Stories from Friday, September 29, 2017

Albert City received its long-awaited soon-to-be Freedom Rock Wednesday afternoon. The rock will be painted with patriotic scenes as a tribute to veterans. The boulder originated from Twin Lakes Bible Camp near Rockwell City. The city of Albert City obtained the rock in exchange for a donation to the Bible Camp after a search failed to find a suitable storn in Buena Vista County. ...

A former Storm Lake student will be remembered before the football game with Spencer next week. CommUnity Education Director Joe Kucera had come across a monument on the south side of the football stadium that had been overgrown and hidden by surrounding shrubbery, and began checking into the history...

Mike Bartholomew of rural Alta has always had a love of guns and shooting. He started at a young age hunting and shooting with his father. When he was 12, he joined the Storm Lake Rifle and Pistol Club where he shot skeet. He stayed in the junior division until he turned 18 then moved up to the next division. He was on the collegiate team while he attended college at Iowa State...

The usual after-work crowd at Brewster’s pub in Storm Lake was joined by a familiar face Wednesday. Katie Couric, prolific television journalist, perched on the corner stool nursing a glass of wine while exploring immigration issues in Storm Lake. Couric and a crew of eight are filming interviews as part of an as-yet-unnamed six-hour series on current issues to be broadcast next spring on the National Geographic Channel...

The Alta Trails Committee was pleased to welcome new members Anna Kollasch and Lynn Radke. It was also pleased to have a future representative for the Parks Board, Jim Sanders, in attendance. During the September meeting, the Alta Trails Committee focused on the Safe-Routes-to-School...

Now that the reorganization vote creating the new Alta-Aurelia School District has passed, here is the plan for A-A school board membership in the future: 1) A seven member transitional board will be formed from existing board members (there are currently five Alta board members and five Aurelia board members)...

Maple Valley Agriculturist will have their Annual Pumpkin Patch will be opening up on Saturday, October 7 at 1 p.m. Hours this year are October 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22 or until pumpkins are gone. The patch is located at the Roxanne and Terry Peterson home at 436 560th Street...

Tuesday morning’s guest speaker was BV County Deputy Jake Nelson. Jake is a member of SERT (Sheriff’s Emergency Relief Team. This is similar to a SWAT team. BV County and Sac County work together. Jake described his full uniform: rifles, three handguns, tactical vest, magazine holsters, water pack, gas mask, if going into smoke or gas area, helmet, radio, night vision goggles etc. ...

Former Buena Vista University student, Dr. Kyle Glienke, has joined the staff at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center (BVRMC) and UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine – Buena Vista. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from BVU in 2009, Glienke attended the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, graduating in 2013. ...

Paxtons Jewelry has once again teamed up with BVRMC’s P.I.N.K. project to celebrate Pink Rocktober with a balloon bash cake dig fundraiser. Every $10 donation gets a chance to bash a balloon and win a gemstone. Each balloon is a winner, with chances to win gemstones like pink tourmaline, blue topaz, peridot, and many more...

Paxtons Jewelry is pleased to welcome Isabel Sanchez to the team.  Isabel is from Jalisco, Mexico but has been in the Storm Lake community since she was 2.  She and her husband, Edgar Moreno have 3 children, Marissa, Arturo and Ximena. As the newest sales associate, Isabel is looking forward to learning more about diamonds and gemstones. ...

Storm Lake St. Mary’s Parish hosted their third annual “Blue Mass” to pray for the area first responders – law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical services Monday, Sept. 25. The event was co-hosted by Rev. Howard Avery, Storm Lake Public Safety’s Chaplain. Fr. Michael Cronin, associate pastor, presided at the Catholic Votive Mass for the Archangels...

Half of us are now a victim of some form of financial fraud following the recent Equifax breach. An ISU Extension and Outreach “Un-Scam Yourself: Recovery from a Security Breach” educational event on Wednesday, October 4, from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. provides up-to-­date strategies to protect financial and personal information...

Art, science, fashion, and pure cool transcend whenever you see a customized car driving down the street – poetry in motion, a statement on wheels. Summer turns into fall, as leaves float down in an amber hue, as folks who own these fantastic works are taking some final spins before the snow flies, and it’s time to put these babies into storage...

Register your middle school aged child for “STEM and the ARTS Festival” hosted by Buena Vista University and Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach 4-H and Youth Programs on Saturday, October 7 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics...

Edge-of-field nitrate reduction practices such as bioreactors, saturated buffers and wetlands are receiving increased attention for the role they play in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. As these practices gain in popularity, questions linger about how these practices work and the scale of implementation required to make progress towards strategy goals. ...

New forestry resources are available from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach to assist with emerald ash borer management decisions. As EAB is discovered in more counties across the state, it is important to hire trained and certified arborists and to replace ash trees with recommended species...

On Monday, September 25, Dr. Carl Turner, Storm Lake School System Superintendent gave an update on the schools. He indicated that the school population was increasing and made the point that open enrollment was an advantage for Storm Lake with more students open enrolling in than out...

William Penn University is pleased to announce this year’s 2017 Ed Thomas Award recipient, Patricia Hussey Fisher. The Ed Thomas award is given to candidates who are successful in coaching young students in the world of athletics have a special gift of shaping and changing the lives of those they encounter...

Plans to construct the “Rossie Finishing Farm,” a hog confinement unit near Lincoln Township in Clay County have been scrapped, in part due to concerns raised by neighbors. Bluejay Farms 1 LLC announced in a press release that despite the preliminary approval for construction by the Iowa DNR and a contract to raise pigs with Iowa Select Farms, the project was no more...

ALTA - A sunny Tuesday evening provided the cross country runners of Alta-Aurelia, Ridge View and Sioux Central some warmth as they competed in the Alta-Aurelia Invitational. The AA girls took second and RV girls fifth out of seven scoring teams as the Rebels did not get on as a scoring team. The Sioux Central boys took third out of the 11 teams, Warriors fourth and Raptors 11th...

Tornadoes take first set, but fall to Tigers SPENCER - Things looked good for the Storm Lake girls on Tuesday night against their rival Spencer, taking the first 25-23. However, Spencer took over in the second set and won big, 25-8, as they then took the third and fourth sets with scores of 25-20 and 25-17...

Last week was a tough loss for Buena Vista on the road against Loras, falling 73-39 in a game that head coach Grant Mollring stated they didn’t tackle well or have good gap control on defense. The BVU defense allowed 631 yards of offense to the Duhawks, 272 of them coming on the ground. This week, for their homecoming contest, the Beavers will attempt to slow down the triple option offense of the Luther Norse...