Category: Editorial
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Shooters on the Sidewalk: Why Rapid City Council President Tamang is Taking a Second Look at Single-Serve Alcohol
It started with a walk. Council President Stephen Tamang posted on Facebook about what he found on a recent neighborhood walk: empty vodka shooters, scattered along the route like they’d become part of the landscape. It read like a small, personal observation. It wasn’t. That Facebook post has become the starting point for what Tamang…
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The Holding Cell for General AG: Precedent Set for Rapid City – Cartoon
The Holding Cell Playbook: A Rezoning Batch That Passes the Paper Test, Not the Sniff Test The Samco Road Fire Sale: Inside the AG Zoning Rush Along Cement Plant Road
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The 2027 Budget Brief: The Software Squeeze, Stagnant Fees, and Maxed Out Services – The Last Two Days of the Special Council
Rapid City SD –If the first half of Rapid City’s Special City Council Budget Sessions highlighted physical infrastructure and public safety, the final two days (July 29 and 30) exposed the hidden structural costs of running a modern municipality—and the massive revenues left on the table by outdated policies. Here is how the IT, Mayors’s…
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Why is Council President Tamang Revisiting a Two Year Old Ordinance Vote?
Editor’s note: This reporter commented on the Facebook thread referenced below. The Facebook Post Council President Stephen Tamang posted to Facebook this week about finding cheap vodka shooter bottles on a walk with his daughter — calling it a sign of a problem the city has let become normal, and noting that the council has,…
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History Erasure in Real Time: The True Cost of the wp2shell Vulnerability
Rapid City SD – You do not realize how fragile the digital public record is until you log in and find it barricaded by a quarantine notice. Yesterday morning, the administrative front door to the Sentinel was blocked by a stark, terrifying banner from our hosting provider, Ionos. It wasn’t a standard maintenance alert. It…
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Tamang’ Own Zoning Violation Meets The Ordinance That Would Excuse It
Repost due to wp2shellThe Rule Was “Not Even a City Council Member Would Be Exempt.” His Own Colleagues Aren’t So Sure.Rapid City SD. – At the July 20, 2026 council meeting, Ordinance No. 6726 came up for its first reading — a measure that would hand a single city administrator the authority to waive zoning…
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“No Data Center is Worth Our Water”, Mayor Salamun declares during Special Budget Council
Rapid City SD –Rapid City’s proposed 2027 budget is officially on the table. Clocking in at $312.3 million, the overall figure represents a 7.4% decrease from last year, driven largely by reductions in capital expenses. But while the top-line number may have shrunk, the internal shifts are massive, setting the stage for what Mayor Solomon…
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The Healing Way TIF: A Pragmatic Solution or a $10 Million Interest Payment
Rapid City SD –The intersection of Catron Boulevard and Highway 16 is slated for a massive overhaul by the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT). While necessary, the project brings a major logistical headache: the closure of Tucker Street. To keep traffic moving and ensure emergency responders can reach Rapid City’s rapidly expanding southeast side,…
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Tzadik’s Bankruptcy Is Closed. Rapid City’s Bill is Still Open
As the Florida-based landlord quietly exits Chapter 11, the city is left fronting over $125,000 for emergency demolitions while fighting to recoup half a million in unpaid utilities. Rapid City SD – Tzadik Management’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy closed quietly on June 26 — the same week the city, not the company, was still footing the…