Stories from Wednesday, March 20, 2019

The pioneer era of rock and roll lives again with One Night in Memphis, set for a performance at the Rosemary Clausen Center in Holstein, Saturday, April 6. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. For ticket information, see rosemaryclausencenter.com or call 712-368-4849...

Martha Forsyth Haut, formerly of Estherville, Iowa, and now living in Joplin, Mo., has penned a remarkable trilogy of historical novels that chronicles the human side of war-ravaged southwestern Missouri during the Civil War. In the first novel of The Weller/Martin Trilogy, Left, the author tells the raw and bitter tale of how the Martins and Wellers hide from Southern guerilla raids at the start of the war. ...

Enjoy those easy-to-see large flocks of turkeys feeding in the fields while you can. In the next few weeks, the winter flocks will break up, and where you saw them last weekend is not where they’ll be when spring turkey season opens in April. Bagging a wild turkey is a challenge for even the most experienced hunters. Of the 50,000 licenses sold each spring, about 20 percent are placed on a bird...

University of Iowa officials are still grappling with the aftermath of a promotional social media campaign co-opted by students. The Twitter-based campaign aimed to showcase what the Hawkeye community loves about the University of Iowa, utilizing the tag #iloveUIowa. Early on, most responses lauded the sense of family and community found on campus...

Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation Monday in response to flooding and flash flooding beginning March 13 and continuing.  The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program, for these 15 counties: Adair, Bremer, Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dallas, Dickinson, Emmet, Fayette, Franklin, Fremont, Guthrie, Hardin, Plymouth, and Shelby.. ...

The outlook for student population at Buena Vista University is improving, according to a recent report by the student newspaper, The Tack. While incoming freshman classes in the last few years have averaged around 200 students, current projections are higher, with a goal of 250 for next year’s incoming class, according to The Tack...

The Storm Lake Library Board discussed the process of choosing fiction books, during its most recent meeting. Director Elizabeth Huff said the facility leans heavily on advice from the Library Journal and American Library Association, but also keeps an eye out for new works by authors who are popular in the community. The facility has a limited acquisition budget, and is able to purchase far fewer books that libraries is bigger cities, she noted...

The Storm Lake Library Trustees firmed up plans for renovation of the library meeting room during a meeting Monday. The work will take place over six days starting in mid-April, much of it over Easter weekend when the facility is closed. Cost for the project s currently estimated at $23,598, coming in just under the original budget, with some minor decisions still to be made on furniture and wall decor...

While Storm Lake pump prices generally run far below state average, local gas prices this season are rising rapidly to draw close to the state numbers. Most Storm Lake stations were at $2.49 to begin the week, after bottoming out around $1.89 earlier this season. Statewide, gas prices have risen 9.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.55. That’s 30.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, but still 5.7 cents per gallon higher than a year ago...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be conducting prescribed burns this spring on wildlife management areas managed by the Iowa DNR’s Prairie Lakes Wildlife Unit inBuena Vista, Clay, Emmet, Palo Alto and Kossuth counties. Areas scheduled for prescribed burns are Pickerel Lake in Buena Vista County; Barringer Slough, Dan Green Slough, Deweys Pasture, DU Marsh, Elk Lake, Fen Valley, Highbridge, Little Sioux and Tom Tuttle Marsh in Clay County; Anderson Prairie, Birge Lake, Burr Oak Lake, Eagle Lake, East Swan Lake, Four Mile Lake, Ingham-High Lake, Iowa Lake and Iowa Lake Marsh in Emmet County; Blue Wing Marsh, Deweys Pasture, Fallow Marsh, Perkins Marsh, Virgin Lake, West Fork in Palo Alto County; Goose Lake, Seneca Access, Stateline Marsh and Iowa Lake Marsh in Kossuth County.. ...

Led by ACE mentor Mackenzie Barton, intern architect at CMBA Architects, and comprised of high school students from Spirit Lake and Spencer, northwest Iowa’s chapter of the national Architecture Construction and Engineering Mentor Program has completed its inaugural year. The program allows students a chance to get hands-on experience in their field of interest and learn from area professionals. Barton said she was excited for the program to grow and continue in the area...

More than 700 Storm Lake Middle School students who hit third-quarter benchmarks hit the track and the obstacle course and much more in reporting to Buena Vista University for the second annual Beaver Olympics on March 7. Activities hosted and organized by some 55 BVU students thrilled the middle school students who participated in Beaver Olympics as their reward for reaching their third-quarter goals at the middle school...

Two Storm Lake St. Mary’s High School students will be participating in the prestigious Iowa High School State Speech festival in the performing category in Cedar Falls at the University of Northern Iowa Monday, March 25. Senior Alondra Meléndez will be performing in the Literary Program category and freshman Logan Merten will be performing in the Storytelling category. Deb Peters is the head coach and she is assisted by Susan Slagle Boyd and Matthew Marroquin. /Photo submitted...

Arts On Grand will host an artist potluck and meetup during the venue’s regular Open Studio night from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, March 27. For those who haven’t been in for a while, this is a great chance to come enjoy the company of creative people in the community, as well as get a chance to see how the basement studio is sprucing up. ...

Keep your flower vases filled all summer long with beautiful blossoms picked right from your own garden and containers. Growing seeds, plants and tender bulbs that can double as cut flowers makes it easy to create casual, fresh-cut bouquets for your dinner table, guest room or to share with family and friends...

William P. Koenig Jr., age 91, of Gillett Grove, Iowa died on Wednesday, March 13 at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.  Farewell services was held on Sunday, March 17, at 12:58 p.m. at the Sliefert Funeral Home in Sioux Rapids. ...

Phyllis Hope Petersen, age 93 passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 21, at the Northfield Hospital in Northfield Minnesota. She was born March 21, 1925, in Newell Iowa, to Russell and Lorene (Hattie Austins) Peterson. She grew up in Alta Iowa and graduated from Alta Community High School in 1942. She then attended the American Institute of Business in DesMoines Iowa and following her education worked at the Farmers Trust and Savings Bank in Spencer...

Michael J. Dick, age 67, of Storm Lake, died on Friday, March 15, at the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake.  Memorial Mass was held on Monday, March 18, at 11 a.m. at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the Lizard Cemetery in Manson. Visitation took place on Sunday, March 17, from 4 - 7 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. ...

William “Bill” O’Meara, age 91, of Storm Lake, died on Friday, March 15, at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.  Funeral Mass was held on Wednesday, March 20, at 10:30 a.m. at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the St. ...

On March 15 at approximately 6 p.m., at 1831 North Lake Ave. in Storm Lake, a vehicle driven by Pang Xiong of Storm Lake, was involved in an accident with a vehicle driven by Cheyenne Groves Malo of Storm Lake. The two vehicles collided causing total damages estimated at $1400...

In recognition of Severe Weather Awareness Week, which is scheduled for March 25 through March 29, and in an effort to promote public awareness, the City of Storm Lake will participate in a state wide voluntary tornado drill. The tornado drill will take place on Wednesday, March 27, The Storm Lake and Lakeside tornado sirens will be activated at approximately 10:15 am. The sirens will sound for approximately three minutes...

Storm Lake Community School District teachers have started negotiations for their 2019-2020 school year contract. The Storm Lake Education Associations initial proposal requested a 4.73% total package increase at a cost of $14,399,849, including the cost of base salary increases, FICA, IPERS and insurance increases...

After lengthy delays, Storm Lake city officials say they will proceed this spring with a plan to begin painting bike trails along the sides of some of the streets - a project that was originally proposed for spring of 2017 as an option to expensive off-street trail construction...

Buena Vista County Supervisors joined other counties in telling the Iowa Senate to put the brakes on a new transportation bill that could overload county roads. The new bill passed by the Senate’s Transportation Committee would allow the Iowa Department of Transportation to issue annual permits to forestry industry haulers, giving them free range to haul loads up to 130,000 pounds on secondary highways throughout the state without giving notice to the agencies that own and maintain the structures.. ...

By ELIJAH DECIOUS Pilot-Tribune Staff Buena Vista County is planning for future needs while trying to keep up with investments in county roads and structures. The Linn Grove bridge, built in 1940, is in need of replacement within the next five years...

“We’re struggling,” County Engineer Bret Wilkinson told Supervisors Tuesday during his road report. With all the signage the department has available in use, the county is shuffling around signs from a few roads opening up to be able to close off other roads...

Flood waters swamped the Linn Grove Dam in this photo taken Sunday. The Little Sioux River crested at 24.13 feet Saturday, more than six feet above flood level. According to National Weather Service records, the flood eclipsed the former record of 23.9 feet, set just last September amid heavy fall rains. ...

The City of Storm Lake this week honored the first responders and medical providers who were involved in two ice rescue and recovery incidents this winter. “On December 30, 2018 and again on January 20, 2019 telecommunicators, first responders and medical professionals worked in concert in responding to ice rescue incidents on Storm Lake and the subsequent search and recovery of live victims, rendering of first aid, search and recovery of a deceased victim and extraordinary medical services by EMS and our medical center staff,” said Mark Prosser, Pubklic Safety Director.. ...

Child care advocate Trevina Jefferson and her supporters made enough of an impact on the Storm Lake City Council Monday that the group appears ready to meet her request for an official city endorsement of efforts to develop more care. Jefferson went a step further, asking the council to consider housing a day care facility in one of the city buildings, such as King’s Pointe. ...