Stories from Monday, March 12, 2018

Over the last several years, I have had numerous contacts from people regarding mental health issues, and this year has been no different from others. My good friend and colleague, Rep. David Heaton from Mt. Pleasant, chairs the Human Services budget, and is very knowledgeable in the area of mental health and mental illness. He wrote this column, and I thought it gives a good overview of what we are trying to do here in Des Moines, and wanted to share it with you...

“Sanctuary City”; a law made necessary by political arrogance and stupidity. One of the hottest issues in the House over the past several days has been a bill dealing with sanctuary cities. A “sanctuary city” is a city that has approved ordinances that direct their law enforcement officials to violate federal law, by refusing to cooperate with federal officials in the reporting and detention of undocumented immigrants who have been arrested...

This weekly fishing report is compiled from information gathered from local bait shops, angler creel surveys and county and state parks staff. Storm Lake (including Little Storm Lake) Ice is pulling away from many access points along shore. There are large areas of open water. Travel on any remaining ice is not recommended. Immediately after ice out is a good time to target channel catfish along shore using cut bait...

Quad County Corn Processors, a 12.5-million-bushel corn processing biorefinery in Galva, Iowa, recently donated $250 to the Buena Vista County 4-H Youth Council. The donation will help defray the annual participation cost of each individual 4-H member in Buena Vista County...

When Ram trucks celebrated America’s farm and ranch families with a two-minute commercial during Super Bowl XLVII, they created a relationship with those families like no other truck maker ever had. Today, Ram dealers are proud to announce the local fulfillment of that global promise. ...

Area families and their children enjoyed a day filled with fun at the eighth annual Family Fest conducted at the Clay County Fair and Events Center on Saturday. Admission was free and activities included petting animals, exploring virtual reality, and musical performances by The Dollipops. There were also a variety of booths at the event, ranging from area businesses and clubs to local emergency personnel...

The @#!%^&tax man cometh. At least that’s been the reaction of many Cherokee County property owners after new property valuation assessments arrived in the mail the past few weeks. After letters were mailed out by the Assessor’s Office in August 2016 and explanatory articles detailing the project published in the Chronicle Times in September/October 2016, residents would be hard pressed today to say they didn’t see this coming...

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Dr. Rick D. Wilkerson is the recipient of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2018 Humanitarian Award. Wilkerson was honored at the Academy’s 2018 annual meeting for his nearly three decades of work serving underserved populations around the globe...

Grant Gasner performs a storytelling monologue, “The Bad Seed” during Storm Lake High School’s Speakers Cafe Thursday night. Grant is a speech All-Stater. For 12 participating students, the Speaker’s Cafe was an opportunity to tune up for the weekend’s State Individual Speech Contest and share their work with family, friends and community. See Wednesday’s Pilot for more photo coverage of the event...

UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center generates 1,159 jobs that add $72,784,155 to Fort Dodge’s economy, according to the latest study by the Iowa Hospital Association. In addition, Trinity Regional Medical Center employees by themselves spend $24,422,524 on retail sales and contribute $1,464,691in state sales tax revenue...

Looks like the Tooth Fairy tightened her money bag after an all-time high payout in 2016. According to the Original Tooth Fairy Poll, sponsored by Delta Dental, the Tooth Fairy’s cash gifts dropped to a nationwide average of $4.13 per tooth. In the Midwest, the all-important first tooth lost brings an average of $4.37 while remaining teeth drop to an average of $3.44 per tooth, about 20 percent below the national average...

When John Martini’s doctor abruptly stopped his opioid prescription, Martini wanted to cut off his arms at the elbows. He had awakened, unable to stretch his arms and legs. “It drove me batty. It drove me nuts!” He had taken hydrocodone for almost two years, but hadn’t realized his addiction. ...

That fact alone shouldn’t necessarily be a selling point — stories need as long as they need — but when superhero movies and comedies regularly extend well past the two-hour mark, it’s hard not to appreciate the restraint. And it is a rich and layered 71 minutes that Potter spends, in black and white, with a group of highly educated and highly dysfunctional people gathering for an intimate dinner party at Janet (Kristen Scott Thomas) and Bill’s (Timothy Spall) London house to celebrate Janet’s appointment as the shadow minister for health. ...

The Clay County Fair has announced that Lee Brice will perform as part of the SRG Concert Series in the grandstand at the 2018 Clay County Fair Saturday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Two-time County Music Association, Academy of Country Music and Grammy Song of the Year nominee Lee Brice will take listeners to church, school, home and out on a Saturday night. ...

Rehearsals are under way for the Cherokee Community Theater’s upcoming production of “Sex Please, We’re Sixty,” a comedic farce penned by Michael and Susan Parker. The play is directed by Mollie Laughlin, supported and assisted by Jenny Burroughs. Reservations can be made any time by calling 712-225-4440 and leaving a message. ...

Noises Off, a British farce about putting on a farce, provides humorous insight into the on stage and off stage challenges of producing a play. What’s a farce? Noises off is a superb example: high-energy comedic romp involving highly improbable events, impeccable timing, misunderstandings and mistaken identities...

A second suspect has pled guilty in connection with in a deadly semi truck smuggling run from Schaller, Iowa to southern Texas last July. Pedro Silva Segura, operator of an immigrant stash house in Laredo, Texas where some immigrants were hidden before being loaded into a trailer, entered his plea Thursday to a federal magistrate in San Antonio, admitting conspiracy in the incident that left 10 immigrants dead or dying as the trailer pulled into San Antonio. ...

Practical Farmers of Iowa is seeking input from beginning farmers who have been farming for at least four years. This group of “advanced” beginning farmers faces barriers that are different from those who are just getting started, or experienced farmers who have been farming for more than 10 years...

Storm Lake Police were called to Storm Lake High School Thursday on a report of a threat incident. Sschool staff told officers that a 15 year old male student had posted an image on social media threatening to assault one of the teachers at the school. The image was seen by several students and reported to school staff...

A strong majority of surveyed students in Buena Vista County felt their schools do well in providing for their needs, and in return, 92 percent said they try their best in their studies there. However, 17 percent said they don’t care about their school, and 16 percent said they don’t feel safe there...

The Storm Lake Fire Department faced 18 structure fires in 2017, up from 14 the previous year, but about on par for the statistics over the past decade, according to the annual Public Safety Department report that was issued recently. In addition, the department had 105 false alarms, 13 hazardous material spills, 12 smoke scares and other non-fire responses, 12 public safety stand-by events, eight carbon monoxide reports, eight gas odor reports, six vehicle fires, five rescues, four electrical shorts, one downed power line and one bomb scare to handle.. ...

The cast of Storm Lake Middle School’s musical production Mary Poppins Jr. will be packed with 78 seventh and eighth graders when it takes the stage March 16th and March 17th, at the High School Auditorium. The school will also be among the first wave in the USA performing this show, since the royalties and show kit for Mary Poppins Jr. just became available for licensing last fall...

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center is in the process of converting the former Center for Women into a new Oncology and Infusion Center. Online sources had replaced much of the need for the library area in the Center for Women, and high demand for oncology services brought about a decision to repurpose the space...