Stories from Tuesday, August 23, 2016

A grand opening ceremony for the expanded and renovated Buena Vista Regional Medical Center has been scheduled for Monday, August 29, starting at 10:30 a.m. The public is invited to come to the new main entrance area off Northwestern Drive. There will be a ribbon cutting, tours and refreshments. The $26 million project broke ground in July 2014...

At the most recent meeting of The Hunger Dialogue group in Storm Lake, a suggestion was made to look into a program offered by Iowa State University to help communities build their capacity to produce, process and distribute food. The Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit program was introduced at the Iowa Hunger Summit/World Food Prize event in 2014...

For students in the Storm Lake district, school begins today. But for many, it didn't end at the final bell last spring. According to principals at each level, the summer school effort has paid off. All would like to see the programs expanded - and all agree that it isn't likely to happen with the staff limitations they have...

On August 21 at approximately 5:04 p.m., the Buena Vista County Communications Center received a report of an accident at the intersection of 70th Ave. and 620th St. involving a motorcycle and a sport utility vehicle. A passenger in the sport utility vehicle reported the accident and that the person on the motorcycle was injured. The BV County Sheriff's Office and the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center ambulance were dispatched to the scene...

Tyson Foods' Meals That Matter' program - designed to respond to disaster sites - was tested over the weekend as it traveled to the flood zone in Louisiana. The flooding was called the worst natural disaster in the U.S. since Hurricane Sandy, with 60,000 homes heavily damaged and at least lives lost. ...

The Hippie Hustle 5k Walk/Run is seeking some Hippies to join the fun on Saturday, October 1st at 8 a.m. This fun run event starts at Main Street, Peterson, and is a fundraiser benefiting CAASA-Centers Against Abuse and Sexual Assault. Medals will be presented to the 1st-3rd male and female winners, along with a prize for the best dressed...

On Monday, August 22, Bill Hanigan of the Davis Brown Law Firm filed an emergency motion with the Iowa Utilities Board to temporarily prevent construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across the property of fifteen Iowa landowners while a lawsuit remains pending in Polk County District Court...

Court documents posted Thursday at the Clay County Courthouse are beginning to provide additional details about allegations surrounding a former Spencer pastor. Kevin Grimes faces five counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor through his roles as director of the Spencer Dream Center and pastor at DaySpring Assembly of God Church...

MILFORD -- After anxious weeks of hoping and waiting, the Milford Pioneer Theatre has reopened for business. On Aug. 12 the screen lit up again and an appreciative audience saw a movie in Milford for the first time in months. The movie house had closed down when all film distribution went strictly digital. A new digital projector's cost was prohibitive to the owners, the Mayer family, in spite of a fundraising effort in the community...

The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors won't become compatible with a statewide emergency services network anytime soon. An agenda item for the Aug. 16 supervisor meeting was for Sheriff Dave Scott and 911 Director Dave Skou to address the supervisors about radios...

Buena Vista County Conservation Board will celebrate the opening of their new cabin at Buena Vista County Conservation Park in the North Shelter Area at 359 440th Street, Peterson, Iowa on Saturday, August 27, from 1 to 4 p.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. Refreshments will be provided while the public tour the cabin after the ceremony...

On the evening of Friday, August 19, at approximately 6:36 p.m., the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 1304 Erie Street in reference to a 911 call of an unknown problem. Upon arrival of police they met with an adult female who alleged that her boyfriend physically assaulted her in the garage of the residence following an argument. ...

From time to time, the Storm Lake Board of Education is called upon to expel a wayward student. This month, they had the rarer opportunity to bring one back. With some conditions, a student who had previously been expelled will be allowed back, starting in the heavily-supervised alternative school program, for the benefit of other students, until district officials are sure he is ready for the mainstream classroom...

A fundraiser golf outing last spring raised enough to offset the cost of student activity tickets for this school year at SLHS. With the new funds, the tickets could be offered for $10. Last year at this time, 180 tickets had been sold, and as of last week, 500 have been taken...

The City of Storm Lake would like to notify residents that the south lane of W. 4th Street between Larchwood Drive and Swallum Drive will be closed through Friday, August 26th at 5 p.m. The closure will be in front of the new addition to Methodist Manor to allow for work on the sewer line...

Have you ever scooped moldy corn out of a bin or had your stirring system get stuck in the bin? Have you ever worried whether you have harvested corn that was a little too wet to handle? Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is offering an intensive one-day course to help farmers optimize and understand their grain drying systems. The course will be offered on Aug 30 at Sac County Extension and Outreach office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m...

Horses take the reins at the Outdoor Arena during the 2016 Clay County Fair. Beside the daily open class, 4-H and FFA horse shows, special events and classes will happen throughout Sept. 10-18. For open class horse exhibitors, new this year is the High Point Award, which will be awarded for each weekend of horse shows. ...

We've been searching and searching for monarch eggs and caterpillars, and disappointment has seemed the rule of the day as of late. According to the University of Kansas' Monarch Watch program, a sleet storm hit monarch overwintering sites in Mexico in March. Some butterflies had already started north, but numbers reported up to 50 percent of monarchs that remained were killed, although percentages varied from colony to colony...

Sam Aronson, Story Hour Leader for Albert City Public Library, earned his Teacher's Aide Diploma through a correspondence course from Stratford Career Institute, St. Albans, Vermont. Through an advertising postcard he received in the mail, his interest was piqued to further his education. Sam has been and continues to help out with the 1st and 2nd graders reading program at the Albert City-Truesdale Elementary School...

High school seniors and their parents will be able to get information on the college financial aid process during a free presentation offered by Storm, Lake High School and the Iowa College Access Network® (ICAN). The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 1, in the Media Center of the Storm Lake High School. ...

When the Storm Lake schools needed a new bus driver to fill a vacancy, a teacher stepped up. The district received no applications when advertising the job. Curt Radcliff, who has some past experience driving a bus, consented to take over the Bus #10 route for three hours a day. ...

University of Wisconsin Superior Students completing their degrees were invited to participate in the university's Commencement held May 14 at Siinto S. Wessman Arena on the UW-Superior campus. Graduating this summer term was: Aurelia Kylee Jean Koivisto, Bachelor of Science, Accounting...

Edwards Chevrolet, The Zone Entertainment, and KAYL Radio teamed up to help Upper Des Moines outfit school kids in Buena Vista county with backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming school year. Edwards Chevrolet parked a pick-up truck in their showroom, and people donated school supplies in exchange for a raffle ticket to win a 49 inch TV donated by The Zone...

Storm Lake St. Mary's School is welcoming several new faculty and staff members for the 2016-17 school year. Pictured from left - Steve Swartout, MS/HS English educator, Alicia Gatzemeyer, preschool associate, Rhonda Harrington, elementary/HS Spanish educator, Pennie Kragel, preschool associate, Katelyn Smith, preschool educator, Lori Madsen, first grade educator, Melissa Schwery, Director of Interventions/ELL, Allison Lange, Kindergarten educator, Donna Sennert, business educator/technology coordinator and Katie Hott, kindergarten associate. ...

September 13, 1946 - August 19, 2016

May 29, 1925 - August 13, 2016

Darren Jaymes Van Houten was born July 5th at 4:26 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long. He was welcomed home by his big sister Eva. Proud parents are Morgan and RaShel Van Houten of Alta.

Josh and Katie Lindgren of Newell are proud to announce the birth of their son, Cash Douglas, on July 21st. Cash was welcomed home by big brothers Colton and Levi. Grandparents of Cash are Bruce and Deb Richardson of Storm Lake and Neal and Deb Lindgren of Fonda...

What will it take to get more students involved in activities in the Storm Lake schools? The Board of Education broached the subject this week during a discussion on goals for the school year ahead. Board member Amelia Marroquin asked for ideas on how to increase participation. "Many kids are not involved in any activities," she said...

The agenda is set for the open house and dedication for the new performance auditorium at Storm Lake High School. The event is Sunday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. The first group to christen the stage will be the SLHS jazz band. The choir and orchestra will perform later in the event...

For the past couple of years, Storm Lake officials have hoped to establish a tree nursery, to raise some of the specimens it expects to need to replace aging or threatened trees in parks and other areas. It has found a site for the project in an unexpected place - the middle of the city's own golf course. Last fall, 200 seedlings were planted - two varieties of oaks, Kentucky coffee and sycamores...

The Storm Lake City Council has passed a first reading of a proposal to update construction codes to the newest national standards. The city council is expected to waive a second reading and pass the codes on final reading Sept. 6. Housing Codes officer Scott Oleson noted a couple of changes...

This school year will mark a transition between the old No Child Left Behind ideals put in place under the Bush Administration, and the new Every Child Succeeds Act that will take effect next year. The status ratings for schools on the various core subjects will be frozen at last year's levels with the state making no calculations this year, which means districts like Storm Lake do not have an opportunity to improve on their status in 2016-17, school district officials said at a meeting this week.. ...

On the afternoon of Wednesday, August 17, at approximately 4 p.m., the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 1334 Erie Street #1 in reference to a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival police met with Erik Javier Martinez Ortiz, age 28, and Diana Guzman Rivera, age 25, both of Storm Lake. Police allege that both parties engaged in an argument and assaulted each other. Police observed superficial injuries to Martinez Ortiz sustained in the physical altercation...

A Lake View company has been selected to construct the Abner Bell Created Wetland in the Little Storm Lake area. In July, the Storm Lake City Council rejected all of the bids for the project, after they came in well above the engineer's estimate. The project was slightly modified by taking the landscaping out of the contract. After putting it out to bid again, the low bidder is Healy Excavating, at $206,096. Healy has done work in the City in the past with good results...

A Sioux City hospital is recruiting nurses from overseas to fill a growing number of vacancies. UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer, Priscilla Stokes, says the retirements of longtime nurses combined with an increasing number of aging baby boomers has led the hospital to start international recruitment...

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, says he has twice written to the FBI director over the agency's investigation of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. This week, the Senate received the FBI's interview summaries from the investigation. Grassley made the following comment on the materials...

Governor Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced a study of laws governing the regulation of alcohol in Iowa and have tasked Stephen Larson, Administrator of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, and Debi Durham, Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, to spearhead the working group review...

A Grand Opening was held Friday for a new Dance Club in Store Lake, "El Mariachi Dance Club" located next to El Mariachi Family Restaurant at 523 Erie St. The dance club will have access to the restaurant and will feature live music and DJ music every weekend from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. starting on Friday...

Storm Lake City Administrator Jim Patrick has informed city council members that he is considering retiring from his position. In a letter to council members late this week, Patrick said he is looking at the possibility of retiring next spring or summer, but that his plans are not yet finalized. ...

Average retail gasoline prices in Iowa have risen 0.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.15/gallon. This compares with the national average that has not moved in the last week to $2.12. Storm Lake consumers have seen the opposite. Prices jumped from $2.02 to $2.09 Thursday at some stations. This compares to $2.30 in Des Moines and $2.14 in Omaha...

Storm Lake City officials are continuing to wrestle with requests to keep the campground open this winter for the first tine to house workers on the Dakota Access pipeline. Nearly 40 RV spots have already been reserved, and several more are on a waiting list. Another request came in late this week for 50 more spots for the workers...

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City announced this week that country music icon, Ronnie Milsap, and folk rock/country group, The Turnpike Troubadours will take the Anthem stage this November. Ronnie Milsap has an impressive six Grammy Awards, four ACM awards, seven CMA awards, and 40 No. 1 country hits. Most recently, in 2014, Milsap was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame...

Hunched over with a joystick, eyes laser focused forward towards a frenetic video game screen, a gamer is in intense competition with other gamers online. Ball cap, t shirt, shorts, feeling cocky, cool, locked in an e-game battle. Parents, sounds like your kids' bedroom, or your video rec room? Nope, this kid is one of many professional e-gamers that's participating in the already booming area of electronic sports, or e -- sports. ...

Couples will learn social dancing at an upcoming evening short course to be held in Storm Lake. Instructors Dan and Brenda Anderson will guide participating couples through the two most utilized social dance steps: the swing and the fox trot. The class will start Thursday, October 20th and will be held for five consecutive Thursday evenings from 6:30 - 9 p.m. The lessons will be held at the Storm Lake East Elementary School Gym...

A fundraiser event is scheduled to benefit Sue Foster, a local woman who is in treatment for colon cancer. Foster is a longtime employee of Lakeshore Cafe and Zimmy's. Her ordeal has stretched for a year. The fundraiser will be August 28 at Chautauqua Park in Storm Lake, 4-7 p.m. BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans and coleslaw meals provided by the restaurant, for a free will donation. A silent auction will be held at 5 p.m...

Wanted person On the evening of Wednesday, August 17, at approximately 8:15 p.m., the Storm Lake Police Department responded to 505 East 5th Street in reference to locating a wanted person. Upon arrival police located and arrested Danian Alexander Romero-Irias, age 23 of Storm Lake, who was wanted out of Buena Vista County on a warrant charging him with Failure to Pay Fines reference OWI...

When we think of Immunizations we usually think of children's immunizations, getting them ready for day care or school, making sure all of their immunizations are up to date. Adults also need immunizations during their lifetime! Certain vaccines will depend upon the age of the adult...

Spencer Women of Today are continuing their annual fundraisers to provide aid for those fighting breast cancer at the Women's Wellness Center. They are currently hosting a Cupcakes for a Cause drive as one of the first fundraisers leading up to Pink Out Night. The cupcakes are baked by Gina Kohrs and are offered in a variety of flavors including: wedding cake, lemon, chocolate fudge, chocolate peanut butter, red velvet, carrot, cookies and creme and snickers...

United Community Health Center will host a Lunch and Learn on Tuesday, August 30, from 1 -- 2 p.m. All who are interested are welcome to attend this complimentary presentation, you may bring your lunch & refreshments will be provided by our host, United Community Health Center...

As school gets back in session and summer comes to an end, LifeServe Blood Center is urging eligible students and other blood donors to get back in the swing of donating blood. More than 3,000 units of blood are needed each week in order for LifeServe Blood Center to meet the needs of its more than 120 hospital partners in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota...

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With the Beaver football season less than two weeks away, the players are still going through practice with the intention of getting completely ready for their first contest. Last year's 1-9 record is in the rear view for some of the players this season for the Beavers. Fifth year wide receiver, senior Jalen Henningsen, former Alta-Aurelia standout, is looking forward to the chance of another year in the Beaver uniform...

On a rainy Friday night, the Storm Lake Tornadoes traveled to Fort Dodge to go against the Fort Dodge Dodgers for a scrimmage. It was an early test for the Tornadoes, who according to head coach Rudy Wieck, went well. "We learned a lot, and we stayed healthy," he said...