The Sioux City metro area has been picked for the fourth straight year for the top spot for per capita economic development by a national magazine.
Site Selection magazine, a trade publication based in Atlanta, on Monday said the Siouxland Metropolitan Statistical Area earned the top national ranking for 2023 for cities under 200,000 in population. Bowling Green, Kentucky, came in second in the category.
The criteria include ongoing large-dollar investments and creation of new jobs. The Sioux City metro area includes Le Mars, Iowa, plus South Sioux City, and Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. The Sioux City metro also finished first in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Additionally, the State of South Dakota was recognized as the top performing state in the nation based on per capita economic development projects for 2023.
In other news, the Sioux City School District on Monday announced the winner of the annual Teacher of the Year award, and Kris McCarthy of Riverside Elementary School was selected.
McCarthy was cited for her exemplary teaching skills, including creating a learning environment that makes it easy to reach students and carry out district initiatives, according to Superintendent Rod Earleywine.
McCarthy has taught for 18 years, including at Homer, Nebraska, before coming to work for the Sioux City district in 2012. She is a graduate of Morningside University and wayne State College.
Each year the Sioux City district names a top teacher in each of the school buildings, then the Teacher of the Year is named in a surprise ceremony.
In Nebraska, Governor Jim Pillen on Monday vetoed a bill that would create Syringe Service Programs in local jurisdictions.
Such programs would have allowed the distribution of hypodermic needles to drug users, while giving an exception from prosecution for any service providers authorized to distribute the needles.
The Syringe Service Program bill was introduced by Senator Megan Hunt of Omaha, and was readily passed by the Legislature on a vote of 30-7-12.
Those who support syringe services programs say they help protect communities by preventing infectious disease outbreaks and facilitating safe disposal of used syringes. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, participants in syringe exchange programs are 3.5 times more likely to stop injecting drugs.
Additionally, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has announced dozens of Iowans as appointments to state-level boards and commissions, including a former state lawmaker from Sioux City on the important Transportation Commission.
Bill Anderson, who now lives in Cherokee County, was nominated for the Transportation Commission.
Other Northwest Iowans tapped for the state entities including Peggy La, of Woodbury County, for the Commission on Asian Affairs, Jim Christensen, of Buena Vista County, for the Environmental Protection Commission, Mathew Connealy, of Woodbury County, for the Iowa Lottery Board of Directors, and Gary Langbein, of Sac County, for the Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Board.
Those appointments become official once the Iowa Senate approves the people for the posts.
