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Small SD town of McIntosh loses bar in fire
• McINTOSH, S.D. (AP) -- The small north-central South Dakota town of McIntosh is without a place to grab an after-work beer after a Main Street bar burned down over the weekend.
• Assistant fire chief Gary Bubbers says the Main Street Grill and Lounge caught fire about 2 a.m. Sunday and was destroyed. The business had closed for the night and there were no injuries.
• The town of about 175 residents sits about a mile south of the North Dakota border.
• Bubbers says the cause of the fire is under investigation.
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SD lawmaker wants to tighten payday loan rules
• CHET BROKAW, Associated Press
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- After negotiating with representatives of the payday lending industry, Rep. Steve Hickey has come up with a proposal he hopes the South Dakota Legislature will pass to put restrictions on the short-term loans he says can trap poor people in crippling cycles of debt.
• The Sioux Falls Republican said industry representatives were alarmed last year by his effort that would have placed a proposed law on the statewide ballot to cap interest rates for such loans. He said he agreed to stop the ballot effort if they would cooperate to write reasonable regulations.
• The compromise resulted in a bill that instead of limiting interest rates for short-term loans would impose additional state regulations and limit the size of loans based on a borrowers' ability to repay. The House Commerce and Energy Committee will hold a hearing on the measure Wednesday.
• "You would think any reasonable, responsible lender would ensure a person borrowing the money can indeed pay them back. Stunningly, this industry doesn't operate like that," Hickey said. "They get people in, give them money and keep flipping the loans many times over. It's extremely profitable for them. It's a debt trap."
• Current law puts a limit of $500 on a short-term loan or the total balances of all loans made by a lender to a customer. Hickey's bill would change that to $700, but the loan could not exceed 25 percent of the borrower's gross monthly income.
• The measure also would limit loan renewals or rollovers, give borrowers a chance to cancel loans within a day of making a deal, allow extended payment (Continued on page 33)
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