A blaze at 206 Cherokee Street last Wednesday destroyed a house with three apartments, displacing the families from their no longer habitable home. Fire Chief Kirk Reetz of Alta Fire Department called the damage a total loss of the building, owned by Cory and Melinda Weiland, with estimates still in the works. ...

Seven-year Alta-Aurelia band director Corbet Butler will be leaving the district to join Storm Lake after school breaks for the summer. Alta-Aurelia’s School Board approved his resignation Monday. The Spirit Lake native and 2011 Buena Vista University graduate has blazed trails in Storm Lake and its neighbors since college, keeping in tradition with a strong musical showing for the recently-merged district...

Alta-Aurelia’s school board is looking to make potential improvements to its football field and track. Alta Municipal Utility Manager Randy Tilk presented possible solutions for the issue with a lack of lighting around the track at night, looking as feasible ways to upgrade the wiring and move it from overhead to underground...

Bargain hunters, take note: Aurelia Middle School will be getting rid of years of accumulated property the week after Memorial Day. After XTREAM Fest, seventh and eighth grade teachers at A-A started looking for new community-based activities in May...

Alta-Aurelia High School students spent last Friday giving back to the community with service projects all over town. Citizens needing assistance were encouraged to call in for personal service from the students with chores such as yard work to beautify neighborhoods. City projects included cleaning up the ball fields, painting picnic tables at the shelter house and cleaning up trash from sidewalks and alleys. / Photos by Elijah Decious...

Alta City Council held the first reading of ordinances to consider changing sewer rates, solid waste collection fees and fees for services from Alta Fire Department. Ordinance 19-03 would increase the base sewer rate by $4, plus an increase of 75 cents per 1,000 gallons. Fee reductions of some equal amount, for both businesses and residents, are in consideration to balance the impact of the rate increase...

Cherokee Regional Medical Center (CRMC) announces that Alta resident Kristen Bromaghim, ARNP-C, has joined Cherokee Regional Clinic (CRC). Bromaghim started her duties at CRC earlier this year and is currently seeing patients in Cherokee. Bromaghim received her Master of Science in Nursing- Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP) from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2018. ...

On Monday, April 29, Keri Navratil, City Administrator for the City of Storm Lake gave an update on projects the city is involved in and answered numerous questions about specific street problems and other concerns from the members. We wish to thank Keri for sharing this information...

The end of the school year is approaching fast in Alta-Aurelia, and with the break varying types of anxiety among parents, teachers and children. This year, summer school will see some changes for those attending, ensuring they get a break too. “We’re changing the way we’re doing it completely,” said Stacy Mueller, Principal of Alta Elementary...

Cornwell, Frideres, Maher & Associates, P.L.C., CPA’s today released an audit report on the Alta Community School District in Alta, Iowa. The District’s revenues totaled $9,141,228 for the year ended June 30, 2018, a 5.5% increase from the prior year. Revenues included $3,409,313 in local tax, charges for service of $1,415,938, operating grants, capital grants, contributions and restricted interest of $2,068,609, unrestricted interest of$9,019 and other general revenues of $2,238,349...

At the end of the Second World War, the average American needed only a fourth grade education to be in the 50th percentile in salary. In the 1990’s, a 12th grade education was necessary to reach the same level. Today, a college graduate earns more than twice as much as someone with less than 12 years of education...

If you saw Phoebe outside her school over the last few weeks, chances are it was at a political event. Fired up by gun violence, the graduating Alta-Aurelia senior says it’s people her age that need to stand up and make their voices heard to move change...

Alta Elementary Principal Stacy Mueller is calling on all parents of children 3 and 4 years old to register for the 2019-2020 school year. Forms for those interested are available via a link on the school website’s homepage at alta-aurelia.org. Spots for 3-year-olds may be limited to 10, though staffing may depend on response shown from parents early on. Superintendent Lynn Evans previously said the program is staffed to handle about 60 4-year-olds, though that capacity isn’t locked...

After just under a year in Alta’s old high school building, it seems yet another business has found room for growth. Owner Christina Allen is excited to expand with another room on the third floor just for yoga and fitness, giving her 45 year-round dancers their own dedicated room...

Alta-Aurelia School Superintendent Lynn Evans was guest speaker Tuesday morning. He spoke on a  variety of topics. The tax rate in Alta to $9.88 compared to $9.76 last year. The uniform levy increased to $4.50. Mr. Evans is retiring after this school year. ...

The Alta-Aurelia School Board reviewed 11 Superintendent applications April 15, selecting four finalists for an interview next week. Kurt DeVore is a Central Office administrator with the Decorah Community School District, Decorah. He is currently the Director of information systems and instructional technology for the Decorah School District, and has served in this capacity for the past 14 years. ...

WEL-Life at Alta and Kismet ALT-A, LLC, are proud to announce Teresa Nothwehr has joined the community as the new executive director for WEL-Life’s assisted living community, with 44 apartments and a specialized memory care unit. Nothwehr most recently served as the director of development for Buena Vista University for 24 years...

The GFWC/Iowa Federation of Women’s Clubs has awarded Carly Drenth of Alta, a $1,000 E. Lucille Miller Music Scholarship for the 2019-2020 academic year. Carly was sponsored by the local GFWC/Iowa Aurelia Women’s Club. She will be attending the University of Northern Iowa at Cedar Falls. ...

The City of Alta Easter Egg Hunt for children up to 8 years old will be held at Wel-Life on Saturday, Apr. 13. Story time will be at 10 a.m. with an egg hunt to follow. The Easter Bunny and the library frog will be present for pictures afterwards. Sponsored by Wel-Life, Alta Community Library, Alta Chamber of Commerce, and Alta Kiwanis. / Photo by Elijah Decious...

Photos from this year's Alta-Aurelia Prom night.

The Alta-Aurelia Education Association has accepted the district’s proposal, accepting a 2.19 percent base wage increase after an initial February request for 4.59 percent. The base wage increase of $1,000 will also come at the cost of removing all steps in the salary schedule, however. Current Educational Lanes will remain a part of the schedule. The total package increase, taking FICA, IPERS and insurance obligations into account amounts to 1.99 percent...

The Alta-Aurelia Music Department took 77 students and 12 chaperones to Chicago, Illinois for our High School Music Trip on March 13th. This is a trip that occurs once every four years, or once in our high school students’ music career. Students who traveled on the trip are enrolled in either high school band or choir and fundraised on their own to travel on this trip. ...

The City of Alta is in discussion with a developer to build duplexes on the city’s Eighth Addition. Evan Grieme from Northwest Builders asked the city if they would be open to offers on the city’s south lots 11, 12 and 13. The builder is looking to put in houses with either 1,400 or 1,600 square feet on both sides...

A new measure put to a vote by Alta-Aurelia’s School Board passed Tuesday, changing the structure of the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) revenue from all property tax to a mix of property tax and income tax. The April 2 election passed the new income surtax overwhelmingly to the existing levy, with 90 percent of voters saying Yes. A total of 151 ballots were cast—just under 5 percent of over 3,000 registered voters in the district...

Alta City Council agreed to move forward on increasing sewage rates by 75 cents per thousand gallons, a part of increases planned after capital improvement plans reveled they needed to catch up on revenue to keep pace with infrastructure replacements and repairs...

Q&A fans the flames, turning the session into a match

“I’m here to tell you to leave your home town, leave your state, leave your country,” former First Lady of Iowa and literacy advocate Christie Vilsack said to students Wednesday—not so they never come back, but so that they can appreciate their small towns even more when they do. “You’ll all be better off if you do.”...

The 2nd grade class of Mrs. Cary Friedrich at Alta Elementary School was presented a plaque and an American flag at school. The flag was flown in the skies over the Middle East on a combat mission aboard the feared A-10C Warthog flown by Nick Sand, a 2007 Alta High School alum. ...

Westview Trailer Court owner Roy Worbetts has disputed the City of Alta’s claims of junk and disorderly conditions on his property, filing for a non-jury trial in Buena Vista County to dispute a pair of citations, scheduled Apr. 24. Worbetss’s Cherokee attorney, John Loughlin, will appear on the Canadian landlord’s behalf...

The Kiwanis Club of Alta has donated $200 to the Cares for Kids fund at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center. Pictured is Kiwanis Club member and former BVRMC Trustee Glen Huntington (center) presenting the check to Brad Strader, Executive Director of the Buena Vista Regional Healthcare Foundation and member of the Cares for Kids committee, and Katie Schwint, BVRMC Executive Director of Communications. ...

Where can we vote and when? Voting locations will be the Community Center in Alta and the Community Center in Aurelia. Patrons living in the previous Alta School District will vote in Alta. Patrons living in the previous Aurelia School District will vote in Aurelia. Both locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on April 2nd...

Tuesday morning fellow Kiwanian Jane Meyer spoke to our group. Jane talked about the fruit truck which comes to Storm Lake roughly once a month. The fruit truck usually parks in Bomgaar’s parking lot and each month features a different fruit. A variety of seasonal fruits from around the country are loaded onto a truck, shipped into Storm Lake, and are sold from the truck. January’s featured fruit was strawberries...

Thanks to seventh grade students at Aurelia Middle School, all Middle School students won a $1,000 donation to the school and a free trip for all students to Arnold’s Park in May. KTIV’s middle school contest solicited videos and submissions from middle schools on how they help their community. ...

The Rule of 88 was the goal, he says

An election on April 2 will give voters final approval for Alta-Aurelia Community School District’s decision to put a new income surtax in the levy mix. Superintendent Lynn Evans has been meeting with local Kiwanis clubs, pushing information about the new PPEL levy structure to the website and firing social media on all cylinders to ensure parents and residents are educated on what is happening...

The Alta-Aurelia Warrior Speech Team had a great evening at District Individual Speech Contest on Wednesday, February 27th in Algona at Bishop Garrigan High School. Nine students performed in 12 events and brought home 11 Division I ratings and one Division II rating. All nine performers will be moving on to the State Contest on March 9th at Woodbury Central High School in Moville. Participants include:...

Suzette Radke spoke to us about new and innovative happenings at BVU. The Education for Service Scholars will offer 10 full-term scholarships for students from Buena Vista Co.  Five students have to be from Storm Lake. Forum built in 1987 has undergone a transformation thanks to a $5.7 million donation.  Renovations began after Memorial Day include an elevator, student lounges with fireplaces, the Cru5h restaurant, and a game room...

Aurelia Elementary and Middle School celebrated STREAM Fest, combining science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math with parent-teacher night. Students had the chance to learn through interactive stations on each topic and display their own project work in the halls...

One more potentially in the works

Fine them until they comply, mayor says

Alta City Council signaled interest Monday in decreasing garbage rates by $4 while increasing the base sewage fee by $4, something City Clerk Megan Peterson recommended as an easy move that would not affect users negatively when paying their bills. “To me, it’s a no brainer,” City Councilman Denny Weber said. “It’s not costing the public anything, we’re just moving the revenue to an area that needs the revenue.”...

“Thanks everyone for supporting our small business in Alta, Iowa, these last 6 years!” read a caption posted by White House 220 Cupcakery, announcing their closing with a picture of Peg Hinkeldey and her grandchildren. “We will miss you!” White House 220 closed after its last day of business on February 23. Owners Peg and Bruce Hinkeldey are also selling the building it was in, a remodeled space on Main Street across from City Hall. /Photo by Eligah Decious...

Alta-Aurelia High School student Clarice Brechwald is making a name for herself in local art circles after placing in the top five out of nearly 100 student works submitted at Buena Vista University’s WISE art show. “This is definitely one of my more successful rounds,” said Brechwald on this art installation, on display at BVU’s gallery until March 14. Her first art show was last year in Fort Dodge...

Hair stylists at New Reflections in Aurelia know they do more than just cut hair—and they’re not just talking about perms and color. Since 2004, owner Mary Schulenberg knows that the listening ear of a hair stylist can be a life saver. “I’ve had clients call me in the middle of the night just because they’re going through tough times,” she said...

Alta Kiwanis will be hosting a pancake fundraser on March 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Alta Elementary school cafeteria. Adults and childfen over five years will cost $5 per ticket or a family ticket may be purchased for $15. The money raised by this event will be used for dervice projects for the children of this community...

Once again our club welcomed two guest speakers. First was Julie Langner Alta-Aurelia School Librarian. Julie discussed two topics. On March 4 - 8 Book Fair at the school library. This Book Fair targets pre-school and middle school students. Because of donations from parents, the school, and other organizations students will be able to receive free books...

Alta will need to wait another month to see if he can help extinguish the fire.

Union negotiation begins after 2% state increase, slew of early retirements

The Alta-Aurelia School Board has approved previous requests from Aurelia Kiwanis for funding to plan a summer trail project. Aurelia Kiwanis previously presented a funding request to cover the portion that runs on school property behind Aurelia Middle School as the trail is changed from gravel to concrete...

On a cold, snowy Sunday this week, a teacher found warmth in the outpouring of support from his community. Alta-Aurelia Community School District put on a silent action and meal to help the 27-year industrial art teacher and coach BJ Stevicks get through his battle with pancreatic cancer...