Sioux Falls will keep its public pools open a bit longer this summer after all

Hours after announcing outdoor aquatics facilities would close for the summer season on Aug. 9, the Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Department announced Friday evening that the season swimming finale will be extended by a week.

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The city of Sioux Falls will bank $10 million over the next four years with the hope of making sure that what replaces a century-old pork plant in the city’s core will include space for all.

But the $2.5 million that newly minted Mayor Christine Erickson wants set aside in next year’s budget for what’s being called the Sanford District redevelopment is only a fraction of the nearly $800 million annual spending plan the city’s new leader unveiled Thursday.

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Residents across Sioux Falls are encouraged to strengthen community ties, meet local first responders and help prevent crime during National Night Out on Aug. 4.

National Night Out is an annual community–police relationship building campaign that the city has participated in for over 20 years. It provides a way for communities to meet local law enforcement officers under positive circumstances.

Nearly 30 events will be held 5–8:30 p.m. across the city in locations like McKennan Park, Tuthill Park, Whittier Park and downtown Sioux Falls.

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A Sioux Falls-themed version of the classic Monopoly board game will be launched next year, and area residents get a chance to weigh in.

Top Trumps USA Inc., which licenses the game from Hasbro, is soliciting input on which landmarks, properties, neighborhoods, businesses and other local features should be part of the customized game. Top Trumps has been making city-specific versions of the game in North America.

Mayor Christine Erickson helped kick off the promotion Tuesday at Falls Park, the city’s namesake landmark — which no doubt will make the game when its released next year. She said the real estate themed game in which players try to acquire properties and bankrupt their opponents was a “staple” growing up with her brothers.

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Forget the “first woman” headlines. The real glass ceiling Christine Erickson shattered is far more consequential for city governance. And the distinction is more than symbolic.

“As a former city councilor myself, I know firsthand the importance of the partnership between a mayor and the City Council,” Erickson said during an installation ceremony where she was sworn in as Sioux Falls’ 33rd mayor, becoming the first former City Council member elected mayor since Sioux Falls adopted the strong-mayor system in the 1990s.

It means Sioux Falls’ new chief executive spent eight years inside the city’s legislative branch before taking the mayor’s office, an experience Erickson says shaped her view of how City Hall should function after decades of mayors largely driving policy from the executive office.

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HARRISBURG — Three different local governments agree that a Lincoln County intersection needs to be redone.

But city officials in Harrisburg aren’t quite ready to agree on how it’ll be paid for.

The Harrisburg City Council on Tuesday, July 21, expressed concern over a verbally-agreed-upon cost-share agreement for a major intersection reconstruction at Lincoln County 106 (271st Street) and Western Avenue.

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The leadership of Children’s Home Society had never made a million-dollar ask of a donor until approaching T. Denny Sanford in 1999.

As the story goes, Sanford listened to the request and said he would think about it.

Then he followed up.

“I’m not going to give you the $1 million,” the conversation began.

Pause.

“I’m going to give you $2 million.”

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The Sioux Falls City Council will maintain the status quo when it comes to which of its members work most closely with Mayor Christine Erickson’s new administration.

Not everyone on the eight-member governing body is enthusiastic about it, though.

After weeks of behind-the-scenes jockeying over who would serve as chair and vice chair for the next year, neither position changed hands after Tuesday night leadership votes at Carnegie Town Hall.

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T. Denny Sanford began what would become the last year of his life ringing in 2026 looking like anything but a man who had just celebrated his 90th birthday.

He and close friend Garry Jacobson spent Dec. 31 in Las Vegas, went to six shows while they were there, and “we stayed out New Year’s Eve dinner until 2 a.m.,” said Jacobson, whose friendship with Sanford spans more than 40 years.

“We had a lot of fun. He was a businessman’s businessman and a fun friend. He could do both. I’m going to miss him.”

Sanford died July 18 at age 90.

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Five Sioux Falls-area organizations supporting the homeless, youth chess, inmate rehabilitation and people with disabilities received a major boost Monday.

The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation (SFACF) gave out a total of more than $100,000 to Affordable Housing Solutions, The Community Outreach, the Laura B. Anderson Elementary School Chess Club, St. Dysmas of South Dakota and Uniquely Yours as part of its Community Fund grants.

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The federal government Monday filed suit against a Sioux Falls fast food franchise, alleging the business retaliated against a minority employee for reporting harassment.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit on behalf of the former employee against TNT Chicken, the owner of Slim Chickens restaurants in Sioux Falls.

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Democrats are disappointed. But they’re also encouraged.

Jamie Smith’s four-vote loss in the Sioux Falls mayoral race was a painful reminder of how difficult it remains for Democrats to win major offices in South Dakota. But it also marked the closest a Democratic candidate has come to capturing the mayor’s office in nearly two decades — a sign party leaders say proves their candidates can still compete in the state’s largest city.

The mixed emotions were on display after Smith conceded the race this week, four weeks after finishing behind Mayor-elect Christine Erickson in the June 23 runoff. A recount expanded Erickson’s margin from two votes to four, but the narrow result also sparked frustration among some Democrats who wanted Smith to pursue a legal challenge over rejected absentee ballots.

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Christine Erickson endured a mayoral race, a handful of televised and livestreamed debates, a runoff and an unprecedented recount.

And after what would have been a protracted legal appeal by runner-up Jamie Smith was dropped, Erickson enters her service as Sioux Falls’ mayor unfettered by what proved to be a historic election cycle.

The former state lawmaker and city councilor was sworn in at Carnegie Town Hall on July 17, which marks the beginning of a four-year term as city government’s chief executive.

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Mayor Christine Erickson took the reins of Sioux Falls city government Friday afternoon.

Being sworn in at a installation ceremony at Carnegie Town Hall in downtown Sioux Falls, the business owner and mother of three accepted the gavel from now-former Mayor Paul TenHaken, capping one of the most dramatic municipal elections in the city's history.

Erickson becomes the first woman elected to lead South Dakota's largest city after defeating state Sen. Jamie Smith by four votes following a five-candidate race, a runoff election and a recount.

Taking the oath of office before family, supporters and city leaders, Erickson pledged to unite the community after the historically close contest, saying campaigns end with winners and losers, "but today, there are no sides, only neighbors" working together for "One Sioux Falls."

Read the transcript of Erickson’s speech below:

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Before townhomes and homeowner associations became a part of the Sioux Falls housing landscape, a new concept for neighborhood living and development began to take root a half-century ago.

On July 16, The Bluffs Townhome Association celebrated 50 years since the development cropped up near 33rd Street and Kiwanis Avenue.

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A joint law enforcement sweep last week netted the arrests of 35 people in the Sioux Falls area who were wanted or associated with people wanted by authorities, U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons announced Thursday.

Parsons, the top federal prosecutor in the state, was joined at a press conference with U.S. Marshal Dan Satterlee and Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum to announce the three-day sweep that started on the week of July 6. Most of the arrests were in Sioux Falls, Satterlee said, but the sweep was regional.

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The dysfunction that has become synonymous with the Lincoln County Commission greeted the board’s newest member during his first full meeting this week.

Just days after Herman Otten’s appointment to the District 2 commission seat, the commissioners who backed his selection were accused Tuesday of orchestrating the outcome before the public appointment process had concluded.

Commissioner Doug Putnam and some residents alleged county leaders predetermined Otten’s appointment, casting a cloud over his first meeting as a commissioner. Otten now joins the five-member board as it prepares to make decisions on the 2027 budget, property taxes, county roads and the future of the county’s historic courthouse.

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Sioux Falls Mayor-elect Christine Erickson has selected longtime City Council administrator Jim David to serve as her chief of staff when she takes office later this month.

David will serve as a senior adviser to Erickson and oversee strategic initiatives, policy development, intergovernmental relations and operational coordination in the mayor’s office.

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Commercial data miners will soon pay substantially more for public information in Sioux Falls.

A spike in public records requests and the staff time needed to fulfill them has prompted a new City Hall policy aimed at addressing a growing number of profit-driven requests and the mounting costs municipal leaders say accompany them.

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The Sioux Falls School Board adopted a $343.1 million tax-supported budget Monday that lowers the school levy for homeowners.

The fiscal year 2027 plan also gives employees a 2.54 percent salary increase, adds seven elementary teachers and reduces the district’s opt-out request by $1 million. The board approved the budget and certified its tax levies to Minnehaha and Lincoln county auditors without opposition. No members of the public addressed the board on the budget or any other agenda item.

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