BY RANDY DOCKENDORFrandy.dockendorf@yankton.net

The Missouri River reservoirsystem has gained nearly a half-million acre-feet of storage capac-ity thanks to the warm, drywinter, U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers officials said Friday.

After a year of historic flood-ing, the basin sits in a good posi-tion heading into the 2012 season,according to Jody Farhat, chief ofthe basin water management of-fice for the Corps’ Omaha Dis-trict. The Corps has taken aflexible and aggressive approachto its releases and opening upmore storage, she said.

“All of the 2011 flood waterwas evacuated from the main-stem system. As of today, we havean additional 400,000 acre-feet offlood control storage available,”she said.

“The snowpack is significantlylower than a year ago, but it’s stillearly in the snow accumulationseason. We continue to remainvigilant and monitor the situationclosely.”

For perspective, Farhat notedthe additional storage capacity of400,000 acre feet representsnearly the equivalent of GavinsPoint Dam’s reservoir storage of450,000 acre feet.

At this point, Farhat doesn’tforesee a return to last year’srecord releases. The 160,000cubic feet per second (cfs) re-leased at Gavins Point Dam,which was maintained for muchof the summer, more than dou-bled the previous record of 70,000cfs.

“Looking at the current fore-cast, I don’t anticipate a recordflow out of any reservoirs thisyear,” she said.

The total reservoir system cur-rently contains 56.4 million acrefeet (maf), Farhat said. Last yearat this time, the system held 56.9million acre feet — about 100,000acre feet above the base of theannual flood control pool, shesaid.

A major difference this year

BY CHET BROKAWAssociated Press

PIERRE — South Dakota’s economic developmentagency helped 61 businesses last year in expansionprojects that will create an estimated 3,000 jobs in thestate, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Friday.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Developmenthelped some businesses from other states locate inSouth Dakota, but more than 70 percent of the agency’sdevelopment efforts in 2011 involved companies al-ready in the state, he said.

South Dakota’s economy continues to fare betterthan the national economy, the governor said. State of-ficials recently announced South Dakota’s unemploy-ment rate for December was 4.2 percent, half thenational rate.

“We’re seeing the tepid national economic picturebrighten a little bit, and I’m pleased South Dakota isleading the way,” Daugaard said in his weekly newsconference.

YANKTON RECYCLING NEXT WEEK:

NORTHOF 15TH STREET

REGION 3 | OBITUARIES 3 | LIFE 5 | WORLD 7 | SPORTS 8-9 | CLASSIFIEDS 11-14 | MIDWEST 15

MONDAY: District 18 Lawmakers Hold First Forum Session Print

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Sunday, January 29 Bridal Registration Starts at Noon Exhibits Open Noon-4:00pm Fashion Show 3:30pm

Riverfront Events Center Downtown Yankton

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Windy, Late Flurries Possible9 a.m.: 2 | 3 p.m.: 25 | DETAILS: PAGE 2

YA N K T O N D A I LY

VOLUME 137NUMBER 229

SATURDAY ■ JANUARY 21, 2012

The Dakotas’ Oldest Newspaper | 16 PAGES | www.yankton.net

PRESS&DAKOTAN

BY NATHAN JOHNSONnathan.johnson@yankton.net

Saying he wants to tip the balance in Washingtonback in favor of middle class Americans, Matt Varilekused Yankton as the staging ground Friday in hiscampaign to become South Dakota’s next U.S. Housemember.

Varilek, 36, a Democrat who grew up in the Taborand Yankton area but now lives in Sioux Falls, an-nounced his candidacy for the seat held by Republi-can Rep. Kristi Noem in December.

He was set to launch a statewide “Meet Matt”Tour at Ben’s Brewery in Yankton Friday night andstopped at the Press & Dakotan office prior to theevent to talk about his candidacy.

Minnehaha County commissioner Jeff Barth isalso seeking the Democratic nomination.

Having raised more than $100,000 for his cam-paign and getting endorsements from Sen. Tim John-son (D.-S.D.) and former Sen. Tom Daschle (D.-S.D.),Varilek said he feels very good about the race.

“There is a lot of frustration with Congress rightnow and the person I’m running against, Kristi

Noem,” he said. “I’ve talkedin this campaign about want-ing to focus on the interestsof middle class people andworking people. I’ve talkedabout trying to take a differ-ent approach to politics thatfocuses more on bridging di-vides between people whohave different perspectivesso that we can find solutionsto things we all care aboutas Americans instead ofbeing stuck in our ideologi-cal corners. With KristiNoem, she takes a different

approach. She is part of the Tea Party movement, aleader of it, and a leader of the dysfunctionalCongress.”

While Noem was chosen last year to serve on theHouse Republican leadership team, she is not an offi-cial member of the House Tea Party caucus. She has,

BY SHAUNA MARLETTEshauna.marlette@yankton.net

ith the economy inYankton bouncingback from the lowsseen throughout thepast two years, theYankton manufac-turing community isseeing a shortage of

skilled labor applicants — specificallywelders.

Representatives from Dakota Trailer(DT) and Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. (KPI), aswell as Josh Svatos, Regional TechnicalEducation Center (RTEC) general man-ager, said if 100 skilled welders walked inthe door looking for positions, theycould be found in Yankton’s manufactur-ing community.

In order to meet that need, RTEC hasbeen offering 12-week courses in weldingstarting with basic welding and finishingwith an American Welding Society skillupgrade course.

“Right now, our biggest issue is find-ing the bodies,” Svatos said. “We are tothe point where we are at the end ofwhat we have of an available trainingpool. We are just not seeing the individu-als walk through the door that want tolearn the skill set. Now, as a community,we have to figure out how to get creativeselling the profession, number one; andnumber two, sell what we have to offer interms of employment opportunities. Ithink the last piece of that puzzle is sell-ing the community to bring them in fromthe outside.”

Jaci Benjamin, human resources man-ager and safety instructor at DakotaTrailer said the key words are “skilled”welders.

“While we are in need of welders, weare in need of skilled welders,” she said.“Every time we train a welder, it takes usa good 40-60 hours for them to be able togo on their own. So you have to realizewhere your labor dollars are going.

“The RTEC program is a good feederprogram for us at Dakota Trailer becausethey come in with a skill set. So it is notlike you have to stand right next to themand monitor them. They are able to com-plete a task that you give them becausethey are trained to do it. It alleviatessome of that pressure on our currentstaff for training purposes.”

Benjamin and Rhonda Kocer, humanresources manager at Kolberg-Pioneer,said that within two weeks of each newRTEC welding course beginning, they arein the classroom interviewing thestudents.

“We have probably hired 15-20 guys inthe last six months out of the RTEC pro-gram,” Benjamin said, a number Kocerconcurred with for KPI. “We are not get-ting the skilled welders walking in ourdoor. We are getting a lot of good appli-cants for fabrication or whatever area weneed, but the welders, the skill set, isn’tout there right now.”

Kocer explained that because themanufacturing community is a group,

The Shortage OfWelders In Yankton

Offers GlowingOpportunities,Officials Say

The Shortage OfWelders In Yankton

Offers GlowingOpportunities,Officials Say

Wanted: Welders!

Area Native Kicks Off Campaign For House

BY DEREK KRAVITZAP Real Estate Writer

WASHINGTON — Home sales rose inDecember to the highest pace in nearly ayear. The gain coincides with other signsthat show the troubled housing market

improved at the end of last year.Still, sales remain depressed and

ended 2011 well below healthy levels.The National Association of Realtors

says home sales increased 5 percent lastmonth to a seasonally adjusted annualrate of 4.61 million.

For the year, home sales totaled only4.26 million, up from 4.19 million the pre-vious year. Since the housing bust fouryears ago, home sales have slumpedunder the weight of foreclosures, tightercredit and falling price.

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KELLY HERTZ/P&DJuan Gutierrez, a junior at Yankton High School, works on welding skills during an Industrial Manufacturing and Fabrication class at theRegional Technical Education Center (RTEC) Friday. The high school training introduces kids to the skilled trade. Welders are in highdemand in many area communities, including in Yankton. Adult classes that train prospective welders fill up quickly, and the studentsare usually hired shortly after the classes begin. But more bodies are needed. “We are to the point,” said RTEC general manager JoshSvatos, “where we are at the end of what we have of an available training pool.”

S.D. Agency HelpedCreate 3,000 Jobs

WELDERS | PAGE 3

Home Sales Up At End Of Dismal Year, Offering Hope

JOBS | PAGE 14

CORPS | PAGE 14

VARILEK | PAGE 16

KELLY HERTZ/P&DYankton area native Matt Varilek, who isseeking the Democratic nomination forSouth Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat, was intown Friday to launch his statewidecampaign.