South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

July 2012

Uncategorized

Ag United Food Professionals Day

l3wis 2Comments

Picture from 2011

“Food Professionals Day Out on the Farm” tour is open to anyone in the food industry: chefs, nutritionists, restaurant owners and managers, food service professionals as well as those who enjoy cooking in their own home and dining out. At each stop, the farmer will talk about the steps they take on the farm to ensure a quality product is delivered to you … and ultimately the consumer.

Participants will tour area beef, dairy, hog and egg farms. This event is free and lunch is included.

Each participant will receive a gift bag with several items in it including $50 in beef and pork certificates. In addition, four lucky participants will be awarded a $125 gift card good for purchasing supplies at a local kitchen supply store.

This year “Food Professionals Day Out on the Farm” is July 30, 2012. To register click here.

 

SF School District

Dr. Homan being extremely misleading about sub-teacher pay increases

l3wis 31Comments

Worst of all is the media lets her get by with saying this;

“I will tell you proudly, just a few years ago, when every teacher took a significant pay-cut, the subs did not. Their salary was protected,” Homan said.

While her statement is true, ABOUT LAST YEAR what Pam doesn’t tell you is this;

SD Teacher average Salary Raise Last 10 Years: 31.7%

And according to the SF School District, these were the pay increases/decreases since 2006;

2006-7 +3.64%

2007-8 +5%

2008-9 +6.4%

2009-10 +4.6%

2010-11 +1.25%

2011-12 -2.05%

2012-13 +2.3%

Yes, while teachers in SD enjoyed a 31.7% pay increase over the past 10 years, subs have gotten NOTHING for the past 6 years. And the only decrease in pay was last year. Remember also that subs receive NO benefits from the school district, only pay. Looks like Homan’s only defense is to tell the media 1/6th the truth about pay increases, and the media does ZERO research on her statement. My research took about 10 minutes.

Jim Entenman SF City Council Sioux Falls

UPDATED: Why does Entenman continue to advertise his personal business in his capacity as city councilor?

l3wis 22Comments


Nice Harley shirt.

UPDATED: Entenman must have gotten the message, at today’s informational he thanked the air show and the air national guard for bringing in the event. But, he couldn’t resist to wear a Harley shirt. Snark on me Diamond Jim.

As I have mentioned before, councilor Entenman usually wears Harley gear to the council meetings (in essence advertising his business on publicly funded televised meetings).

He may have gone over the top at the air show yesterday when asked to comment on behalf of the city, the mayor and city council, in which he did a presentation comparing Harley-Davidson motorcycles to the evolution of modern aeronautics. His business sponsorship aside (J & L helped sponsor the event) he was speaking on behalf of the city, not his business.

Jim also sits on Sanford’s board of directors (this is why he frequently steps out on votes – usually due to Sanford involvement).

This man has way too many conflicts of interest and must resign. I warned people about this when he was running for office. Jim does things to benefit Jim, and him serving as a city councilor has proven this.

So if the the events center gets named the ‘S’ word at the ground breaking, do you think Jim will be giving a speech? Probably, while sitting on a Harley-Davidson no doubt.

Art

In memory

l3wis 1Comments

A South DaCola foot soldier’s father passed last night. Oh the stories I could tell about a man I never met . . .

But for now, I will play my favorite song about ghosts, spirits and the afterlife;

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aspA8WRRTz8[/youtube]

 

Event Center Sioux Falls

UPDATED: Looks like Superlative is SOL

l3wis 27Comments

As you know, I have been trying to find out why Superlative’s contract with the city was terminated early (They did the market analysis for naming rights on the new EC).

I finally was able to attain the original contract with the city, and from all accounts, while I disagree with the city for terminating their contract early, I don’t see that the city did anything wrong by this early termination.

SECTION TEN of the contract is pretty clear;

While Superlative has a right to be upset about the early termination, after all the work they performed for the city, they also got paid very well to perform this work. And hey, at the end of the day, who cares if Legends or Superlative announce the ‘S’ word Events Center?

UPDATE: I received this email today from SF Finance Director, Tracy Turbak about the bond sale;

Scott –

The City raised $102 million of the $115 million needed for the Events Center Project through a tax-exempt bond sale on March 13th.  The bonds were sold by the City through a competitive bid process.  There were eight bidders and the bid that resulted in the lowest overall cost to the City was submitted by a syndicate of 22 investment firms led by Robert W. Baird & Co.  This syndicate, or group of investment firms, purchased the entire bond issue at an overall interest rate of 3.21%.  These investment firms, called underwriters, then re-sell the bonds to either institutional or retail investors.  The bond holders are free to trade the bonds on the open market, but that secondary market trading does not involve or impact the City in any way.

The balance of funds needed for the Events Center Project will be raised by a taxable bond sale later this year – the exact sale date has not yet been established.  This second and final bond sale will raise $12.5 million for the project ($.5 million is being funded with City cash on hand) through the same competitive sale process.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,
Tracy

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