KOTA Territory NewsStretch of route to be named for slain deputy

Stretch of route to be named for slain deputy

Posted:

    SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) _ The state Transportation Commission has voted to rename part of state Highway 44 in Turner County in honor of a deputy sheriff who was killed in the line of duty.
    Deputy DOT secretary Kevin Tveidt says the request was from the sheriff's office and the family and friends of 32-year-old Chad Mechels, who was shot and killed in March when he
responded to a call involving a man who reportedly had threatened to commit suicide.
    Tveidt says the DOT staff had recommended the request not proceed because of uncertainties whether it completely met state standards but that the staff would do what the commission decided.  The designated portion is from Chancellor to the Marion area.
    Tveidt says a request that the designation signs be larger than standard size was not approved.
    The signs' design is to be on the commission's September agenda.
   
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