Decision to Rename Sioux Falls Road over Protests Stands

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls City Council decision to rename a stretch of state Highway 11 "Veterans Parkway" over the objections of history buffs will stand.

Councilman Greg Jamison on Tuesday asked his colleagues to reconsider last week's decision. Jamison had voted in favor of the change from Powder House Road but said he later concluded he made a mistake, realizing the highway has no relevance to military history.

History aficionados oppose the renaming because they think it will erode memories of a New Year's Eve 1936 explosion, when a Sioux City, Iowa, gang lit a Sioux Falls dynamite storage building on fire to get rid of adversaries.

Councilman Kenny Anderson Jr. said he's "bewildered" by calls to commemorate criminal activity.

The council refused to reconsider the vote.

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