By Julie Ann Madden

Instead of passing food around the family table, Tami Small of Akron is passing on her Pizza Ranch position to her daughter, Amy Small, also of Akron. Tami has been manager of the local Pizza Ranch restaurant since 2004. When she decided to take another position with the company, Amy decided it was time to leave the corporate world as a district trainer and manager for CATO retail stores and bring her skills and experiences to the restaurant world. Amy spent the month of December completing a four-week training program at the Sheldon and Orange City Pizza Ranch restaurants. On Dec. 27, Amy stepped into her mother’s shoes at the Akron Pizza Ranch, and Tami began providing training for employees at new Pizza Ranch establishments. Tami will continue working part-time at the Akron Pizza Ranch. “I’m just excited to be working with Amy,” said Tami. “She is creative and has many ideas to continue growth in the Akron store. Stop in and welcome Amy back to Akron.” Amy is a lifelong Akron resident, graduating from Akron-Westfield High School in 1998. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Sioux Falls, S.D., in 2002. Tami and her husband, Bruce, are glad to have both their daughters living in town. Amy and her sister, Krista, share a home here. “It’s good to be back in Akron,” said Amy. “One of my first manager’s roles will be overseeing the interior renovation of the Akron Pizza Ranch, which is scheduled to begin in February.”

By Julie Ann Madden

Union County Planning & Zoning Commission members are ordered to appear at 3 p.m. Jan. 22 in Union County Circuit Court regarding allegations they have not followed the laws and procedures with respect to public hearings, according to an Alternative Writ of Mandamus signed by South Dakota First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Steven Jensen. However, Jensen did not issue a “stay” to stop Planning & Zoning Commission’s meetings set for Jan. 10 and 16 regarding Hyperion Refining LLC’s public hearings for their rezoning request to build an oil refinery in Union County. On Jan. 8, at a special Planning & Zoning meeting, the Planning & Zoning Commission decided they had made “no errors” regarding their procedures for the Jan. 10 and Jan. 16 meetings. On Jan. 9, the Save Union County Committee and Ed Cable filed an application for Alternative Writ of Mandamus in the Union County Clerk of Court. The committee, which is comprised of Union County residents, alleges that proper public notice was not given for the Union County Planning & Zoning’s Jan. 10 hearing. In addition, the Planning Commission announced that only Hyperion officials would be allowed to speak at this. The committee also alleges that the Commissioners failed to provide proper notice of the meeting at which the date for the Jan. 16 meeting was set. They allege this meeting was set by Land Use Administrator-Planning Director Dennis Henze in violation of SDCL 1-25-1.1 but the commission did properly publish notice of this meeting. The committee applied to the court for “an Alternative Writ of Mandamus” asking the court to compel the Planning & Zoning members to obey the laws governing public meetings. In addition, they asked that the court order a “stay” of the Jan. 10 and Jan. 16 hearings until the court is satisfied that proper and legal public notices have been given by the county, and that the Planning & Zoning Commission provide the public with a right to be heard at any such hearings they hold. The morning of Jan. 10, Ed Cable filed a “Supplemental Affidavit in Support of Application for Writ of Mandamus,” hoping the court would issue a stay on the two meetings or order that the Planning & Zoning Commission allow the public to freely participate in the hearings. However, Jensen did not take any action on this. Also on Jan. 10, Hyperion Refining LLC attorneys filed a motion asking for permission to intervene as a party in this civil case: “Hyperion has pending a zoning application that is the subject matter of this action. Any action taken by the Court will have some effect on Hyperion’s application to rezone property and the procedures thereunder. Hyperion has a direct and immediate interest in the zoning application and will gain or loose [sic] financial interest by any judgment in this matter. Hyperion requests that it be aligned with Defendant, Union County.”

For More Articles on the Proposed Hyperion Project, visit the Hometowner's Hyperion Page.

If you missed this classic you should be ashamed of yourself. What a great high school ball game. Orange City Unity Christian boys came to visit on Saturday, Jan. 12 and left with a 60-59 loss to the Westerners. With 2.5 seconds left Mike Oetken, who was fouled, sank his second free throw to give A-W a great win. In the first half the pressure and full court defense caused turnovers and bad passes. A-W settled down and started to play against the very big and athletic Knights. A-W, who is smaller but very aggressive, trailed at the end of one 15-12. A-W started to break the UC press and led 32-28 late in the second quarter but UC came back to have a two point lead at halftime 36-34. UC built an eight point lead midway through the third 44-36 but A-W fought back to trail 49-48 at the end of three. The fun really began in the fourth. Derek Appley, who led A-W with 22, hit a three to tie it at 51. Appley followed with a lay up to give A-W a narrow lead. The last two minutes were wild as both teams tried to get the advantage. With two minutes to play it was knotted up at 55. Josh Mahaney hit two critical free throws to give A-W a 57-55 lead. UC then tied it back up but Appley scored a lay up to make a 59-57 A-W lead. Katji, for UC, then returned the favor by tieing it up one more time at 59. A-W got the ball in front court when Mike Oetken got hammered which sent him to the line. Oetken missed the first one but drained the next one. The ball just tickled the twine. With 2.5 seconds UC got the ball out but a wild shot never came close.

Akron-Westfield boys came out fast and kept up the pace to run by the Kingsley-Pierson Panthers 73-51 in Akron on Monday, Jan. 7. A-W jumped to a 8-0 lead as they penetrated well and shot well from both the inside and three point land. A-W got excellent play, not only shooting wise, but also rebounding, defense and control. A-W really hustled and controlled the tempo of the game. A-W had four players in double figures as Mike Oetken, Justin Koch, Eric Eskra, and Derek Appley all scored well. Anthony Miller came off the bench to pull down seven rebounds. A-W played well from the start and really played well the first three quarters. With the game well in hand, Coach Colt opted to use his bench and give all the kids a chance to play. Good team play allows Coach Colt to go deeper into his bench and develop some bench strength. A-W’s record now stands at 9-2. Both the boys and girls are playing pretty well. Above all they are playing very hard.

The visiting Kingsley-Pierson Panthers were no match for the Akron-Westfield ladies as A-W defeated KP 76-56 on Monday, Jan. 7. The A-W girls had four girls in double figures as Shelby Johnson, Karly Groon, Jordan Harris, and Alison Kusler led the scoring parade. A-W broke out fast as they had their fast break going plus pressure defense caused a number of turnovers. KP scored the first bucket of the game but A-W came back with a 23-5 run to put the game away early. A-W led 30-13 at one time but settled for a 42-18 halftime lead. The second half was like the first as A-W continued to run the break well plus played good defense. A-W used a lot of players as Coach Johnson let all the kids play. A-W forced KP to shoot from long range as A-W controlled the inside game. Groon had 20 points plus eight rebounds and a couple of blocked shots to pace A-W. Shelby Johnson had 18 points plus 10 assists for a good night.

W  defeated Gehlen Catholic 61-39. After getting some literary advice from one of our fans I decided to forget it and go on. The Jays got the jump on A-W as they had a 4-0 lead. A-W then decided enough is enough and scored the next 22 points to lead at the end of one 22-4. Gehlen went six minutes and 23 seconds and didn’t score a point. A-W’s pressure defense again caused turnover after turnover. A-W went on another 22-7 run to have complete control. Gehlen finally scored into double figures with a 1:16 left in the half. The halftime lead was 44-11. The Westerners had complete dominance, however in the second half A-W only scored 17 points. A-W still had control of the game but weren’t as effective as they were. A-W used a number of reserves and again the kids got a lot of playing time. Shelby Johnson led A-W with 15 and Karly Groon had 14. Alexis Wiltgen led Gehlen Catholic with nine. A-W’s record now stands at 9-3.

The Akron-Westfield boys on the road to Gehlen Catholic on Friday, Jan. 11 did a job on the Jays. For the first time in 19 years A-W beat Gehlen on their home court 60-42. A-W used a smothering defense plus an aggressive floor game that completely stymied the Jays. A-W’s scoring had three players in double figures. Derek Appley led the way with 19 as he cashed in on five, three pointers. Justin Koch added 11 and Chris Carlson 10. Carlson had the task of covering Eric Rohe, Gehlen’s fine player. Carlson held Rohe scoreless until he fouled out with six minutes to play. Carlson’s effort was a tremendous feat of defensive basketball. A-W ran out to a 17-6 first quarter lead and stretched it to 20 at halftime, 36-16. I thought the first half was the best half of basketball that A-W has played in years. A-W, not only playing aggressive, shot well but limited the Jays to only one shot. A-W blocked out and rebounded very well. Gehlen put on a little run in the third quarter as they cut the lead to 12. Justin Koch hit two free throws plus a short jumper and another free throw to build the lead back to 17. In the fourth Gehlen again closed but Appley drained a three from the side plus added two free throws. Down the stretch A-W canned 8 of 12 free throws to ice the win. A great win to make A-W’s record 10-2.

Chad Morehead got win No.100 against Sgt. Bluff-Luton’s Chris Robinson. Morehead polished off Robinson in 37 seconds as Akron-Westfield handled SBL 43-33 in a dual win on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at home. The ninth ranked A-W wrestlers, who had lost to SBL earlier in the year, wrestled very well to dominate. Brody Verschoor won by a fall at 145. Braxton Bursell decisioned his opponent at 152. Joe Sievert, the third ranked wrestler, won a 12-4 decision at 160. Morehead then grabbed win 100. Morehead accomplished that feat in only 2 1/2 years. Second ranked John Sievert pinned in 22 seconds while David Hecht pinned his opponent in 46 seconds. Zach Langley gave up 80 pounds at heavyweight and pinned his opponent. Nick Hoffman sealed the win at 140 by pinning his foe. Elk Point-Jefferson was the opposition in the other dual. Joe Sievert opened by pinning Jerry Renken. Chad Morehead won a 28-13 tech fall over Jacob Renken at 171. This was a really rough, tough match. John Sievert and David Hecht both won by falls. Zach Langley, in an exciting match, to get out of trouble to win by a pin. A-W had a commanding lead but EPJ went on to win the next eight matches to defeat A-W 48-32. The house was full as the people got their money’s worth. When you have two ranked teams as A-W and EPJ are, there is bound to be some fireworks. There weren’t any sparklers but there were some real charges being set off as the two teams really got after things.

The Akron-Westfield wrestlers traveled to Cleghorn to grapple with Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn and Cherokee on Thursday, Jan. 10. A-W beat up on MMC 52-14. MMC had a number of open slots but A-W also collected four pins in the match. Joe Sievert, John Sievert, David Hecht and Zach Langley all won by falls. Brody Verschoor, Josh Taylor, and Nick Hoffman also picked up decisions for the night. Hoffman beat a senior with a 20-2 record in overtime. A-W then wrestled Cherokee and completely dominated the Braves 65-10. A-W had 30 points on forfeits. Fall winners were Verschoor, Joe Sievert, Chad Morehead, John Sievert and Josh Taylor. A-W is really wrestling well at this time as sectionals are getting closer.

The Akron-Westfield wrestlers traveled to Rock Valley on Saturday, Jan. 12 to tangle with eight other teams in the Nighthawk Tourney. A-W came out the winner as A-W won the RVBH meet after RVBH won the A-W Invitational. The highlight, besides winning the meet, was that Joe Sievert at 160 won his 100th match in the finals. Braxton Bursell at 152 pinned Letsche of MMC who had defeated Bursell two days earlier. A-W’s third champion was Brody Verschoor at 145. Other place winners were Josh Taylor, 119; Chad Morehead, 171; John Sievert, 189; and David Hecht at 215. These four wrestlers were all runners-up. Alex Waterbury placed third at 112, Cody Reed at 135 placed fifth and Nick Hoffman at 140 placed fourth. A-W finished first, RVBH second, and Sheldon-South O’Brien third. Six other teams followed in order. This was a great warm-up, for this week A-W travels to Ida Grove to grapple in the Battle Creek-Ida Grove meet. The BCIG is a huge meet as it has 21 teams participating. A-W is the defending champion. Tuesday, Jan. 22 is parents night at home as A-W hosts Hinton and Lawton-Bronson in a double dual.