Stories from Friday, January 19, 2018

A Storm Lake suspect in a domestic assault led police on a 100 m.p.h. chase Thursday night before fleeing on foot into a wooded area near the campground. Officers were called to a residence on North Erie Street around 9:30 p.m. and told that Bidong Yak, 23, had assaulted his girlfriend at that location, hitting and biting her, causing minor injuries. Yak fled from the scene in a 2003 Volkswagen prior to the arrival of police...

A group of local students will keep their tans to themselves — but they have quite a story to share now that they’re back from their J-Term trip to Hawaii. The 14 students and three chaperones received an unplanned lesson on their last full day of Okoboji’s project-based learning. The sophomores and juniors were still in the 50th state when a mistaken ballistic missile alert scared local residents and the northwest Iowa students...

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” - 50 years ago, on January 13, 1968, those words kicked off a historic concert that would produce an iconic live music album, changed the image of where an artist could play a music concert, and realigned the career trajectory of one John R. Cash...

A lawsuit resulting from a disastrous fire at the former Hillshire turkey plant in Storm Lake continues to bounce around the court system nearly four years after the blaze that idled the plant and 600 workers for months. The Sioux City Journal reports that a lawsuit filed by the owner of a Sac City welding company was removed from state court last week and is now filed in federal court in Sioux City. The case had been in district court in Buena Vista County for a time as well...

77-year old Dennis Gosch of Sac City died Wednesday January 17, after the pick-up he was driving collided with a semi-tractor trailer. The accident occurred at the intersection of Rolf Ave and Hwy 20, which is 1-mile west of M-54 north of Sac City and was reported at 12:06 p.m.. Gosch was operating a 2007 Chevy Silverado and was travelling north on Rolf Ave...

A shortened week two of the 2018 session is nearly completed. The Legislature was not in session on Monday due to the Martin Luther King holiday. As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady gave the Condition of the Judiciary address the day after Governor Reynolds presented the Condition of the State...

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach is now accepting registrants for Annie’s Project, a program focused on empowering women in agriculture, to be held in Storm Lake during Feb. and March 2018. Annie’s Project is a six-session course created to guide women in making good decisions for their farm business...

Rising county recording artist Drew Baldridge headlined the first Bundle Up Ball concert, held Saturday at the Alta Community Center. Illinois native Baldridge has released a debut album, “Dirt on Us,” and a recent new single, “Guns & Roses.” Fellow performers Ross Ellis and Scott Kirkhart rounded out the lineup for an enthusiastic crowd...

The Cherokee County Emergency Mangement Agency recently acquired a new piece of equipment to aid area First Responders in reaching fires and injured people in remote areas of the county. The Q-TAC fire/EMS skid unit fits into the back of any UTV and provides 85 gallons of water to begin a fire attack in remote areas or fields...

The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra will present, “Cherish the Ladies” on Saturday, March 10th at 7:30 pm. at the Orpheum Theater. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra and Cherish the Ladies, the Grammy-nominated Irish-American group that makes up one of the top Celtic bands in the world...

It all started with a problem. Leo Piitz, and his son, Lonnie Piitz, were trying to figuring out a way they could both play in the same band.  Leo, a drummer, had played with ”every band in the territory,” but Lonnie, who played saxophone and clarinet, was just starting out and didn’t have many gigs under his belt at that time...

It seems hard to believe that BVCT’s Touch of Broadway is in it’s seventeenth season. And six of the eight performers have been with the group since the beginning. This year’s show is entitled Aspects of Love: Feelings. Since the majority of our shows are for private parties, it has become a tradition to do a show for the public at the Roxy Theatre in January. ...

The Pocahontas Area High School band performs during the 2018 Triton Jazz Festival at Iowa Central Community College, held Jan. 11 and 12. The festival and competition had to be cut short due to weather conditions that kept several scheduled schools, including Alta-Aurelia, from being able to attend...

Storm Lake native Brynna Baumhover has been hired as the Crawford County Youth Coordinator for Iowa State University Extension. Her focus will be to support the volunteer leaders and youth involved in the Crawford County 4-H Youth Development Program. She will be based at the Extension office in Denison...

Two winners were selected from the 2017 High Yield Challenge participants. Growers in the High Yield Challenge had to meet the following criteria: • Enter 40 continuous acres into the challenge • Have bushels on those acres verified • Purchased their seed from Ag Partners...

Amanda Walljasper-Tate, owner of The Daily Apple, was the guest speaker at The Meeting Place in Galva on January 16.  During her one-hour “New Year, New You’ oils program, Amanda talked to participants about the history of essential oils, explained how and where they are made, oil ingredients, creative ways to use them (aromatically, internally and topically), different ways to incorporate them into a better lifestyle, and shared lots of information and examples. ...

Color & Coffee Need to relax, unwind and relieve stress?  Come join us at the Alta Community Library for Color & Coffee on Saturday, January 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a fun and creative morning.  This is a come and go event.  All participants will receive a door prize.  Pencils, coloring pages and coffee will be provided...

Aurelia schools’ immediate goal is to reach 80 percent proficiency in tested subjects in all classrooms, Principal Jeannie Henningsen recently told the Alta-Aurelia school boards. “We will beg, steal and borrow ideas from other schools, and they from us.”...

The concept is known as “Management by Walking Around,” and has been demonstrated by leaders from Walmart founder Sam Walton to Abe Lincoln’s personal reviews of troops during the Civil War. Alta-Aurelia Superintendent of Schools Lynn Evans used that explanation to discuss a program of classroom walkthroughs that the district has been conducting for several years...

Alta-Aurelia senior multi-sport athlete Ricky Pizano was signed to a track scholarship to Morningside College recently. Pizano is part of a school record-holding relay team at AA. Piano posted thanks to his coaches, teachers, friends and family. “Without these people none of this would be possible and I couldn’t thank them enough for pushing me to be a better person on and off the track.” Back: Matt Hull and Aaron Fuller (Morningside assistant coach). ...

Some small-town kids prefer to live and work in bigger cities after college. That was not the case for Alta’s Michelle Ruby. She was happy to return to her hometown and work for her family’s business. Ruby is currently working as a co-manager at the Buffalo Ridge Cafe in Alta with her aunt, Toni Hammer. Ruby is a 2013 Alta-Aurelia graduate...

ACCIDENTS On January 15, at approximately 5 p.m., in the 400 Block of E. Lakeshore Dr. in Storm Lake, an unknown vehicle struck a handicap sign on a metal post owned by the City of Storm Lake. Total damages were estimated at $100.

Photographer Julie Hamilton met with area art fans Saturday during the artist reception for Hamilton’s “Barn Art” exhibit, which is on display at Arts on Grand until Feb. 24. Over 50 art lovers crowded the gallery to take in over 75 of the photographer’s framed prints and many other pieces of Hamilton’s artwork that is currently on display...

On the evening of Tuesday October 31, 2017 at approximately 10:42 p.m., a SLPD Officer stopped a vehicle at 5th Street and Larchwood Street for a traffic violation. Officers detected an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and determined the driver, Lebarron Gamble, age 48, of Ida Grove, had recently used marijuana...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host an informational meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the Lakeside Lab’s Mahan Hall in Wahpeton to discuss construction plans in the Gull Point State Park Complex. The public is invited to the informational meeting to discuss construction projects at Gull Point State Park, Marble Beach Recreation Area Campground, Hattie Elston and Pikes Point State Park. ...

Gov. Kim Reynolds wants to spend about $18 million on worker training programs in the next couple years to ensure Iowa employers can fill jobs at a time of low unemployment. Reynolds announced new policies to address Iowa’s shortage of qualified workers in her Condition of the State address on Jan. 8, the Des Moines Register reported ...

One year before combat veteran Richard Miles froze to death alone in a Des Moines park, in what the medical examiner determined as a suicide, 75 less well-known Iowa veterans committed suicide. Miles died in 2015. The 75 died in 2014, which was the last year that the complete veterans suicide records are available from the US Department of Veterans Affairs...

Buena Vista University (BVU) Theatre’s production of “Woman Wonder” has been selected to be performed at the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) 50 in Des Moines. BVU is the only university in Iowa to be invited to compete at the coveted competition. ...

he leader of the Storm Lake Schools Foundation is urging the board of education to reverse an earlier decision against adding a “donor wall” to the new auditorium area of Storm Lake High School. Mike Porsch, also Storm Lake Mayor, spoke to the board during its meeting Wednesday night. He said having the donor recognition is important to theFoundation’s efforts at fundraising to assist the schools...

Tuesday morning, members of the Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture - a coalition of 27 state, community, and national organizations - announced 15 bills that Senator David Johnson, an Independent from Ocheyedan - is filing to strengthen concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) regulations and to enact a moratorium on new and expanding factory farms...

The location for the Jan. 23 session is the LeMars Convention Center, 251 12th Street SE. The program will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. However, if conference attendees wish to complete their private pesticide continuing education as a part of the day, they will have to attend an additional session at the end of the program to fulfill that requirement...

A Storm Lake woman has been arrested after leaving her three-month-old child on a doorstep. Police received a report of the incident a few hours after it happened Wednesday afternoon. The reporting party told officers that Deeanna Ramos, 22, of Storm Lake, had left the baby on a doorstep in the 1100 block of North Seneca Street and then left the area. Ramos reportedly sent a text message to the reporting party stating that she was going to drop off the child at the home. ...

A 15-year-old Storm Lake student was arrested and charged with making terrorism threats, a felony, at Storm Lake High School Thursday. Police were called to the school shortly before 10:30 a.m., where a male student had reportedly left a note inside the building threatening to harm students in the school...

The Storm Lake Board of Education is wasting no time in looking for a replacement for Superintendent Carl Turner, who recently announced his plans to retire at the end of the school year. “Time is of the essence,” said Erika Dierking, a board member, as the board decided at Wednesday night’s monthly meeting to try to arrange interviews for two search firms as early as next Tuesday...

What is seen as the first step in the process of building a new Early Childhood Center in Storm Lake - a timeline for the project - was passed unanimously by the Board of Education Wednesday. The timeline sets the bond election for the project for December 4, 2018...

The Clay County Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday, charges will not be filed in regards to the Sept. 1, 2017 shooting death of Nicolas Bandomo. At 12:39 a.m. Sept. 1, 2017, the Clay County Communication Center dispatched emergency personnel to 819 E. 12th St. in Spencer for a gunshot victim. When personnel arrived on scene, they located 30-year-old Bandomo of Albert City...

Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg spoke to a crowd of about 50 as her “Unleashing Opportunity” state tour made a stop at HyVee in Storm Lake Thursday night. Reynolds noted that she understands the challenges to working Iowans, as she once worked nights and weekends at a HyVee store to help make ends meet while raising young children...

The students and faculty of Storm Lake High School came together on Martin Luther King Jr. “Day of Service” Monday for several projects, including creating school bags for impoverished students in Africa. The story behind these bags began when Jason and Cinnamon Miles (creators of the charity Sewpowerful) traveled to third world countries on mission trips. ...

December 3, 1923 - January 16, 2018

WEST BEND - It was a rough night for the Rebel wrestlers on Tuesday evening, falling in a pair of duals. They dropped a 72-6 decision against Southeast Valley, and then against West Bend-Mallard as well. “Our first dual was against Southeast Valley and we ran into a buzzsaw. We wrestled quality kids and we were on the short end,” Rebel coach Will Thomsen said...

STORM LAKE - The Buena Vista University Beaver women’s and men’s basketball team split a doubleheader against Luther on Wednesday night with the ladies falling in a 76-52 decision, but the men taking an 87-69 victory. BVU senior Jasmine Demers had a team high 16 points in the women’s loss to the Norse. ...

ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia wrestling team held lone home meet of the season on Tuesday night and came away with a pair of dual victories to send the crowd home happy. They bested Pocahontas Area, 39-30 and then Estherville-Lincoln Central, 47-33. “The guys really stepped up and wrestled tough. ...

SIOUX RAPIDS - The Rebel girls got off to a good start through the first 16 minutes on Tuesday night but faltered down the stretch in a heartbreaking 51-50 loss to Emmetsburg. Sioux Central held a three point advantage over the E-Hawks after the first quarter, 13-10. ...

SIOUX RAPIDS - Since the 2018 calendar year began, the Sioux Central boys basketball team has yet to suffer a loss as they picked up their fourth straight win on Tuesday night, taking a 68-54 decision against Emmetsburg. Sioux Central wasted little time getting started, opening up a 14 point lead over the E-Hawks after the opening eight minutes, 19-5. ...

SIOUX CITY - The Raptors got going in the second and third quarters on Tuesday night against Siouxland Christian, turning a small lead to a big one quickly enroute to a 69-39 victory. Ridge View held a six point lead after the first quarter, 15-9. They then turned up the offense, scoring 24 points in the second period, holding the Eagles to 12, in order to hold an 18 point advantage at intermission, 39-21...

NEWELL - The Mustangs have been known for their press and defense under head coach Dick Jungers and on Tuesday night they were able to force 31 steals and other turnovers against the Panthers to take an 83-21 contest. Newell-Fonda jumped out to a 25 point lead after the first quarter, 29-4. The Panthers were held scoreless in the second quarter, NF putting up 19 points to take a 48-4 lead at the break to start the continuous clock upon the start of the third quarter...

RUTHVEN - The game between Alta-Aurelia and Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Aryshire was a strange one on Tuesday night. The first and third quarters had little score while the second and fourth were both high total frames for the two teams. However, the Warriors fell a little short, bowing in a 61-54 defeat to end their seven game win streak...

STORM LAKE - Tuesday night saw the Storm Lake boys swim team have their lone meet of the season at home, held at Buena Vista University’s Finkbine Natatorium, as the green and white fell against the Spencer Tigers, 72-20. Storm Lake junior Cole Keenan took home first place in the 200 free style with a time of 2:05.69 and Nathan Stark took third in the same event. ...

RUTHVEN - The Warriors built up a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter only to see it slowly start to fall apart. Alta-Aurelia managed to hang on for a 67-62 win against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Aryshire. It was a tight first quarter between the two teams, the Warriors taking a one point lead to the second quarter, 14-13. They were able to expand on their advantage, outscoring the Titans by seven, the score reading 33-25...

NEWELL - The Mustangs and the Panthers battled back and forth through the first 16 minutes of the game as NF then began to slowly attempt to pull away in the last 16 minutes to take a 66-53 decision over the Panthers. NF came out quickly with an 8-0 run to begin the game but the Panthers fought back to tie it up at 14 all after the first quarter. The two teams kept trading buckets back and forth through the second, neither jumping out to much of a lead as SM led at halftime, 30-28...

CARROLL - Storm Lake had their mojo going on Tuesday night against the Carroll Tigers as the offense was able to start quickly and finish strong in a 76-63 victory. Storm Lake scored 20 in the opening frame, holding a six point lead against Carroll after the first eight minutes, 20-14. The Tornadoes kept the pressure up in the second quarter, taking the frame 26-17 for an 15 point lead at halftime, 46-31...

CARROLL - Not since the 2009-10 season when the Tornadoes won 20 games have the green and white girls won back to back games. That changed on Tuesday night when Storm Lake was able to take a close contest against the Carroll Tigers, 56-53, for their first win streak in eight years...