South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Sioux Falls

My faves of Sioux Falls!

l3wis 9Comments

I don’t really get into New Years Sh!t, but each year I like to look back on my best experiences in Sioux Falls;

• Favorite place to be; Sioux Falls Bike Trail. I rode over 2,000 miles last year on the bike trail and surrounding streets. It is my special place, exploring nature, cranking music and deep in thought. Sunsets and Sunrises, turtles, turkeys, geese, ducks and snakes and of course Ralphie the Rhino that always makes me smile when I pass him or her.

• Best meal; this one is so easy; Shrimp Tacos at Jacky’s Burrito Express, with a side of refried beans. The slaw and corn tortilla’s are heaven.

• Best Beer; Look’s Meat Market. This personal title has been officially stolen from Woodgrain, which are still fantastic! But head brewer Chad’s beers at Look’s are full flavored, complex, unique, and of quality. This guy is the Renaissance (beer) Man of Sioux Falls beer. HE MADE A MALT LIQUOR THAT IS DRINKABLE!

• Best place to hear FREE outdoor music; Levitt. While I bitch about finances and beer sales, we have an incredible musical gift with this place and I hope a treasure for years to come.

• Best place to get your 2-wheeled ride worked on; Sioux Falls Bicycle Company. Fast turnaround, great location, incredible customer service!

• Best place to see live music; Icon Lounge/Dada Gastropub. I just struggle to find a better place to see incredible underground music. The atmosphere, sound and staff make this really Sioux Falls best place to see a club show!

• Favorite dive bar; of course the Top Hat, but new entries this year for me is the Log Cabin and Ken’s Korner.

• Best place to service and buy a car; Vern Eide. I am on my 3rd Honda from them and they go above and beyond.

• Best retiring law maker, former Minnehaha County Commissioner, Jeff Barth. Not only is Jeff smart, calculated and compassionate, he is funny as Hell! I look forward to more of our ‘off the record’ conversations!

• Best Cocktail Foo-Foo; Hello Hi. These guys step it up a notch, and they have one of the best pizza places in town.

• Best place to drink beer; Monks. Duh. While I loved the old Monks, the new one is even better with amazing rotating taps, wonderful, knowledgeable staff and great pizza. They also take the title of best salad in town with their Greek salad. I also like the sort of dive bar atmosphere and comfortable setting. Now if they just ban dogs and strollers I might just go there everyday.

• Best Sioux Falls City Councilor; Pat Starr. While he gets beat up a lot, he is the remaining voice of reason on the city council. I told him the other day he should run for mayor. He just laughed. Whatever Starr decides to do after his term is up next year, he will be supported.

Homeless Open Government Open Meetings Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls neighbors not happy about planned homeless shelter

l3wis 3Comments

In case you missed this a few days ago, I did to;

Meanwhile, in downtown Sioux Falls, the Bishop Dudley House had been looking at the possibility of different temporary family housing locations.

The two partners found each other in large part because ICAP had received federal money that could be used for the former Children’s Inn building and a type of homeless non-congregate temporary housing.

While I would agree converting the former Children’s Inn site into a family transitional homeless facility is probably a good fit, the planning was not. The neighborhood is up in arms over not being brought along in the process or even told about the plans. The rumor is they are planning a petition drive to stop this somehow.

This of course is how we do governmental business now in Sioux Falls. Ramrod it through, don’t tell anyone, and after we get approval apologize for screwing up, and always remember to say, ‘This will never happen again.’

The best way to reassure crap like this never happens again is to vote these sophomoric clowns out of office in the next election, or better yet, recall them NOW!

Precedent after precedent, after precedent. When are we going to learn?

Downtown Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken Public Utilities Public Works SF City Council Sioux Falls

6th Street Bunker Bridge Debacle proves the Sioux Falls City Council is bought and paid for, again

l3wis 15Comments

While the Sioux Falls City Council still has an opportunity to redeem themselves next Monday with a reconsideration on the vote, I don’t have much hope they will get the 5 votes needed to overturn it.

Most people would jump at a do-over, especially after finding out as NO fault of their own they were mislead into believing it was an EMERGENCY. We all know now that was a bunch of phooey.

The main reason this redemption may not happen is that the 6 councilors who originally voted for this have all received campaign funding and endorsements from Mayor TenHaken. I can almost guarantee without his campaign assistance, PAC money and endorsements the last 4 elected would have all lost or had been close races.

Paul knows what he did, they know what he did, we all know how that cookie crumbles.

Ask Janet Brekke and Theresa Stehly what happens to you when you challenge our very own King of Scotland. The castle tower you live in becomes very cold and dark very suddenly.

City Administration Building Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

City of Sioux Falls to receive $320K for failed geothermal system on the administration building

l3wis 6Comments

I originally requested this settlement in the middle of July and it wasn’t finalized until the end of that month. I received the settlement yesterday after I re-requested it from the city attorney’s office; ENTIRE DOCUMENT

As you can see below the city will receive a settlement even though all parties involved have agreed to ‘no fault’.

Geothermal systems work when they are installed properly and can save the users a lot of money in energy costs. What is NOT in this settlement is the cost to install a whole new traditional chiller system, the massive amount of water that was lost when it malfunctioned and the energy costs the city will now have to incur due to the more traditional HVAC system and our legal fees (which probably equals half of the settlement).

They got off easy. Too easy.

What is even more troubling is that an assistant city clerk and the chief of staff signed off the settlement. More sloppy legal documents. Tom and Paul must have been too busy enjoying Father’s Day in a remote location to sign off on the agreement. Was it gay pride weekend?

It would be nice to know the true price tag this screwup cost taxpayers. We may never know. It is also interesting to see that KHA is once again involved with a settlement for bad consulting (Events Center siding debacle).

Media Republicans State Legislature

Young Americans for Liberty sends out goofy email

l3wis 6Comments

While I detest that most of our legislators in the state are Republican, I do get a good laugh when they start fighting over who is the most conservative. I don’t think any of them are, just Cuckoo. Read this email sent out defending State Legislator Julie Frye-Lactation;

Dear Mary Jane,

There’s something strange in the water out in Pierre.

President Pro Tempore, Senator Lee Schoenbeck thinks he’s the King of South Dakota.

Senator Schoenbeck thinks he can unilaterally decide who represents the people of South Dakota.

Schoenbeck, a notorious RINO, is acting like the King of South Dakota and illegally and unconstitutionally suspended a sitting state senator without due process.

His outrageous power trip is disenfranchising and silencing the elected representative of tens of thousands of South Dakotans.

You see, Schoenbeck unilaterally decided to punish South Dakota citizens by suspending Senator Julie Frye-Mueller before an investigation had even been organized, over a private conversation between Mueller and a legislative services staffer regarding childhood vaccinations and other motherhood issues.

Should a politician like Schoenbeck have the power to silence another Senator over a personal conversation?

Schoenbeck, working with Democrats and Establishment Republicans, forced through Mueller’s unconstitutional suspension, overriding the ruling of the chair and dismissing out-of-hand any constitutional concerns.

Schoenbeck needs to be reminded that he IS NOT the king maker of South Dakota. 

State Senators work for the people who elected them!

If this makes your blood boil as much as it does mine, I hope you’ll help me turn up the heat on “Little King Lee” Schoenbeck.

Click here to send a message to Schoenbeck. Remind him that the President Pro Tempore of the South Dakota Senate does not have the authority to remove a Senator simply based on his opinions of a legislator’s private conversation.

Demand he respects the Constitution and the right of ALL South Dakotans to representation in the State Senate.

I hope you’ll click here and tell “Little King Lee” Schoenback that he has overreached his authority and effectively robbed South Dakotans of their duly elected State Senator.

Unless South Dakotans like you fight back, Schoenbeck and his liberal cronies in Pierre are going to KEEP ignoring the Constitution.

If this challenge to our Republic goes unanswered, Schoenbeck will continue to block conservative bills and control the State Senate like a petty tyrant.

I hope you’ll join me in saying “Enough is enough,” to Little King Lee.

Click here to send a message to Schoenbeck.

Remind him that the President Pro Tempore of the South Dakota Senate does not have the authority to remove a Senator simply based on his opinions of a legislator’s private conversation.

For Liberty,

Bethany Young
Grassroots Director
Young Americans for Liberty

P.S. President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck is acting like he’s the King of South Dakota. He thinks he has the POWER to remove duly elected Senators based solely on his opinion.

Schoenbeck, a notorious RINO, has illegally and unconstitutionally suspended a sitting state senator without due process. His outrageous power trip is disenfranchising and silencing the elected representative of tens of thousands of South Dakotans.

I hope you’ll click here and tell “Little King Lee” Schoenbeck he has overreached his authority and effectively robbed South Dakotans of their duly elected State Senator. Demand he respects the Constitution and the right of ALL South Dakotans to representation in the State Senate.

Yeah there is something strange in the water alright, it is most likely vodka. While I do agree Ms. Frye-Lactation should be punished for having an inappropriate conversation it certainly doesn’t rise to suspension. As reporter Austin Goss recently pointed out on Matters of the State (2:50);

You have people in that chamber, as recently as last year, who have DUIs . . . you have others in that chamber who call each other pond scum and monkeys. So I guess if the reason to throw her off the floor is decorum, I am just kind of confused . . .

I am not confused, while the above email is chocked full of smoke and mirrors there is one clear thing going on here, Julie pissed off the wrong governor and it was time to eliminate her.

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