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Nahim Antunez, a 57-year-old from Minnesota, was arrested on December 20 for multiple charges including DUI, open container, and driving under revocation. Officer Koch pulled him over for erratic driving, finding him impaired with a blood alcohol level of 0.089%. Antunez has two prior DUI offenses, escalating potential charges. Continue reading Minnesota man arrested near Beresford for second DUI
I’m told it’s springtime. I would guess that is true judging from the green color of the grass and the leaves in the trees around Siouxland. I don’t want to waste any more of my time sitting in city council or county commission chambers observing our elected officials haggle over whether or not this plat has been correctly presented and dated. I’m annoyed by the one-upmanship and other games being played. So, for the next three or four or five months I leave you to your own motivations.
Continue reading I’m taking a vacation from covering local government
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
I’ve been wanting to write a multi-topic opinion column for some time. It’s not that I haven’t let my personal views seep into my reporting about various activities earlier. For example, you might want to look up one of my stories about the Union County Commission to see what I think about their workings. I admit that my writing isn’t always objective. So what? I own this site and I don’t get paid to write, photograph or post the stories that appear on it. So there.
You might consider this column in a similar light to Frank Costanza’s “Airing of the Grievances” on the classic Festivus episode during the Jerry Seinfeld Show. During that episode, many might remember, Frank — who was George Costanza’s father — stands up and shouts, “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people! Now you’re going to hear about them.” I loved Frank.
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
Less precipitation means less pollution is running into the Big Sioux River, according to a 2023 water quality report. “You can see a pretty strong correlation between the amount of rainfall and water quality,” Friends of the Big Sioux River’s Emily Oyos said. “A very direct correlation.”
“We had a significantly less amount of rain than 2022, and that has resulted in better numbers,” said Rachel Kloos, with Friends of the Big Sioux River. Otherwise, the results reveal many of the same problems as in past years. Continue reading Less rain results in a cleaner Big Sioux River, report says
One of the Midwest’s most prominent election deniers stood next to a pinball machine at the Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls in October, outlining how he impacted South Dakota’s 2022 race for secretary of state.
Rick Weible, a 51-year-old computer analyst and Republican Party operative had just given a slideshow to a group called Concerned Citizens of Lincoln County about alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election and perceived vulnerabilities in South Dakota’s voting systems.
“I was upsetting the apple cart,” Weible said of that election. “I brought my Minnesota experience into South Dakota because I was thinking, ‘If I can’t fix Minnesota, how can I get involved somewhere else to force some of these changes?’” Continue reading Former small-town Minnesota mayor is behind the rise of electoral activism in South Dakota. He’s just getting started.
A company that sought to build a $3 billion carbon sequestration pipeline in South Dakota and several other states announced Friday that it’s giving up on the plan.
“Given the unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes involved, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa, the Company has decided to cancel its pipeline project,” said a news release from Navigator CO2. Continue reading Navigator cancels carbon pipeline project
This film, co-produced and directed and written by Twin Cities photographer, filmmaker, teacher and poet Mike Hazard, provides an excellent insight into the late writer Frederick Manfred. Nicknamed Media Mike, Hazard has written, directed and produced five films that have been released nationally on PBS. His documentary on the late Senator Eugene McCarthy was awarded the D.L. Mabery Prize, Minnesota’s Oscar. Continue reading The Lizard, hungry hogs and a photo a day for eight years
But those who think Siouxland refers to only Sioux City would be wrong. In fact, the term wasn’t created to be a marketing tactic or definition of a school athletic region. The term was coined by writer Frederick Manfred in 1946 in his third novel, This Is The Year. Continue reading So, what is ‘Siouxland’ anyway?
The Siouxland Observer 