Stories from Monday, January 7, 2019

On January 3 at approximately 4:03 p.m., in the 100 Block of East 10th St. in Storm Lake, a vehicle driven by Austin Scott of Gillet Grove, was involved in an accident with a vehicle driven by Alba Reyes Molina of Storm Lake. The two vehicles collided causing total damages estimated at $1000...

A Storm Lake man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a victim with a baseball bat. Police responded to 616 Hudson Street Dec. 29 for a reported assault, and found a victim hiding in the garage. The victim identified Jose Luis Santos Echeverria, age 40, as the assailant. ...

Shane Doray Johnson was born in Osage, on May 5, 1965. He was adopted on June 7, 1965 by Burton (Butch) and Kaye (Johnson) Johnson through Lutheran Social Services. He was raised in Ashton, 1965-70, Alta, 1970-1973 and lived in Aurelia, from 1973-1983 where he received his education and graduated from Aurelia High School in the Class of 1983. Shane attended Iowa State University from 1983-1986 before joining the Air Force in 1986 where he served at RAF Bentwaters in Ipswich, England until 1990...

Funeral services for Raymond were held on Saturday, December 22, at 10:30 a.m. at the Farber & Otteman Funeral Home in Sac City, with Interment in the Nemaha Cemetery under the direction of the Farber & Otteman Funeral Home. Raymond Vogel, age 91, of Newell, passed away in Scottsdale, AZ, on Tuesday, December 17, 2018. ...

SPENCER – Seasons Center for Behavioral Health is seeking feedback from the agriculture and business industries in a new community needs survey. The purpose of this survey is to assess the behavioral health needs impacting the agriculture and business fields. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, death by suicide among farmers is 50 percent higher than during the 1980 farm crisis...

From 2014-2017, there was a 38 percent increase in methamphetamine treatment admissions in Iowa. Similarly, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reports there was an eight-fold increase in Iowa deaths related to amphetamines, which includes methamphetamine...

The 2018 “America’s Health Rankings Annual Report” has just been released, highlighting how the nation is facing serious public health challenges, including the highest-ever rate of obesity and more deaths from chronic disease. Within the report, Iowa is ranked as the 18th healthiest state in the nation, which is down three spots from 2017. Here is a quick snapshot showing how Iowa compares to other states across the nation in several key categories...

January 9: Public Planetarium Show - To Eat the Sun: Eclipses: People have been fascinated with eclipses for thousands of years. Learn about the Mayan eclipse beliefs and then fly out into space to better understand how solar and lunar eclipses happen. 4 p.m...

Sioux Rapids P.E.O. Chapter GJ announces that applications are being accepted from area women post-secondary students for $300 and $500 scholarships to be awarded in February 2019. To be eligible for a scholarship the applicant must be from, or living in, the Buena Vista or Clay County area. They must have completed one year of post-secondary education and currently be enrolled in a college, university, community college or va-tech school. All applications must be postmarked by January 15, 2019...

By HILLEL ITALIE Special to The Pilot The publishing world made headlines in 2018, and not always by design. A wave of best-sellers offered damaging accounts of Donald Trump’s White House, a million-selling memoir by Michelle Obama had readers longing for the previous administration and a political thriller by former President Bill Clinton had some taking a closer look at a White House scandal from the 1990s. ...

Superheroes who travel by sea horse never get any respect. Since Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger first dreamed him up in 1941, Aquaman’s fate has largely been as the Rodney Dangerfield of DC Comics -- a regular punchline for his not-so-potent powers. Sure, he can talk underwater and brandishes a big fork for a weapon. But like Luca Brasi, he sleeps with the fishes...

A Storm Lake man has been arrested on felony charges of Possession of Firearms by a Felon. According to Buena Vista County Sheriff Kory Elston, his officers with assistance from Storm Lake Police, Iowa State Patrol, and the Iowa DNR, executed a search warrant December 14 on a home at 1204 Oneida Street for suspected gun violations. ...

The former Tyson Deli plant in Cherokee will be put back into production later this month after being idled four years ago, according to Iowa Food Group officials. The company and its owners and principal investors Jeremy Robinson and Mack Zimmerman of Fort Worth, Texas purchased the plant with plans to process beef, pork and poultry value-added products for direct sale to groceries and restaurants. ...

MILFORD — An audience of nearly 30 child care workers, advocates and concerned citizens gathered at the Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Milford to address state legislators prompting discussion about coverage and payment reimbursement through Medicaid under the Managed Care Organization system, the availability of child care and support for parents and the mental health resources in the state...

DES MOINES — Iowa legislators must create rules to regulate hemp production in the state now that Congress has legalized the crop, though advocates are concerned that slow action or rigid restrictions will hurt producers’ abilities to cash in on the crop...

LE MARS — A judge has scheduled a hearing later this month to announce his verdict in the trial of a man accused of killing his sister in northwest Iowa. District Judge Jeffrey Neary had presided over the nonjury trial of 36-year-old Thomas Bibler. Bibler was charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in connection with the June 11, 2016, stabbing death of 27-year-old Shannon Bogh, of Le Mars. Bibler was arrested that day after a short standoff at his Le Mars apartment...

Despite the distance between our nation’s capital and Iowa, the partial federal government shutdown is being felt in northwest Iowa. The shutdown is currently affecting nine federal departments — Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and the Treasury...

Shelly Rock says she’s here to help strengthen The Bridge’s mission: to build kids and the community up. One of Storm Lake’s mainstay ministries has brought Rock on as its new CEO in part to position The Bridge to serve as a model for outreach in a changing country...

The Diocese of Sioux City on Friday issued a statement of apology to victims of sexual abuse by members of its clergy, including George McFadden, who served at Storm Lake St. Mary’s in the 1950s and faced a litany of abuse allegations. Much of the statement responded to allegations made at a recent small rally by a victim’s organization, and defended the diocese’s record in dealing with abuse allegations...

Storm Lake educators and administrators shed their shoes Thursday to become pieces on a giant game board. The purpose of this game isn’t to win, however, but to gain understanding. The game takes aim at racism, sexism, glass ceilings and stereotypes...

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D - Mass.) received an enthusiastic welcome to The City Beautiful Saturday in a stop between Sioux City and Des Moines, joining local panelists as she explores the possibility of a 2020 presidential run. An unexpectedly large crowd was packed into Our Place Multicultural Center as it hosted the first A-lister on many Democratic lists of potential presidential candidates. ...

The Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) is pleased to announce its first interscholastic Iowa High School Girls Wrestling Championships January 19, 2019 at Waverly-Shell Rock High School. The 2019 championship event conducted by the IWCOA marks the end of the second season in which IHSAA member schools offered females the opportunity to compete in girls’ divisions. ...

The Raptor wrestling team fell to opponents Westwood and Kingsley-Pierson Thursday night in a triangular dual. In their first dual of the night, the Ridge View wresting team faced off against top conference opponent Westwood. “I feel like coming out of the break we wrestled really well. ...

MAPLETON - The Alta-Aurelia girls got back on the hardwood on Thursday night against MVAOCOU. A slow first quarter played a roll in the 10th loss of the season as the Warriors bowed, 59-46. “We played a good game overall tonight. Defensively we are improving along with understand offensive moment,” A-A Coach Adam Rapp said. “Maria Kueny had a good night attacking the defense and Sydney Stanton had a career high. Proud of all the girls, they played fearless.”...

FORT DODGE/ATLANTIC - It was a mixed night for the Alta-Aurelia grapplers on Thursday as they took on two other schools in a meet. The Warriors dominated St. Edmond, taking a 66-0 decision, and narrowly bowed to Iowa Falls-Alden, 44-36. “The coaches were impressed with the intensity and effort. ...

POCAHONTAS - It was a high scoring affair for Newell-Fonda on Friday night in their first game off of the break. They took on Twin Lakes Conference foe Pocahontas Area and dropped a heartbreaker of a game, 85-83 despite getting 42 points from junior Bryce Coppock...

POCAHONTAS - The Newell-Fonda Mustang girls continued to use their pressure defense to great success as they once again held an opponent to under 30 points, the third time this season. They suffocated Pocahontas Area on Friday night, taking a 73-29 victory...

WEST BEND/SPENCER - The Sioux Central Rebels boys basketball team got back at it on Friday night with a 59-36 win over West Bend-Mallard to keep atop of the Twin Lakes Conference race. “I thought we had some positives tonight, but overall I was real happy with our effort,” Rebel Coach Stephen Tjaden said...

MAPLETON/GOWRIE/GLIDDEN - Thursday night was the start of a three night road trip for the Alta-Aurelia boys basketball team as they took on MVAOCOU. The Warriors erased an early deficit and picked up their fourth straight win, taking a 62-49 decision...

STORM LAKE/ROCKWELL CITY - The St. Mary’s boys got off to a rough start following the winter break on Thursday night against undefeated Ar-We-Va. The Rockets jumped on the Panthers early and never let up as St. Mary’s bowed, 74-32. The Rockets were up by 16 after the first quarter, 18-2. The Panther offense found some life in the second frame by scoring 12 points, but Ar-We-Va stretched their lead up to 24, 36-14...

STORM LAKE - The green and white girls had issues getting their offense going against a lengthy Spirit Lake team on Friday night. The Storm Lake girlsstruggled against the Indian zone defense in a 55-22 defeat. The green and white offense was unable to get on track in the first quarter, managing two points but did hold Spirit Lake to just nine, 9-2 the score. The Indians doubled up on their lead in the second quarter, leading by 14 at half, 21-7...

SPIRIT LAKE/SIOUX CITY - The Storm Lake wrestlers got back at it on Thursday night as they hit the road for a Lakes Conference dual against the Spirit Lake Indians. The green and white battled hard, but fell by nine points, 42-33. “We wrestled a tough dual on Thursday night. I was happy with how hard the guys wrestled and we just came out on the short end in a couple of big matches,” SL Coach Ben Seaman said...

STORM LAKE - The Storm Lake Tornadoes have had trouble against Spirit Lake in recent years with just one win against the Indians in their last nine contests. The green and white were able to buck that trend behind some some defensive play in the second half, taking a 63-55 victory, their sixth win on the season...