by Joe | Sep 22, 2022 | Uncategorized
Frederick Henry Morse was an artist who made a career in the late 1800s painting portraits of politicians and local notables in several Midwestern states and cities. Long after putting away his brushes, he found himself in serious legal trouble in South Dakota. Which...
by Joe | Sep 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
The recently exposed plan to bring one or more additional slaughterhouses to Sioux Falls disappointed many in the community. Apparently, our hopes and aspirations for our city are very different than the elected officials and development officers who encouraged this...
by Joe | Aug 16, 2022 | Uncategorized
Governor Noem likes to say that we are “open for business” in South Dakota. I generally like and agree with that sentiment. But recent history suggests we might also want limits. Two Big Surprises Not long ago two surprising bits of news hit Sioux Falls. A group...
by Joe | Aug 2, 2022 | Uncategorized
As a lifelong Republican and casual observer of South Dakota politics, I have had a nagging feeling for several years that something just wasn’t working right. Then I heard reports from this year’s Republican convention and it started to sink in. Our 20th century...
by Joe | Jul 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
Over a period of many decades and four generations of one family’s leadership, a South Dakota business quietly dominated its industry. The company was Western Surety Company. The family was the Kirbys. And the industry was the small, miscellaneous fidelity and surety...
by Joe | Jul 11, 2022 | Uncategorized
It began with a call from a friend working at the downtown Sioux Falls public library. She had received an information request from someone on the east coast about a long-dead local attorney, my great grandfather, Joe Kirby. She wondered if I would be interested in...
