Stories from Friday, October 6, 2017

One good turn deserves another. Recently, 10-year-old Addison Wyman presented country music legend Garth Brooks with a bouquet of yellow roses. In turn, Brooks removed the hat from his head and presented it to Addison. “Where I’m from when somebody gives you something, you give something back,” Brooks told the Spencer girl as he offered her his black custom made Stetson, “Here, enjoy your night.”...

It’s been one year since Category 4 Hurricane Matthew devastated Haiti where Iowa-based GoServ Global rescues the vulnerable – orphans, widows, abandoned babies, displaced families, etc. Harvey and Irma remind us how devastating hurricanes can be. (GoServ Global is raising funds for Houston and plans to send teams there.) Hurricane Matthew damaged nearly every home in the area, yet 100% of the 200 Safe T Homes®, engineered by Sukup Manufacturing, withstood the 145 mph winds!...

The Buena Vista County Historical Society recently received an organ and a player piano for its collection, including this ornate walnut instrument from the late 1800s. The original owner, Claus Johnson of rural Alta, met the train from Chicago with his team of horses and lumber wagon to drive the showpiece home for his daughters...

VT Industries has set an organizational ribbon cutting ceremony, open to the press, for November 8, to mark the official opening of the newly constructed expansion at its Holstein, Iowa architectural wood door manufacturing facility. The industry leading company will also host an employee appreciation luncheon that day to thank employees for their hard work and dedication. ...

Average retail gasoline prices in Iowa have fallen 1.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.47. This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.55. Storm Lake prices remain a modest bargain, with many stations at $2.34/gallon for super unleaded as of midweek, compared to $2.55 in the Omaha area and $2.72 in the Des Moines area...

Iowa retailers are pretty in pink this October. Over 30 E15 retailers across the state are participating in the 2nd annual Pink at the Pump campaign to raise funds for breast cancer support services and research while increasing consumer awareness about E15...

The Iowa Bankers Association (lBA) has elected officers and directors to serve on its 2017-18 board of directors. These leaders assumed their roles during the IBA Annual Convention, Sept. 17-19 in Des Moines. Officers for the IBA Executive Committee are as follows:...

At a special meeting of the Alta and Aurelia School Boards Tuesday morning, the following board members were selected to serve on a new seven member Transition Board, which will be tasked with transitioning the two districts into the new Alta-Aurelia District, as approved by voters at the September 12th School Election:...

The Alta City Council voted to go ahead with plans to dissolve D.D.#125 (drainage district) a storm drainage system that was no longer being used. Alta has three drainage districts in town, the other two have functioning systems while DD #125 doesn’t even have the piping for the site making it totally inoperable...

The Alta Aurelia Trap Team had a great Spring 2017 season, thus completing the team’s sixth season.  The team competed in 17 regular season shoots, plus the State Shoot in Cedar Falls in June.  The team started the season with 40 registered athletes competing in 3 age divisions:  Rookie (4th & 5th graders), Intermediate (6th – 8th graders) and High School (9th – 12th graders). ...

Eric Chase Eric Chase feels he has an obligation to help the people of Storm Lake. As a key issue, he sees improvement needed in the storm water systems and infrastructure. “There is a big storm water runoff that needs to be addressed between Cayuga and Russell Streets. Sometimes the water runs right over the road.” The whole storm sewer system needs to be looked over and brought up to date, he feels. Streets need to be repaired, and sidewalks replaced as a priority, the candidate feels...

A slow start harmed the Buena Vista football team last Saturday in their homecoming contest against the Luther Norse as they fell, 36-14. “We didn’t pass or catch that well. We had a lot of dropped balls, two for a touchdown. We just couldn’t keep up in the first half,” BVU Head Coach Grant Mollring said of the loss. “We did better in the second half.”...

Tornadoes come out fired up and then fade away STORM LAKE - Storm Lake came out of the gate fired up behind a vocal home crowd on Tuesday night against the Western Christian Wolfpack. However, after a close first set, the Tornadoes began to slow their play down en route to a three set loss. The set scores were 21-25, 7-25 and 10-25...

Tornado boys run a little flat, settle for ninth place CHEROKEE - The Storm Lake boys cross country team settled for a ninth place finish on Tuesday night in the Cherokee Invitational. There were 11 competing boys varsity teams as Sioux Center finished first...

BOONE - The Tornado swimmers travelled for a double dual in their second of six meets in a 20 day time period. The team swam okay but came up short in both duals. Against Carroll the score was 29 to 72 - Carroll had divers - and against Boone it was 30 to 64...

A Denison man has been arrested on forgery and credit card fraud charges after returning to a Storm Lake store for a second time to use a fraudulent card. On Wednesday, a victim from Des Moines reported to Storm Lake Police that someone was unlawfully using that person's credit card at businesses in Storm Lake...

PUMPKIN PATROL - Members of the Maple Valley Agriculturists 4H club worked hard planting and tending to their pumpkin patch over the summer into the fall, preapring for the annual Pumpkin Hollow season. The attraction is located at the Roxanne and Terry Peterson home, 436 560th Street (two miles north on M31, turn on to 50th Street (M21), go ½ mile west. ...

Ames pediatrician John Paschen opened his campaign for the 4th District congressional seat Tuesday night. After a kick off in Ames, he made announcement stops in Sioux City and Storm Lake later in the day, stressing health care, a “compassionate” reform of immigration, and sharply raising minimum wage...

December 12, 1923 - October 3, 2017