The lineup for the 35th annual free outdoor Saturday in the Park music concert in Sioux City has been set.
The headliner for the July 5 event will be Teddy Swims, according to an announcement Tuesday from SITP officials.
Another featured performer is Mavis Staples. She is the last surviving member of The Staple Singers, a blues and gospel group that first rose to fame in the 1960’s and carried forward long after that.
Teddy Swims performs indie music that blends country and soul. His top hit has been “Lose Control,” from 2023.
The festival was started in 1991 at the outdoor Grandview Park bandshell, where it has remained, often drawing crowds of 20,000. A second stage called the Abe Stage has other music acts elsewhere in the park.
Festival founder Dave Bernstein said it will be another great year for Saturday in the Park.
*Two organizations in Sioux City will be receiving more money to help refugee people who are resettling in town.
The Sioux City Council members in their Monday meeting approved receiving $46,200 from the state of Iowa, which will be directed to the Mary J. Treglia Community House and Lutheran Services of Iowa.
That money will be spent by September by the two entities for rental assistance to the refugees.
The latest influx of money is expected to be the last in $3 million the city received for the Rapid Rehousing and Homeless Prevention Programs dating back to 2022.
*Additionally, a sheriff in northeast Iowa has rejected an offer to make voluntary agreements with ICE to help enforce immigration laws.
When a federal immigration officer asked about the programs, Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy responded that he does not have enough staff or jail space to participate.
“We are a partner to their agency. Having that been said, we do not want to get into a binding agreement where they have the ability to control our employees, and we just think that that's what's in the best interest for our county residents,” Kennedy said.
Ninoska Campos told the Dubuque County supervisors at their meeting Monday that she supports that decision.
Campos is part of a civil rights complaint filed against the Iowa State Patrol after a traffic stop where she and other Latino workers were questioned about their immigration status. That was after the state agreed to form an immigration task force with ICE.
Campos spoke through a translator.
“We urge the board of supervisors to join the sheriff in saying no to racial profiling and no to local cooperation with ICE,” she said.
Others told the county board the sheriff’s office should do anything it can to support the Trump administration’s deportation goals.
*In other news, a federal court has issued more guidance on LGBTQ instructional bans in Iowa schools.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher ruled last week that educators are allowed to make neutral references to gender identity and sexual orientation. But, LGBTQ topics can’t be the primary point of a lesson.
ACLU Attorney Thomas Story says the judge is drawing lines between mandatory instruction and extracurriculars, but it’s subject to change. Story said the court understands that students are going to ask teachers questions, and they are allowed to answer them.
The judge also ruled it’s constitutional to notify parents when a student requests pronoun changes.
The rulings are in response to a challenge to a 2023 law restricting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in schools up through sixth grade.
*In other news of festivals, the Vermillion City Council met Monday evening, voting in favor of providing $4,900 for the Shakespeare Festival held annually in Prentis Park.
The money was requested by the Festival to make up for a budget shortfall stemming from arts funding policy changes from the Trump Administration.
Since its inception, the State, through the South Dakota Humanities Council, has financially supported the Festival. However, this year the Shakespeare Festival received a letter from the Council citing federal funding cuts and pausing all grant awards.
With the city funding, the festival is expected to happen on June 26th through the 29th.
