Stories from Monday, December 18, 2017

October 10, 1940 - December 14, 2017

April 24, 1936 - December 15, 2017

A new football stadium at Le Mars Community Schools is one step closer to reality, following a vote by the board of education Monday. Dennis Bixenman, a member of the LCSD Foundation Board, presented the school board with stadium renovation architectural plans, as well as a cost estimate...

Businesses from Dakota County sent a letter to Dakota County Sheriff Chris Kleinberg urging him to reverse course and abandon a proposal to bring a controversial federal program to Dakota County. Under the 287(g) program, local law enforcement agencies agree to dedicate resources, training, and staff time to enforce immigration law on behalf of the federal government...

Movies, TV shows and popular books have so often revolved around zombies in recent years. The fantasy of the living dead is terrifying, intriguing and mystifying all at the same time. But we know that the living dead aren’t a real thing. Yet, some animals truly become like the living dead in the wintertime, and frogs are a perfect example...

DISTURBANCES On the evening of Friday, December 1, at approximately 11:49 p.m., the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 533 Oneida Street in reference to a possible domestic disturbance in progress. Upon arrival of police they located Manuel Antonio Jovel-Bermudes, age 30 of Storm Lake and an adult female at the residence...

Garland Buggy Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan was only in existence a short time - from approximately 1898 to 1901. During that time, a catalog of their company offerings included cutters, sleighs, and buggies. However, it turns out that finding one of these Garland items is next to impossible...

This season’s Restore The Park construction at the Majestic Pavilion revealed some puzzling items that appeared to be lost to history. Sawing through the multiple layers of hard maple floors—rink operators over the decades merely laid new flooring over old worn floors—curious long, narrow cement foundations were revealed that didn’t seem to support anything and weren’t where one would expect to find foundation support...

For the first time since September, abnormally dry conditions have returned to the state following a dry November, according to the latest Water Summary Update from the Iowa DNR.  Iowa received only 0.43 inches of precipitation in November, much below the normal of 2.05 inches. ...

On the night of December 12, Sioux Rapids Police and Buena Vista County deputies responded to a report of a man with a knife on a residential street in the Fourth and Elm area. The man had reportedly slashed his own throat. After a search of 15-20 minutes, the man was located outside Valley Lanes bowling alley and placed in handcuffs after being uncooperative with officers...

Tyson Foods, Inc. has made an additional investment in plant-based protein producer Beyond Meat. Through Tyson’s venture capital fund, the company chose to participate in Beyond Meat’s most recent fundraising initiative, which is designed to generate additional capital to help the business continue to expand its product portfolio and distribution...

Seasons Center for Behavioral Health received a $9,000 donation from the Spencer Rotary and District Rotary to be used to build a fence around Autumn’s Center’s playground. Autumn’s Center, a regional children’s center located in Spencer, opened in October of 2016 and has since served 1,471 children...

Grand Avenue Community Outreach serves the Spencer community with outreach programs aimed at gathering clothes and food as well as providing medical and dental services to low-income families in the area. “The Grand Avenue Community Outreach is looking to reach unmet needs in our community, so the free medical and free dental programs are definitely a part of that,” the organization’s medical director Darrel Forslund said. ...

• January 2 - Storm Lake Community Blood Drive-LifeServe Blood Center, 12:30 - 6 p.m. KEC, Sibling Class, 6:30 p.m. KEC • January 4 - Young at Heart- no meeting • January 6 - Childbirth Class, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. KEC • January 8- Watch Me Grow, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Caregiver’s Support Group, 12 p.m. KEC...

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without binge watching Christmas movies until you’re ready to cough up mistletoe and eggnog. But once you’ve seen all the obvious choices, then what? You can only watch “Miracle on 34th Street,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Elf” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” so many times...

The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra is bringing one of the world’s most iconic films back to Sioux City for next year’s season opener. Star Wars, A New Hope will be viewed in a way very few people in the world have ever seen before. The movie will play on the big screen at the Orpheum, with the Sioux City Symphony performing John Williams’ Oscar winning score live to the complete the film...

Eight months after breaking ground, the Alta school district celebrated completion of the new Alta Preschool and Tornado Safe Facility Friday morning, as excited preschool children gathered to help cut the grand-opening ribbon on the $1.6 million addition...

Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley brought the public up to speed on the Senate’s tax bill in a recent discussion with reporters in the region. The senator’s recent comments regarding plans to address the estate tax caught many people’s attention. Grassley had said the elimination of the estate tax would value those who invest rather than those who spend money on alcohol, women and entertainment. Grassley indicated he regretted the comment but maintained his stance on eliminating the estate tax...

Heading into his 30th year in coaching, former Newell-Fonda teacher and coach Curt Klaahsen has published an autobiography titled “When Life Meets Coaching.” Klaassen will have a Meet and Greet/Book Signing in Newell, Thursday, December 28th from 2-4 at City Hall. ...

Retiring Storm Lake Mayor Jon Kruse has a lot of memories from three decades in city government, but one that sticks is the one election he lost. Early in his career, the avid outdoorsman couldn’t resist the temptation to go elk hunting in Colorado in the midst of election season, counting on supporters to put up his campaign signs. It didn’t happen, he lost, and had to wait two years to try again. He went on to serve 10 years on the city council and 18 more as mayor...

SIOUX RAPIDS - The Warriors and Rebel grapplers took part in some dual action on Thursday night against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Aryshire. GRTA defeated both Alta-Aurelia, 57-18, and Sioux Central, 76-0. The Warriors were able to best the Rebels, 53-12...

MANSON - The Mustang girls pressure defense forced 23 steals and other turnovers on Friday night, the sixth best team in 1A coming away with a 67-38 win over Manson-NW Webster. The Mustangs carried a six point lead after the first, 13-7, and kept it going in the second frame, going to half with a 29-16 advantage. ...

POCAHONTAS - The Sioux Central boys lost an early lead on Friday night against Pocahontas Area as their defense struggled from the second quarter on in a 72-58 defeat as foul issues plagued the Rebels. The Rebels held a six point lead early but fell behind and went to half down 32-27. They were not able to keep pace with PAC in the second half, falling 40-31...

ESTHERVILLE - The Storm Lake wrestling team picked up another pair of dual wins on Thursday night. They came out of the gate well against Estherville-Lincoln Central, 57-21, but wrestled a very tight dual against Sibley-Ocheyedan, 37-36 winning on a tiebreaker...

STORM LAKE/GOWRIE - The St. Mary’s girls were ready on Thursday night, despite a rocky start, to earn their second win of the season as they were able to best the River Valley Wolverines, 51-30. The Wolverines and Panthers exchanged turnovers in the opening moments of the game, and the trend continued for the first couple of minutes. ...

STORM LAKE/GOWRIE - The Panther boys had games on Thursday and Friday night, with Thursday night marking their first win of the season, a 48-41 victory over the River Valley Wolverines. St. Mary’s came out of the gate hot and fired up in front of their home crowd. Despite giving up the first two points, the Panthers took over the first quarter. They took a 16-7 score to the second quarter as the offense began to quiet down, only scoring six points. The Panthers led 22-15 at the break...

MANSON - After starting their season with a three game skid, the Mustangs have flipped the script and won three straight, knocking off Manson-NW Webster on Friday night, 69-61. The Mustangs got out to an early lead against the Cougars, 12-8 after the first quarter. Newell-Fonda continued to build on that advantage in the second quarter, outscoring Manson by six, taking a 29-19 score to the locker room for halftime...

POCAHONTAS - The Sioux Central girls are riding a wave of momentum after picking up their fifth straight win on Friday night, this time knocking off the defending 3A State Champion, Pocahontas Area, 67-57. The two teams battled back and forth in the opening quarter, neither of them able to gain separation from the other. ...

WEST BEND - The Warriors’ defense has been a calling card since Evan Franzmeier took the head coaching role a couple of years ago, and that defense helped to carry Alta-Aurelia to their third straight win on Friday night. They were able to best the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines, 47-37 for their sixth win of the season...

LEMARS - It was another night of facing a high powered offense for the green and white girls on Friday night. The Bulldogs of LeMars came out firing on all cylinders against the Tornadoes, coming away with a 73-43 decision. The Storm Lake ladies had issues in the opening stanza, falling into an early 14-0 hole to start the contest, a hole they couldn’t escape from. ...

LEMARS - The green and white have had issues against the LeMars Bulldogs for quite a few years, dropping all three contests a season ago. Storm Lake entered with a perfect mark and momentum on their side, but history was not on the Tornadoes’ side as they dropped a 76-34 decision on Friday night to continue their recent struggles to a Lakes Conference foe...

A Sioux City woman who crashed her car into Storm Lake while fleeing from police in September has been sentenced to five years in prison. Ellyn Wunder, 26, had pled guilty to a felony eluding charge. She will be assessed court fees, but fine was suspected...