Tag: Siouxland

Content and images regarding people, places, things, history and ideas of a geographic area named by writer Frederick Manfred who grew up in this region. Siouxland covers the drainage basin of the Big Sioux River and includes parts of the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Business, Health, Iowa, South DakotaLeave a comment

New year brings new restaurant inspections in Siouxland

Gary Dickson

Below are some of their findings over the past month as reported by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing and the South Dakota Department of Health which handle food-establishment inspections at the state level.

NOTE: There are some differences between the inspections of Iowa and South Dakota. One difference between the inspections is that Iowa’s inspectors put down a date for when violations or concerns are to be resolved. While there is a place for a date on South Dakota’s forms, none of the inspectors put down a date that violations needed to be resolved/fixed. It appears that South Dakota’s motto of “Freedom Lives Here” is being applied to the state health department’s inspection division. Continue reading New year brings new restaurant inspections in Siouxland

Crime, Health, Iowa1 Comment

Correctionville nursing home rape suspect was subject of prior police complaints

Gary Dickson

The western Iowa man suspected of sexually assaulting an Iowa nursing home resident was the subject of a prior police complaint that “fell off the radar” without being pursued by authorities, according to police officials.The home’s parent company, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, continued to provide work for the man in other Iowa nursing homes that it operates, inspectors found.

Seven months before the alleged rape, in March 2023, the suspect in the case was working through a temp agency at Friendship Home in Audubon when a female co-worker complained to management that the man had been making suggestive remarks to his female colleagues, sent them photos of himself masturbating. Continue reading Correctionville nursing home rape suspect was subject of prior police complaints

Crime, Rural Life, Siouxland, South Dakota3 Comments

3 Iowa men arrested by Lincoln Co. sheriff’s deputies for S.D. church burglaries

Gary Dickson

According to a news release from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s, three Sioux County men were arrested Thursday, Dec. 28 for attempted burglary of a church in rural Lincoln County.

Over the last month, Lincoln County deputies have been investigating several burglaries of rural churches in the county. They have been working with neighboring agencies in both South Dakota and Iowa in counties experiencing similar church burglaries. Continue reading 3 Iowa men arrested by Lincoln Co. sheriff’s deputies for S.D. church burglaries

Government, Health, Iowa3 Comments

Siouxland restaurant inspection update

Gary Dickson

City, county and state food inspectors have been visiting Siouxland area restaurants, bakeries, food trucks, school cafeterias, hospitals and convenience stores in November and December.

Below are some of their findings over the past two months as reported by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, which handles food-establishment inspections at the state level.

The state inspections department reminds the public that their reports are a “snapshot” in time, and violations are often corrected on the spot before the inspector leaves the establishment. Continue reading Siouxland restaurant inspection update

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, 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 . . .

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

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

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

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.