Stories from Monday, March 27, 2017

In early June the Storm Lake Whitecaps will make their return to the baseball diamond for the first time since 1940 as part of the Pioneer League this summer. The new league will have four teams this season which includes the Whitecaps. Storm Lake native Nic Seaman was tabbed to be their head coach back in November of 2016...

The journey to becoming a college basketball coach on the Division I level can be a long and tiring journey. For Buena Vista alum, Randy Rahe, he waited in the wings for 16 years before becoming the head man at a mid-major college program. Rahe, a native of Bancroft, Iowa, went to Buena Vista for baseball, but also walked onto the basketball program. ...

Next week is a funnel week, so committees in the House were busy considering Senate bills this week. There was also some floor debate, as House files moved over to the Senate, but most of the bills were non-controversial. Next week’s activity will determine the fate of many bills. That is okay, because it is time to finish policy work so we have more time to spend on the State budget. It is time to go home...

FORT DODGE — A former treasurer of the Webster County Democrats Central Committee is accused of stealing more than $10,000 from it. Online court records say 70-year-old Diana Petraline is charged with theft and fraudulent practices. A public phone listing for her couldn’t be found. Her attorney declined to comment Tuesday. She’s scheduled to be arraigned April 3...

Each year the Iowa League of Cities sponsors an essay contest entitled “If I Were Mayor.” The 7th grade students in Storm Lake participated in completing essays on what they would do if in the role of the Mayor. These essays were 49 of 900 essays that the League of Cities received from around the State. ...

April 26, 1925 - February 25, 2017

September 9, 1921 - February 17, 2017

Piano students of Suzanne Winterhof, Aurelia, participated in the Junior Music Festival sponsored by the Morning Musicale Club, an affiliate of the National Federated Music Clubs of America, held in Holstein on March 18. Each participant performed a required selection and a selection of their own choice for an evaluator. ...

Ancient Native Americans have left behind many mysteries for archaeologist to try to unravel. Small masks with two eyes and long noses, made out of either marine shell, bone or copper are examples of the mysteries left behind the ancient civilization of Cahokia in the Mississippi valley. So why have three been found around Northwest Iowa, hundreds of miles away from Cahokia?...

Set in Nevada, Iowa, Universal Harvester requires close study – but the rewards are great when you finish John Darnielle’s second novel after Wolf in White Van. Darnielle, now living in Durham, N.C., said in a February NPR interview that he once lived in Colo, near Nevada...

Local volunteers encourage riders, support teams to ‘Kick Your Wheels Up!

Family fun day will be held April 2. Start off the day at US Bank, located at 501 Pierce St., downtown Sioux City at 2 p.m. for food, fun and games. There will be an Instrument Petting Zoo where SCSO musicians share instruments with children and let them try out, hear and learn about the instruments. ...

The Best of Motown & Soul on April 7

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Nurses Cathy Fordyce, Nikki Hazen and Tenaea Jeppeson have been awarded the 2017 100 Great Iowa Nurses Award. This award recognizes outstanding nurses whose exceptional contributions to patients, colleagues and the profession are truly remarkable. ...

LifeServers can make saving lives a regular date – whole blood donors can give blood every 56 days! Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. By donating as soon as you become eligible, you can make a huge difference in the lives of local hospital patients and their families. After all- blood is the lifesaving link!...

The American Red Cross is issuing a call for type O negative and AB blood donors to make an appointment to give after severe winter weather in some parts of the country caused about 250 Red Cross blood drives to cancel in March, resulting in more than 8,500 uncollected blood donations...

To taste

To taste the nectar from the vines and revel in its bitter sweetness is what you would get from a wine tasting at Linn Grove based winery Innspirations Wine & Vine. What started out as a bed and breakfast over the course of a few years turned into a full fledged winery which Shelia and Paul Thompson take great pride in. ...

Women love to shop. I hate to shop. I know women who spend a whole Saturday “window shopping.” Not this girl. When I decide to take the trek to Sioux City and venture to the shopping centers it better be for a good reason. If, and I do say if, I have to go shopping I would prefer Southern Square to the mall. ...

After decades of work tirelessly pushing to complete the four-lane corridor, the U.S. Highway 20 Corridor Association will likely come to an end next year with the scheduled completion of the final stage of the project, from Early to Galva. “We’ll be hanging up our hats,” says association spokesperson Ann Trimble-Ray. “I imagine there will not be a mission for us after that.”...

Former area resident and Newell-Fonda grad Jason Smith is leading a statewide effort to help farmers and ranchers in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado who have suffered in recent waves of wildfires. Smith, auctioneer and land broker with DreamDirt in Mondamin, has made a career out of serving farmers and ranchers. ...

During Dance Team Night at Newell-Fonda, it’s a tradition for the fathers to share a formal dance with their daughters. Senior Carli Grau had no partner, as her beloved father Gordon passed away in 2012. In a touching moment, her mother Shannon stepped in, adapting a suit that had belonged to her late husband. / Photo by Scott Kilbride...

Storm Lake hosts a unique summit against hunger. “We’ve become a nation of fast food, processed food… the only young people I could find gardening were growing weed.”