The Undaunted Podcast
l3wis 1st Episode was Chris Larson. You can get info of upcoming shows HERE. I will be the next guest. I record tomorrow.
January 2026
Better put some ICE on that
As I have been watching ICE agents falling on the ice in Minneapolis and I had a thought. Maybe the Dems in Congress should subpoena the work related injuries of ICE agents working in Minneapolis. I can guarantee they have had many injuries from falling on the ice, which would help prove they are NOT properly trained to manage this situation. That is why they had to send so many agents, because none of them know what they are doing so they flood the space. I would think that someone from DHS would have called the Postal Union and asked them what kind of footwear is needed in Minneapolis. Would love to see the Dumbest Person on Earth walk down 1st Avenue in her boots.
1st Amendment
Elections
Mayor Almost Done
Mayor Grump Toad
Mayor High Crimes
Mayor Hubris
Mayor Pants on Fire
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls Mayor Race
Sioux Falls has a PURPLE problem(?)
Remember when Rec MJ passed and the idiot governor at the time convinced some hillbilly deputies to challenge the law. Probably one of the biggest C— moves of her entire political career, though what she is doing in Minneapolis right now isn’t exactly resume building work. (unless you are trying to get a permanent residence at a Federal Prison).
Either way, all the rural counties were crying because Rapid and Sux floated the victory on that.
Which brings us to city elections, which on paper are non-partisan, but they really are NOT.
Since Munson the run-off election for mayor has always had a blue candidate and and a red candidate with the RED candidate candidate winning ALMOST every time
WINNER – LOSER
Munson vs. Brown
Munson vs. Halverson
Huether vs. Staggers
Huether vs. Jamison
TenHaken vs. Loetscher
TenHaken vs. Islam
Huether was the only candidate to flip the scales, but as you can see the Red Candidate has a better record of winning by 100%.
So it is obvious to me, there are only 4 scenarios in the runoff;
Jamison vs. Smith
Jamison vs. Batcheller
Erickson vs. Smith
Erickson vs. Batcheller
I don’t see a matchup between Jamison and Erickson.
The political landscape these days is in total chaos right now so I could be wrong, but in the past 6 mayoral elections there has always been a left and right candidate because Sux is purple. Honestly, I would rather see a matchup between Erickson and Jamison, but I don’t see that happening. Jamison is pretty moderate and actually gets razzed by his caucus for being purple, Erickson is a moderate, but she tries to wear the MAGA hat sometimes, which is annoying. I just don’t see two moderate Republicans battling it out in the runoff.
And if I was Jamie and Joe, I would be trying to knock the other one out, Jamison and Erickson aren’t your biggest competitors. I think Jamison understands he needs to knock Erickson out in the first round or it is lights out for him.
Like I said, norms could be broken this time around, which I welcome, but I’m pretty sure our next mayor will be Republican, I HOPE Sioux Falls proves me wrong and elects David Z. I think having a Zombie as a mayor would be an improvement, a hundred fold.
Libertyland TIF gets Slaughtered
It is no surprise to me this failed, I predicted a 70/30 split;
RAPID CITY, SD — Results have been finalized by Rapid City Officials, who have declared the citizens of Rapid City have voted against the establishment of the “Destination” TIF District, with a final tally of:
All 25 precincts in:
Yes 3,415 (30%)
No 7,965 (70%)
22.32% Turn Out (11,380 out of 50,995 Voters in Rapid City)
Absentee results
Yes 961
No 2,479
It surprised me there was so many absentee, seems a lot of snowbirds voted 🙂 which is ironic considering some of the people behind the petition drive are against mail in voting.
The success of this vote doesn’t surprise me, I think if citizens have an opportunity to vote on ‘economic development’ TIFs they will vote them down, they just don’t have any payback to the average Joe and actually cost us in higher property taxes and retail taxes. Notice our legislature keeps trying to shift tax burdens onto the consumer, it is regressive and idiotic and for every penny paid in retail taxes one penny gets taken out of the local economy. Horrible way to fund government.
So with the petition drive going on with the Data Center, it may be time to keep those clipboards warm for another one.
Yesterday at one of the City Council meetings there was a gentle mention that this development was coming back. If you read what I posted, you will notice that the TIF for this development was ONLY approved by the Planning Commission and that was in July of 2024. The project got stalled so the city council NEVER approved a TIF or final development plan, that means if they are resurrecting this project it will have to go thru the same process as it did 2 years ago. They will have to present a new development plan and TIF proposal. If the TIF proceeds are for any NON infrastructure upgrades we could challenge the TIF with another petition drive and I think we should. Citizens really should be deciding on their own property tax increases and not letting a vote by a meaningless board decide. So I hope the new development doesn’t include a TIF, but if it does, I smell a petition drive.
Oh, and the developer is from out-of-state, so we would essentially being subsidizing an out-of-state developer welfare queen. We can’t even launder money locally anymore 🙁
THE WAR ON E-BIKES HAS BEGUN
I knew when Sally rolled into office for a second term with his anti-electric agenda, the war on e-bikes would begin. The industry was already collapsing on itself since most of them came about during Covid and once fat lazy Americans could go back to driving cars to work, their bikes are collecting dust or are sitting at a pawn shop. In fact you can buy non-used older models for about 1/3 of what they cost new. There have been tons of regs passed across the country that have really killed sales. Many states either limit throttling to a certain speed OR it is NOT allowed. A lot of the newer bikes have PAS only, that means you only get assistance while pedaling and have no throttle only pedal activated motor. This means slower starts and since an e-bike is really a motorcycle when you are NOT pedaling and only throttling is probably the reason states have limited throttling. Which I totally understand. I hardly use my throttle except to push off, while riding I can maintain speeds depending on my pedaling cadence and PAS level. I can max out at about 14 MPH in PAS 1 and 33+ MPH in PAS 5, all controlled by my pedaling and no throttle. Believe it or not, I like the exercise. If you bought an e-bike to ride like a motorcycle, go buy a motorcycle and get off the trails.
New Jersey went a step farther and put age restrictions on the bikes. You will also have to have a valid driver’s license or equivalent for an e-bike (you will be able to get an e-bike license if you CAN’T get a car license) and you will have to carry insurance.
The reasoning is that a lot of teens are getting killed in NJ on E-Bikes. OK. So how do any of these laws fix that? The age restrictions, sure, I don’t take issue with that. But the other crap? Really? This just sounds like a scam by the insurance companies to expand into another market. They look at these as motorcycles, and they are, IF they have a throttle, but if they don’t they are simply a bike with a battery. Personally I think the industry should stop putting throttles on them.
It angers me, not only the license and registration part, but the insurance grab. The original reason I bought an e-bike was to lose weight, and it worked! But in that process I realized that an e-bike is so functional and multi-purpose that I use it for everything. I also like that I don’t have to put any gas in it. I do spend a lot on maintenance. In fact 3x more than on my car a year, but I love the freedom. Now days when I leave the house, the only decision I have to make is ‘which bike do I ride today?’ depending on the weather.
I think it would be a f’ing travesty if they started requiring e-bikes to be registered with the state, I will revolt like a MOFO! There has been talk of this over the past couple of years and I have convinced moderate Republicans to hold the line on it, and so far they have held back the goons both on the left and the right, but I think the MAGA steam is a building, so we need to watch this.
It is also a kick in the nuts to the guy who is just trying to get back on his feet out of prison, and was able to pick up a decent ride at a pawn shop, and the next thing he knows he needs a DL to ride this thing* and he can’t get one because he just spent 3 years in the penn for 6 DUI’s. When we talk about re-offenders in Sioux Falls, this kind of crap contributes to it.
*I also find it funny to think they can police this. They already make throttle e-bikes now with hidden batteries and even motors. Some even have cruise control (mine does) so the throttle can be hidden in the app.
If any of these hair brain ideas pass in SD, it certainly won’t make our lives better. I would agree that throttles are BAD if you don’t know how to use them and maybe there should be age restrictions, but all that other crap, no way. Maybe another idea would be requiring all e-bike shops to offer a FREE one-hour class once a month on e-bike safety. Oh, and it would be nice if I could buy full coverage insurance for my e-bike, but right now, I can’t find it. So there you have that.