South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Sioux Falls

Crime Downtown Sioux Falls Homeless Mayor TenHaken SF City Council SFPD Sioux Falls

It was only a matter of time

l3wis 0Comments

I warned some city councilors several months ago that with the increase of transients in Sioux Falls, things like this would occur;

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A 32-year-old Sioux Falls man has now been indicted on murder charges after a man he allegedly assaulted passed away from his injuries.

Robin Swallow was indicted by the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney’s Office on Wednesday for murder in the first degree and one alternative count of murder in the second degree.

The incident occurred on September 22 near 12th Street and Cleveland Avenue in Sioux Falls.

A group of people were drinking in an area of trees when an altercation occurred.

A 64-year-old man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and Swallow was arrested for aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery and a parole violation.

The victim has been identified as Michael Raymond Colvin of Sioux Falls. Police said Colvin was hospitalized for several weeks and ultimately passed away. After an autopsy, Colvin’s death was ruled a homicide.

The troubling part is what if an innocent bystander happened upon this? Would they have been safe? The ‘transient’ problem we have in Sioux Falls isn’t just about addicts wandering our streets aimlessly it’s about a city government and police department that have stood their ground in NOT helping to MANAGE the issue, and also NOT filling us in. Why does the SFPD have a public information officer if that officer doesn’t tell us anything?!

It’s time the City Council had a serious working session to discuss a long term strategy on how to MANAGE the issue before more people end up dead.

Denny Sanford Premier Center Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

The SF Storm gets the boot, Stampede is likely next

l3wis 4Comments

I have been hearing about this for a few years, but since nothing was canceled until now, I really didn’t know how to blog about it, not to mention, I really don’t like sports, yawn, so I really don’t care. It takes a ton of needling from my friends to just watch a quarter of an NFL game.

Before we get to the Storm, let’s talk about the Stampede. I had not been to the Denty since the Foo Fighters played there until this past Sunday. I attended an afternoon Stampede game with some friends who had box seats. The one thing I noticed is that the Denty hasn’t aged well, and while it is only 10 years old, it looks extremely outdated and the random wall wrap ads on the walls look tacky, surprised there wasn’t Dale Earnhardt flags on the wall to. So we know not only the inside of the Denty needs a good remodel, the outside needs a ton of maintenance and the siding will have to be repaired. Normally those expenditures would come from the entertainment tax, but since the Pavilion eats it up like candy and Mayor Poops plans to use the tax to buy the Riverline District land, it seems the Denty will be hobbling along like it’s big sister, the Arena and middle sister the Convention Center. It almost seems intentional to drive interest away from that area to promote a shiny new Convention Center. RATS!!! Oh, the Stampede, I have heard rumors that they are facing the same result. I hand counted the crowd at Sunday’s game in 5 minutes. I have heard they are in negotiations with Augie’s ice slab, and that would be great, better setup. I’m guessing we will hear that announcement after a deal is possibly inked.

As for the Storm, they have always struggled with attendance, so this wasn’t surprising. The argument the Denty has had over the past year is that they wanted to free up those sporting event dates for concerts, which makes business sense. But this wasn’t the makings of the management of the Denty, several moles inside of city hall have told me the Mayor has had a personal pressure campaign on management for almost two years to eliminate the leases. While my moles have only gotten a few minor details switched around I find it believable since the mayor has monthly meetings with Denty management.

While I feel bad for Storm fans (I really don’t 🙁 don’t blame management for this one, the Jumping Jacks coach was likely behind this.

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

What the heck are they building next to the Steel District?

l3wis 5Comments

I took the above picture in the middle of September on a Saturday morning. I counted 15 construction hard hatted men inspecting what they have built so far.

According to this article;

It will take the next few weeks “to complete everything other than the low-head dam,” said Mike Patten, city parks planning and project manager. The plan is to work on that throughout the winter and into the spring as the city continues to work toward necessary approvals from BNSF Railway to fully complete the project.

This is an interesting ‘excuse’. The city received a $750K donation from Lloyd Companies to construct a picnic area but the city apparently is using some of the funds to create this diversion dam (they are calling it a low head dam, but it is NOT.) Last month the city brought in heavy equipment to build this dam that many local waterway advocates say is ‘troubling and suspicious’ because changing the natural flow of the river should never be an afterthought.

So after building 80% of the structure they suddenly stopped and then the above ‘inspection’ occurred. So why didn’t the city ask for permission from the Fed DOT to construct this before bringing in all the equipment? I don’t know. This is Federal easement land and those permissions also have to have the Federal Government involved, and we know the pace they move.

So the nagging question is, did the city get ANY permission from the Feds before starting this project? I don’t know. But it has all the signs of a ‘ask for forgiveness instead of permission’.

There are also some other interesting things going on, for instance there is a massive culvert that flows out into this area that comes from underneath the Sioux Steel district, and there has been a constant flow of water for over a month, and NO rain. Where is the water coming from? Is there that much seepage from the buildings and the quartzite underneath?

I believe the city had a convo in 2018(?) about this saying they wanted to raise the water levels next to the Steel District project 6 feet which would certainly flood the east bank everytime it rains. It’s fun to have dreams.

Some would say why don’t I just ask the city what is going on, oh I have made many attempts and the answer is always the same;

SF City Council Sioux Falls

More ‘Phantom’ City Council meetings appearing on city website

l3wis 3Comments

I noticed this week the city council was holding a city council meeting the 5th Tuesday of the month which is odd. By charter they are only required to have 3 meetings a month but usually have 4, they skipped last week. I asked a city councilor why this ‘Phantom’ meeting has appeared without an agenda and they told me ‘We don’t have a meeting next week.’ So Mr. City Clerk, how do these things just appear out of nowhere?

Screenshot
Employment Sioux Falls Unemployment

Major Company in Sioux Falls laying off over half of workforce

l3wis 9Comments

I was told that the ‘lay off’ process started over a month ago with soft, random firings and forced resignations and demotions and will continue until 60% of their workforce is eliminated by the end of the year.

I do NOT know who this employer is, but have my guesses. If my assumption is correct, this employer is in the top 30 employers in Sioux Falls and they run a multi-state multi-faceted business that also employs many private contractors (so employees of these companies will also be affected).

While I just received this information this morning, when you talk to people who may be affected by this, they confirmed that they have been suspect for months because the company hasn’t really started any NEW projects and the main reason for the layoffs is because projects they handle in Sioux Falls have dried up. There are also rumors of financial problems (which makes sense) and legal issues with several court cases moving thru the courts.

Eventually they will have to admit to the failure, but like most institutions like this in Sioux Falls you won’t hear a peep about it in the media until the ship sunk.

BTW, this business is NOT a food truck 🙁

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Crime Downtown Sioux Falls Homeless Mayor TenHaken SF City Council SFPD Sioux Falls

It was only a matter of time

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The SF Storm gets the boot, Stampede is likely next

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Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

What the heck are they building next to the Steel District?