Happy Wednesday! Megan here.
Weather check: Snowy and cold
This week, I've got a little bit of everything for you, from taxidermy decisions to building fences to Pitbull coming to town. Oh, and don't miss a bunch of Valentine's Day fun in the weekly event guide.
And now, news:
CITY
How a new downtown fence will help the city police trespassing
Simplified: The city is looking to lease an empty parking lot north of the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House downtown with plans to erect a $70,000 fence to both keep unhoused folks from hanging out there and give Sioux Falls police more authority to step in and intervene when they do.
Why it matters
- Sioux Falls City Council unanimously advanced a proposal Tuesday night to enter a five-year lease of the parking lot between Eighth Street and the Bishop Dudley House. The property is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls via St. Joseph Catholic Housing – the group that also owns the adjacent shelter.
- The reasons for the lease are two-fold. First, as Police Chief Jon Thum told councilors, it gives cops more authority to intervene when people are loitering, trespassing or committing crimes on that lot. Right now, police have to wait for property owners to initiate police intervention because it's private property.
- Second, the lease agreement also gives the city first dibs on purchasing both the parking lot and the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House if they go up for sale in the next decade, according to Planning Director Jeff Eckhoff.
- City officials, councilors and diocesan officials said there are no plans at this point for the city to purchase or redevelop the property. Though, it's worth noting both parcels of land are within a block of the site of the proposed Riverline District. All parties made it very clear that this lease and fence is simply a band-aid solution to addressing broader homelessness challenges.
"I don't think there's anybody that thinks we’ve come up with this massive great idea for how to address homelessness," Councilor Rich Merkouris told Sioux Falls Simplified before voting to advance the proposal in Tuesday's meeting. "I don't think this is it. We're not going to have one less homeless person because of this."
Tell me more
CITY
Delbridge debacle prompts audit of city gifting agreements
Simplified: The Sioux Falls City Council is looking to make sure getting rid of the taxidermy collection at the Delbridge Museum doesn't set a precedent of regifting things that had previously been given to the city. That's why they're asking for an audit of other existing gift agreements to make sure they know what's been promised.
Why it matters
- The motion to conduct the audit came mere moments after a painful – but ultimately unanimous – vote to surplus the taxidermy collection that's been on display for 40 years (and has had an uncertain future for the last year and a half).
- Councilor Miranda Basye successfully brought an amendment to the surplus resolution to ensure the zoo will create an interactive exhibit as a tribute to the legacy of the Delbridge Museum.
"There's a lot of heart, history and legacy in this collection," Basye said, adding that the vote to surplus the collection was one of the hardest she's had to make.
- Basye, along with Councilor Rich Merkouris, brought forward the motion to look at other gifting agreements with vague or undetermined timelines. The Delbridge family initially donated the taxidermy collection to the city in the 1980s, and there was quite a bit of council discussion over whether the city could give away something it had been gifted and agreed to maintain "permanently," as Councilor Curt Soehl said.
"Really, this is a stain on the zoo, and it's going to be for some time," Soehl said. "There's been some discussion on what 'permanent' means. That pains me to see ... we're going to take a lot of negative impact going forward for this vote."
What happens next?
TL;DR
Super Simplified Stories
- Mr. Worldwide hits the slopes. Pitbull will headline the Lallycooler Music Festival in July at Great Bear Ski Valley. He's the second major act announced for the inaugural festival, joining country music star Sam Hunt.
- Pitbull's bio in the press release from the Washington Pavilion also included this fun little tidbit: his signature "EEEEYOOO" yell is one of fewer than 40 sound trademarks protected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Maybe that'll come in handy at bar trivia someday???
- Learn more about Lallycooler and get your tickets here.
- Longtime volunteer named grand marshal. Shawn Cleary, who's volunteered with Sioux Falls St. Patrick's Day celebrations for 16 years, has been named grand marshal of the 45th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown. The parade will take place March 15, and, as is tradition, anyone with a parade button can walk in the parade (get your button at 605 Running Co. or The Cookie Jar). Learn more and register a float here.
- Downtown businesses give back. DTSF, Inc. in partnership with Pendar Properties and 24 local businesses raised more than $7,300 for the Union Gospel Mission as part of the 12th annual Downtown Gives Fundraiser. Did you buy one of those coupon books during the holidays? Then you helped contribute to that total.
- PSA: Those coupons are good through the end of March, so you can still snag some downtown deals if you (like me) didn't get a chance to use them all at Christmas.
- This week's civics lesson. Students at Edison Middle School this week were asked to share what they thought the Sioux Falls School Board does. Their replies were very cute and not 100% on the mark, as one might imagine, but they did get a nice little lesson on how their school system is governed. You can watch the cute kid responses at about the 10-minute mark of Monday's board meeting.
SODAK SIMPLIFIED
A few things from Pierre:
- Soooo. much. school stuff. The education-related bills keep rolling in at the state Capitol. This past week brought defeat for the 10 commandments and the state motto. There's also a phoenix-like hope for school choice and a proposal to bring stricter regulations on gender discussion. Lawmakers this week additionally advanced a proposal to require schools to teach Native American history and culture. South Dakota Searchlight has more.
- Concealed carry on campus. Lawmakers are also considering limiting state colleges' ability to restrict gun owners with an enhanced concealed carry permit from bringing a firearm on campus – essentially, it would make it easier for those permit carriers to bring their concealed weapons on campus. Kelo has the story.
EVENTS
Stuff to do: Feb. 12-18
- Free co-working at Startup Sioux Falls.* Startup Sioux Falls hosts free co-working the first and third Wednesday of every month. It's a great chance for remote workers and entrepreneurs to experience the downtown facility, network or just hang out and get some work done. The next free co-working day is Wednesday, Feb. 19. Learn more here.
- Cook chili. Orion Pub is hosting its second annual chili cook-off. Cook up some chili, BYOL (bring your own ladle) and enter to win an Orion Pub t-shirt and a $50 gift card. The cook-off kicks off at noon Sunday – no sign-up required.
- Celebrate the gal pals. There are a number of "Galentine's Day" events around town this week, including a celebration at Nordic Hall, a special class at Barre3, and an event at the Steel District – and heck, when in doubt, just call your girlies and do brunch.
- Get a little naughty. There are a couple of R-rated events this week, including naughty bingo at Wiley's Thursday night at 8 p.m., and if you want to put your dirty little mind to the test, you can also hit up Trivia After Dark at Good NAtured, also on Thursday night at 8 p.m.
- Support local makers. The Atrium Makers Market is setting up shop again this weekend at Shriver Square. Find unique art, photography, jewelry, pottery and more at the new weekly market running Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details here.
- Get fancy on your own terms. Want a Valentine's date but also want to just get a pizza? Split the difference with Sunny's Pizzeria's candlelit dinners Wednesday and Thursday. It feels fancy, but, like, wear your comfy pants fancy. Reserve your table here.
*Denotes a sponsored event listing.
THIS AND THAT
What I'm falling for this week:
ICYMI
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