2014

New Women’s Drinkery coming to Sioux Falls?

l3wis January 27, 2014 12Comments

Rumor has it, this small national franchise is looking to open up shop in DTSF. The concept is simple, The Chatterbox caters to women (I heard there is a sign on the door of the establishment that says, Men enter at your own risk). The interiors have a bistro/coffee house feel about them, but a lot of pastel motifs. And unlike a normal bar or coffee house, where you order from someone, The CB charges a cover at the door of $10 and $1 for each additional hour you are there (you pay as you leave). You help yourself toÂ complimentary Moscato white wineÂ or Mich Ultra that is on tap. There is no staff assistance at the CB, you simply pay with a credit card when you leave.

I guess the lady who started the place says this about her concept, “I just wanted a place where I could shoot the breeze with the ladies for hours on end, without the interruption of servers or men, while solving none of the world’s problems.”

SF City Council Sioux Falls

#1 Council Candidate issue?

l3wis January 27, 2014 18Comments

If I were running for council, make no mistake I would make our city’s exploding debt my number one issue in relationship with quality of life bonds. As Ellis points out on Sunday in his column, an indoor pool would be nice (and I agree) but how are we going to pay for it?

Did you know the city’s current or authorized debt of more than $400 million exceeds the state’s debt? I didn’t until recently. South Dakota’s debt obligations are a little north of $310 million. And the governor has proposed paying that down this year by 20 percent. Sioux Falls has more debt than the state.” 90 million more debt!

That is almost $2,500 of debt for every resident. It is an interesting thought for SF residents that they are on the hook for $710 million total debt between the state and the city! And the city wants it’s citizens to embrace more debt with an indoor pool. And that is the real issue here.

Am I opposed to the city bonding more debt? No, but those kind of loans should be reserved for NEEDED infrastructure projects and emergencies, not swimming pools. We can still maintain and have quality of life projects in Sioux Falls (snowgates for example) but we must budget for them while trying to pay down our current debt.

Rick Weiland for Senate

The Rick Weiland Campaign

l3wis January 25, 2014 20Comments

Believe it or not, I got asked to attend a coffee this morning hosted by Weiland at the SF Downtown Library by a Republican who hasn’t been pleased with Mr. Rounds.

She was impressed, as was I.

Trust me, I am always skeptical of ANY politician, don’t care what party they are from, but I do like a couple of messages Rick has put out there;

1) Medicare Choice for all (Single-Payer option through our payroll taxes)

2) Increasing the FICA on the wealthy

3) Getting ‘Big Money’ out of politics

I learned a lot today from Rick’s visit, including his sense of ‘civility’. When asked about EB-5, he said he would prefer to let it play out before he comments on the situation (the Federal investigation is still impending).

Art Chuck Luden Poetry