Category: Breaking News

Huset’s Comes Roaring Back!

File this one under “good news / bad news.” It’s been the unofficial editorial policy here at F*** Yeah! It’s Sioux Falls! to tread lightly on the whole Corona thing.

We’re split. On the one had, it’s our mission to celebrate all the good stuff that’s happening out there, to get the word out and get you off the couch. On the hand, we’d like you to do so responsibly, m’kay?

So the fact that 9,000 racing fans showed up for Sunday’s grand re-opening with the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint car series can go both ways. But let’s set that aside and focus on the positive.

Huset’s is good fun. Whether you’re a die-hard racing fan that loves getting up-close with the screaming machines, or just a tourist that wants to take in a night of mid-american schtick, you’re sure to go home with a smile on your face. (And a little dirt-track grit stuck in your hair.) We’d recommend it to anyone.

The track had fallen on tough times over the last few years. Money was tight, and the angel-investing from Chuck Brennan left a bad taste with many a racing fan. Few wanted our local track rebranded as another ego-driven extension of his Badlands Empire.

Sunday’s race proves that the place still has a lot of pennant-winning potential. And that’s fantastic.

Be sure to read more coverage of the race over at the Argus Leader. (And while you’re there, consider subscribing!)

Baby Baby, Oh! Bieber Spotted in SD!

Recognize the sexy man in the red shorts? If you’re a lady of certain age, you most certainly do. And that’s cool. We aren’t ones to judge your taste in exported Canadian blue-eyed soul (or tattoos, or anything else for that matter.)

For the rest of you who might need a little help, that’s Justin Bieber, aka The Beebs, showing off his all-natural goodness along the Missouri River yesterday.

Odds are good that he’s headed to Kanye’s ranch in Wyoming (which is a bizarre story unto itself…) But might he make a surprise visit to Sioux Falls?

Hey, you never know! Keep your eyes open. A most lovely celebrity sighting just might be your reward!

Sioux Falls Puts the “X” in TEDx!

TED talks! They’re so good, they’ve become a joke…“thanks for the TED talk, Karen!”

But as they say, there’s always a new “idea worth spreading,” and Sioux Falls is doing its part once again with a local edition August 20th. It’s been moved to the Washington Pavilion from the Orpheum so that the crowd can have a little bit more Covid-buffering space from on another. Smart! (as you’d expect…) The move also means there’s a few more tickets available, so grab one now while you can.

Here’s the lineup. (You just might recognize a few names!)

  • Chef Sean Sherman
  • Tracy Saathoff
  • Benson Hsu
  • Melissa Johnson
  • Wes Eisenhauer
  • Wendy Mamer
  • Eric Siversten
  • Amy Baete
  • Russ Van Der Werff

Dig all the details at https://www.tedxsiouxfalls.com/

Wild Water (& Rollercoasters?) West

Our local waterpark announced this spring that they were set to build a ferocious ‘coaster alongside the Lazy River, adding little ying to your sunburnt yang.

Official stats, with artistic flair.

And then they announced it was being pushed back. Because Covid. (Ain’t it always these day?) However, it’s still in the plans and might be ready for your 2021 funtimes.

But how does it compare? First of all, it’s going to be the biggest coaster between Minneapolis and Denver! Then again, there’s not much of anything between The Twin Cities and the Rockies, so maybe that’s not very helpful.

Here’s how high you’re gonna get on a few rides you might have heard of:

Cedar Point’s “Millennium Force”: 310ft.

Six Flags Over Texas’s “Titan”: 245ft.

Valley Fair’s “Wild Thing”: 207ft.

World’s of Fun’s “Mamba”: 205ft.

The new one proposed for Wild Water West looks to be topping out at 113ft. So hey, not bad for our town. You’ll still get some great views of the flat-n-wide prairie landscape from up there.

We were skeptical at first about the idea of adding one big amusement park style thrillride to a relatively chill water park, but alongside the go-carts, batting cages, and mini-golf, why not? It’s good to have some family fun close to home, even if the super-coaster maniacs in town will still be seeking their kicks a little further abroad. You guys do you.

Covid Delays In The News: State Theatre & Sioux Steel

While we’re masking up and making the best of it, there’s no doubt that some things are still getting stymied by the novel virus.

Two long-awaited projects around town have just announced that “umm guys, it’s gonna be a little longer than we thought…”

One of these makes us sad. One does not.

The State Theatre has been this close to opening for a few years now. With the monies kicked in from City Hall and Godfather T. Denny, it looked like 2020 was go-time! But alas, the Argus is reporting that it’s been hard to get the crews scheduled to finish up the job and even harder to get a reasonable, responsible event line-up together to make opening day something to celebrate.

Fingers crossed something comes together by Christmas time. Wouldn’t it be great to watch It’s a Wonderful Life on the big screen? These eyes wouldn’t be dry when the light comes back on!

The other delay is on the big Sioux Steel redevelopment project. While we’re all for continued building and a higher residential density downtown, the inexorable ringing of Falls Park with now-trendy glass-and-aluminum condos might not be the best thing for the city long term.

There’s already been a lot of concern about who owns what bit of the park-adjacent land. If you dig in, you’ll find that a lot of it used to be Seney Island – a favorite picnic spot until short-term thinking turned it into a dump. Maybe someone should use this covid-inflicted pause to reconsider what would be the best use of the land for the Sioux Fallsians of 2070?

We’re guessing that fifty years from now, another ten acres of river-front park-land will be looking like a much better investment than an aging office/hotel complex.

But that’s none of our business, right? Or is it…