Category: Great Plains

Government, North Sioux City, South DakotaLeave a comment

Results from Tuesday’s election

Gary Dickson

North Sioux City experienced what election officials called a higher-than-normal turnout for the four races for city council seats as 614 people cast their votes.

The higher voter turnout may have been at least partially due to the interest generated by the Union Square housing development as well as the proposed North Shore Drive bypass project. Another issue generating interest recently has been a proposed housing project by Mike Chicoine who lives outside the city, where he wants to build a canal for his housing development using water pumped from McCook Lake. Continue reading Results from Tuesday’s election

Environment, Government, South DakotaLeave a comment

State DANR announces more than $172 million for environmental projects

Gary Dickson

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) announced the Board of Water and Natural Resources has approved $172,554,815 in grants and loans for drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste projects in South Dakota.

The $172,554,815 total consists of $20,007,550 in grants and $152,547,265 in low-interest loans, including $10,986,600 in principal forgiveness to be administered by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Included in the funding were 11 projects in the Siouxland communities of Alcester, Hudson, Parker, Sioux Falls, Vermillion, Viborg and Worthing, plus the Lincoln County Rural Water System and the South Eastern Council of Governments out of Sioux Falls. Continue reading State DANR announces more than $172 million for environmental projects

Healthcare, Iowa, Justice2 Comments

State-certified caregiver charged with sexual exploitation of a minor

Gary Dickson

A state-certified caregiver has been arrested and charged with sexually exploiting a minor while employed by an Iowa nursing home.

The most recent case, and the only one in which criminal charges have been filed, involves Guider’s employment at the Pleasantview Home in Kalona.

Over the past 12 months, Martell Guider, a 36-year-old male certified nursing assistant, has been the subject of complaints regarding a series of alleged incidents involving sexual impropriety at three Iowa nursing homes located in Audubon, Correctionville and Kalona. Continue reading State-certified caregiver charged with sexual exploitation of a minor

Health, South DakotaLeave a comment

South Dakota’s high healthcare costs causing many to skip treatments

Gary Dickson

The high cost of obtaining health care in South Dakota – ranked second most expensive in the nation – is prompting some residents to forgo necessary medical care over worries they cannot afford it, according to a recent national data analysis.

South Dakota is followed only by North Carolina in a new national ranking of healthcare expenses based on the cost of medical care and insurance. At nearly $12,500 per year, the state has the highest per-capita healthcare spending rate among all Great Plains states, the data show. Continue reading South Dakota’s high healthcare costs causing many to skip treatments

Commentary, South DakotaLeave a comment

The cost of free land and either-or history

Gary Dickson

Some white South Dakotans love to talk about their generational connection to the land. I’m one of them: a proud, fifth-generation descendant of Dakota Territory homesteaders.

The federal government awarded nearly 100,000 parcels of free land to South Dakota settlers via the 1862 Homestead Act and successive rounds of related legislation. Modern South Dakotans celebrate that legacy in myriad ways, including an annual State Fair ceremony honoring farms and ranches owned by the same family for 100 or more years.

Too few of us pause to consider how that must sound to Native Americans. Their connection to the land spans hundreds of generations and thousands of years. Before any white settler rushed to claim free land in western South Dakota, the federal government broke a treaty that promised to reserve all of that land as a Great Sioux Reservation. Continue reading The cost of free land and either-or history

Crime, Government, Justice, South Dakota1 Comment

Union County Court: 3/11 – 3/22/24

Gary Dickson

Following are two weeks worth of cases that have been disposed in the Union County courts. They include everything from traffic to trucking/transportation to criminal cases.

Included is a guide to one case that looks on the surface as if it has a high number of charges. But everything is not always as it appears at first glance.

There are also a couple of high fine amounts for truckers in this round of court activities. How high can they go? Continue reading Union County Court: 3/11 – 3/22/24

Crime, Iowa, South Dakota, TransportationLeave a comment

Motor vehicle accident Monday leads to arrest for drug offenses

Gary Dickson

On Monday, March 18 at 3:52 p.m., The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office investigated a motor vehicle accident that occurred on Sioux County Road A54B, 14 miles northwest of Rock Valley, IA.

Sharon Kerschion, age 71, from Hudson, SD, was driving a 2002 Buick Century northbound on A54 when a 38-year-old male passenger, who was experiencing a mental health condition, distracted her by grabbing the steering wheel. Kerschion lost control of the vehicle and entered the west ditch where the vehicle came to rest on railroad tracks.

Simultaneously, while investigating the accident, the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office arrested Continue reading Motor vehicle accident Monday leads to arrest for drug offenses

Business, IowaLeave a comment

Sergeant Bluff entrepreneur wins SBA’s top state award

Gary Dickson

The owner of a catering business and event venue in northwest Iowa is being named the Iowa Small Business Person of the Year by the Iowa district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Cathy Bishop is the President of Aggies, Inc., a BBQ catering company in her hometown of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

A 1983 graduate of Texas A&M (the Aggies), Bishop spent ten years in Colorado as a bank examiner. She had always dreamed of being an entrepreneur though, and in 1994 she came home and opened Aggies. Aggies began as a restaurant with some catering, but in 2009 Aggies pivoted to catering full-time and turned the restaurant into an event venue.

Continue reading Sergeant Bluff entrepreneur wins SBA’s top state award

Government, North Sioux CityLeave a comment

The Saga of the North Sioux City Council – 1.0

Gary Dickson

It was a chilly no, make that cold evening on Tuesday, March 18 and I was pulling into the driveway to North Sioux City’s City Hall. I directed my car down the drive and surveyed the parking lot. Not too bad, I thought, in terms of parked car congestion.

t was time to get the show rolling. I took a seat in the second row on the far left side. I was about six chairs to the left of Bob Davis, where he could issue a well-formed scowl in my direction. The meeting was called to order by her honor, da mayor. The roll was called. We all stood, and the loyalty oath was pledged.

Continue reading The Saga of the North Sioux City Council – 1.0

Government, Politics, South DakotaLeave a comment

Who leads South Dakota if Noem runs for vice president? ‘I still get to be governor’ she says.

Gary Dickson

Standing next to a row of bookcases in the Mitchell High School library, South Dakota’s lieutenant governor was asked about taking the reins of state government.

It’s a sensitive subject for Larry Rhoden, who has embraced his supporting role as Gov. Kristi Noem’s second-in-command since entering office in 2019 following 16 years in the state Legislature.

“I try not to bring it up,” said the Union Center rancher when asked by News Watch about how his duties might change if Noem is chosen as Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee on the Republican ticket. “I don’t want to make it look like I’m thinking about it.”

Despite that political prudence, the subject is hard to avoid.

Continue reading Who leads South Dakota if Noem runs for vice president? ‘I still get to be governor’ she says.