Stories from Friday, August 4, 2017

A national report claims that Iowa is lagging behind much of the U.S. in foreign language instruction for K-12 students, but local school leaders say they are simply concentrating on multiple levels of Spanish teaching. Only about 15 percent of Iowa's K-12 students were enrolled in a foreign language class as of the 2014-15 academic year, and the state ranked 35th in foreign language instruction offerings. ...

November 2, 1921 - August 1, 2017

January 27, 1939 - July 31, 2017

April 28, 1924 - July 30, 2017

August 1, 2017

Need a lift? Have no car? Need to move? Storm Lake Cab Company can handle all your transportation needs. In 2004, owner Jeff DeWall relocated to Storm Lake from Spencer where he was a machinist. DeWall started out by purchasing a car and the Storm Lake Cab Company was born...

Gateway Wireless is bringing Cricket Wireless to Storm Lake. The store will be managed by Caitlin Gallopes. “I wanted to use my business degree and this position gives me the opportunity to do so,” said Gallopes. The store offers prepaid service to its customers as well as phones and accessories. You can bring in your old phone and keep your old number...

Once again, the Fonda Arts Center welcomes some of Iowa’s best when “South 71” and the Okoboji Brewing Company come to the Fonda Arts Center for an evening of folk, rock, blues and all kinds of fun music, paired with a craft beer tasting of select Iowa beers from the Okoboji Brewing Company...

Chuck Prophet is next up in the summer concert series at the Preservation Plaza, next to the amusement park at Arnolds Park. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Americana-indie performer Prophet is a big time rock and roll star in a country that has forgotten that it needs big time rock and roll stars. He has played all over the world, turning out a dozen well-respected albums...

• “Wind River” is rated R for violence and language. Running time: 111 minutes. Two and a half stars out of five.

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” says Aaron Cowles, owner of Majestic Coins and Comics in Storm Lake. No truer words are spoken, as one scans the store front – rare, and unusual artifacts can be found in every nook and cranny. Japanese art prints, authentic concert posters from Bill Graham’s Fillmore West shows from the 1960’s, comic books and vinyl records, of course – how do you find all this stuff? According to Aaron, the art of collecting stuff has no set path – estate sales, antique shows, record and tape shows, and just being at the right place, at the right time. ...

Dianne Roeder and Katrina Roeder from Orange City, both mentor for TAPS veteran survivor program, reach out to help other organizations. On July 31, they visited the local Freedom Quilt program. On April 18, 2013, Staff Sgt. Shawn M. Roeder died unexpectedly. Freedom Quilts made a quilt for Dianne and Katrina to honor Shawn, Dianne’s son and Katrina’s brother...

The Newell Providence Class of 1970 celebrated their 65th birthdays together Saturday, July 29th beginning with a “trolley wagon” pulled by a John Deere tractor with Daryl Miller at the wheel in the Newell Pride Days Parade. Class of ”70 thanks you, Tara Hanson, for organizing the parade...

The Buena Vista County Soil & Water Conservation District (BV SWCD) was proud to sponsor a Barn Quilt painting contest at this year’s BV County Fair. This contest was open to all 4H clubs. Four clubs painted barn quilts with the Newell Boosters’ Star quilt taking top honors. The barn quilts and paint were supplied by the BV SWCD. The finished quilts were then auctioned off with the money going to the 4H general fund, $485 was raised for our county 4H clubs...

Four heroic men with connections to Cherokee County are featured on the Cherokee County Veterans Freedom Rock in front of the Cherokee County Courthouse. Artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II painted the massive rock last week, a project that resulted from efforts by Cherokee County veterans groups, with support from numerous local organizations and people...

Authorities have accused a Fort Dodge man of stealing more than $20,000 in lottery scratch tickets while working at a convenience store. The Public Safety Department said Wednesday in a news release that Christopher Breyfogle was arrested Monday and has been charged with two counts of theft and one of lottery forgery or theft...