Happy Friday! Megan here.
Weather check: Super cold this weekend
🍔Burger check: You beautiful people have purchased a total of 51 "Local News Burgers" over the last few days, and for that, I'm incredibly grateful. We still have a long ways to go to hit my goal of selling 500 of these metaphorical meat patties by the end of January.
- Here's some important context: Only about 6% of Sioux Falls Simplified readers are paying members (if you're one of 'em, skip this section). It's an essential part of supporting the work we do here, but it isn't enough to cover the operational costs of providing this independent local news. Up til now, I've shied away from sharing this. But I think it's important that you guys know that if you want no B.S., easy-to-read news in your community (written by someone who also lives here and not some AI robot), now is a really good time to invest in it.
- P.S. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm committed to keeping this news free. But, ya know, if $10 won't make or break ya, maybe consider buying one of these little burger babies. They're cute as hell, and they taste like free speech.
This weekend, it's a little reprieve from a busy and newsy start to the year. You'll meet a performance group bringing hygge to Sioux Falls via mythical coffee shop. You'll also learn how Sioux Falls Lutheran Schools are keeping up with a fast-growing student population (and lots of construction). Plus, catch a few Super Simplified headlines to carry you through the weekend.
And now, news:
COMMUNITY
How a fake coffee shop built a real community
Simplified: Midtown Coffee Radio Hour — a variety show based in a mythical Sioux Falls coffee shop — has been bringing music, stories and overall coziness to the community for five years. Here’s a look at how a small pandemic-era radio show went from backyard performances to the Orpheum Theatre.
Simplified: Midtown Coffee Radio Hour — a variety show based in a mythical Sioux Falls coffee shop — has been bringing music, stories and overall coziness to the community for five years. Here’s a look at how a small pandemic-era radio show went from backyard performances to the Orpheum Theater.
Tell me more
Midtown Coffee Radio Hour started around Christmas 2020 when Nick and Tina Jackson had the idea to start a radio show in the style of popular NPR shows like Prairie Home Companion or Live From Here.
- The couple had moved back to Sioux Falls from Denver a couple of years prior, and as creatives and performers, they were looking for a way to create art in a time when folks weren't able to get together in crowds.
They called up their friends – singers, musicians, orators – and created a mythical midtown coffee shop in central Sioux Falls as a home for the radio show. The first episode was recorded at Asbury United Methodist Church, where Midtown performer Matt Morrison serves as pastor.
- The group recorded several shows in the church and released them on podcast streaming platforms before inviting a small audience to a backyard performance in the summer of 2021.
"We initially started this selfishly for us to have something to do," said Maren Engel, a singer, songwriter and Midtown performer from the start. "It really quickly became something that our listeners loved because they could tell that we love each other and that we love doing it."
Five years later, the group is preparing to bring Midtown Coffee Radio Hour to the big stage at the Orpheum Theatre next week.
"It's wild to think that five years later here we are doing a show at the Orpheum," Midtown performer Wade Gemar said. "It’s hard to imagine my life without it now."
Tell me even more: From backyard to the big stage
EDUCATION
How Sioux Falls Lutheran School's growth shows support for private schools
Simplified: Sioux Falls Lutheran School began nearly fifty years ago as a preschool in a church basement. Today, the school system serves more than 500 students from infants through 12th graders. Here's a look at how the private school has managed growth and is looking to keep a close-knit community as it continues to grow.
Why it matters
- In 2020, Sioux Falls Lutheran School moved to a new building near 85th Street and Interstate 29. In the six years since, the school has completed five additions, including the most recent addition of an expanded middle and high school wing.
- The growth also illustrates the community's support for private school – with $2.3 million in funds raised for just the most recent project alone. In addition, Sioux Falls Lutheran has seen enrollment grow by 62% since 2020.
- Looking to the future, Executive Director Tia Esser said the goal is to continue growing, knowing the buildings limits. Esser said the school will keep each grade level limited to two sections – even if demand for the school increases as school choice options expand at the state and federal level.
"It helps us preserve a tight-knit community," Esser said. "It's intentionally intimate."
Tell me more
TL;DR
Super Simplified Stories
- We're goin' up, up, up. Sioux Falls added just over 5,000 residents in 2025, bringing the total population to 224,676. For context, when Mayor Paul TenHaken first took office eight years ago, the population was 182,500. That's a 23% increase – and who knows what'll happen over the next mayor's term.
- In tandem with a growing population, the city also saw lots of construction last year. The city surpassed $1.3 billion in total construction permit valuation – the second-best year on record.
- The top three highest-value projects were CJ Foods at $170 million, Avera’s women’s and children’s expansion at $131 million and Good Samaritan’s Founder’s Crossing at $109 million.
- This one's for you, late-night snackers.* Locally owned Fat Shack is serving up the freshest comfort food in town with never-frozen burgers, wings cooked the minute you order them, cooked-fresh Philly cheesesteaks and sandwiches. They're also open until 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Learn more here.
- What's happening in Pierre. The bills are rolling in, including one that would require state employees to have a "cooling off period" before leaving state jobs to take work at private companies benefitting from state funds. South Dakota Searchlight has the full details here. (And they're also churning out several stories a day on the legislative happenings – you can follow all of that work here.)
*Denotes a paid partnership
THIS AND THAT
What I'm falling for this week:
ICYMI
More Simplified Stories
Megan Raposa
Megan Raposa
Megan Raposa
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