Stories from Friday, April 5, 2019

Valero Renewables is marking its 10-year anniversary with gatherings and special remembrances held or planned at its ethanol operations across the Midwest. Valero Energy Corporation, through its Valero Renewable Fuels Company LLC subsidiary, became the first traditional petroleum refiner to enter large-scale ethanol production with the purchase of seven high-quality plants from VeraSun Energy Corp. ...

What do an orphan train rider, a kidnapper, a betrayed wife, a church missionary, a wealthy businessman, a land baron’s wife, a maid, a farmer, a college student, an immigrant and a newspaper reporter have in common? They all had ties to Iowa, and their stories would forever become intertwined with the saga of the opulent Titanic, which struck an iceberg and plunged to the bottom of the North Atlantic in 1912...

The fifth annual Rock’n Bac’n Brew’n crowded the Clay County Regional Events Center Saturday in an evening which began with event goers trying all kinds of bacon and beer creations, before ending with plenty of singing and dancing to the Johnny Holm Band. ...

A hilarious and insightful recreation of an actual lecture that the world famous humorist and author would have given during his highly acclaimed world tour culminating in 1905

JACK BENNY PLAYS STORM LAKE (1911) A Vital Stepping Stone To His Fame and Fortune (?)

“We want kids to fall in love with reading,” says Dr. Calle Friesen, Department Chair of Literacy Education at Buena Vista University. But the logistics of association kids have with books doesn’t always spark that romance, she said. That’s where the BVU Bibliotrike comes in...

Family Fun Night at Storm Lake Elementary School drew a big, enthusiastic crowd this week. Parents and children enjoyed a hot dog meal, visited booths by many organizations including The Bridge and Iowa State Extension, and children got to pick out a free book to take home. / Pilot photos by Dana Larsen...

Area fishing report

BV County Habitat for Humanity will participate in a Community Impact Fundraiser Event on Wednesday, April 17 from 5 - 8 p.m. The community is invited to attend at Storm Lake Pizza Ranch, located at 517 W. Milwaukee Avenue for a night of good food. Representatives will be happy to visit with you more about our upcoming duplex build...

October 1, 1946 - March 31, 2019

July 26, 1931 - April 2, 2019

The Catholic School Foundation of the Diocese of Sioux City is pleased to announce Ennie Hickman as the keynote speaker for the 23rd Annual Bishop’s Dinner for Catholic Schools. This dinner will take place Sunday, September 22, 2019 at the Delta Hotels Center. The theme for this year’s dinner is “Set Your Faith on Fire!”...

St. Mary’s Schools made two donations to Buena Vista Regional Medical Center’s Oncology & Infusion Center. During Catholic Schools Week the kindergarten – 5th graders made about 40 blanketsto help keep patients warm during treatments. In February, the girls and boys basketball teams raised $5,572.51 in a Pink Out Night. ...

Channel catfish move close to shore and are eager to bite in many lakes and the large reservoirs across Iowa just after the ice is gone. The bite starts sooner in the southern Iowa impoundment since they lose ice a week or two before northeast Iowa natural lakes...

Iowa State Patrol officials say an area ambulance driver will be charged with Failure to Maintain Control after apparently falling asleep at the wheel recently. The driver was transporting a patient from Cherokee Regional Medical Center to a facility in Ottumwa last week when the ambulance veered off Interstate 35 and into a ditch near Ames during the early morning trip, striking an exit sign in the process. ...

“Everything is bad today,” Renee Evans said, as she loaded some of her belongings into a van Monday morning. A fire heavily damaged portions of her Okoboji apartment building mid-Sunday, and officials say the extensive damage displaced all of the residents. The cause of the fire was found to be improperly discarded smoking materials, according to Okoboji/Arnolds Park Fire Chief Chris Yungbluth. The fire department said five of the building’s six units were occupied at the time...

Though no confirmed cases of African swine fever have been found in the United States, efforts are increasing to prevent the disease from entering U.S. borders. Local swine experts emphasized the dangers of an ASF outbreak and the potential ripple impact it could have on the agricultural economy. ...

A third and final reading of an ordinance amendment allowing downtown merchants to sell goods and serve food and non-alcoholic refreshments in their sidewalk areas was passed during this week’s Storm Lake City Council meeting. Under the change, businesses will also be able to place tables, chairs, benches, umbrellas, and sandwich board temporary signs on the sidewalks, as long as space is retained for pedestrians to get through. ...

The City of Storm Lake will chip in $650 to bring a Kansas singer-songwriter to Storm Lake to perform during the Homegrown festival next September, a new version of the Iowa Food Summit. Di Daniels of SALUD and The Hunger Dialogues requested the funding, which will come from a pot of funds set aside for cultural and recreation purposes within the city budget, out of the city’s share of hotel and motel tax...

A local child care advocate is quickly clearing the hurdles necessary to open a new day care center/preschool in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Storm Lake. The city Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the project Wednesday night, as requested by Trevina Jefferson and her Trepson organization. ...

It’s one of those overcast Mondays – remnants of a late – surge, snowy, cold winter still permeate the air. A bit of wind blows around, as clouds fight with the sun, for the sky. Inside the soon-to-be renovated Jones Garden Center, Deanna Harrer is busy talking with a provider, working on getting her credit card machines up and running. ...

Storm Lake Police tracked down and arrested a fugitive in a meth sales operation Tuesday, despite the man’s efforts at a barricade. According to police, multiple undercover purchases of methamphetamine were made from Apollo Price, age 39 of Storm Lake, in various locations around the community in March of 2018. Recently, warrants were issued for Price’s arrest in connection with the drug sales investigation...

The Storm Lake High School Music Department recently returned from a trip to Chicago.  Students performed at the Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and 360 (Hancock Tower).  In addition to their performances, students attended a show by “Blue Man Group,”  went to a Midieval Times Dinner Theatre and jousting tournament, ate Chicago style deep dish pizza and went on a Wendella boat ride.  They learned about the history of Chicago in addition to seeing some unique architecture...

After two opportunities this week for the public to view four alternative plans for an Early Childhood Center project, Storm Lake School District officials say they are getting the kind of feedback they hoped for, and are on track to choose an option sooner rather than later...

Lets start with a disclaimer. The following views are mine. They are not the views of this newspaper, nor any of it’s employees. With that taken care of, I’d like to discuss a couple of questions that other people may also have been asking. In what should be the golden age of information, who do we trust? Who should we believe?...

DENISON - The Storm Lake girls golfers got a half-start to their 2019 season on Tuesday night against the Dension-Schleswig Monarchs. No traditional score was kept as the two schools played from 150 yards in and had maximum scores of eight strokes in the fairway and however many putts it took them to hole out...

NEWELL - The Newell-Fonda golf teams both picked up dual wins on Tuesday night to start the season as they were both able to down the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Aryshire Titans. The boys won 174-203, and the girls took their dual, 214-252. “It was good to be able to play on Tuesday, it was time for a meet,” Boys Coach Nathan Baron said. ...

ORANGE CITY - Despite the breezy and sometimes chilly conditions on Tuesday night, the Storm Lake boys and girls track teams put their best effort forward at the Dutch Relays. The girls came away with a third place finish in Class A, finishing behind winner Spirit Lake and Sheldon, while the boys took fourth in A, behind Spirit Lake, Sheldon, and MOC-Floyd Valley...

"You are important to me. You count," said Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke to a crammed Better Day Cafe, recounting his philosophy as he made his last campaign through Texas, no matter "how red, or how rural, or how blue or how urban." It was that message that resonated with all types in the crowd jockeying for standing room to see the man to who lost his campaign to Sen. ...