Category: Great Plains

Education, Government, IowaLeave a comment

Federal judge hears arguments in lawsuit challenging Iowa book law

Gary Dickson

A U.S. District Court judge heard oral arguments Friday about whether to stop enforcement of measures in an Iowa education law that ban certain books with sexual content from K-12 school libraries.

The lawsuit challenges sections of Senate File 496 that require schools to remove books with depictions of sex acts. It also challenges a provision requiring schools to inform parents if a student requests the use of a different name or pronouns than what they were assigned at birth. The lawsuit claims those and other measures violate Iowa students’ constitutional rights to equal protection, free speech, free association and due process, the lawsuit claims. Continue reading Federal judge hears arguments in lawsuit challenging Iowa book law

Government, South DakotaLeave a comment

Secretary of State releases election integrity brochure, urges voters to trust officials

Gary Dickson

A new brochure from Secretary of State Monae Johnson aims to address common election integrity questions in advance of the 2024 election, according to a Tuesday news release.

The brochure, titled “A Guide to Secure Elections in South Dakota,” is designed to explain “different security measures South Dakota has put in place to protect our elections,” according to the release. Continue reading Secretary of State releases election integrity brochure, urges voters to trust officials

Crime, Education, North Sioux City, Sioux City1 Comment

WITCC wants to depose alleged human trafficking victims in Iowa

Gary Dickson

Western Iowa Tech Community College, a community college in Sioux City, Iowa that’s facing two multimillion-dollar lawsuits alleging it engaged in human trafficking is arguing the alleged victims must return to Iowa from Chile to sit for depositions in the case.

The former students say they can’t afford the expense of returning to Iowa and have sought the court’s permission to provide deposition testimony remotely through Zoom-type videoconferencing. Continue reading WITCC wants to depose alleged human trafficking victims in Iowa

Crime, Health, Iowa, SiouxlandLeave a comment

Sheriff: Alleged rape of nursing home resident under investigation

Gary Dickson

The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says it is still investigating the alleged rape of an Iowa nursing home resident who was subsequently evicted and dumped at a homeless shelter.

It’s not clear whether the criminal investigation is focused entirely on the reported rape or includes how the resident was treated by the care facility in the days that followed the alleged incident. Continue reading Sheriff: Alleged rape of nursing home resident under investigation

Business, economic development, South DakotaLeave a comment

South Dakota cities cap video lottery as state eyes betting increase

Gary Dickson

South Dakota keeps adding video lottery machines, with 567 more terminals and over $1.17 billion gambled this year, earning a record-setting $163 million in revenue for the state.

As the games continue their sprawl and the Legislature weighs an increase in betting limits, some South Dakota communities are trying to figure out a middle-of-the-road solution for the future of the 34-year-old games. Continue reading South Dakota cities cap video lottery as state eyes betting increase

Crime, History, Iowa, People, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Siouxland, Small towns, South DakotaLeave a comment

So, a few years ago this week . . .

Gary Dickson

Welcome to a new feature of The Siouxland Observer. It’s sort of like your hometown newspaper’s “Peeking in the Past” column — only different.

Here we present for your inspection, actual news items that appeared during the week of Dec. 10 – 16 1900 from area newspapers clipped from Newspapers.com. We thought you’d enjoy them. Of course, since they’ve been clipped just as they were printed, none have been edited to spare you the mirth or fear of what it was like back then. These may or may not be in any particular order. Higgledy-Piggledy, if you will. Sort of like the editor’s brain. Continue reading So, a few years ago this week . . .

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

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