Happy Friday the 13th! Megan here.

Weather check: Maybe THIS is the fake spring that lasts

This week, you'll meet a Grammy-winning musician teaching in Sioux Falls. Plus, Minnesota Avenue's glow up is getting a thumbs down from City Council. Then, catch up on the latest from Pierre and a few other Super Simplified headlines to get you through the weekend.

And now, news:

CITY

Why councilors have concerns about Minnesota Avenue

Simplified: The Sioux Falls City Council on Tuesday authorized more than $12 million for phase two of a project reconstructing Minnesota Avenue. But before the vote, several councilors expressed concerns about medians, traffic flow and the lack of a comprehensive plan for the main thoroughfare.

Why it matters

• The city has already completed the first phase of Minnesota Avenue from Russell Avenue to Second Street, and the next phase would redo the street from Second to Eighth Street. The street reconstruction also allows the city to replace older water mains with new, larger ones to accommodate city growth.
• The big concern from councilors, though, was the median – particularly the aesthetics of the new median on North Minnesota Avenue. Councilor Curt Soehl called it, "trashy," and Councilor Vernon Brown said the architecture was "brutalistic."
• Public Works Director Mark Cotter told councilors the median in the next segment would be a shorter, curb-height median, and City Engineer Andy Berg said the goal is to have fewer "conflict movements," e.g. left turns, in traffic. But Soehl also expressed concerns about the use of the median at all – noting concerns that it could restrict access to businesses and create a "sterile strip of highway."

"I just think every time we approve a median down Minnesota Avenue, we’re closer to making the whole thing a median," Soehl said. "And honestly, I don't know if the business owners, especially south of 18th Street, understand what’s coming to them."

Tell me more about medians

COMMUNITY

Meet the Grammy-winning musician teaching at Augie

Simplified: Matthew Whitaker started playing piano as a toddler. Now 24, he's teaching collegiate-level piano as the Augustana University School of Music's inaugural artist-in-residence, and earlier this month, he won a Grammy for Best Arrangement in the instrumental category.

Tell me more

Whitaker, who was born blind, recalls getting a keyboard as a gift and teaching himself nursery rhymes at age 3. By age 5, he was taking lessons to become classically trained in piano and soon expanded to drums and other instruments.

"When I was 7, I got into jazz," Whitaker said. "My dad played it on the radio and ever since then it's been my favorite genre."

By age 10, Whitaker started touring, and he's gone on to graduate from Juilliard and play venues around the world.

He first got connected to Augustana University through his endorsement with Yamaha, and he played in the 2024 Jazz on the Upper Great Plains festival. From there, Augustana's Peter Folliard, who was then dean of the music school, asked him about coming on to teach as an artist-in-residence.

"He's more than a piano teacher," sophomore Adam Brachman said. "He shows us what it's like to have complete mastery over the piano and being able to feel the music."

Tell me more about the Grammy

TL;DR

Super Simplified Stories

• Airport secures the bag. The Sioux Falls Regional Airport expansion got a big boon this week from Congress with a $30 million appropriation. SiouxFalls.Business has the details here.
• What's happening in Pierre? Quite a bit. Thank goodness for our friends at South Dakota Searchlight being the boots on the ground reporting (so I don't have to).
  • One of the big headlines is a potential for the "big three" – education, medicaid providers and state employees – to get more than a 0% funding increase.
  • Gov. Larry Rhoden also officially signed a bill to deregulate gun silencers, which he said positions South Dakota as the "the most Second Amendment-friendly state in America."
  • There's also been action on cellphone bans, sports betting, requiring employers to check the immigration status of employees and a bill that would require public schools to teach students to teach material that "shows the progress of prenatal human development from fertilization through birth.”
• Mentor mayor. Mayor Paul TenHaken last week was recognized by a national nonprofit for his work championing youth mentoring. During his term as mayor, he's been a vocal advocate for mentoring elementary students, started the Mayor's Youth Council to mentor high school students, and supported mentorship and support for folks transitioning out of incarceration. He was honored at the 2026 National Mentoring Summit last Thursday, Feb. 5, in Washington, D.C. 
  • P.S. More mentors are needed. For a list of organizations seeking volunteers or for more information, call the Helpline Center at 211 or visit helplinecenter.org/volunteer-connections/sioux52.
• Call for art. The city is now accepting applications from artists who want to paint storm inlets to help educate the public on the importance of water quality and remind them that storm drains lead directly to the river. Want to see your art on a storm inlet? Get the details here. Applications are due May 1.

THIS AND THAT

What I'm falling for this week:

• Cupid's Cafe
• Nutella
• Red flags

ICYMI

More Simplified Stories

Stuff to do: Valentine’s edition

Your guide to whatever kind of Valentine’s Day you want to have.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

How the library is retooling its digital assets – and saying goodbye to Hoopla

Siouxland Libraries will phase out use of the Hoopla app at the end of March as it moves away from the pay-per-use model of sharing digital assets like ebooks, audiobooks and movies. But fear not, e-readers – there are two new digital options already in place to help fill the gap.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

Councilors look to set hard cap on rec center spending

The Sioux Falls City Council on Tuesday discussed setting a hard cap on how much the city can spend to construct a new indoor pool and recreation center in Frank Olson Park.

Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

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