Stories from Friday, September 7, 2018

Michael Korf Brockman passed away comfortably in his home in Grass Valley, California, with a small group of friends and family, on August 1st, 2018. He was 72 years old. In his own words, Mike was pretty good at painting houses, fixing things, and playing pool. To others, he was a smart, loving, and giving man who made people around him just feel good...

September 9, 1934 - September 4, 2018

BV Glass Company of Storm Lake is launching a campaign to assist the Storm Lake Police Department (SBPD) with the funding of a new full service Police K9 Unit for the City of Storm Lake. The "BV Glass Co. Autoglass Fundraiser" will provide the SLPD $50 for every windshield installed in the entire month of September!...

Desel and Sallie Caboth are celebrating 70 years of marriage.

Bagless recycling will be a requirement for recyclable garbage collection in Alta starting July 1, 2019. The new rule will require residents to put all recyclables into a bin for collection, rather than leaving it out in a plastic bag. The Buena Vista County Refuse Committee is requiring anything that uses the Buena Vista County Recycling Center to go bagless, Mayor Al Clark said. ...

Alta City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to amend the city ordinances regarding recreational vehicle and boat parking that have been the subject of controversy in disputes over the last few months. One simple change adds "hours" after "48" to the code that articulates the conditions for illegal parking on a roadway. ...

Alta City Code Enforcer Matt Hess will now be offering property line location assistance to residents of Alta as a courtesy. Alta City Council approved the purchase of a metal detector, in a 3-2 vote, that will allow Hess to assist residents in locating the metal pins underground that indicate where their property line is...

Following a hit-and-run incident that left a girl on her bicycle injured, the speed of traffic going through Alta remains a concern to residents. Gloria Sanders, delivering a formal request to Alta City Council Tuesday, requested "slow" speed signs for East 6th Street between its intersection with Main Street up to Alta's golf course...

Alta City Council is raising rent on the city-owned two-bedroom apartment, is in talks to raise the rent on its community building and is thinking about a potential renovation of its annex. Rent on the two-bedroom apartment, currently at $500 per month including utilities, will be raised by $200 to $750 per month, adjusting it to what City Council members said is about the market rate of $625 for comparable apartments without utilities. The rate increase will begin in January...

Alta-Aurelia High School will have a busy week ahead as the annual Homecoming events begin. The fun culminates Friday with a parade on Main Street starting at 1 p.m., a pep rally at 1:30, coronation ceremony at the football field in Aurelia at 6:30, with the Homecoming football game against Pocahontas following at 7. ...

A Storm Lake teenager has been charged with forgery after allegedly trying to pass counterfeit money at the local Burger King restaurant. According to police, the 16 year old tried to pay for food with a counterfeit $50 bill. A restaurant employee refused to take the bill, and the customer left with the fake money. Police located the suspect in the 800 block of Lake Avenue, and seized two counterfeit $50 bills from him. He was arrested and later released to a parent pending a court date...

On the evening of Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at approximately 7:31pm the Storm Lake Fire Department responded to the Villager Restaurant located at 421 Flindt Drive in reference to a vehicle on fire in the parking lot. Upon arrival of fire fighters they observed a 2001 Dodge truck on the east side of the building totally engulfed in flames. Fire fighters extinguished the fire without further incident...

Hopefully you relaxed over Labor Day weekend. Or maybe you took advantage of summer's unofficial last weekend to get out and enjoy the weather. But chances are you don't remember exactly what the holiday celebrates--other than hoping you don't have to work...

"A stronger BVU is a stronger Storm Lake, and a stronger Storm Lake is a stronger BVU," said Buena Vista University President Josh Merchant in his vision for the university. Freshman students are taking that vision to heart, working on projects that make their president's statement the mantra for projects they believe can help both county anchors grow together...

For the second meeting in a row, the Storm Lake City Council this week postponed a third and potentially final reading of a new garbage ordinance that would require trash to be by put out for collection in cans, and recyclables put out loose in cans rather than in bags...

Situated near the Glacial Trail Scenic Byway, just north of the Little Sioux River, Peterson is brimming with history. The town of slightly more than 300 residents is the site of three museums and five historic structures. This series will highlight three notable destinations open to the public within the city limits: Jim's History Barn, the Fort Peterson Blockhouse and the Christian Kirchner House...

The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska announced the name of their new gaming facility located on their land in Carter Lake, Iowa. Tribal Chairman Larry Wright Jr. says the Prairie Flower Casino is named after Nebraska Chief Standing Bear's daughter. Construction started in June. ...

Join the naturalist to get up close and personal with monarch butterflies. Everyone will get an opportunity to tag a monarch. Tagging monarchs is part of an ongoing research project with the University of Kansas to track migrating monarchs. The group will also discuss the decline of monarch butterflies and what you can do to help!...

"Career readiness conversations need to happen early on," says Storm Lake Elementary School principal, Barb (Buckwalter) Lange SL'92. Lange is leading a new initiative to help her staff encourage their students to earn a college education, which extends from younger children at the Early Childhood Center to seniors at Storm Lake High School...

"Personally, my commitment to fight the spread of HIV began in college when two people I was really close to revealed that a sibling and significant other were diagnosed," says Dr. Darren Whitfield, a 2007 graduate of Buena Vista University. Whitfield, now an assistant professor of social work at the University of Pittsburg and former counselor, realized how little he knew about HIV at the time, and through connections as a BVU student, was inspired to make a difference...

In northwest Iowa, flooding is usually an early spring issue. But this week, following a gully-washer Tuesday that dumped as much as seven inches of rain in a short time over already oversaturated ground, county road crews found themselves chasing flooded out rural roads all over...

Before Iowa's new medicinal marijuana law even begins to see product sales, many people are saying it isn't going far enough. "Give an inch and they will want a mile," reflects State Representative Gary Worthan of Storm Lake. The input he is receiving isn't necessarily from people who need the medication, but from those who insist the state should allow sale of cannabis with more potent levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana...

Report from the Iowa DNR, 1/7/18 1 p.m. STORM LAKE--Thursday the city of Storm Lake investigated an odor complaint from a storm sewer near King's Pointe Resort on the northeast side of the lake. During the investigation, the city found a blockage at a pumping station had backed up untreated wastewater into the storm sewer. An unknown amount of diluted wastewater discharged between Wednesday morning and 4 p.m. Thursday...

LE MARS - Despite the wet, rainy conditions on Tuesday night, the cross country runners from Storm Lake and Ridge View ran at the Gary Meyer Invitational. The Storm Lake boys finished in fifth place, RV was not able to field a team. The Ridge View girls took fifth place and the Storm Lake ladies 10th...

Rebels knock off Tigers SIOUX RAPIDS - Sioux Central battled against a bigger school for four sets on Tuesday night and came out winners against the Spencer Tigers after those four sets. The set scores were 25-13, 25-19, 19-25 and 26-24. “Going into last night’s match we knew that Spencer can be a hard hitting team when they are in sync with each other. ...

Last week was the second annual Community Night hosted by the Buena Vista football team as they picked up their second straight season opening win, knocking off Hamline 39-27. The Beavers relied on big plays through the night with three touchdowns of over 30 yards and two big turnovers to help seal the deal. This week they will hit the road and take on Concordia (Neb.) in what is their season opener...