My young son came crashing in through the front door. I ran to the living room to see why he was bawling, but he was laughing ... laughing through the four inches of packed snow caked in his hood, boots and gloves. "I biffed the hill!" was all he said, and he exclaimed that over and over again, as snow was being scooped off of and out of his clothing.

Yvonne Feeney, age 87, of Pierre, SD, died Tuesday, December 26, 2006, at Maryhouse Nursing Care Center in Pierre.

Mass of Christian burial was celebrated Saturday, December 30, at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Pierre with burial at Riverside Cemetery.

Yvonne Carlson was born on May 12, 1919 in Philip, SD, to Clarence "Print" and Blanche (Voshal) Carlson.

She graduated from Philip High School in 1937, and attended both South Dakota State University and the Minnesota School of Business.

Vetal Romero, age 91, of Wanblee, died Saturday, December 30, 2006, at the Kadoka Nursing Home.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, January 2, at the Presbyterian Church in Kadoka, with Pastor Gary McCubbin officiating.

Interment will be at the Romero Family Cemetery near Wanblee.

Vetal Romero was born March 28, 1915, in Wanblee, SD, the son of Manuel and Florence (Hawk) Romero. He grew up around Wanblee and received his education in Genoa, NE.

Norma LeCocq was born in Wall, SD, and was the 10th of 11 children in her family.

She married Robert Asheim on April 30, 1944. They resided in Rapid City, SD, and raised five children there.

Norma was very involved with her children's activities, church and community organizations, often serving in leadership roles.

After their retirement from Robert's career at Black Hills Power and Light, they lived in Saudi Arabia for two years where Robert worked as a consultant for electric power development.

A year-end meeting to wrap up 2006 paperwork was held by the Haakon County Board of Commissioners on December 27.

The minutes of the regular December commissioner's meeting were approved. Recently submitted claims were approved for payment.

Automatic supplements and contingency transfers were approved for departments which had gone over their budgets.

Tim Johnson, United States Democratic Senator from South Dakota, underwent surgery for an intracerebral bleed on December 13, 2006.

He still remains in the intensive care unit in critical but stable condition at George Washington University Hospital. Johnson was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AMV), a condition that causes arteries and veins to grow abnormally large, become tangled and sometimes burst.

The "Welcome to Philip, est. 1907" sign at the intersection of Highway 14 and Pine Street will eventually be highlighted with decorative landscaping and accent lighting.

The community assessment done in 2004 brought to light that such signage was a priority to the community. Actual planning was begun in 2005, and it was decided to focus on only one sign for now because of the availability of funds.

After the project was officially commissioned, the metal work began around the middle of September and was completed in early November.