Rapid City stiffs homeless

Under ethics-free Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard homelessness in South Dakota has become epidemic.

There are 200 more homeless people in South Dakota this year or about 1159 so far in 2018. Mayor Steve Allender, the former police chief who led a "bunch of racists," is at a loss to house the 400 or so homeless people in Rapid City. He's even asked the Cornerstone Rescue Mission, a front for the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, to help. Dan Island, Dan Nelson, Steve Hammond, Hani Shafai: now Kent Hagg takes a seat at the trough.

The vote, 6-4, saw Alderwomen Darla Drew, Lisa Modrick and Laura Armstrong and Alderman Ritchie Nordstrom in opposition and came after a bevy of substitute motions were made, amended, and rescinded, and voting on one particular motion failed. Council President Amanda Scott said it would be “insincere” to grant the Mission and others funding that could potentially be rescinded if the council were unable to identify another revenue source or if they reconsidered the building-permit fee issue and again opposed raising fees. Later in the meeting, the council unanimously approved a set of deadlines for Kent Hagg and his Freeland Ranch Community development to meet as Hagg tries to successfully build and fill 24 rental units with tenants on an 1-acre plot north of Rushmore Crossing by July 2020. The project has received over $195,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money and must fill at least 51 percent of the completed units with low-income persons to fulfill the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for the funds. [Rapid City Council approves budget with reductions to Cornerstone Mission]

Lisa Modrick was Lisa Wallace and Paul Miller's secretary in 1981 when i went to work at Twin City Fruit in Deadwood. She and then husband, also a Mike and a driver for Paul, attended my 1983 wedding reception in Spearditch. She was a knockout in those days and is another Deadwood girl with a hair-raising life story. i rented from her dad for a time. There's a 35mm photo of her talking with my dad at that party so i'll see if i can find it.

Back in 2013, NPR's Planet Money reported on an experiment in Kenya.

The results from the study are encouraging, says Johannes Haushofer, an economist at MIT's Poverty Action Lab who was one of the study's co-authors. "We don't see people spending money on alcohol and tobacco," he says. "Instead we see them investing in their kids' education, we see them investing in health care. They buy more and better food." Getting money made people happier, less stressed out. [What Happens When You Just Give Money To Poor People?]

How is creating a ghetto, tiny houses or otherwise, good for anyone? How are some 200 people with mental illnesses and diminished capacity living in close proximity going to generate incomes to feed themselves?

After the 1972 Flood that wiped out Teepee Town and killed some 238 people, mostly poor American Indians, the feds gave Rapid City rent supports to house those displaced by the disaster.

Homeless veterans are often refugees from combat. Under Denny Daugaard the state has the worst record in America in the housing of homeless veterans having over a sixty two percent increase in vet homelessness. Despite lies from SDGOP video lootery, payday loan sharks, domestic violence and homelessness are inextricably linked putting children at risk to more catastrophic consequences far more often than has happened in states that have legalized or lessened penalties for casual use of cannabis.

Hey, Rapid City: expand Medicaid for these people then offer a $3000 stipend to those who qualify, more for families and veterans then encourage people to flee South Dakota's unforgiving winters.