Stories from Friday, January 11, 2019

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host its annual Crop Advantage Series on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at the Le Mars Convention Center beginning at 10 a.m. The Crop Advantage Series provides a solid foundation of current, research-based crop production information to help make decisions for the farming operation in 2019. ...

JOHNSTON, IA – Iowa ethanol plants saw another record-breaking year in 2018, producing 4.35 billion gallons. This was up from 4.2 billion gallons in 2017. While a record, 2018 production was below the 4.5 billion gallon capacity of Iowa’s ethanol producers...

Storm Lake’s first Indian restaurant, Curry Express on Flindt Drive (next to El Salvador), has finally made its way to town, bringing with it a variety of new flavors to the town’s already multicultural palate. Grandmother Kuldep Kaur, the owner of the new mom-and-pop enterprise, is excited to bring her twist on cuisine all the way from the state of Punjab...

In retrospect, it’s actually kind of surprising that there hasn’t been an escape room-themed horror movie until now. The popular interactive mystery games are kind of mini films. There’s a built-in set, stakes, opportunities for conflict and teamwork and a logical start and finish. It’s certainly a more obvious fit for a movie than a board game or theme park ride...

The University of Okoboji Winter Games always offers as much diverse music as it does ice and snow. The entertainment gets started at the 39th annual Games with a kick off party, Wednesday, January, 23, 6 p.m. at Table 316 in Arnolds Park. The Iowa Great Lakes-based rhythm and blues band, Lake Patrol, will perform...

Storm Lake City Council will begin its work sessions for the next fiscal year budget during the January 21 council meeting. The sessions are open to the public. While public comment is typically not included in work sessions, Mayor Mike Porsch said provisions for public input will be made at the upcoming meeting...

The Storm Lake City Council has re-approved a reciprocal policy for the Storm Lake Golf Course Monday, despite low use of the arrangement in its first season in 2018. The policy allows members of participating courses to play the other member courses with no fees (except for golf cart use.)...

A relatively easy start to the winter road-clearing season has helped the Buena Vista County Engineer’s department to keep supplies and budget in line. “We’re grateful that the weather has been generally decent, but that first snow we had was very expensive. Our motor graders fought the ice and hand - picked snow underneath for quite a while. The lull since then has let us get salt and stuff back in, so we’re sitting pretty well,” Buena Vista County Engineer Bret Wilkinson said this week...

Over the course of the Democratic primary and the general election for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District seat, then-challenger J.D. Scholten, family and campaign workers put approximately 25,000 miles on a 2015 Winnebago Brave 26A RV dubbed Sioux City Sue. The RV was transformed from a nondescript white caravan with maroon trim to the symbol of Scholten’s campaign, which nearly unseated then-eight-term incumbent U.S. Rep Steve King, R-Kiron...

The short and tempestuous life of actress Jill Banner, the unforgettable star of the cult horror classic "Spider Baby" and companion to Hollywood legend Marlon Brando, hardly seemed destined for such adventures when she was growing up in Storm Lake as typical Irish Catholic girl Mary Kathryn Molumby...

January 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, 30: 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...

Updates from the Storm Lake Police Department, the Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office and the Storm Lake Fire Department.

November 21, 1918 - November 6, 2018

October 22, 1923 - January 5, 2019

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge is allowing four Native American tribes in the Dakotas to challenge the recent conclusion of federal officials that a Dakota Access oil pipeline spill wouldn’t unfairly affect them, further prolonging a court case that has lingered for more than two years...

A Milford Police Department officer is currently facing serious misdemeanor charges after allegedly “supplying alcohol to a person under legal age” in early December. A signed criminal complaint and affidavit states that a Dec. 14 investigation by the Iowa State Patrol “produced probable cause showing on Dec. 8, 2018, Richard R. Zalabowski knowingly provided alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of 21 at a party held at the Ritz bar in Arnolds Park.”...

FORT DODGE — Work is expected to begin next month to remove two dams spanning the Des Moines River in Fort Dodge now that officials have approved contracts worth more than $1.4 million after resolving permitting issues. The City Council announced Monday that it hired Minnesota-based construction company Rachel Contracting Inc. to remove the Hydroelectric Dam and a second structure often referred to as the little dam, The Messenger reported ...

Brookelyn Bockelmann, 14, has an ambitious project to supply every fire department in Iowa with oxygen masks to revive pets rescued from fires. She was inspired by her love for animals and her dad, Don, who’s a firefighter. A GoFundMe drive sparked a flame with $2,600 raised so far, and sponsor requests brought out a nationwide commercial to help fund the project...

Dust from waste material used to cover gravel roads in Iowa could be hurting the health of children and adults who are exposed, according to a report from a state toxicologist. Toddlers and developmentally disabled children would only need to play near the “slag dust” - which include high levels of manganese - for a few days a year to suffer, Iowa Public Health Department toxicologist Stuart Schmitz wrote in his report...

“The decision-making process begins now. The entire Fourth District is on notice,” State Senator Randy Feenstra, Hull, told the Pilot-Tribune Wednesday, just after announcing that he will run against incumbent Steve King in the Republican Congressional primary in 2020...

Storm Lake Mayor Mike Porsch wants to kick off a Storm Lake Proud campaign with a community-wide effort to clean up the parks and lakefront, possibly to be held next May. “We could sure get a lot done if we have hundreds of people, and get it all organized,” he said. “I think that Storm Lake people, if they are aware of the opportunities, will come out and volunteer.”...

Interim at Buena Vista University is a time to think, and experience, outside a student’s comfort zone. Trips, and classes, offer intensive opportunities to “expand your creativity, cultural awareness, analytical abilities, and awareness of important conversations in today’s world,” says Brian Lenzmeier, Vice president for Academic Affairs. The university wish is that students will step outside their major programs of study, and “investigate new ways of discovery and knowing.”...

MAPLETON - It was a good night for the Raptor girls on Tuesday night playing their second game in as many nights. Ridge View hit the road and took on MVAOCOU and went back home with a 63-26 victory for their efforts. The Raptors jumped out early against the Rams and held an 11-point edge after the opening frame, 21-10. Ridge View’s defense ramped it up in the second quarter as they held MVAOCOU to just two points. RV enjoyed a sizable lead at the break, 32-19 the score...

FORT DODGE - The top ranked 1A girls team in the state got back at it on Tuesday night as Newell-Fonda went east to take on the St. Edmond Gaels. It was a routine night for the Mustangs as they used their pressure defense to force mistakes to get good looks on offense. Newell-Fonda took an 83-25 decision for their 11th win on the year...

STORM LAKE - After the first eight minutes on Tuesday night, St. Mary’s offense had issues finding a rhythm. A hot hand in the second changed momentum against Alta-Aurelia on Tuesday night as St. Mary’s took a 50-26 decision against the Warriors for their fifth win of the season, besting last season’s total of four wins...

MAPLETON - For the first three quarters on Tuesday night in the Ridge View and MVAOCOU, points were hard to come by for both teams. Neither school broke the double-digit mark for points in a quarter until the fourth when the offenses came to life. The Raptors found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard, dropping a 41-37 decision to the Rams...

STORM LAKE - The green and white grapplers got back on the mats Tuesday night by hosting Akron-Westfield and Sergeant Bluff-Luton. The Tornadoes split their two duals by besting A-W but fell to SB-L. “I thought we wrestled well in both duals. SB-L is a solid team top to bottom in my opinion and I knew we needed to wrestle really good to knock them off,” SL Coach Ben Seaman said. ...

FORT DODGE - The Newell-Fonda boys put up 83 points last Friday night against the Pocahontas Area Indians, and the Mustangs were back to their high scoring ways again on Tuesday night. N-F outgunned the St. Edmond Gaels, 84-65 to pick up their fifth win of the season...

STORM LAKE - Since Evan Franzmeier took over as the Alta-Aurelia boys basketball coach, the Warriors have been a defensive minded team. The trend continued on Tuesday night as the Warriors suffocated the St. Mary’s Panthers, holding them to 26 percent shooting in a 67-25 win. The win gives Alta-Aurelia their third Twin Lakes Conference win as St. Mary’s continues to search for their first...

Congressman Steve King finds himself playing defense against a sudden wave of national media coverage accusing him of racism. A day after learning that he would have a Republican primary challenger for 2020, King was using all of his social media resources to fend off a New York Times article that accused him of racist remarks and extremist ties, and said he has been denounced as "a white supremacist."...