Stories from Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is accusing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of lying about wait times for medical appointments at Iowa’s VA hospitals, based on documents provided by a whistleblower. The Iowa Republican said the data shows the agency provided false information to his committee in late February when it said no veterans had been waiting more than 90 days for care earlier this year at the two medical centers...

A Laurens man was killed and an area family injured Sunday night in a collision on a rural road near Plover. Lee Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene, two miles west of Plover at 7:20 p.m. Anderson had been traveling northbound on 230th Street in a pickup, apparently failing to stop for a stopping, and striking a van that had been westbound on a county road. Anderson was ejected from the truck...

Democrat Rich Leopold has dropped his bid for Iowa governor in 2018. Leopold, an ecologist and former director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says he’s suspending his campaign as of Wednesday. He was the first Democrat to announce his intentions to seek his party’s nomination...

LakeFest 2017 weekend kicks off on Friday, June 16. Join us for two days of great summertime events leading up to the big concert on the AWAYSIS Great Lawn. The LakeFest 2017 Schedule is as follows: Friday, June 16th The Storm Lake United KickOff Concert at Lake Avenue Lounge...

“It has been fun to watch the young sailors gain self-confidence and learn responsibility,” says Rick Peterson, admiral for the Kiwanis Community Sailing program, which is preparing to fill its sails for another season on the lake. “Our sailors learn to handle shifting winds, boat traffic and even tipping over.”...

Faith, Hope and Charity will once again host Glow on the Green, a glow-ball golf event, on Monday, July 3 at Sunrise Pointe Golf Course. This year as part of the Star Spangled Spectacular, the event will start off with a turkey fillet dinner and raffle starting at 7:30 p.m...

As part of the Summer Reading Program Build a Better World, Wednesday, June 14, Katie Struss, Buena Vista County Naturalist will be at the Storm Lake Public Library for Nature Tots. The cool nature related theme for June is Plants, during which we will be planting a butterfly garden at the Library. Old clothing and shoes are recommended. Nature Tots starts at 10:30 a.m. and goes to about 11:30 a.m. All age groups are welcome to come with an adult. Any questions? Call the Library at 732-8026...

MetaBank in Storm Lake Participated in the 4th Annual Food “Bank” Challenge to help stock the food bank at Upper Des Moines opportunity.  MetaBank employees contributed food collected at the bank throughout the month of May.  Pictured is MetaBank branch manager Larry Schultz...

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach O’Brien County and Sioux County recently graduated 15 local women from Annie’s Project, an agricultural business course offered by ISU that focuses on empowering women in agriculture. The six-session series provided training and resources in five key management areas: financial, human resources, legal, marketing and production. ...

14 youth came back to school the day after they were out to learn about algorithms, what a programmer does and how a program works, Bee Bots and Dash robots, cubelets and much more. The youth also made trail mix following a program as snack and followed an algorithm to make a paper airplane. ...

February 17, 1937 - June 3, 2017

July 26, 1938 - June 1, 2017

May 10, 1975 - May 30, 2017

March 18, 1925 – June 7, 2017

Updates from the Storm Lake Police Department, Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office and the Storm Lake Fire Department.

Today, Hy-Vee, Inc. announced that with the help of its customers, it has rescued more than one million pounds of fruits and vegetables from landfills, just four months after it began offering the Misfits produce program. To further combat the nation’s food waste issue, Hy-Vee began offering so-called “ugly” produce in nearly all of its grocery stores in January...

Jensen Funeral Homes of Storm Lake received the Award of Excellence in Funeral Service at the 137th Annual Iowa Funeral Directors Association (IFDA) Convention held May 16-18, at the Prairie Meadows Hotel & Conference Center in Altoona. The Iowa Award of Funeral Service Excellence recognizes a funeral home’s exemplary service to the community it serves. ...

Mark Brown has been promoted to Senior Vice President at Central Bank, which is headquartered in Storm Lake, and offers banking and financial services at 21 locations, including nine in the metro Des Moines area. Brown, whose office is at the bank’s Mills Civic Branch in West Des Moines, had been Vice President of Private Banking...

Central Bank is excited to celebrate 140 years of banking in Storm Lake! During the month of May, Central Bank offered a CD special and hosted an open house each Friday. Guests were encouraged to register for the bank’s cash prize drawing of $1,400. ...

Things are improving for the U.S., though Congress still has work to do, according to western Iowa Congressman Steve King. “America is back,” King said. “We’re headed in the right direction, as frustrated as I am about some of the things we aren’t able to accomplish in Congress legislatively. The markets know it. The DOW recognizes it. The job creation numbers recognize that.”...

For over 10 years the Western Iowa Border Agents have been trying to rob that old train in Cherokee. Someday, they might just get it done. These men and women from Western Iowa strive to recreate the authentic American West, including the re-creation of a robbery at this historic depot, an opening act for the annual Cherokee PRCA Rodeo...

Local officials continue to prepare for holidays under new state law allowing wide-open sales of fireworks. After lengthy discussion in a work session between the Storm Lake City Council and members of the Planning and Zoning board, the consensus was to enact no regulation and to see how the 4th of July goes...

Plenty of fun is available for the whole family as Buena Vista Community Theatre presents Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Roxy Theater in Alta. Friday is opening night, with performances also Saturday the 10th (7 p.m. each night) and Sunday the 11th (matinee at 3 p.m.) The musical will also be offered Thursday the 15th, Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th for evening performances. ...

Today is a big day for the Storm Lake Municipal Library. Delivery is expected of a shipment of “book bins” that will change how the children’s department books are presented - one of a series of improvements provided by the support group Friends of the Library...

Authorities now suspect a Lake Park man intentionally started a fire that gutted a rural Lake Park residence four months ago. District Court Judge David C. Larson has set a June 13 preliminary hearing at the Dickinson County Courthouse for 51-year-old Lawrence Edward Bartley. ...

Nearly 1,000 Iowa residents have contacted a state agency about sickly oak tree leaves, which officials say were likely caused by farm chemicals and made worse by weather fluctuations. Iowa Department of Natural Resources district forester Mark Vitosh said that little can be done to prevent the deterioration of the oak leaves besides stopping the use of herbicides...

The Iowa Board of Regents has approved a tuition increase at each of the states three public universities, starting in the fall. The Press-Citizen reports that the nine-member board voted Thursday to approve an across-the-board $216 tuition hike for students at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. Increases for out-of-state, graduate and professional students at the University of Iowa will range from $1,078 to $2,578...

A former Sibley-Ocheyedan football coach and teacher fired after the superintendent found him sleeping in his classroom next to a 10-year-old has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. Iowa court records say 39-year-old Kyle Ewinger entered the written plea Wednesday in Osceola County District Court. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 17...

Storm Lake Community School District Foundation announced the awarding of six classroom educator incentive grants in the Storm Lake District for the 2017-18 school year at the district’s retirement breakfast on Wednesday, May 31. The foundation is putting $6300 into the district to support needed efforts as determined by the teaching staff. These grants were awarded by Mike Porsch, Executive Director of the Foundation...

The recipients of the Senior Volunteer of the year for 2017 have been residents of Storm Lake since 1979, and have been volunteering throughout the community for the past 38 years. This couple have been involved with Habitat for Humanity, Faith-Hope-and Charity, P.E.O. ...

Early June is the second busiest month in Iowa behind the November rut for deer-vehicle collisions, as does are moving to more secluded areas prior to giving birth. “The same cautions for drivers that apply during the November rut apply today - drive defensively and slow down. ...

On the morning of Thursday, June 8 at approximately 1:27 a.m., the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 1704 Rose Lane in reference to an assault in progress. Responding officers were advised that the reporting party was alleging that his brother was out of control and assaulting him...

October 13, 1922 - June 6, 2017

February 1, 1933 - June 6, 2017

February 1, 1936 - June 6, 2017

The Northwest Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund, Inc. (NWIRHTF) announces the 2017 income limits. The NWIRHTF provides financial assistance to low to moderate income homeowners in making the necessary repairs to their homes. The financial assistance will be in the form of both grants and low interest loans...

On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 7 at approximately 12:08 p.m,. the Storm Lake Police Department took a report in reference to an adult male possibly armed and stating he was going to shoot himself. Police were advised by an alcohol and drug dependency service out of Dubuque that they fielded a call from a person in Storm Lake who allegedly advised them that he was armed with a handgun and was going to shoot himself and that he was currently located in a residence located at 706 Geneseo Street #2.. ...

Tuesday evening the Buena Vista Fair Board met and received a check for renovations to finish the Varied Industries Building at the fair grounds. Pictured Dave McCoy, from Farm Credit Services, handing Denny Webber, fair board president, and the check. In the middle from left to right are Sandy Johnson, Brea Baumhover, and Sarah Brown. In the back Robert Naughton, Deb Maack, Tony Hartnet, and Jeff Stewart...

The 2017 Storm Lake Star Spangled Spectacular July 3 Classic Car Cruise route has been released by chairs Robert and Jason Knapton. Participants can begin assembling at 4 p.m. at the Prairie Lakes AEA Building 824 Flindt Drive (next to Dairy Queen) with the parade to begin at 4:45 p.m. Participants will be able to participate in a poker run. The cars will end in Sunset Park by the bandshell for spectators to view during the July 3 entertainment...

The Rosemary Clausen Center in Holstein is offering a special event, The Magic of Bill Blagg, on Saturday, June 17 at 6:30 p.m. The show will be the anchor event for Holstein’s Kinderfest weekend. Blagg first appeared at the Clausen Center in 2013. His sold-out show was a huge hit with both adults and kids and drew rave reviews from all directions. Since then, Bill has become one of the nation’s top touring illusionists, and his theatrical brand of magic thrills thousands every year...

As I was paging through my extension history book the other day, I found myself reading about ISU Extension and Outreach work during wartime – an appropriate topic for Memorial Day rememberances. R.K. Bliss was extension director during both World War I and II, leading our organization in all-out efforts to produce and preserve more food. ...

“The Mummy” is rated PG-13 for violence, suggestive content and partial nudity. Running time: 110 minutes. Two stars out of five.


Iowa musical icons and local musicians will be joining in an appreciation festival honoring veterans, the military and first responders, Saturday, June 24 at Prairie Pedlar Gardens near Odebolt. Bob Merchant of the The Shadows, Johnny Bekish, John Bartle, and Billy Rider with possible guest, Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jonnie Bolin want to entertain you offering their gratitude to veterans while showing their support to Operation Engage America. ...

The LeMars based family gospel group The Browns will grace the Star Spangled Spectacular stage for the first time July 3 at the band shell from 7-9 p.m. to help kick off the Storm Lake two-day celebration. Music lovers of all ages will enjoy their “close-knit family harmony.”               ...

‘Little Women,’ the Broadway musical, is coming to the Cherokee Community Theatre.Showtimes are June 22-24 and June 29-July 2 at 7 p.m. and June 25 and July 2 at 2 p.m. at Cherokee Community Center. General public reservations open June 15 by phone at 712-225-4440 or online at cherokeect.org. “As unexpected as can be!” The classic Louisa May Alcott novel is now a Broadway style show, featuring a live orchestra with Conductor Lee Thorson. Directed for CCT by Nikki Schubert...

Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, received an estimate from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General that the taxpayers may have overpaid for EpiPen by as much as $1.27 billion from 2006 through 2016, far more than the $465 million that the company reported it had agreed to in settlement negotiations with the Justice Department...

Why Do Seniors Get Lonely?-Contrary to what some people might think, seniors aren’t typically lonely because they’re too ‘frail’ or ‘grumpy’ to socialize. Most senior loneliness stems from circumstances which are beyond their control. During our youths, we typically spend our days working in people-packed environments, or with families. ...

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach Buena Vista County invites individuals with an interest in home food preservation to participate in the Preserve the Taste of Summer Course. Preserve the Taste of Summer is a food preservation program that includes both online lessons and hands-on workshops which provide the current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved food preservation recommendations. ...

The annual Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Young At Heart Trip was held on June 6, 2017.  45 members enjoyed a ride on a chartered bus trip to LeMars, Iowa. Their day included a tour of Veteran’s Park, lunch at the Brown’s Central Event Center, Brown Family Concert at the Brown Century Theater and were treated to an ice cream cone at the Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. ...