Stories from Wednesday, January 3, 2018

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is preparing to notify families in early February that federal money could run out soon for a health insurance program that covers roughly 60,000 low-income children in the state, though officials are also hopeful congressional action early in the new year will make such contingency plans unnecessary...

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center delivered 334 babies in the year 2017. The most popular boy names include Oliver, Jackson, Jayden, and Emmanuel. The most popular girl names were Allison, Emma, Avery and Belle.

At its monthly meeting held December 21, 2017, the Buena Vista Regional Healthcare Foundation elected officers for 2018. Joshua Newhouse, Storm Lake, was elected Chair, Mitch Lyman, Newell, elected to serve as Vice-Chair and Terry Mason, Storm Lake, elected Secretary-Treasurer...

The new year brings changes to the Spencer Hospital Board of Trustees as long-time board member and current board chair John Cotton submitted his letter of resignation at the December meeting Thursday morning. “Serving on the board has been a rich and rewarding experience,” said Cotton. “Acting on the issues and technology affecting healthcare has been an exciting challenge for our board, made easier by Bill and his excellent management team.”...

Gary’s on the River — the downtown restaurant that overlooks Grand Avenue and the Little Sioux River — will be closing its doors Saturday. Rabab Koepp, co-owner of Gary’s, said the difficult decision came after discussion with her husband, who is also her business partner...

Why plant a windbreak? There are many reasons to plant a windbreak but there are still many rural homesteads that do not have any trees/shrubs and need protection from the elements of the weather. Some people plant windbreaks to control wind erosion. Other people plant windbreaks for landscape beautification. Other people plant windbreaks to control blowing snow, conserve energy and protect livestock during the winter months...

If you think you have a lot to do this season, consider the task of the elves at Santa’s Castle, who are in the process of returning letters from over 800 children who visited the Castle during the season and wrote letters to Santa. This year Santa’s letters will be in the form of a poem...

Snowshoeing is great exercise and a fun way to explore nature. Come on out to Buena Vista County Park on Saturday, January 13 and try out snowshoeing. The naturalist will demonstrate how to use the snowshoes and answer questions. Then you are free to explore Buena Vista County Conservation Park. Meet at the South Shelter area at 2 p.m...

ore than two decades after Robin Williams conquered that pesky board game, “Jumanji” has been resurrected with more and glossier stars (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black), a comedy director and a “modern” twist. The result, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ,” is a very sweet, and generally entertaining body swap lark with some nice messages about being, and believing in, yourself...

(Sixth in a series on the 2018 Cherokee Jazz & Blues festival) Burlap Wolf King is the performing name of South Dakota - based singer/songwriter Thomas Hentges. Hentges performs solo as well as with a band, both under the “Burlap Wolf King” moniker...

The Des Moines-based roots rock band Brother Trucker will headline the 22nd Birthday Party at Bryon’s in Pomeroy, Saturday, January 13, starting at 8 p.m. The popular regional group is made up of Andy Fleming (vocals/guitar), Mike Fitzpatrick (lead guitar), Lyle Kevin Hogue (bass), Jim Viner (drums) and Matt Jesson (keys)...

This production of The Wizard of Oz is a spectacular celebration of that classic 1939 MGM film. It’s a new, refreshed and lavish rendition of the beloved classic. Audiences young and old, seeing it for the first time or the fifth, will be dazzled by the brightly colored sets, charmed by its timeless score and enthralled with its breathtaking special effects. ...

If you lived in Storm Lake, or Buena Vista County, or anywhere else in the quad-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, or South Dakota, during the 1940’s to the 1990’s, chances are that you danced or tapped your toes to the great sounds of the live music of popular bands in the Cobblestone Ballroom in Storm Lake. ...

After a recent closed session in which the Storm Lake City Council evaluated the work of City Manager Keri Navratil, the council has voted to offer her a wage increase that will be equal to the percentage increase yet to be determined for the other city employees, to take effect with the start of the next fiscal year in July...

Two veteran public servants were named to leadership positions by their respective elected bodies on Tuesday. Dale Ahrens was chosen as 2018 board chairperson by the Buena Vista County Supervisors. Bruce Engelmann was elected as mayor pro tem by fellow members of the Storm Lake City Council, to serve in the mayor’s place when necessary...

A Storm Lake man was held without bond after his wife fled to Minnesota after an alleged Dec. 22 assault in which her husband is accused of choking her, pressing his thumb into her eye and threatening to kill her. Storm Lake Police took a belated report of the incident, learning that the victim had fled to St. Paul, where she sought medical treatment. Staff at the hospital there contacted officers...

On the morning of Monday January 1, at approximately 9:14 a.m., the Storm Lake Fire Department was dispatched to the 1700 block of Expansion Boulevard in reference to a natural gas leak. Upon arrival of fire fighters they were advised that a visible vapor was observed by police officers coming from the shoulder of the road approximately 200 feet south of East Richland Drive on Expansion Boulevard...

The Dixon Site, is a village occupied by a prehistoric Native American group called the Oneota. This site was archaeologically recognized in the early 1950s, with excavations conducted in 1964 and 1994. These earlier studies documented a slice of information into the life-ways of these agricultural peoples that lived in northwest Iowa about 500-700 years ago...

When Spencer elementary schools split by grade leaving kindergarten and first-grade students at Johnson; second- and third-grade students at Fairview; and fourth- and fifth-grade students at Lincoln; there were no older students left to mentor the younger students on friendship and how to play during recess...

Spencer High School business law students presented changes they would like to see in the student handbook for the 2018-19 school year. The proposed changes included: Moving to a weighted grading system with more weight placed on advanced placement and dual credit courses when calculating a student’s grade-point average; lower the parking pass fee from $30 to $20 which would allow more low-income students the opportunity to park in school parking; and change the cellphone policy to allow teachers to confiscate a cellphone that is in plain sight to a more lenient standard allowing for teacher discretion.. ...

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Thursday the opportunity for two Iowa high school seniors to receive full scholarships to attend the 2018 National Youth Science Camp (NYSCamp) this summer in West Virginia. The students will exchange ideas with scientists and other professionals from the academic, corporate and government worlds during the nearly month-long experience...

Three artists, two schools, one masterpiece. This is the latest addition to the Alley Art project. Beth Schlichte Karol Holton and Marge Dull, individually designed and created the three panels that make up the piece of artwork. The panels — a Gehlen Jay, a Le Mars Community Bulldog, and a Jay and Bulldog high fiving — hang on the north wall of Branded 360...

The new “Standards Based Grading” system was explored by the Storm Lake Board of Education at a recent meeting. The system was applauded by teachers from the Middle School who are employing it for the first time, but it also raised some questions and concerns...

Upper Des Moines Opportunity charity is requesting $19,000 in funds from Buena Vista County Supervisors for the coming fiscal year, the same level as last year, but citing a “huge need in helping to keep this community fed.” UDMO Region Director Jamey Whitney said that despite the addition of regular food pantry events in Storm Lake supplied by the Food Bank of Iowa, demand continues to be high for the UDMO food pantry, as well as housing and energy assistance programs...

Buena Vista University students will be embarking on a variety of travel and unusual on-campus courses for Interim this month. Students were given the opportunity to choose journeys from tropical Costa Rica to the infamous scenes of the Holocaust tragedies, and later, some have the opportunity to retrace the route through European villages that inspired the Brothers Grimm fairytales...

Headed into the first big weekend of the ice fishing season, the local bait shop was one of the busiest places in town. “The bite is fantastic. We had tons of guys going out last night, said Josh Schwartz of Gone FIsh’n sporting goods store Friday. “I bet we had 40 shacks on the lake last night.”...

The Sanford Museum in Cherokee will open its long-anticipated new SciDome Theater on January 20th. The new Spitz SciDome IQ 2400 projector has replaced the 1951 Spitz A-1 projector. The Museum will have a variety of public shows that day, giving everyone a sample of what the new system has to offer...

ACCIDENTS On December 29, at approximately 5:15 p.m, at the intersection of W. 5th St. and Vista Dr. in Storm Lake, an unknown vehicle struck a Yield Sign owned by the City of Storm Lake. Total damages were estimated at $500...