Author: Gary Dickson

Gary Dickson is the writer, editor, and photographer of this blog. He has been a weekly newspaper editor, photojournalist, corporate trainer, mental health and substance abuse counselor, and university continuing education administrator. He decided to retire in September of 2017 after working at a dysfunctional group mental health private practice. After selling their house in the Morningside neighborhood of Sioux City, Gary and his wife, Nancy moved across the Big Sioux River to Dakota Dunes, SD. Nancy, who is five years Gary’s junior, continues to bring home a full-time paycheck so Gary can maintain his leisurely lifestyle. This includes homeschooling their cat, Willie, writing this blog, selling his photographs, taking more photographs, volunteering, and possibly someday getting a part-time job. Gary is well-versed in the geography, history, government, and people of the North Central Great Plains. He has lived in South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska and has spent much of his life traveling the region and writing about and photographing the people and land of the Great Plains. Gary has been married to Nancy Bingner Dickson far longer than he has been married to anyone else and intends to keep it that way. He is originally from Sturgis, SD and Nancy is from Chancellor, SD. Some of the topics this blog will cover include: education, the Great Plains, government, politics, journalism, regional history, behavior, culture, arts, people, and the environment. Gary likes to nudge people out of complacency and point out hypocrisy when he sees it. He may also recount some of the poor decisions he has made in the past as a way to enlighten or entertain readers of this blog. He also reserves the right to include transcriptions of conversations he has with Willie. Gary is nothing else if not an amusement to himself. He uses a Nikon D3100 DSLR and a Samsung S5 smartphone to take his photos.
Government, Siouxland, South DakotaLeave a comment

Adventures at the county courthouse: How ’bout that medical weed license?

Gary Dickson

It was Tuesday morning, November 28th, and I was running late. I peeked out the living room shades and saw through the dark that the northeastern sky was starting to get bright. Carmelo Lattuca, the morning meteorologist on KTIV was explaining it was 9 degrees in Sioux City and 16 degrees up in Le Mars, Iowa. He said with the wind it felt like a negative 2 degrees. He proceeded into something called his “Dog Walk Forecast” saying the temperatures were going to increase to 32- 39 degrees by afternoon.

This was the day the commissioners were going to decide the fate of the county’s lone medical cannabis license.

I looked at my agenda, then at the commissioners, and discovered they had just approved the hiring of a new part-time jailer Claudia J. Chasing Hawk at $18.62 an hour. She started on Nov. 14. Before the agreement to hire Chasing Hawk, who had already started, a quorum was established, allegiance to our flag was pledged, today’s agenda was approved, and the last meeting’s minutes were approved. Continue reading Adventures at the county courthouse: How ’bout that medical weed license?

Community, North Sioux City, South DakotaLeave a comment

2nd Annual Holiday Parade of Lights draws crowd to kick off festive season

Gary Dickson

North Sioux City held its second annual Holiday Parade of Lights on Thursday, Nov. 30. And by the looks of things the parade and activities afterward were a resounding success.

The parade began at the intersection of Wildflower Bend and Campbell Street and proceeded east on Campbell Street with crowds of adults and children lining the route all the way to the North Sioux Police Station. Continue reading 2nd Annual Holiday Parade of Lights draws crowd to kick off festive season

Art, Education, Siouxland, TalentLeave a comment

Entry deadline for S.D. Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards is Dec. 15th

Gary Dickson

Arts South Dakota is encouraging South Dakota teens to enter the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The awards are a national recognition program for teen writers and artists and the deadline for submission is Friday, Dec. 15 at 9:59 MT/10:59 CT.

Students submit their work to their region for initial evaluation. Submissions are $10 per individual work and $30 for a senior portfolio; if the fees present a barrier to participation, students can use a fee waiver, which is available in their student account. Once the works are submitted, South Dakota writing professionals read each student’s work and assign it a Gold Key, Silver Key, Honorable Mention, or no award. Continue reading Entry deadline for S.D. Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards is Dec. 15th

Commentary, Government, South DakotaLeave a comment

Now it’s the legislature’s turn to try to scale the Noem wall of silence

Gary Dickson

t’s likely that journalists in South Dakota allowed themselves a few self-satisfied chuckles last month. This mirth was inspired by watching the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee fail to get the information it was seeking about the Freedom Works Here campaign from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

The Freedom Works Here campaign advertisements, which have run nationally, feature Gov. Kristi Noem in the role of workers in high-demand jobs, asking those workers to apply in South Dakota. Lawmakers were particularly concerned that GOED officials and state Secretary of Labor Marcia Hultman didn’t have an answer when asked how they would measure the success of the $5 million campaign. Continue reading Now it’s the legislature’s turn to try to scale the Noem wall of silence

Crime, Small towns, South DakotaLeave a comment

Parish office administrator indicted on grand theft charges

Gary Dickson

The former parish office administrator of both the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Elk Point and St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Jefferson, S.D. has been indicted for inappropriate receipt of parish funds. That was the news announced to parish members in a letter dated Nov. 17 from the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.

The letter referred to former parish employee Jean Limoges of rural Elk Point. It stated that “last summer, diocesan financial officials noticed significant irregularities in St. Peter’s financial records. This prompted a more extensive review which revealed excess payroll deposits regularly made over a significant period of time.” Continue reading Parish office administrator indicted on grand theft charges

Agriculture, Iowa, SiouxlandLeave a comment

Two cases of bird flu found In Woodbury County

Gary Dickson

A news release from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Wednesday said that the agency and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have confirmed two positive cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Woodbury County, Iowa.  

The affected sites are both backyard mixed-species flocks.  Continue reading Two cases of bird flu found In Woodbury County

Business, economic development, Government, North Sioux City, Siouxland, South DakotaLeave a comment

Union Crossing development in North Sioux awarded $2.71 million grant for housing infrastructure

Gary Dickson

The South Dakota Housing Development Authority Board signed off on another $19 million in housing infrastructure funding for 19 projects on Tuesday.

Part of that money included a $2,707,580 grant to PBR Capital Group LLC for the Union Crossing Development – Phase 1 in North Sioux City. The project consists of infrastructure development to accommodate 136 homes, which will include 56 single-family homes, 18 triplexes, six fourplexes, and one duplex. Continue reading Union Crossing development in North Sioux awarded $2.71 million grant for housing infrastructure

Siouxland, Siouxland ObservedLeave a comment

Siouxland Observed #8: Woof! Where am I?

Gary Dickson

No growl, no howl with this guy. And please don’t call Animal Control, either. He won’t hurt anybody. I doubt he wouldn’t be a very good watchdog, but he sure looks cute.

If you’re worried about the pup being lonely or hungry . . . I wouldn’t worry about that, because he has some kitty company as well as some canine friends, too. I’m sure he has recently been fed a healthy meal, if you know what I mean. Continue reading Siouxland Observed #8: Woof! Where am I?

Business, economic development, Education, Government, Siouxland, South DakotaLeave a comment

Employment on the rise, wages miss the mark In S.D.

Gary Dickson

Preliminary estimates show South Dakota’s unemployment rate increased from 0.1 percent to 2.0 percent in October 2023. The labor force increased over the month by 800 workers (0.2 percent) to 484,700 workers. The level of unemployment increased by 500 (5.3 percent) to 9,900 workers.

South Dakota’s October 2023 labor force of 484,700 increased compared to the October 2022 level of 475,000. The level of employed increased by 10,400 (2.2 percent); the level of unemployed decreased by 600 persons (5.7 percent). The unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percent to 2.0 percent.

The most recent year we have records for is 2021, for which data was released on Dec. 12, 2022. That census of wages and income shows that the median household income in the U.S. was $69,717, while the median household income in South Dakota was $66,8443 (95.88 percent of the national median).

But when you look at the salaries people are getting paid to be teachers (we still are one of the worst states in terms of teacher pay in the nation), natural resources and mining, construction, trades, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality services (shame on you tourism industry), and even local, state, and federal government a person has to wonder why we’re paying our workers such low wages? Continue reading Employment on the rise, wages miss the mark In S.D.

Business, Career, economic development, Government, Personal Qualities, South DakotaLeave a comment

‘Freedom’ not enough to fill South Dakota jobs: Local business leaders say there are hurdles with campaign

Gary Dickson

Bob Douglas, touted as a success story of Gov. Kristi Noem’s “Freedom Works Here” workforce recruitment campaign in South Dakota, confirmed a few things during a recent interview with News Watch.

The 66-year-old recreational vehicle salesman does enjoy freedom, it turns out. And he loves South Dakota. He plans to move to the Sioux Falls area once he sells his house in southern California, maybe as early as next spring. Douglas was referenced in a Sept. 21 press release from the governor’s office as having “recently moved to South Dakota.”

As for being heralded by the governor’s staff as an example of Noem’s $6.5 million ad campaign drawing new residents to the Mount Rushmore State, well, that’s not exactly true either. Continue reading ‘Freedom’ not enough to fill South Dakota jobs: Local business leaders say there are hurdles with campaign