Stories from Friday, March 2, 2018

June 5, 1939 - February 27, 2018

SIOUX CITY,— County supervisors in western Iowa have renewed a ban on guns in the courthouse after a dispute over allowing weapons in parts of the building where court services aren’t held. Woodbury County Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday against permitting guns in non-court controlled spaces of the courthouse, the Sioux City Journal reported ...

DES MOINES, — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is declining to comment on whether the Iowa Legislature should enact new gun regulations in response to a mass shooting in Florida. Reynolds said Wednesday when asked about the issue: “I’m not saying yes. I’m not saying no.”...

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Bill Northey and his family “waited long enough.” U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said the Spirit Lake farmer’s confirmation is “long-overdue.” But both senators are applauding the confirmation of Bill Northey as the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service at the USDA. Northey will have to step down from his role as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture to fill the federal post...

The season has come to a close for the six boys basketball teams in the Pilot Tribune area. All six teams gave forth great effort all season long and none of them left anything on the court. There will be two teams, a first and a second plus a list of honorable mentions along with the area boys player and coach of the year...

The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced its 2018 All-IIAC Teams on Wednesday, and Buena Vista had the following three individuals recognized: Jasmine Demers of Storm Lake (IA) was awarded with First Team All-Conference accolades after a great season to end her career. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The first Big Ten tournament game at Madison Square Garden featured a couple of teams that were a combined 1,665 miles — give or take — away from home, no players from New York City, and a kid from Iowa having a blast on the big stage...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey is willing to take trade offers for the No. 1 overall draft pick. He’s even encouraging teams to make that call. Dorsey spoke Thursday at the NFL’s scouting combine in Indianapolis, and it didn’t take long for the annual quarterback questions to pop up...

DES MOINES - Newell-Fonda junior Olivia Larsen has been able to take games over the past two years and for a stretch on Wednesday night, she did it again, scoring 15 points in a six minute span to aid the Mustangs in a 61-45 victory over Kee. The win sees Newell-Fonda advance to the State tournament semifinals this afternoon to take on Central Decatur...

Approximately 45 Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers were recently recognized during a patchingceremony held at the Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center in Johnston, Iowa on Feb. 13. This ceremony represents a time-honored tradition, where Iowa Citizen-Soldiers officially receive the left-shoulder military patch representing their unit of assignment in the Iowa Army National Guard. ...

Applications are now being accepted for the 2018 Spring Grant Cycle. The application form can be downloaded from the foundation’s web page at www.bvcountyfoundation.com or requested by email at bvcfoundation@gmail.com. The deadline for turning in applications in the spring round of grants is 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 29...

The Storm Lake Library will be hosting Toddler Story Time starting Thursday, March 29, at 9:30 a.m. “I am glad to have Toddler Story Time return to the Storm Lake Library. Years ago, I used to be the teacher for Book Babies when I was the Children’s Librarian,” says Library Director Elizabeth Huff, “I looked forward to those Saturday mornings with beaming faces. We had a routine, and the babies made sure we followed it exactly.”...

ACCIDENTS On February 26, at approximately 3:40 p.m., at 1628 North Lake Ave. in Storm Lake, a vehicle driven by Michelle Munoz of Storm Lake, was involved in an accident with a vehicle driven by Bho Bo of Storm Lake. The two vehicles collided causing total damages estimated at $3000. Bo was cited for Leaving the Scene of an Accident and No Valid Driver License.

AC-T will be hosting a preschool, TK and kindergarten Round Up event on March 15 from 6-7 p.m. in the AC-T lunchroom. The faculty will be goingover some exciting events that will be happening in the 2018-2019 school year. Handout will be provided to help prepare for the school year...

Buena Vista University hosted a Poverty Simulation this week as part of its ACES cultural event series. The poverty simulation is meant to help sensitize participants to the struggles faced by the poor. Participants role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents trying to care for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain their self-sufficiency on Social Security. ...

Two local men will be sentenced to prison after separately pleading guilty to federal charges of selling methamphetamine in the Storm Lake area. A July SLPD raid in an investigation into distribution of meth in the area seized $19,000 worth of methamphetamine, guns and large amounts of cash...

All seven of the Storm Lake St. Mary’s High School students will be advancing to the state speech competition March 10 at Kuemper High School in Carroll. Seven students participated in eight events in Cherokee Monday, Feb. 26. Deb Peters and Sara Sennert are the St. Mary’s Speech coaches...

Please join the Storm Lake High School Speech Team on March 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school media center for their annual Speakers Cafe. Come for coffee, dessert and a great evening of entertainment as the students prepare for State contest. Enjoy pieces ranging from acting to improv to musical theatre and more...

On the evening of Wednesday, February 28, at approximately 10:47 p.m., the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to the Super 8 Motel located at 101 West Milwaukee Avenue in reference to a domestic disturbance in progress. Upon arrival of police they met with an adult, female victim who alleged that a Jaime Miramontes, age 32 of Storm Lake physically assaulted her in room 112 causing minor injuries...

Hannah Smith, daughter of Geoff and Jen Smith from Newell, signed with Dordt College to join their dance team this week. Coach, Mel Knobloch, came in for the signing.

“Ducks don’t vote,” said actor Tom Milligan. Actually, Milligan was quoting Jay “Ding” Darling, a Pulitzer-winning cartoonist and conservationist from Iowa. Darling — who used a contraction of his surname for his signature pseudonym, according to some — began cartooning in the early 1900s and became a major figure in several conservation groups...

The Storm Lake High School Dance team will be hosting a Dance Squad Night on March 9 starting at 7 p.m. in the high school gym. The theme is Turn Up The Music. Routines included: SLDS State Championship hoopla routine, state pom routine, jazz and hip hop...

Industry leaders from all walks of agriculture spoke during a panel about the state of Iowa agriculture and its future during the 34th Annual Ag Outlook Conference and Trade Show on Tuesday. The discussion was free-form in nature, without a set itinerary of topics. The first explored was the future of trade for Iowan farmers...

Residential and commercial customers of MidAmerican Energy today report receiving calls from imposters demanding immediate payment on behalf of MidAmerican Energy. Imposter scam callers threaten to shut off power unless the customer makes an immediate payment over the phone with a prepaid debit card...

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach will host a Livestock Mortality Composting workshop on March 2 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the ISU Extension and Outreach - Cherokee County office located at 209 Centennial Avenue in Cherokee. The workshop is being held for two main reasons according to ISU Extension and Outreach Swine Specialist Dave Stender. ...

Kid’s Creation Stations at the Library: Kid’s Creation Stations: Come and Go: Children are invited to the Alta Community Library on Saturday, March 3rd to visit our Stem Centers where we will have coloring pages, legos, wedgits, puzzles, and crafts...

The Alta Community Library hosted their second Kid’s Creation Stations which was a come and go event. Some of the Children’s Stem Centers offered were Legos, Wedgits, puzzles, coloring pages, and crafts.

The Alta Community Library will be hosting Langner Storm Spotting “Talking Weather” on Thursday, March 15 at 6 p.m. Kirk Langner, founder of Langner Storm Spotting- LSS willl be talking about storm chasing, storm spotting, severe weather safety and Severe Weather Awareness Week...

The Alta-Aurelia Warrior Speech Team had a great day at District Individual Speech Contest in Cherokee on Monday. We earned 16 division I ratings and 3 division II ratings. Seniors: Tyler Gaes - Lit Prog: I, Acting: I, Elizabeth Hill- Musical Theatre: I, Improv: I, Tristan Jensen - After Dinner: I, Improv: II and Peyton Robbins - Acting: I, Poetry: I...

January 27, some members of the Alta-Aurelia Trap team attended a competition for the Winter Iowa Games. There are several locations around the state that held competition for Trap Shooting. The Alta-Aurelia competitors attended the event that was in Harlan...

While Westview Trailer Park’s owner and manager are pleading for more time to make improvements, Alta Mayor Al Clark says nothing has been done, and it’s time to hold the Canada-based ownership’s “feet to the fire.” Clark provided a driving tour of the city for the Pilot-Tribune this week, pointing out areas he feels need clean-up work - junk cars on lawns, overgrown areas, broken windows, stray cat populations, a run-down vacant church, and the trailer park that has been a bone of contention for Alta officials for many months.. ...

Despite some frustrations, the Alta Trails Committee remains committed to a goal of providing safe walking routes to the schools area. The group met Wednesday night with Schools Superintendent Lynn Evans to discuss a proposed portion of trail to run from the elementary school area to the nearby playground, with hopes of extending to the swimming pool and shelter house areas, connecting with a school project that would run from Johnson Street through the football field area. ...

The Alta Kiwanis Club is planning for its Pancake Fundraiser, March 11 at the Alta Community Center, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Money raised from the event will be used for service projects for children of the community and Kiwanis projects around the world. The Alta-Aurelia Jazz Band and Jazz Choir will perform for guests. Kiwanians are planning on serving up to 500 people. Admission is $5 for school age children and adults, or $12 for families. Pre-school children are free...

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and combat veteran, applauded news that the first shipment of weapons provided by the United States is expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks. Senator Ernst has long called for this action, and worked to include her provision included in the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to assist Ukraine in combating pro-Russian rebels through lethal and non-lethal support...

Authorities say a refrigerator likely touched off an explosion of natural gas that ripped through a house in Fort Dodge. The four residents had just been told to leave the house when the blast occurred Feb. 14. Two were unharmed. Two were taken to a hospital. ...

One percent is new school funding may not be a fortune, but it is a relief. “I wish there was more, but it’s better than I had first anticipated. Honestly, I thought we would be looking at no new money for the schools this year,” Storm Lake Superintendent of Schools Carl Turner said after Iowa lawmakers approved a K-12 spending plan this week and sent it on to Governor Kim Reynolds...

Storm Lake Police trapped a suspect driver wanted out of several counties Tuesday afternoon, and found drugs in the man’s car. Police received tips from the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department that a wanted person was thought to be traveling to a business Storm Lake...

Nearly three in four surveyed youth in Buena Vista County say that discrimination is wrong, and about 80 percent feel students in their school are accepting of differences such as race, culture, religion, disabilities or sexual orientation. Those are among the findings of the most recent Iowa Youth Survey. Among other issues, the survey gauged student feelings about beliefs and morality...

Ask any kid manning the vats of spaghetti, hauling the pans of breadsticks, pouring the pitchers of water or scrubbing the dishes, and you’d get the same answer on why they were there. “Because Andrea has been there for me.” The fundraiser spaghetti supper was held for Andrea Rodriguez, who was partially paralyzed after being ejected in a car rollover accident recently. ...

Next Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is no stranger to Storm Lake. He attended Buena Vista University, graduating in 2000 with degrees in both biology and political science. In the height of the avian flu crisis in 2015, he worked with Storm Lake and Buena Vista County officials here on the response...

September 7, 1919 - February 19, 2018