Stories from Tuesday, March 7, 2017

I was having a hard time logging into my newspaper’s web page, and finally got a tech person on the phone. After a little while, she asked if she could give me a new password. Of course I said “yes,” but I wondered why I needed a password at all. This wasn’t my bank account, it was a newspaper subscription. ...

Heading south on North Lake Avenue after having a super meal of hand breaded cod and sweet potatoes fries. Rolling passed Storm Lake Chevy dealer, now they know how to fly old Glory as does Buena Vista University. Moving by a bank on North Lake Avenue they have a proper flag pole, although the flag is missing. The American veterans would like to see Glory flying there...

Worthan wonders if controversial lawsuit targeting area counties will ‘go away’

Tornado Alley has now been open for six months at Storm Lake High School. This project has turned into a great resource and asset for the Storm Lake School and community. Its primary food donations come from the Food Bank of Iowa in Des Moines.  The students take inventory every month and then place an order for the necessary things from the food bank. ...

I had been a farm wife, mother to three and a school secretary for the Storm Lake School District for 26 years when then, Buena Vista Extension Director, Rhonda Christensen called and said, “Virginia, could you come help in our office? Just answering phones would be a big help!” I had just retired in 1997 from being a secretary in the Storm Lake South Elementary building, then helping Community Education to get started. ...

In a few short weeks, the Storm Lake High School Auditorium will be home to a long-awaited new Steinway D Grand Piano. On February 13 and 14, the Storm Lake School District sent Jeanette Hinkeldey, choir accompanist, to the Steinway factory in Queens, New York. The purpose of the trip was for Hinkeldey to select the piano that the community worked tirelessly to raise money to purchase. The fund drive totaled $141,000, enough for the piano with a reserve for future maintenance...

After falling through the ice on Little Storm Lake Saturday afternoon, a stranded woman made a signal fire that led to her rescue. According to Buena Vista County Sheriff Kory Elston, the Buena Vista County Communications Center received a 911 call from a 25 year old female reporting she was lost in a marshy area west of Storm Lake. ...

The Shorty’s Island restoration project is scheduled to be addressed by the Natural Resource Commission at its March 9 meeting in Des Moines. Bids were taken in February. The meeting is open to the public. The project is listed as “Storm Lake State Park Phase 1.”...

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley wants answers on a reported FBI plan to hire former British spy Christopher Steele to investigate Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. Grassley, a supporter of President Trump, said in a statement sent to the Pilot-Tribune Monday that the FBI was aware that the spy was being paid by Democrat political operatives to conduct opposition research on Trump.  Steele is the author of the controversial dossier that includes unsubstantiated claims alleging ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.. ...

Senator Chuck Grassley’s regional director based in Sioux City, Jacob Bossman, will be holding open office hours in Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Sac, Ida, Emmet, Palo Alto, Clay, Osceola, Dickinson and O’Brien counties on March 8, 14 and 20. The office hours provide an opportunity for Iowans to obtain casework assistance or to express views...

Butterflies, bees of all kinds, hummingbirds, moths and ants are all pollinators, affecting the entire food source on planet earth. “We are losing our pollinators at an alarming rate,” Dickinson County Conservation Board Executive Director Lee Sorenson, said. “It is an international problem with a 58 percent decline in the honeybee population in the past 59 years and a 90 percent decline in monarch butterflies in the last 20 years alone.”...

This is the end of the eighth week of this session and it was our first funnel week. I have mentioned before that a funnel means in order to stay alive, a bill must pass from a standing committee. As you can imagine, there was a lot of activity at the Capitol as sub-committees and committees met to get legislation moving. ...

IOWA CITY — Iowa State University is supporting a plan to transfer the state’s 27-year-old center for energy research to Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration. The university confirmed Monday that the Iowa Energy Center is expected to move to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, which has an energy office that works to assist the private sector...

DENISON— A man accused of crashing his car into a river in western Iowa, killing a teenager, has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against him in the case. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that 24-year-old Ramon Hernandez remains jailed in Crawford County. He is charged with vehicular homicide and eight drug and alcohol counts...

Storm Lake Police would like to thank everyone who supported the Run Ranger Run Team effort during February. The SLPD team raised just under $2,600 for veterans and ran 632 miles. “It’s always good to give back to those who have sacrificed for us,” they said...

Customers will have the opportunity to donate fresh milk when they shop through March 14

ISU Extension and Outreach-Buena Vista County invites community members, organizations, school personnel, volunteers, counselors, law enforcement, professionals working with youth, and adults who care about youth to join the conversation about the effect of childhood experiences on people’s lives through a discussion about the Adverse Childhood Experience study...

The final film for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was something I was looking forward to. Everyone seemed to think it was amazing and I’ve had a soft spot for the Wolverine since Saturday Morning Cartoons back in the day. So watching Jackman’s incarnation of the unparalleled X-men over the last couple decades has been a movie-going treat. I was prepared for the worst, as it was his last film, I was certain I was ready. Good lord was I wrong...

Witter Gallery Director Cindy Barahona Roth recently obtained an inflatable character representing the iconic 1890s painting known as “The Scream,” an autobiographical image by Edvard Munch. As a fun project for the local art gallery, the character may be hiding out around the community. Keep your eyes open, and if you find it, post a picture of yourself with The Scream and you’ll have a chance to win a free membership to a Witter art class. / Photo by Dana Larsen...

On Thursday, March 2nd the East Early Childhood preschool in Storm Lake celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a literacy/song event. They wore crazy socks, sang songs, read poems and enjoyed the Dr. Seuss book, “My Many Colored Days” as a few of the activities. Many classes, staff and even the cooks dressed up. For lunch, green eggs and ham were served...

Storm Lake Dance Squad Night will be held Friday at the high school gym, starting at 7 p.m. The theme is “Please Don’t Stop the Music.” Admission is $5 for students and adults. No activity tickets will be allowed because the event is a fundraiser. Several routines will be featured including the squad’s State-winning dances, father-daughter, coed and little friends routines. Perry High School Pulse Dance Team will also perform as a guest team...

Families in and around Cherokee and Aurelia are invited to participate in Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach’s Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 which begins the evening of March 14 at the Cherokee Middle School...

Judd Sennert, son of Paul and Sara Sennert, is a Senior at St. Mary’s and Senior Class President. Following graduation in May Judd plans to serve in the US Army. Logan Musel, a Senior at Storm Lake High School, is the son of Tom and Donna Musel. Active in music programs, Logan looks forward to attending Drake University with a major in Music Education and Performance...

Clayton Ehlers, a student at Northwestern College in Orange City, is among 171 students who will travel across the United States and overseas for the college’s annual Spring Service Projects (SSP) March 4–13. This year’s teams will serve at 12 sites. ...

ISU Extension and Outreach-Buena Vista County hosted workshops on February 22 and March 1 to learn some new skills – crochet and jewelry making. Twelve workshop attendees enjoyed the fellowship and skill-building led by Storm Lake’s Kathy O’Toole and Newell’s Claire Petersen. ...

Stan and Joan Sievers will celebrate their 60th anniversary on Friday, March 10. If you would like to help them celebrate, a card may be sent to 922 Leona Circle, Storm Lake.

Parents of children ages 5 and under are invited to join “Family Storyteller” at the Cherokee Public Library on Mondays starting March 13 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Free books, home activity kits, meals and crafts are all a part of a fun-filled, enjoyable evening...

April 20, 1954 - February 24, 2017

April 5, 1932 - March 3, 2017

Romeo (Alex) Chavez of Perry and Brian Schreck of Carroll have graduated from the regional law enforcement training academy of Western Iowa Tech Community College (WITCC), Sioux City. Chavez and Schreck are serving with the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department...

There is a growing demand for U.S. grown organic field crops and now is a prime time to consider transitioning a portion of your commodity acres to organic production. Join the Iowa Organic Association to learn more about the economics of organic transition, weed management on organic farms, and crop insurance options for transitioning and certified organic crops. ...

Assault On the evening of Friday, March 3, at approximately 11:45 p.m. the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 709 Walnut Street in reference to a disturbance in progress. Upon arrival of police they made contact with the occupants and were advised that an argument had occurred between Eisa Abdalla, age 33 of Storm Lake and his girlfriend. ...