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Jaymie Jo Phillips, 50, of Rapid City died Sunday, January 18, 2026 at Monument Health in Rapid City. Funeral services were Saturday, January 24 at the American Legion Hall in Wagner. Burial was in the Greenwood Presbyterian Cemetery. Peters Funeral Home in Wagner was in charge of arrangements.
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Funeral Services for Julia 'Judy' Picotte, 95, of Wagner were Monday, January 26 at the YST South Gym in Wagner. Burial was in the Greenwood Presbyterian Cemetery. Peters Funeral Home in Wagner was in charge of arrangements.
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Wayne Adolph Cihak, age 85, passed away on December 23, 2025, after courageously fighting a prolonged illness. He was surrounded by the love and presence of his family in his final days.
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South Dakota’s One Hundred and First Legislative Session began Tuesday, Jan. 13. It is an honor to return to Pierre as your District 19 Senator. I look forwardtoworking with my District mates Jessica Bahmuller and Drew Peterson to represent District 19. My committee assignments remainthesameaslastsession which include the Senate Transportation and Senate Local Government Committees and will againserveasChairman of the Senate Education Committee. Property taxes have been an ongoing topic and were discussed in Governor Rhoden’s StateoftheStatespeech. There will likely be a number of bills on property taxes, which could impact all levels of local government. A strong and growing economy is what is needed to provide tax relief and keep taxes low.
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Week 1 of the 101st Legislative Session is already in the books. The drive to Pierre was tough, not because of the roads, but because it meant leaving my family behind. The drive home was tough for the opposite reason: I couldn’t wait to get back, but Mother Nature had other plans, with blistering winds and whiteout conditions.
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We have completed our 1st week of the 101st legislative session. There are almost200billsintroduced already.Iserve ontheCommerceand Energy committee and the State Affairs committeeagainthis year. State Affairs typically covers the hot topic state issues and Commerce and Energy covers a wide variety of issues related to all business happenings, licensing, insurance, utilities, alcohol, tobacco, gaming and much more. I believe the bigger issues we will befacingthissession will be tax incentives fordatacenters, property tax relief and navigating the Rural Health Transformation program. The session kicked off with Governor Rhoden addressing the legislature with his State of the State. Governor Rhoden and his staff secured 189 million in federal funding for Rural Health care. I am excited to see the impact this will have on healthcare in District 19 and other rural districts acrossSouthDakota.Thispast weekend my father, Senator BealwhoservesDistrict12suffered a stroke while at our family ranch in central SD. While I am grateful for the quick responseandcarereceived,we allknowtheimportanceoftime andaccessduringthesecritical moments. Surgery went well; heunderstandsthejobwehave to do and asked I go to Pierre. It was not an easy week considering the family issues going on back home but having our son, Brayden serving as a page helped ease some of the load. This is a wonderful opportunity for youth to be a part of the legislativeprocessanddevelop a better understanding of government. He is one of 7 pages I sponsored this session. The 1st week of session is starting the legislative process, introducing bills, assigning them tocommitteesandeducational briefings. Next week we will get into committee hearings and debating bills. I’d like to thank the many constituents who traveled to Pierre this week with your organizations including : SD Rural Water, SD Veterans Council, FairSD, Dakota Resources, SDREA, and A.B.A.T.E. Like always visiting with you and hearing your concerns is the best part of my week. When reaching out please include our District or your hometown because we receive many emails and I am working for you. It is an absolute honor to serve you. God Bless, Jessica Bahmuller (605)359-9459 Jessica.Bahmuller@sdlegislature. gov
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