June 2018

Big Yellow House Goes Down, June 7, 2018 (full video)

No one was claiming victory without a tear on June 7, 2018 in the Sioux Falls McKennan Park Big Yellow House dispute as it was helped into the basement by the mighty crawlers.

It’s a good thing we come prepared for the unexpected, Cameraman Bruce live-streamed and added 4 other camera views, 3 of which worked well. watch the house come down to rubble from the front and back corners in real time.

The tear down was expected to take 3 1/2 hours and for the most part it did. What a shame but also what a show of skill displayed by the professionals who run the equipment.

This should never have happened and the city of Sioux Falls is once again weaseling it way out of its liability. We’ll see how it works out.

Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, June 12, 2018

City Council informational meeting – 4 PM

The city council will get presentations from the County about justice and civil rights, an update about the Emerald Ash Borer, a presentation from Zach DeBoer about the proposed city flag and an update on the state law change about public input.

City Council Regular Meeting – 7 PM

Item #1, Approval of Contracts. Looks like they are moving forward with fixing up Canaries Stadium.

Item #2, Change Orders. Looks like they need another $56K for the Denty’s beer coolers. Good thing we got that $1 Million dollar siding settlement . . . wait.

Item #3, Surplus Property. The Pavilion is throwing away thousands of dollars worth of exhibits in the garbage. Good thing Sanford is bailing them out.

Item #9, First Reading. Moving public input to the end of the meeting. This one is still up in the air. I guess Erickson will be absent from the meeting, so the Mayor will not have to break a tie. It will probably come down to a 4-3 vote either way. I encourage people to come and speak at regular Public Input about this item since at a 1st reading we CANNOT address the council. We need to kill this on 1st reading and move on.

Item #10, Resolution. The council will be approving $1.5 million in road funding for the USD Discovery Center. While I support this, and I think it will pass the council, some people are questioning why the bank required this money from the city before approving further loans for the facility. I reminds me of when Lloyd Companies told the city they needed a TIF for the Phillips to the Falls projects or the bank wouldn’t secure a loan. I think it was a bluff. With Lloyd Companies Property having $186 million in valuation, I don’t think a couple million in TIF funding would make a difference to a loan officer. Just Saying.

Item #11, Appointment of Board Members. Councilor Stehly will get appointed to the Multi-Cultural Center Intergovernmental Board, Councilor Brekke and Steve Westra are getting appointed to the CVB BID Tax Board. Westra was a pretty big dissenter of Huether. I expect more changes like this by Mayor TenHaken.

Train Tankers Continue to be stored in DTSF

I counted 14 tankers today labeled as ‘Bio Engery’ (probably ethanol) parked only 100 feet from a kid’s skateboard park and a couple hundred feet from the river and a busy street. I did tap on one and it seemed empty.

The label ‘1987 – 3’ means flammable alcohol.

This label by Chemtrec appeared on several of the tankers, according to their website;

Established in 1971 as a public service of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), CHEMTREC is an around-the-clock service available to fire fighters, law enforcement officials and other emergency responders who need immediate critical response information for emergency incidents involving chemicals, hazardous materials and dangerous goods. CHEMTREC’s highly trained personnel receive hundreds of calls every day and provide assistance during incidents that range from minor to critical.

I’ll end with some graffiti I found on one of the tankers. I think it says it all.

Tim Bjorkman ready to challenge Dusty Johnson

Change was in the air Tuesday night as a large, enthusiastic crowd packed Tim Bjorkman for Congress headquarters in Sioux Falls.

Tim hosted a primary watch party and invited supporters to attend. Over 150 people came to follow the returns and discuss the 2018 election! A strong speech from Tim was met with loud applause! Tim is running to restore America to the promise it has represented for decades.

At the end of the night, Dusty Johnson emerged from a three-way race to become the Republican nominee. In a speech before a small crowd at a Sioux Falls hotel, Johnson credited consultants for helping to create his image and promised a dull campaign for South Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House.