of State to challenge the petition. The affidavit shall include an itemized listing of each specific deficiency in question. Any challenge to the following items is prohibited under this challenge process: (1) Signer does not live at address listed on the petition; (2) Circulator does not live at address listed on the petition; (3) Circulator listed a residence address in South Dakota but is not a South Dakota resident; (4) Circulator did not witness the signers; (5) Signatures not included in the random sample; and (6) Petition that was originally rejected. Any challenge by the same person or party in interest shall be included in one affidavit. The original signed affidavit shall be received by the Office of Secretary of State by 5:00 p.m. central time on the deadline date. If the affidavit challenges any item that is prohibited by this section, only that line item shall summarily be rejected. A challenge to a line item is not a challenge to the petition as a whole. The secretary of state's decision regarding a challenge may not be challenged a second time with the secretary of state, but may be appealed to the circuit court of Hughes County. If a person fails to challenge a petition pursuant to this section, it does not deny that person any other legal remedy to challenge the filing of an initiative or referendum petition in circuit court. A challenge to a petition in circuit court may include items prohibited in this section. Participating Businesses Are… 4x4 Clay County Auditor Carri Crum Appointed To Serve On US EAC Standards Board PIERRE, S.D. – Clay County Auditor Carri Crum has been named the newest member of the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) Standards Board, filling the vacancy of Jerry Schwarting of Mellette County, who resigned at the beginning of the month due to retirement. The U.S. EAC Standard Board is made up of 110 members of local and state level election officials representing the 55 states and territories. The Standards Board assists the EAC in carrying out its mandates under the law. “I want to thank Clay County Auditor Carri Crum for agreeing to serve on the United States Election Assistance Commissions Standards Board,” said Secretary of State Shantel Krebs. “It is imperative to have strong representation for our state on the national level and I know Carri will be that voice for all local election officials in South Dakota.” Crum is a current board member on the South Dakota State Board of Elections and serves as the Vice-Chair of the Clay County Local Emergency Planning Committee. She also is a member of the Clay-Union Point of Dispensing Committee and the Clay County Safety Board, and serves as a local Girl Scouts troop leader. Crum previously served on the South Dakota Association of County Officials Continuing Education Committee. “I am very honored to have been given the opportunity to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission Standards Board,” stated Crum. “It brings me a great sense of pride to represent South Dakota at the national level.” Crum is originally from Sioux City, Iowa, and moved to South Dakota in 2003. She and her husband have three children. Crum has been with the Clay County 2015 Ford Explorer XLT Auditor’s Office since 2004, Black Metallic w/Black beginning as a Deputy AuLeather, 3 row seating, ditor and has now served 3.5L V6, 31K miles, as Auditor for over four VERY SHARP years. $20,950 Salvage Title 605-665-3720 • Yankton, SD Jamesville Township Annual Meeting Tuesday, March 6th, 2018 7:30 p.m. J&H Cleaning Services YANKTON WORKS Want your REAL-TIME MESSAGE on the most visited media website in the Yankton area? 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