2009

A Shocking 48% increase in Food Stamp usage in Minnehaha County in one year

Souf_R_C_-49027

For those who think Sioux Falls is sheltered from the recession, check out these numbers (Bread for the World)

• SD food stamp enrollment saw an incredible one-year increase from Sept.’08 to Sept.’09: 34% !!

Food stamps traditionally go up and down with the economy. But no one envisioned such a huge one-year increase.

(The Food Stamp program is now called SNAP.)
Find the data for your county here:

http://dss.sd.gov/foodstamps/data/foodstampdatapast/index.asp

Minnehaha County residents will be completely shocked by their 48% increase.

Let your local Social Services workers know you appreciate them. They are working hard.

One more note: Even if you include up to 4,000 households using commodities rather than food stamps (option available on reservations), there are still thousands of eligible low-income households NOT signed up for food stamps, easily 15,000 to 20,000 or more. The state should campaign for them to sign up. (It’s all federal funds.)


• Food tax refunds’ dismal reach:
less than 1% of SD’s low-income population.

Only 630 households in the whole state are receiving the quarterly food tax refunds. Make sure your local media report this.

Why is it important?

• People pay a lot of money for the tax. Every year the money families pay in food tax would cover meals for 3 weeks.

• There is a movement afoot to raise sales tax for new city projects, even tho’ cities have other ways to raise funds. In an attempt to make this palatable, the draft of the state legislation says cities may refund the new tax to their low-income residents. So far, there is no effective way to do refunds. Such refund programs are inherently ineffective. People need to know, so they don’t think this option would solve the problem of a higher sales tax, and the resulting higher the cost of living.

If you didn’t like what you were hearing, why didn’t you just leave?

Joan Rivers

Why is it when people subject themselves to something they don’t like, they complain about it later, instead of just leaving?

I attended the recent Joan Rivers performance, and the first word I heard from the stage caused me to wonder if I had gone to the wrong place. For two hours I and my fellow sufferers were subjected to what passes for humor on the Left Coast: a scathing commentary on the culture and the values that inform it that we “morons” in fly-over country have been reluctant to discard.

Yeah, it was so awful, I sat through the full TWO HOURS!

People my age sat in stony silence while the young, who have been conditioned by a culture on the skids to regard as funny any attack on the hypocrisies of their parents, responded with enthusiasm.

Because, IT IS FUNNY! It may not be what you like, but how in the Hell don’t you know what kind of humor Joan Rivers does ahead of time? I think you went on purpose so you could bitch about it later.

Listening to this crude, ignorant woman besmirch our magnificent Washington Pavilion caused me to contrast her performance with that of the Sioux Falls Symphony and being transported by the magic of Mozart or Mahler.

What’s next for the Pavilion? Mud wrestling or pole dancing? Would the place have to be fumigated after Rivers’ abuse of us innocents?

I’m disgusted, and so should you be.

I’m disgusted to, disgusted that you don’t know the purpose of a publicly funded entertainment facility – to entertain EVERYONE. I applaud the Pavilion for doing the show.

Becuz it is not appropriate for kids to learn about underwear

RHPS-SweetTransvestite

Oh settle down, it’s not like they are selling hot dogs and dildos under the same roof

God forbid someone sells underwear and ‘Over the Hill’ gag gifts next to a cookie shop!

The store’s opening has some tenants in the retail center worried.

Deb Emmert, who owns Cookies By Design, said she’s not excited about being next to the store.

She said she doesn’t think it’s a good fit for the location because it’s near a park and family-oriented businesses.

“I just don’t think that 41st Street is an appropriate place for it, especially in this location,” she said. “I think it will be detrimental to the businesses around here.”

Emmert said a lot of families come to her store to buy goodies, take classes and even for birthday parties. She’s talked to some customers about the new store and said people are concerned.

Who are these ‘people’? A bunch of cookie eating bible bumpers like yourself?