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It’s the little things

l3wis August 26, 2024 1Comments

I thought this was a clever way to manage E-Bikers;

“We needed to do something about it immediately,” said South Lake Police Chief Brian Tholen.

With very few statewide regulations on e-bikes, Tholen teamed up with city leaders to address concerns and draft a new ordinance that requires e-bike users to wear helmets. By requiring helmets, he said his officers have more authority to stop riders and address various safety concerns.

I always wear a helmet and recommend others do the same. This is similar to the seat belt law. In Washington state when they implemented the law, they made it so officers could pull you over for a seat belt violation.

While I am a big advocate for helmet use, it should only apply to the street riding.

Had a brief convo with a local journalist about this, and he thinks that the city and mostly state need more guidance on where to ride these things. While I agree it would be helpful to have actual e-bike rules and regs when it comes to road riding, I also don’t think we need to make laws that are trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. I also fear if licensing and registration is required it could be a detriment to low income peeps who use these bikes for work commuting. It’s bad enough we have a transit system with many options except any that actually make the riders lives better.

It was only a matter of time

l3wis August 22, 2024 13Comments

While the city council and the mayor’s office has been ignoring this issue for several years, it came to a head today;

According to court documents, the victim was shot in the right eye and died from a gunshot wound to his head. Early indications show the gunshot happened from the range of 3 feet, court documents say.

The 9MM handgun was a stolen gun from an unlocked car in Sioux Falls, according to court documents.

The council has said that since there is an open carry law in South Dakota and of course 2nd Amendment rights they can’t write an ordinance that will punish negligible gun owners.

I suggested to Starr there is a reach around. This of course hasn’t been thru lawyering but this was my suggestion for an ordinance;

ANY DEADLY WEAPON* STOLEN FROM AN INDIVIDUAL’S HOME OR VEHICLE AND IS USED IN A CRIME WILL BE SUBJECT TO A FINE FOR NOT SECURING THAT WEAPON.

*A ‘DEADLY weapon’ is described as anything that can be used to cause bodily harm, injury or death when used by an individual.

I would also suggest another similar ordinance that just addresses your weapon being stolen then recovered before it is used in a crime.

In other words you avoid the ‘gun talk’. It could be anything, a hammer, a bat, a knife, a taser, etc. If we focus on WEAPONS being stolen from cars instead of just guns, I don’t think the 2nd Amendment applies. Just because you have the constitutional right to own a gun, you don’t have a right to abuse those privileges. Lock your crap up already before some other teenager is found dead.

I would also suggest the fine be $1,000 and if someone dies from your stolen gun it should be $10,000 and 3 months in jail. It’s time to send a message to these idiots who don’t know how to lock a door.

Every Single South Dakota Democrat shows up to the convention

l3wis August 22, 2024 2Comments

Here is the picture. They all fit in the frame.

Talk about padding your resume

l3wis August 21, 2024 1Comments

As I have said here before, there is a rumor floating around that the mayor’s COS is running for mayor. Well she has been busy padding her resume;

I have the honor of serving the City of Sioux Falls and Mayor Paul TenHaken as Chief of Staff. I partner with Mayor TenHaken on developing strategic initiatives, enhancing community relations, and driving the execution of key organizational operations. Drawing from two decades of professional experience, I specialize in vision casting*, conflict resolution, and solving complex problems, all in the service of the organization, the community, and the state I love.

The irony is that the council in conjunction with the mayor’s office creates policy, well at least that is how it is supposed to work. Erica’s form of ‘leadership’ kinda sounds like a ‘dictatorship’. She IS running our city as an UNELECTED government official and it’s wrong.

* “Vision casting” is the act of communicating a clear and compelling vision of the future to a group of people, to inspire and motivate them to work toward a shared goal.

How’s that working out for yah?

Are the Sioux Falls Parking Department finances in turmoil?

l3wis August 20, 2024 1Comments

The short answer is YES. And why? Well because we built the bunker ramp even though every single person in this town told Poops to back out on the deal. So now we will be paying MORE for parking DTSF because of the horrible decisions of the city council and TWO MAYORS! Maybe we need to put in a sex meter at the bunker ramp, that would generate a lot of funny money.