January 2011

Dan Scott libel case ‘Dismissed’ becuz it was ‘Settled’

l3wis January 24, 2011 7Comments

Of course the Argus Endorser’s headline is backwards;

Scott suit against Argus settled, dismissed

Good stuff, and it gets better;

Dan Scott, the former director of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, had claimed that a satirical column in 2007 by then-Executive Editor Randell Beck had damaged his reputation.

Last week, Circuit Judge Bradley Zell signed an order dismissing the case. Lawyers for both sides signed a stipulation stating that the case had been settled â€œwithout costs to any party.â€

Yeah, sure, you betcha! As I understand it, there can be all kinds of settlements outside the courtroom. My guess is that Gannett wrote Mr. Scott a big fat check and said, STFU. And that was passed to the judge who said, “They kissed and made up.”

Sources tell me that Scott got more then a parting gift. But, like licking to the center of a Tootsie-Pop “The World may never know.”

Jeff Barth Minnehaha County

Increasing taxes on liquor doesn’t harm the liquor producers

l3wis January 24, 2011 17Comments

Barth: There wasn’t a sin tax I didn’t love

It is just another SIN tax that affects the poor, working poor and lower middle class. Say what you will about taxing alcohol, which is not a bad thing, I just find the argument that we are somehow punishing the liquor companies by increasing this tax to be silly:

Every day, more booze-related (or booze-caused) costs pile up. Who pays for the ambulance, the helicopter, the squad car, the medical care, the funerals? Certainly not the alcohol industry.

So what is Minnehaha county commissioner Barth’s solution? Tax us more to buy it;

An additional 10 percent sales tax on alcohol is not too heavy a burden. An $8 six-pack of beer would be $8.80. I’d still buy it.

I have a better solution. Stiffer penalties to people who sell underage, stiffer penalties to DUI offenders, and actually force people to pay restitution, or work off that restitution in a work release program while living in jail. Taxing RESPONSIBLE drinkers to pay for the crimes of IRRESPONSIBLE drinkers is idiotic. If someone commits a crime while intoxicated, they should pay for the consequences. Not the average Joe who drinks a tomato beer every once in a while.

Uptown at the Falls

Uptown at the Falls went from ‘The Jeffersons’ to ‘All in the Family’

l3wis January 24, 2011 9Comments

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjhzhK2zryg&p=F3381975241426E8[/youtube]

What happened to Uptown at the Falls?

The Uptown at Falls Park project is a massive redevelopment of several blocks between Main and Phillips avenues and Second and Fifth streets announced in 2006 and touted as a vital step in reinvigorating the downtown area into a residential, shopping and entertainment district. Included in the development at the time as possible tenants were a 12-story hotel and a series of buildings that would include residential units, office and retail space, and entertainment venues such as restaurants and a small movie theater.

Oh, but that’s not what it will be;

An affordable senior housing complex could be the next project in the Uptown at Falls Park development and a step toward Mayor Mike Huether’s priority for further redevelopment in the downtown area and around Falls Park.

Funny how plans change when the movers and shakers in SF realize there are not movers or shakers in SF.

Rant-a-Bit