South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

January 2018

Elections SF City Council Sioux Falls

Still waiting for City of Sioux Falls year end financial report

l3wis 3Comments

City officials are saying the report won’t be ready for another month or longer. It will be interesting to see how and when the report is released, especially with an upcoming city election. Those numbers will be very important to the council and mayoral candidates campaign platforms.

I do know that the administration is planning to do some bond re-financing next month. I think they are planning to tell the public about how much debt has been paid off over the past 8 years and tax collection being down doesn’t matter.

One of the main reasons why so much debt has been paid off is because the water/sewer enterprise funds have been swimming in money because of the multiple rate increases.

We will see how Huether and Turbak spin this.

State Funding State Legislature

Legislators are elected to represent us, not their own self interests

l3wis 6Comments

Commenter Pete Weisel says it best;

So the Argus should apologize for pointing out that elected representatives are NOT voting based on the electorates needs but their own?

In South Dakota, we have always let legislators who are attorneys vote on legislation to make changes in criminal and civil law. We let farmers vote on agricultural issues. We let teachers vote on issues of education and teacher salaries.

So why has the Argus Leader’s Editorial Board chosen to attack the credibility of Rep. Arch Beal, R-Dist. 12, and Sen. Jack Kolbeck, R-Dist. 13, just because they work for a beer distributor? They have the right and responsibility to consider all proposed legislation, including bills that would impact the beer industry.

People who are elected to serve in Pierre do so at the pleasure of their constituents, not at the whim of the Argus Leader Editorial Board.

The editorial board owes these gentlemen an apology for an unwarranted attack.

Dean has a special interest in this topic as he is the Chamber of Commerce which receives funds from the distributors.
You Dean, are the problem with this country sir.

Sioux Falls ZEAL

Zeal announces board of directors, officers

l3wis 0Comments

SIOUX FALLS, SD – The Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship has added Kurt Loudenback, Matthew Paulson and Karla Santi to its 11-member board of directors.

Loudenback is the owner and CEO of Grand Prairie Foods Inc., a Sioux Falls-based provider of cuisine to national hospitality businesses and private-label clients and the maker of its own branded products. Loudenback and his wife, Valerie, bought the company in 2003 and have grown it from 15 to 150 employees. He previously spent almost 20 years with Purina Mills Inc., including time as business group director, before becoming president of Pipestone Family Farms.

Paulson is an entrepreneur, author and angel investor. He is the founder of MarketBeat, which empowers retail investors to make better trading decisions by providing real-time financial information and objective market research. Paulson has authored eight books on personal finance and has invested in more than 40 early-stage, high-growth companies as an angel investor. He chairs Falls Angel Fund, a regional angel fund that invests in businesses based in South Dakota and surrounding states.

Santi is CEO and founding partner at Blend Interactive, a firm that helps institutions and agencies tackle complicated web and content problems. She serves on the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is the chair of the chamber’s Business Leadership Council. She is an active mentor through EmBe’s Women’s Leadership Program and strives to encourage young women to explore STEM programs and pursue careers in technology.

“Our new board members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Zeal,” said Rich Naser, Zeal’s president. “We are fortunate to be able to draw on their expertise as we continue to enhance the resources we can provide to the Sioux Falls entrepreneurial community.”

In addition, the following board members have been elected to serve as officers: Paul Ten Haken, chair; Mike Vetter, vice chair; and Chad Hatch, secretary-treasurer. 

The other members of the Zeal board are Jason Ball, Will Bushee, Laurie Knutson and Steve Statz. The future Sioux Falls Development Foundation leader also will become a member of the board.

Zeal at 2329 N. Career Ave. offers services for entrepreneurs at every stage of business ownership, including co-working space, incubator and accelerator programs, and affiliate memberships. Zeal companies collectively have secured more than $172 million in equity financing and hold 65 patents.

Sioux Falls Washington Pavilion

Art is Art

l3wis 2Comments

Here we go again, the Pavilion seems to think fine art should be split into age appropriate categories;

“We want to implement a concept where we get more kids and families into the Visual Arts Center,” said Smith, who hopes to boost attendance numbers by 25 percent in 2018.

“I think historically it’s been more of an adult-oriented area,” continued Smith. “Certainly much of it will continue to be focused on high quality art that adults are interested in, but we really need to get more young people interested in visual art and coming so they become lifelong patrons.”

Unless it is highly political in nature or pornographic (I’ve seen neither at the Pavilion) fine art is age appropriate for EVERYONE. If people think art is ‘more adult like’ or challenging, it is a perfect opportunity to have a conversation with your children about that art. Art can inspire but it should also be thought provoking.

It is troubling to me that one of our publicly funded art museums has management and directors that think visual art needs to be split up into age categories. I’m all for kid’s art classes and play areas at the Pavilion, but I don’t believe we need to turn the VAC into a childrens or family art museum. Art is subjective, it has always been. When it comes to taste or what you personally like in art, it has nothing to do with your age, it has to do with your preference. If your children don’t like an 18th century landscape, maybe it is because it bores them, not because they are too young to understand.

This is what happens when you remove art professionals from an art center. Chaos.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

Cartoon Cartoonists Political Satire Satire Trump

Lies, Lies, Lies, and the Liars that tell them

Developers Development Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls Ding Dong Foundation

Elections Mayor TenHaken Paul Ten Haken

Mayor MisTaken monitors your FB comments

Israel Palestine

It’s time to end the miserable war in Gaza